viral

Marburg virus in Egyptian fruit bats

Marburg virus has been isolated from Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) living in Kitaka Cave, Uganda, demonstrating that bats are a natural reservoir of the virus. Marburg virus, the founding member of the Filoviridae, is an enveloped virus with a negative-strand RNA genome. Other members of the filovirus family are the five species of ebolavirus. Filoviruses …

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CDC wants the public to comment on H1N1 vaccination

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would like to know what the public feels about the impending H1N1 influenza vaccination program this fall. The agency plans to conduct ten meetings in different parts of the United States to learn if the public would like a massive vaccination campaign, or a reduced effort. The meetings …

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TWiV 43: Virus classification

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier In episode 43 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent and Dick explain virus classification, and revisit the 1976 swine flu immunization campaign and Guillain-Barre syndrome. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV043.mp3″] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #43 (32 MB .mp3, 46 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV …

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Influenza neuraminidase and H5N1 pathogenicity

There are two glycoproteins embedded in the influenza viral membrane: the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The NA, shown in yellow in the illustration, is an enzyme that removes sialic acids from the surface of the cell, so that newly formed virions can be released. The NA protein is composed of a box-like head attached …

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