zika virus
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zika virus
kelee877 Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:08 am
Dropping links and notes here for further study and to have available info for when they start to change things
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flaviviridae virus family and the Flavivirus genus.
In humans, it initially causes a mild illness known as Zika fever, Zika, or Zika disease, which since the 1950s has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. In 2014, the virus spread eastward across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then to Easter Island and in 2015 to Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, where the Zika outbreak has reached pandemic levels.[1] Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses.[2] The illness it causes is similar to a mild form of dengue fever,[2] is treated by rest,[3] and cannot yet be prevented by drugs or vaccines.[3] There is a possible link between Zika fever and microcephaly in newborn babies by mother-to-child transmission,[4][5][6] as well as a stronger one with neurologic conditions in infected adults, including cases of the Guillain–Barré syndrome.[7]( same as H1N1 vaccines)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus
Denying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes the chance to be parents could potentially curb dengue fever — but environmentalists are wary of the risks involved.
Dengue fever is a debilitating, sometimes fatal disease that affects more than 100 million people in 100 countries. It has no cure so scientists are turning to genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes.
A strategy devised at Oxford University, United Kingdom, involves inserting a gene into male A.aegypti that causes their offspring to die as larvae.
The plan is to release a swarm of GM males into the wild and await the A.aegypti population's decline. The idea has only recently gained widespread support, most notably from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has invested US$38 million in the research.( the same man who wants to depopulate the world)
http://www.scidev.net/global/health/feature/the-pros-and-cons-of-gm-mosquitoes.html
The released GM mosquitoes can breed due to the presence in the lab of the antibiotic tetracycline - which is used in agriculture and found in some meat - which stops the protein from working.
Eric Hoffman, a biotechnology campaigner for Friends of the Earth in the US, says that if tetracycline is present in the wild the offspring of GM mosquitoes could survive and breed.
Mr Parry says his company's GM mosquitoes have been shown to be safe and that it would not introduce them where tetracycline exists in the environment. "We created this strain of mosquito more than 10 years ago now. You do a lot of internal testing in labs in a contained environment even before going to an outside environment," he says.
Coming to the US?
Oxitec wants to use its technique on the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Key West to prevent a recurrence of dengue fever in Florida. The state suffered its first outbreaks of the disease in 75 years in 2009 and 2010 in Key West. Oxitec has the backing of The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which is in charge of mosquito control for the area.
Oxitec 2016 Jan just given a huge pump of money to combat zika virus(story and link will be provided below)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19091880
Intrexon Spikes 20%; Oxitec Subsidiary Working To Control Zika Virus Outbreak
Shares of Intrexon Corp (NYSE: XON) were trading higher by more than 12 percent at $29.69 early Thursday afternoon.
Intrexon is engaged in the field of synthetic biology. The company designs, builds and regulates gene programs which are Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) sequences that consist of genetic components.
Shares of Intrexon hit an intra-day high of $32.67 on Thursday after CNN Money reported that Oxitec, a subsidiary of Intrexon, is working to control the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil.
CNN Money noted that Oxitec breeds male mosquitoes that when released into the air, help stop the spread of the Zika virus by passing along a gene to their offspring that make them die young.
The publication added that Oxitec doesn't yet have the necessary licenses to sell its "suppression service" and the company's "can't sell it commercially." However, it can accept "contributions" from customers towards the cost of the service.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/intrexon-spikes-20-oxitec-subsidiary-173404297.html
Mutant mosquitoes to be deployed to stop Zika outbreak in Brazil
BY KESAVAN UNNIKRISHNAN JAN 26, 2016 IN HEALTH
A Brazilian town plans to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes to suppress the wild mosquito population responsible for Zika and Dengue outbreaks.
Genetically modified male mosquitoes were released in parts of Piracicaba city in Southern Brazil as a pilot project in April 2014. Studies have shown that these GM mosquitoes have reduced the wild mosquito population by 82% in areas covered under the pilot project.
The city now plans to expand the program to other neighborhoods. Oxitec, a company that breeds genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes, is opening a factory in Piracicaba to produce millions of genetically modified mosquitoes after getting approval from Brazil's National Biosafety Committee for releases throughout the country.
City mayor Gabriel Ferrato said:
The city of Piracicaba has always sought innovative solutions to serious problems. In the case of Aedes aegypti, we looked for the tool that seemed most appropriate to help in the tough battle against this mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Based on the results presented today, we decided to extend the project in CECAP/Eldorado district for another year and also signed a record of intent to expand the project to the central area of Piracicaba.
The mosquitoes produced by Oxitec are genetically modified so that when mated with wild-type mosquitoes they produce larvae that don’t make it to adulthood.
Oxitec, started in 2002 by Oxford University's Isis Innovation technology transfer company, is currently owned by US company Intrexon.
Hadyn Parry, CEO of Oxitec said the proposed production facility in Piracicaba will have capacity to protect over 300,000 people from Dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses.
As the principal source for the fastest growing vector-borne infection in the world in Dengue Fever, as well as the increasingly challenging Zika virus, controlling the Aedes aegypti population provides the best defense against these serious diseases for which there are no cures.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/health/mutant-mosquitoes-to-be-deployed-to-stop-zika-outbreak-in-brazil/article/455841
So today Jan 31/16
This virus has now spread to both types of mosquitoes..going to get the link now
But that can’t stop the Zika virus spreading now, or stop the thousands of terribly damaged newborn babies that will probably result.
Moreover, the virus has been found not just in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but in the related Aedes albopictus – the Asian Tiger mosquito.
This is prevalent in many tropical and sub-tropical regions, including the US and southern Europe.
The threat of Zika virus infection in the US and Europe is very real indeed. The only thing needed to spark a new outbreak is a single infected mosquito or its water-dwelling young stowed away in a goods shipment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3424776/No-one-safe-Zika-Confirmation-mosquito-borne-virus-does-shrink-heads-unborn-babies-chilling-warning.html#ixzz3yoxwUztT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flaviviridae virus family and the Flavivirus genus.
In humans, it initially causes a mild illness known as Zika fever, Zika, or Zika disease, which since the 1950s has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. In 2014, the virus spread eastward across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then to Easter Island and in 2015 to Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, where the Zika outbreak has reached pandemic levels.[1] Zika virus is related to dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses.[2] The illness it causes is similar to a mild form of dengue fever,[2] is treated by rest,[3] and cannot yet be prevented by drugs or vaccines.[3] There is a possible link between Zika fever and microcephaly in newborn babies by mother-to-child transmission,[4][5][6] as well as a stronger one with neurologic conditions in infected adults, including cases of the Guillain–Barré syndrome.[7]( same as H1N1 vaccines)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zika_virus
Denying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes the chance to be parents could potentially curb dengue fever — but environmentalists are wary of the risks involved.
Dengue fever is a debilitating, sometimes fatal disease that affects more than 100 million people in 100 countries. It has no cure so scientists are turning to genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes.
A strategy devised at Oxford University, United Kingdom, involves inserting a gene into male A.aegypti that causes their offspring to die as larvae.
The plan is to release a swarm of GM males into the wild and await the A.aegypti population's decline. The idea has only recently gained widespread support, most notably from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has invested US$38 million in the research.( the same man who wants to depopulate the world)
http://www.scidev.net/global/health/feature/the-pros-and-cons-of-gm-mosquitoes.html
The released GM mosquitoes can breed due to the presence in the lab of the antibiotic tetracycline - which is used in agriculture and found in some meat - which stops the protein from working.
Eric Hoffman, a biotechnology campaigner for Friends of the Earth in the US, says that if tetracycline is present in the wild the offspring of GM mosquitoes could survive and breed.
Mr Parry says his company's GM mosquitoes have been shown to be safe and that it would not introduce them where tetracycline exists in the environment. "We created this strain of mosquito more than 10 years ago now. You do a lot of internal testing in labs in a contained environment even before going to an outside environment," he says.
Coming to the US?
Oxitec wants to use its technique on the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Key West to prevent a recurrence of dengue fever in Florida. The state suffered its first outbreaks of the disease in 75 years in 2009 and 2010 in Key West. Oxitec has the backing of The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which is in charge of mosquito control for the area.
Oxitec 2016 Jan just given a huge pump of money to combat zika virus(story and link will be provided below)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19091880
Intrexon Spikes 20%; Oxitec Subsidiary Working To Control Zika Virus Outbreak
Shares of Intrexon Corp (NYSE: XON) were trading higher by more than 12 percent at $29.69 early Thursday afternoon.
Intrexon is engaged in the field of synthetic biology. The company designs, builds and regulates gene programs which are Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) sequences that consist of genetic components.
Shares of Intrexon hit an intra-day high of $32.67 on Thursday after CNN Money reported that Oxitec, a subsidiary of Intrexon, is working to control the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil.
CNN Money noted that Oxitec breeds male mosquitoes that when released into the air, help stop the spread of the Zika virus by passing along a gene to their offspring that make them die young.
The publication added that Oxitec doesn't yet have the necessary licenses to sell its "suppression service" and the company's "can't sell it commercially." However, it can accept "contributions" from customers towards the cost of the service.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/intrexon-spikes-20-oxitec-subsidiary-173404297.html
Mutant mosquitoes to be deployed to stop Zika outbreak in Brazil
BY KESAVAN UNNIKRISHNAN JAN 26, 2016 IN HEALTH
A Brazilian town plans to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes to suppress the wild mosquito population responsible for Zika and Dengue outbreaks.
Genetically modified male mosquitoes were released in parts of Piracicaba city in Southern Brazil as a pilot project in April 2014. Studies have shown that these GM mosquitoes have reduced the wild mosquito population by 82% in areas covered under the pilot project.
The city now plans to expand the program to other neighborhoods. Oxitec, a company that breeds genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes, is opening a factory in Piracicaba to produce millions of genetically modified mosquitoes after getting approval from Brazil's National Biosafety Committee for releases throughout the country.
City mayor Gabriel Ferrato said:
The city of Piracicaba has always sought innovative solutions to serious problems. In the case of Aedes aegypti, we looked for the tool that seemed most appropriate to help in the tough battle against this mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Based on the results presented today, we decided to extend the project in CECAP/Eldorado district for another year and also signed a record of intent to expand the project to the central area of Piracicaba.
The mosquitoes produced by Oxitec are genetically modified so that when mated with wild-type mosquitoes they produce larvae that don’t make it to adulthood.
Oxitec, started in 2002 by Oxford University's Isis Innovation technology transfer company, is currently owned by US company Intrexon.
Hadyn Parry, CEO of Oxitec said the proposed production facility in Piracicaba will have capacity to protect over 300,000 people from Dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses.
As the principal source for the fastest growing vector-borne infection in the world in Dengue Fever, as well as the increasingly challenging Zika virus, controlling the Aedes aegypti population provides the best defense against these serious diseases for which there are no cures.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/health/mutant-mosquitoes-to-be-deployed-to-stop-zika-outbreak-in-brazil/article/455841
So today Jan 31/16
This virus has now spread to both types of mosquitoes..going to get the link now
But that can’t stop the Zika virus spreading now, or stop the thousands of terribly damaged newborn babies that will probably result.
Moreover, the virus has been found not just in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but in the related Aedes albopictus – the Asian Tiger mosquito.
This is prevalent in many tropical and sub-tropical regions, including the US and southern Europe.
The threat of Zika virus infection in the US and Europe is very real indeed. The only thing needed to spark a new outbreak is a single infected mosquito or its water-dwelling young stowed away in a goods shipment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3424776/No-one-safe-Zika-Confirmation-mosquito-borne-virus-does-shrink-heads-unborn-babies-chilling-warning.html#ixzz3yoxwUztT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Last edited by kelee877 on Sun Jan 31, 2016 4:37 am; edited 1 time in total
kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
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Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
Re: zika virus
kelee877 Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:12 am
As I once again adorn my pretty pink tin foiled hat..I see a pattern here of we release the virus and now you spend millions if not millions to get us to find the cure..
I will be putting all of the info I have gathered in to this section, as I found out from following pandemics is the the truth gets buried..10 days ago if you were to goole this unknown virus you would have totally different information about it, but now that has gone main stream media the older stuff is buried and will get harder to find.
I will be starting a full tine job next week,but will do my utmost to stay updated on this emerging virus..
I will be putting all of the info I have gathered in to this section, as I found out from following pandemics is the the truth gets buried..10 days ago if you were to goole this unknown virus you would have totally different information about it, but now that has gone main stream media the older stuff is buried and will get harder to find.
I will be starting a full tine job next week,but will do my utmost to stay updated on this emerging virus..
kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
Join date : 2009-11-09
Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
Re: zika virus
kelee877 Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:58 pm
Zika Outbreak Epicenter In Same Area Genetically-Modified Mosquitoes Released In 2015
The World Health Organization announced it will convene an Emergency Committee under International Health Regulations on Monday, February 1, concerning the Zika virus ‘explosive’ spread throughout the Americas. The virus reportedly has the potential to reach pandemic proportions — possibly around the globe. But understandingwhy this outbreak happened is vital to curbing it. As the WHO statement said:
“A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes … is strongly suspected. [These links] have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions.
“WHO is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation for 4 main reasons: the possible association of infection with birth malformations and neurological syndromes; the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector; the lack of population immunity in newly affected areas; and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and rapid diagnostic tests […]
“The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty.”
Zika seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in 1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil is now considered the epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000 reports of babies born with microcephaly just since October.
zika-microcephaly
When examining a rapidly expanding potential pandemic, it’s necessary to leave no stone unturned so possible solutions, as well as future prevention, will be as effective as possible. In that vein, there was another significant development in 2015.
Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.”
Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider.
Nature, as one Redditor keenly pointed out, finds a way — and the effort to control dengue, zika, and other viruses, appears to have backfired dramatically.
zika
Juazeiro, Brazil — the location where genetically-modified mosquitoes were first released into the wild.
zika
Map showing the concentration of suspected Zika-related cases of microcephaly in Brazil.
The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.
zika-mosquito
Aedes aegypti mosquito. Image credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:
“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”
Even absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a “sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of ‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the [genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4% [survival rate] represents a much bigger problem…”
As the WHO stated in its press release, “conditions associated with this year’s El Nino weather pattern are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas.”
Incidentally, President Obama called for a massive research effort to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, as one does not currently exist. Brazil has now called in 200,000 soldiers to somehow help combat the virus’ spread. Aedes mosquitoes have reportedly been spotted in the U.K. But perhaps the most ironic — or not — proposition was proffered on January 19, by the MIT Technology Review:
“An outbreak in the Western Hemisphere could give countries including the United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic engineering.
“Yesterday, the Brazilian city of Piracicaba said it would expand the use of genetically modified mosquitoes …
“The GM mosquitoes were created by Oxitec, a British company recently purchased by Intrexon, a synthetic biology company based in Maryland. The company said it has released bugs in parts of Brazil and the Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-29/zika-outbreak-epicenter-same-area-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-released-2015
The World Health Organization announced it will convene an Emergency Committee under International Health Regulations on Monday, February 1, concerning the Zika virus ‘explosive’ spread throughout the Americas. The virus reportedly has the potential to reach pandemic proportions — possibly around the globe. But understandingwhy this outbreak happened is vital to curbing it. As the WHO statement said:
“A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations and neurological syndromes … is strongly suspected. [These links] have rapidly changed the risk profile of Zika, from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions.
“WHO is deeply concerned about this rapidly evolving situation for 4 main reasons: the possible association of infection with birth malformations and neurological syndromes; the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector; the lack of population immunity in newly affected areas; and the absence of vaccines, specific treatments, and rapid diagnostic tests […]
“The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty.”
Zika seemingly exploded out of nowhere. Though it was first discovered in 1947, cases only sporadically occurred throughout Africa and southern Asia. In 2007, the first case was reported in the Pacific. In 2013, a smattering of small outbreaks and individual cases were officially documented in Africa and the western Pacific. They also began showing up in the Americas. In May 2015, Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus — and the situation changed dramatically.
Brazil is now considered the epicenter of the Zika outbreak, which coincides with at least 4,000 reports of babies born with microcephaly just since October.
zika-microcephaly
When examining a rapidly expanding potential pandemic, it’s necessary to leave no stone unturned so possible solutions, as well as future prevention, will be as effective as possible. In that vein, there was another significant development in 2015.
Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.”
Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider.
Nature, as one Redditor keenly pointed out, finds a way — and the effort to control dengue, zika, and other viruses, appears to have backfired dramatically.
zika
Juazeiro, Brazil — the location where genetically-modified mosquitoes were first released into the wild.
zika
Map showing the concentration of suspected Zika-related cases of microcephaly in Brazil.
The particular strain of Oxitec GM mosquitoes, OX513A, are genetically altered so the vast majority of their offspring will die before they mature — though Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher published concerns in a report in September 2010 that a known survival rate of 3-4 percent warranted further study before the release of the GM insects. Her concerns, which were echoed by several other scientists both at the time and since, appear to have been ignored — though they should not have been.
Those genetically-modified mosquitoes work to control wild, potentially disease-carrying populations in a very specific manner. Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development. But there is a problem.
zika-mosquito
Aedes aegypti mosquito. Image credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
In fact, as a confidential internal Oxitec document divulged in 2012, that survival rate could be as high as 15% — even with low levels of tetracycline present. “Even small amounts of tetracycline can repress” the engineered lethality. Indeed, that 15% survival rate was described by Oxitec:
“After a lot of testing and comparing experimental design, it was found that [researchers] had used a cat food to feed the [OX513A] larvae and this cat food contained chicken. It is known that tetracycline is routinely used to prevent infections in chickens, especially in the cheap, mass produced, chicken used for animal food. The chicken is heat-treated before being used, but this does not remove all the tetracycline. This meant that a small amount of tetracycline was being added from the food to the larvae and repressing the [designed] lethal system.”
Even absent this tetracycline, as Steinbrecher explained, a “sub-population” of genetically-modified Aedes mosquitoes could theoretically develop and thrive, in theory, “capable of surviving and flourishing despite any further” releases of ‘pure’ GM mosquitoes which still have that gene intact. She added, “the effectiveness of the system also depends on the [genetically-designed] late onset of the lethality. If the time of onset is altered due to environmental conditions … then a 3-4% [survival rate] represents a much bigger problem…”
As the WHO stated in its press release, “conditions associated with this year’s El Nino weather pattern are expected to increase mosquito populations greatly in many areas.”
Incidentally, President Obama called for a massive research effort to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, as one does not currently exist. Brazil has now called in 200,000 soldiers to somehow help combat the virus’ spread. Aedes mosquitoes have reportedly been spotted in the U.K. But perhaps the most ironic — or not — proposition was proffered on January 19, by the MIT Technology Review:
“An outbreak in the Western Hemisphere could give countries including the United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic engineering.
“Yesterday, the Brazilian city of Piracicaba said it would expand the use of genetically modified mosquitoes …
“The GM mosquitoes were created by Oxitec, a British company recently purchased by Intrexon, a synthetic biology company based in Maryland. The company said it has released bugs in parts of Brazil and the Cayman Islands to battle dengue fever.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-29/zika-outbreak-epicenter-same-area-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-released-2015
kelee877- Admin
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Age : 61
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Re: zika virus
kelee877 Sat Jan 30, 2016 4:59 am
Zika vaccine could be ready by OCTOBER: Researchers claim experimental vaccine is 'easy to produce' and could be given go-ahead in public health emergency
First stage of testing on humans could begin as early as August
May allow the vaccine to be used during a public health emergency in October or November
By REUTERS and MARK PRIGG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:08 GMT, 29 January 2016 | UPDATED: 00:44 GMT, 30 January 2016
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A vaccine for the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in thousands of infants, could be ready for emergency use before year-end, one of its lead developers said - a timetable well ahead of estimates by U.S. officials.
Canadian scientist Gary Kobinger, part of a consortium working on the vaccine, told Reuters in an interview that the first stage of testing on humans could begin as early as August.
If successful, that may allow the vaccine to be used during a public health emergency, in October or November.
Scroll down for video
An infectious disease expert told Daily Mail Online that a vaccine for the fast-moving Zika virus - which has been linked to birth defects - will not be developed for close to a decade. That's because, unlike other viruses that have had recent outbreaks, Zika was assumed to be 'mild' and no vaccine had been in development
+7
An infectious disease expert told Daily Mail Online that a vaccine for the fast-moving Zika virus - which has been linked to birth defects - will not be developed for close to a decade. That's because, unlike other viruses that have had recent outbreaks, Zika was assumed to be 'mild' and no vaccine had been in development
'The first thing is to be ready for the worst,' Kobinger, who helped develop a trial vaccine that was successful in fighting Ebola in Guinea, said.
'This vaccine is easy to produce. It could be cranked to very high levels in a really short time.' He did not say when it could be widely available.
The United States has two potential candidates for a Zika vaccine and may begin clinical trials in people by the end of this year, but there will not be a widely available vaccine for several years, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The mosquito-transmitted virus has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil. There is no proven vaccine or treatment for Zika, a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, which causes mild fever and rash.
An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Zika is spreading 'explosively' and could affect as many as four million people in the Americas.
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Kobinger, the lead scientist on this project from Quebec City's Laval University and head of special pathogens at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, is working with the University of Pennsylvania, led by scientist David Weiner, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and South Korea's GeneOne Life Science.
Joseph Kim, chief executive of Inovio, said the timeline to make the vaccine available by year's end is aggressive, but possible.
'I believe this will be the first to go into human testing. We believe we're ahead of the pack in the race for a Zika vaccine,' he said in an interview.
Inovio shares on the Nasdaq jumped 7.6 percent on Thursday to close at $5.78.
THE RACE FOR A ZIKA VACCINE
Privately owned vaccine developer Hawaii Biotech Inc has joined the race to produce a vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, a fast-spreading infection which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies.
The company initiated a formal program to test a Zika vaccine last fall, as the virus began to gain traction in Brazil, said Chief Executive Dr. Elliot Parks.
'Right now, we are in the pre-clinical stage, as I suspect everyone is,' Parks, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Zika virus is 'spreading explosively' and could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas. There is no proven vaccine or treatment.
Although a direct causal relationship has not been established, a link is strongly suspected between Zika and thousands of children born in Brazil with abnormally small heads, brain defects and impaired vision.
A close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, Zika causes mild fever and rash. But an estimated 80 percent of those infected suffer no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
'We will have data coming through this year,' Parks said. 'When we enter the clinic is yet to be determined.'
The United States has two potential candidates for a Zika vaccine and may begin clinical trials in people by the end of this year, but there will not be a widely available vaccine for several years, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
+7
Canadian scientist Gary Kobinger, who helped develop a trial vaccine that was successful in fighting Ebola, is part of a consortium working on a Zika vaccine that could be ready for emergency use before the end of the year.
This week, GlaxoSmithKline Plc also said it was concluding studies to check whether its technology is suitable for the virus.
Parks and his team at Hawaii Biotech are initially funding development themselves, while looking ultimately to partner with a big player that would have the ability to deliver a vaccine worldwide.
The Honolulu, Hawaii-based company, which is also testing vaccines for infectious diseases including West Nile virus and chikungunya, sold its early-stage dengue vaccine candidate to Merck & Co Inc in 2010.
It also has a tick-borne encephalitis virus vaccine in the pre-clinical stage, funded by a grant from the infectious disease arm of the National Institutes of Health.
Other vaccine candidates appear to be moving more slowly.
The Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute said last week it planned to develop a vaccine 'in record time,' although its director warned this was still likely to take three to five years.
The candidate vaccine Kobinger is working on mimics the virus, triggering the body's immune system, he said.
'When the real thing comes in, then the antibodies are there, the immune system is primed, it's ready to attack right away,' Kobinger said.
Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there have been 31 cases of Zika infection among U.S. citizens who traveled to areas affected by the virus. So far, there have been no cases of transmission of the virus through mosquitoes in the United States, she said.
A 6-week old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session on January 29, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Health officials believe as many as 100,000 people have been exposed to the Zika virus in Recife, although most never develop symptoms. In the last four months, authorities have recorded around 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants. The ailment results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development.
+7
A 6-week old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session on January 29, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Health officials believe as many as 100,000 people have been exposed to the Zika virus in Recife, although most never develop symptoms. In the last four months, authorities have recorded around 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants. The ailment results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Zika is spreading 'explosively' and could affect as many as four million people in the Americas.
It said the mosquito-borne disease had gone from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions and admitted up to four million people could be infected.
The agency will convene an emergency committee of disease experts on Monday.
It comes after US experts claimed WHO was not taking a leadership role in the Zika pandemic.
They said the organisation needed to learn lessons from its handling of the Ebola epidemic where the 'agency's failure to act decisively cost thousands of lives'.
The WHO says it has set up measures to fight the spread including surveillance, laboratories for testing, clinical care and vector control - killing off the mosquitoes spreading the infection.
But Dr Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told dailymail.com that officials shouldn't expect any fast results from vaccines.
Before the current outbreak – which is linked to a surge in babies being born with abnormally small heads – Zika was not considered to be a public health risk.
Dr Adalja told Daily Mail Online: 'There wasn't any vaccine development being undertaken prior to this outbreak in Brazil.
The virus is spread through the Aedes mosquito (pictured). As a vaccine won't be available anytime soon, the medical community should focus on wiping out the mosquito that transmits the disease, the expert said
+7
The virus is spread through the Aedes mosquito (pictured). As a vaccine won't be available anytime soon, the medical community should focus on wiping out the mosquito that transmits the disease, the expert said
'It will be quite a while – and this is on the scale of about a decade for a vaccine to be developed usually.'
There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, two viruses that cause mild fever and rash.
Approximately 80 per cent of people who are infected with Zika have no symptoms.
The other 20 per cent experience 'mild' symptoms, such as fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
As a result, there weren't any Zika vaccines in the pipeline, according to Dr Adalja.
But in recent months, the virus has been linked to a rare birth defect called microcephaly – in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
The virus has been found in 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The World Health Organization has warned it will soon spread to all countries across the Americas, except for Canada and Chile.
A lot of people might be thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine. This is different from Ebola – that vaccine had been in development for many years
Dr Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Dr Adalja explained that the public incorrectly assumes a vaccine will be available shortly – because of the rapid vaccine that was made available shortly after the Ebola crisis struck.
He said: 'A lot of people might be thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine.
'This is different from Ebola – that vaccine had been in development for many years.'
But now that Zika has become a public health concern, researchers are going into overdrive.
First off, scientists will have to do 'some basic science' to see if parts of the virus can be presented to the immune system, according to Dr Adalja.
That phase of the research may involve animal studies in the laboratory – and will involve investigating different ways that the immune system may react to the virus.
And once the first step is completed, scientists will next have to determine whether the vaccine is safe or if it has a high burden of side effects.
They will also have to look into if the vaccine triggers any autoimmune reactions.
Dr Adalja said: 'It takes time, and there are a lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that because of Zika's ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a priority.'
He noted that the vaccine won't work just to limit the disease in adults – but also to limit the effect it can have on fetuses.
However, for the time being, there is no cure for Zika.
The doctor said: 'Once a person is infected, there is nothing that you can do.
It takes time, and there are a lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that because of Zika's ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a priority
Dr Adalja
'If a pregnant woman is infected, there is no treatment that can be done to protect the fetus – it either happens or it doesn't.'
The best way to prevent a fetus from getting infected right now is for pregnant women to avoid travelling to regions that are affected by the virus.
Dr Adalja added: 'While we wait for a vaccine, people really need to focus the battle on the mosquitoes that are transmitting the virus.'
A developer recently revealed it created a genetically modified mosquito that reduces the number of mosquitoes spreading Zika.
Oxitec, a UK-subsidiary of US synthetic biology company Intrexon, said it developed a self-limiting strain of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The male mosquitoes were modified so that their offspring will die before reaching adulthood or being able to reproduce.
The company said it saw strong results in controlling the population of the Aedes vector that carries Zika and also the dengue virus.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA
WHAT IS ZIKA?
The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered.
It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It appeared in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.
HOW IS IT SPREAD?
It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.
It is not known to spread from person to person.
Investigators, though, are exploring the possibility that the virus can be passed on through sex - it was found in one man's semen in Tahiti and there's been another report of possible spread of the virus through sex.
An Aedes Aegypti mosquito on human skin in a lab in Cali, Colombia. Scientists there are studying the genetics and biology of this mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus
+7
An Aedes Aegypti mosquito on human skin in a lab in Cali, Colombia. Scientists there are studying the genetics and biology of this mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region and people are not immune to it. Furthermore, the Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured) that carries it is just extremely widespread
+7
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region and people are not immune to it. Furthermore, the Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured) that carries it is just extremely widespread
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren't immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere - including along the southern United States.
Canada and Chile are the only places without this mosquito.
ARE THERE SYMPTOMS?
Experts think most people infected with Zika virus don't get sick.
And those that do usually develop mild symptoms - fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes - which usually last no more than a week.
There is no specific medicine and there hasn't been a vaccine developed for it, which is the case for some other tropical illnesses that cause periodic outbreaks.
GLAXO CONSIDERING USING VACCINE TECHNOLOGY FOR ZIKA
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is concluding feasibility studies evaluating whether its vaccine technology is suitable for the Zika virus, a spokeswoman has confirmed.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms.
'We're concluding our feasibility studies as quickly as we can to see if our vaccine technology platforms might be suitable for working on Zika,' a Glaxo spokeswoman said in an email.
She declined to provide details but added that vaccine development typically takes 10 to 15 years.
WHY IS IT A CONCERN NOW?
In Brazil, there has been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak.
The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and officials note there are many causes of the condition. Nearly 4,000 cases have been recorded.
Meanwhile, doctors have noted increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis.
But the link to the Zika virus is not clear; other infections can spark the problem, including dengue fever.
CAN THE SPREAD BE STOPPED?
Individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and long pants - especially during daylight, when the mosquitoes tend to be most active, health officials say.
Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus.
HAVE THERE BEEN CASES IN THE US?
Yes, but in tourists. Since 2007 there have been more than two dozen cases diagnosed in the US all travellers who are believed to have caught it overseas.
(Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have each had a recent case that didn't involve a traveler.)
Cause for concern as the Zika virus is expected to spread
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There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 per cent of those infected show no symptoms
+7
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 per cent of those infected show no symptoms
The kind of mosquito that spreads Zika is found along the southern states, so experts think it's likely the pests may end up spreading the virus there.
But officials also have said Zika infections probably won't be a big problem in the US for a number of reasons, including the more common use of air conditioning and door and window screens.
Recent U.S. outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya - carried by the same mosquito - suggest any Zika outbreaks may be relatively small, said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHAT ARE THE TRAVEL ADVISORIES?
US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to 22 destinations. Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific.
In Brazil, most of the mothers who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in the pregnancy, CDC officials say.
The travel alert applies to women in any stage of pregnancy.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3422951/Zika-vaccine-ready-OCTOBER-Researchers-claim-experimental-vaccine-easy-produce-given-ahead-public-health-emergency.html#ixzz3yjDBIiXH
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
First stage of testing on humans could begin as early as August
May allow the vaccine to be used during a public health emergency in October or November
By REUTERS and MARK PRIGG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:08 GMT, 29 January 2016 | UPDATED: 00:44 GMT, 30 January 2016
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A vaccine for the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in thousands of infants, could be ready for emergency use before year-end, one of its lead developers said - a timetable well ahead of estimates by U.S. officials.
Canadian scientist Gary Kobinger, part of a consortium working on the vaccine, told Reuters in an interview that the first stage of testing on humans could begin as early as August.
If successful, that may allow the vaccine to be used during a public health emergency, in October or November.
Scroll down for video
An infectious disease expert told Daily Mail Online that a vaccine for the fast-moving Zika virus - which has been linked to birth defects - will not be developed for close to a decade. That's because, unlike other viruses that have had recent outbreaks, Zika was assumed to be 'mild' and no vaccine had been in development
+7
An infectious disease expert told Daily Mail Online that a vaccine for the fast-moving Zika virus - which has been linked to birth defects - will not be developed for close to a decade. That's because, unlike other viruses that have had recent outbreaks, Zika was assumed to be 'mild' and no vaccine had been in development
'The first thing is to be ready for the worst,' Kobinger, who helped develop a trial vaccine that was successful in fighting Ebola in Guinea, said.
'This vaccine is easy to produce. It could be cranked to very high levels in a really short time.' He did not say when it could be widely available.
The United States has two potential candidates for a Zika vaccine and may begin clinical trials in people by the end of this year, but there will not be a widely available vaccine for several years, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
The mosquito-transmitted virus has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil. There is no proven vaccine or treatment for Zika, a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, which causes mild fever and rash.
An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Zika is spreading 'explosively' and could affect as many as four million people in the Americas.
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Kobinger, the lead scientist on this project from Quebec City's Laval University and head of special pathogens at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, is working with the University of Pennsylvania, led by scientist David Weiner, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and South Korea's GeneOne Life Science.
Joseph Kim, chief executive of Inovio, said the timeline to make the vaccine available by year's end is aggressive, but possible.
'I believe this will be the first to go into human testing. We believe we're ahead of the pack in the race for a Zika vaccine,' he said in an interview.
Inovio shares on the Nasdaq jumped 7.6 percent on Thursday to close at $5.78.
THE RACE FOR A ZIKA VACCINE
Privately owned vaccine developer Hawaii Biotech Inc has joined the race to produce a vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, a fast-spreading infection which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies.
The company initiated a formal program to test a Zika vaccine last fall, as the virus began to gain traction in Brazil, said Chief Executive Dr. Elliot Parks.
'Right now, we are in the pre-clinical stage, as I suspect everyone is,' Parks, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the Zika virus is 'spreading explosively' and could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas. There is no proven vaccine or treatment.
Although a direct causal relationship has not been established, a link is strongly suspected between Zika and thousands of children born in Brazil with abnormally small heads, brain defects and impaired vision.
A close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, Zika causes mild fever and rash. But an estimated 80 percent of those infected suffer no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.
'We will have data coming through this year,' Parks said. 'When we enter the clinic is yet to be determined.'
The United States has two potential candidates for a Zika vaccine and may begin clinical trials in people by the end of this year, but there will not be a widely available vaccine for several years, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
+7
Canadian scientist Gary Kobinger, who helped develop a trial vaccine that was successful in fighting Ebola, is part of a consortium working on a Zika vaccine that could be ready for emergency use before the end of the year.
This week, GlaxoSmithKline Plc also said it was concluding studies to check whether its technology is suitable for the virus.
Parks and his team at Hawaii Biotech are initially funding development themselves, while looking ultimately to partner with a big player that would have the ability to deliver a vaccine worldwide.
The Honolulu, Hawaii-based company, which is also testing vaccines for infectious diseases including West Nile virus and chikungunya, sold its early-stage dengue vaccine candidate to Merck & Co Inc in 2010.
It also has a tick-borne encephalitis virus vaccine in the pre-clinical stage, funded by a grant from the infectious disease arm of the National Institutes of Health.
Other vaccine candidates appear to be moving more slowly.
The Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute said last week it planned to develop a vaccine 'in record time,' although its director warned this was still likely to take three to five years.
The candidate vaccine Kobinger is working on mimics the virus, triggering the body's immune system, he said.
'When the real thing comes in, then the antibodies are there, the immune system is primed, it's ready to attack right away,' Kobinger said.
Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there have been 31 cases of Zika infection among U.S. citizens who traveled to areas affected by the virus. So far, there have been no cases of transmission of the virus through mosquitoes in the United States, she said.
A 6-week old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session on January 29, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Health officials believe as many as 100,000 people have been exposed to the Zika virus in Recife, although most never develop symptoms. In the last four months, authorities have recorded around 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants. The ailment results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development.
+7
A 6-week old baby born with microcephaly is treated at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session on January 29, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Health officials believe as many as 100,000 people have been exposed to the Zika virus in Recife, although most never develop symptoms. In the last four months, authorities have recorded around 4,000 cases in Brazil in which the mosquito-borne Zika virus may have led to microcephaly in infants. The ailment results in an abnormally small head in newborns and is associated with various disorders including decreased brain development.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Zika is spreading 'explosively' and could affect as many as four million people in the Americas.
It said the mosquito-borne disease had gone from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions and admitted up to four million people could be infected.
The agency will convene an emergency committee of disease experts on Monday.
It comes after US experts claimed WHO was not taking a leadership role in the Zika pandemic.
They said the organisation needed to learn lessons from its handling of the Ebola epidemic where the 'agency's failure to act decisively cost thousands of lives'.
The WHO says it has set up measures to fight the spread including surveillance, laboratories for testing, clinical care and vector control - killing off the mosquitoes spreading the infection.
But Dr Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told dailymail.com that officials shouldn't expect any fast results from vaccines.
Before the current outbreak – which is linked to a surge in babies being born with abnormally small heads – Zika was not considered to be a public health risk.
Dr Adalja told Daily Mail Online: 'There wasn't any vaccine development being undertaken prior to this outbreak in Brazil.
The virus is spread through the Aedes mosquito (pictured). As a vaccine won't be available anytime soon, the medical community should focus on wiping out the mosquito that transmits the disease, the expert said
+7
The virus is spread through the Aedes mosquito (pictured). As a vaccine won't be available anytime soon, the medical community should focus on wiping out the mosquito that transmits the disease, the expert said
'It will be quite a while – and this is on the scale of about a decade for a vaccine to be developed usually.'
There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya, two viruses that cause mild fever and rash.
Approximately 80 per cent of people who are infected with Zika have no symptoms.
The other 20 per cent experience 'mild' symptoms, such as fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
As a result, there weren't any Zika vaccines in the pipeline, according to Dr Adalja.
But in recent months, the virus has been linked to a rare birth defect called microcephaly – in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
The virus has been found in 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The World Health Organization has warned it will soon spread to all countries across the Americas, except for Canada and Chile.
A lot of people might be thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine. This is different from Ebola – that vaccine had been in development for many years
Dr Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Dr Adalja explained that the public incorrectly assumes a vaccine will be available shortly – because of the rapid vaccine that was made available shortly after the Ebola crisis struck.
He said: 'A lot of people might be thinking that all of the sudden they had an Ebola vaccine.
'This is different from Ebola – that vaccine had been in development for many years.'
But now that Zika has become a public health concern, researchers are going into overdrive.
First off, scientists will have to do 'some basic science' to see if parts of the virus can be presented to the immune system, according to Dr Adalja.
That phase of the research may involve animal studies in the laboratory – and will involve investigating different ways that the immune system may react to the virus.
And once the first step is completed, scientists will next have to determine whether the vaccine is safe or if it has a high burden of side effects.
They will also have to look into if the vaccine triggers any autoimmune reactions.
Dr Adalja said: 'It takes time, and there are a lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that because of Zika's ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a priority.'
He noted that the vaccine won't work just to limit the disease in adults – but also to limit the effect it can have on fetuses.
However, for the time being, there is no cure for Zika.
The doctor said: 'Once a person is infected, there is nothing that you can do.
It takes time, and there are a lot of steps where the process can fail, but it seems to me that because of Zika's ability to affect fetal abnormalities, it will become a priority
Dr Adalja
'If a pregnant woman is infected, there is no treatment that can be done to protect the fetus – it either happens or it doesn't.'
The best way to prevent a fetus from getting infected right now is for pregnant women to avoid travelling to regions that are affected by the virus.
Dr Adalja added: 'While we wait for a vaccine, people really need to focus the battle on the mosquitoes that are transmitting the virus.'
A developer recently revealed it created a genetically modified mosquito that reduces the number of mosquitoes spreading Zika.
Oxitec, a UK-subsidiary of US synthetic biology company Intrexon, said it developed a self-limiting strain of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The male mosquitoes were modified so that their offspring will die before reaching adulthood or being able to reproduce.
The company said it saw strong results in controlling the population of the Aedes vector that carries Zika and also the dengue virus.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA
WHAT IS ZIKA?
The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered.
It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It appeared in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.
HOW IS IT SPREAD?
It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.
It is not known to spread from person to person.
Investigators, though, are exploring the possibility that the virus can be passed on through sex - it was found in one man's semen in Tahiti and there's been another report of possible spread of the virus through sex.
An Aedes Aegypti mosquito on human skin in a lab in Cali, Colombia. Scientists there are studying the genetics and biology of this mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus
+7
An Aedes Aegypti mosquito on human skin in a lab in Cali, Colombia. Scientists there are studying the genetics and biology of this mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region and people are not immune to it. Furthermore, the Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured) that carries it is just extremely widespread
+7
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region and people are not immune to it. Furthermore, the Aedes aegypti mosquito (pictured) that carries it is just extremely widespread
The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren't immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere - including along the southern United States.
Canada and Chile are the only places without this mosquito.
ARE THERE SYMPTOMS?
Experts think most people infected with Zika virus don't get sick.
And those that do usually develop mild symptoms - fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes - which usually last no more than a week.
There is no specific medicine and there hasn't been a vaccine developed for it, which is the case for some other tropical illnesses that cause periodic outbreaks.
GLAXO CONSIDERING USING VACCINE TECHNOLOGY FOR ZIKA
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is concluding feasibility studies evaluating whether its vaccine technology is suitable for the Zika virus, a spokeswoman has confirmed.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms.
'We're concluding our feasibility studies as quickly as we can to see if our vaccine technology platforms might be suitable for working on Zika,' a Glaxo spokeswoman said in an email.
She declined to provide details but added that vaccine development typically takes 10 to 15 years.
WHY IS IT A CONCERN NOW?
In Brazil, there has been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.
Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak.
The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and officials note there are many causes of the condition. Nearly 4,000 cases have been recorded.
Meanwhile, doctors have noted increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis.
But the link to the Zika virus is not clear; other infections can spark the problem, including dengue fever.
CAN THE SPREAD BE STOPPED?
Individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and long pants - especially during daylight, when the mosquitoes tend to be most active, health officials say.
Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus.
HAVE THERE BEEN CASES IN THE US?
Yes, but in tourists. Since 2007 there have been more than two dozen cases diagnosed in the US all travellers who are believed to have caught it overseas.
(Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have each had a recent case that didn't involve a traveler.)
Cause for concern as the Zika virus is expected to spread
Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%00:00
Play
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Current Time 0:00
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Duration Time 0:52
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There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 per cent of those infected show no symptoms
+7
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which typically causes mild fevers and rashes, although about 80 per cent of those infected show no symptoms
The kind of mosquito that spreads Zika is found along the southern states, so experts think it's likely the pests may end up spreading the virus there.
But officials also have said Zika infections probably won't be a big problem in the US for a number of reasons, including the more common use of air conditioning and door and window screens.
Recent U.S. outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya - carried by the same mosquito - suggest any Zika outbreaks may be relatively small, said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHAT ARE THE TRAVEL ADVISORIES?
US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to 22 destinations. Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific.
In Brazil, most of the mothers who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in the pregnancy, CDC officials say.
The travel alert applies to women in any stage of pregnancy.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3422951/Zika-vaccine-ready-OCTOBER-Researchers-claim-experimental-vaccine-easy-produce-given-ahead-public-health-emergency.html#ixzz3yjDBIiXH
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kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
Join date : 2009-11-09
Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
Re: zika virus
kelee877 Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:22 am
MY NOTES..THE 2016 BLACK SWAN
So a virus that appears again out of no where, this time it effects pregnant women and makes babies head smaller..
First reports they have no cure, a vaccine won't be ready for another 10 years...now today they will have a vaccine in a couple of months...
speculation that the GM mosquitoes that were released in Brazil are the major cause behind this...
ok black swan here we go...
Couple of years ago they release GM mosquitoes in Brazil which are suppose to be male kill of larva and viola problem solved, fast forward to today..we have a new emerging zika, now so far in the news release I have noticed a pattern...pharma companies through out to news that this is a terrible disease nothing can be done about it, WHO is having an emergency meeting Monday. Over the weekend I have seen two news stories that have put big pharma stocks way up...the company that originally made the GM mosquitoes ( and they are going to develop more and release them across the US) and the same Canadian company that said it only had ONE get this ONE vaccine for Ebola, it claims that it has a vaccine for zika virus and it stocks went up...
Now for those of you who were looking for yet the black swan, here it is staring you straight in the face and yet again you will choose to ignore it...its not a burning building or a stock market crash but it is here...see look at the virus and forget all about negative interest rates, housing bubbles, sky rocketing food prices....
Mark my words this will not bode well again on humans there will be a race for the finished vaccine and the side effects will be worse then the virus itself..
P.S the company that was funded to make the GM mosquitoes was funded by the Bill and Melinda gates foundation
So a virus that appears again out of no where, this time it effects pregnant women and makes babies head smaller..
First reports they have no cure, a vaccine won't be ready for another 10 years...now today they will have a vaccine in a couple of months...
speculation that the GM mosquitoes that were released in Brazil are the major cause behind this...
ok black swan here we go...
Couple of years ago they release GM mosquitoes in Brazil which are suppose to be male kill of larva and viola problem solved, fast forward to today..we have a new emerging zika, now so far in the news release I have noticed a pattern...pharma companies through out to news that this is a terrible disease nothing can be done about it, WHO is having an emergency meeting Monday. Over the weekend I have seen two news stories that have put big pharma stocks way up...the company that originally made the GM mosquitoes ( and they are going to develop more and release them across the US) and the same Canadian company that said it only had ONE get this ONE vaccine for Ebola, it claims that it has a vaccine for zika virus and it stocks went up...
Now for those of you who were looking for yet the black swan, here it is staring you straight in the face and yet again you will choose to ignore it...its not a burning building or a stock market crash but it is here...see look at the virus and forget all about negative interest rates, housing bubbles, sky rocketing food prices....
Mark my words this will not bode well again on humans there will be a race for the finished vaccine and the side effects will be worse then the virus itself..
P.S the company that was funded to make the GM mosquitoes was funded by the Bill and Melinda gates foundation
kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
Join date : 2009-11-09
Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
Re: zika virus
kelee877 Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:22 am
Wipe Out Humans - Bill Gates - Vaccines are "Best Way" to Depopulate Planet
===========================================================================
The mad, mad, mad, mad agenda of the super-rich - wipe out most of humanity, to make the earth into a giant park for them to live in. Fantasy? Decide for yourself.
In this clip, you will see one of the richest men in the world - Bill Gates - expound on how we must all consent to a 'kill the humans' strategy, to 'save the planet' from the carbon dioxide we make. See his lips move. I'm not kidding. Gates implies at least THREE AND A HALF BILLION people must go. Dead. Gone.
How does Bill Gates propose to carry out this mass extermination of humanity? (Remember Adolph Hitler's minions found it a national challenge just to get rid of six million people.) Gates proposes that vaccines are the preferred method!
If you think Bill Gates is just a lone madman who has been sniffing soldering iron fumes too long, think again. People in power agree with Bill Gates on this. Barack Obama's current science adviser is one - John Holdren. (Remember Barack Obama himself supported infanticide in the case of attempted abortions where the baby survived. Alan Keyes tried to warn the world of Barack Obama's "seared conscience" when it came to human life.)
Ultra-rich Robber Barons and Elitists, I found out, have actually been up to this for a long, long time. Evil lords don't want to share the planet with any more people than they have to. Don't believe me? Check out some of the PDF files and links below, and you will see that this insanity is all too real, and not just for Bill Gates.
Bill Gates puts his money where his mouth is. He had donated huge amounts of money for "development of new vaccines" and their distribution "where children need them." Ten billion dollars over the next ten years - "the benefits... including reducing the population growth... it really allows a society a chance, to take care of itself, once you've made that intervention." (Download the mp3 below of Gates saying this in a CNN interview.)
I was shocked to find that covert vaccine sterilization programs have actually been in testing in third-world countries since about 1995. Thanks to Bill Gates and his accomplices, I'm sure that the technology has advanced quite a bit since then.
https://archive.org/details/WipeOutHumans-BillGates-VaccinesArebestWayToDepopulatePlanet
===========================================================================
The mad, mad, mad, mad agenda of the super-rich - wipe out most of humanity, to make the earth into a giant park for them to live in. Fantasy? Decide for yourself.
In this clip, you will see one of the richest men in the world - Bill Gates - expound on how we must all consent to a 'kill the humans' strategy, to 'save the planet' from the carbon dioxide we make. See his lips move. I'm not kidding. Gates implies at least THREE AND A HALF BILLION people must go. Dead. Gone.
How does Bill Gates propose to carry out this mass extermination of humanity? (Remember Adolph Hitler's minions found it a national challenge just to get rid of six million people.) Gates proposes that vaccines are the preferred method!
If you think Bill Gates is just a lone madman who has been sniffing soldering iron fumes too long, think again. People in power agree with Bill Gates on this. Barack Obama's current science adviser is one - John Holdren. (Remember Barack Obama himself supported infanticide in the case of attempted abortions where the baby survived. Alan Keyes tried to warn the world of Barack Obama's "seared conscience" when it came to human life.)
Ultra-rich Robber Barons and Elitists, I found out, have actually been up to this for a long, long time. Evil lords don't want to share the planet with any more people than they have to. Don't believe me? Check out some of the PDF files and links below, and you will see that this insanity is all too real, and not just for Bill Gates.
Bill Gates puts his money where his mouth is. He had donated huge amounts of money for "development of new vaccines" and their distribution "where children need them." Ten billion dollars over the next ten years - "the benefits... including reducing the population growth... it really allows a society a chance, to take care of itself, once you've made that intervention." (Download the mp3 below of Gates saying this in a CNN interview.)
I was shocked to find that covert vaccine sterilization programs have actually been in testing in third-world countries since about 1995. Thanks to Bill Gates and his accomplices, I'm sure that the technology has advanced quite a bit since then.
https://archive.org/details/WipeOutHumans-BillGates-VaccinesArebestWayToDepopulatePlanet
kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
Join date : 2009-11-09
Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
Re: zika virus
kelee877 Sat Jan 30, 2016 3:15 pm
SCIENTIFIC METHOD / SCIENCE & EXPLORATION
Zika: Here’s what we know about the virus alarming health experts worldwide
Despite a long history, Zika remains an enigmatic, emerging infectious disease
Over the past several months, talk of a little-known virus went from nervous murmurs in the infectious disease community to piercing front-page headlines all over the world. The virus, Zika, quietly slips into its victims during otherwise mundane mosquito bites. Today it's sickening millions as it charges into new territory in the Western Hemisphere.
In its wake, researchers have reported puzzling upticks of a condition that causes full-body paralysis and, in Brazil, a dismaying 20-fold spike in babies born with shrunken heads. Health agencies are now advising travelers to scrap visits to more than 20 beleaguered countries and territories. In the hardest-hit regions, experts are telling women to avoid having children. And the infectious disease community is clamoring for an international effort to stifle the virus, which is “spreading explosively,” according to a Thursday statement by the director of the World Health Organization.
Not even 10 years ago, Zika was a humdrum germ. Researchers originally plucked it from a Ugandan forest in the late 1940s and quickly shelved it. It appeared to rarely cause disease in people, and, when it did, it produced mild symptoms like an unremarkable fever, aches, and a rash. Back then, it was a prosaic malady that blended into Africa’s viral landscape, one already crowded with dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
So what changed? Why is Zika suddenly an invasive scourge that’s inflicting serious harm? More importantly, how do we stop it? Though much about the virus remains a mystery, here’s what we know so far.
Humble start
On April 18, 1947, a caged rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest of Uganda came down with a fever. Though researchers had set the monkey up to be a sentinel for yellow fever, further tests would show that the primate, Rhesus 766, was the first known victim of Zika. The next year, researchers isolated the virus from a mosquito of the Aedes africanus variety—one of the virus' many chauffeurs, as later research would show.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/zika-heres-what-we-know-about-the-virus-alarming-health-experts-worldwide/
Zika: Here’s what we know about the virus alarming health experts worldwide
Despite a long history, Zika remains an enigmatic, emerging infectious disease
Over the past several months, talk of a little-known virus went from nervous murmurs in the infectious disease community to piercing front-page headlines all over the world. The virus, Zika, quietly slips into its victims during otherwise mundane mosquito bites. Today it's sickening millions as it charges into new territory in the Western Hemisphere.
In its wake, researchers have reported puzzling upticks of a condition that causes full-body paralysis and, in Brazil, a dismaying 20-fold spike in babies born with shrunken heads. Health agencies are now advising travelers to scrap visits to more than 20 beleaguered countries and territories. In the hardest-hit regions, experts are telling women to avoid having children. And the infectious disease community is clamoring for an international effort to stifle the virus, which is “spreading explosively,” according to a Thursday statement by the director of the World Health Organization.
Not even 10 years ago, Zika was a humdrum germ. Researchers originally plucked it from a Ugandan forest in the late 1940s and quickly shelved it. It appeared to rarely cause disease in people, and, when it did, it produced mild symptoms like an unremarkable fever, aches, and a rash. Back then, it was a prosaic malady that blended into Africa’s viral landscape, one already crowded with dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
So what changed? Why is Zika suddenly an invasive scourge that’s inflicting serious harm? More importantly, how do we stop it? Though much about the virus remains a mystery, here’s what we know so far.
Humble start
On April 18, 1947, a caged rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest of Uganda came down with a fever. Though researchers had set the monkey up to be a sentinel for yellow fever, further tests would show that the primate, Rhesus 766, was the first known victim of Zika. The next year, researchers isolated the virus from a mosquito of the Aedes africanus variety—one of the virus' many chauffeurs, as later research would show.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/zika-heres-what-we-know-about-the-virus-alarming-health-experts-worldwide/
kelee877- Admin
- Posts : 225
Join date : 2009-11-09
Age : 61
Location : Southern Ontario
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