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Chinese researchers have discovered what they say is the first ‘virological penicillin’ – MIR2911, a molecule found naturally in a Chinese herb called honeysuckle. Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is a well-known Chinese herb. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been used to effectively treat influenza infection for centuries. Several previous studies have confirmed that the herb, usually consumed in the form of a tea, can suppress the replication of influenza virus. However, the active anti-viral components and the mechanism by which they block viral replication have remained unclear. Now, a team of researchers headed by Dr Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanjing University...

Connecticut placed six West Africans who recently arrived in the United States under quarantine for possible Ebola exposure, a move that comes as the United States starts new restrictions on those coming from the countries hardest hit by the deadly virus. The family of six West Africans, who arrived Saturday and were planning to live in the United States, will be watched for 21 days, Connecticut state health authorities said Thursday. Officials have yet to say where the family came from. ... Ebola fears have also touched one of the world's most reclusive countries, North Korea, which will bar entry...

The monstrous Islamist group, ISIS, shares the lunatic left’s enthusiasm for Ebola The Ebola outbreak has stirred worldwide concern—and panic in some quarters. It is by far the largest outbreak of the deadly disease in recorded history. The media have jumped on the story for its obvious headline value, but at the same time they have served us poorly by misreporting, minimizing or simply refusing to report this administration’s glaring failure to protect American citizens. So what are the facts, and what kind of response can we expect from official Washington? Just the Facts

Ebola plush toys fly off the shelf for Connecticut company It may be the only time you will find these words in the same sentence: "Ebola" and "Add to Wishlist." Giantmicrobes Inc., which makes a line of plush toys based on viruses and other microscopic organisms, has sold out its entire Ebola stock, including the small Ebola doll for $9.95, a Gigantic Ebola doll for $29.95 and an Ebola Petri Dish toy for $14.95, according to the company's website. "Since its discovery in 1976, Ebola has become the T. Rex of microbes," says the Stamford, Connecticut-based maker of the "uniquely...

A new aggressive daytime-biting mosquito capable of transmitting debilitating and possibly deadly viruses has been found in the Los Angeles region, officials announced Wednesday. Known as yellow fever mosquitoes, the insects were found Oct. 7 and 8 in Commerce and Pico Rivera, respectively, according to the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District. The Aedes aegypti species, which has black and white stripes and grows to about a quarter-inch in size, can transmit dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever -- viruses that can cause painful symptoms including headaches and high fever, officials said. "While these debilitating viruses, so far, aren't locally...

The first outbreak was in Kentucky. Then, through some transmission mechanism which remains unidentified, it spread to Georgia. Now, despite the best Democrat efforts to establish some sort of quarantine or containment, the affliction seems to have made the jump to the Mountain State. West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant can’t seem to choke out the name of the person she voted for in the last two presidential elections. Citing Grimes’s mishaps, the Charleston Daily Mail editorial board asked during a candidates’ forum whether the candidates would be willing to say whom they last supported for president. Republican...

Remember in this darkest of hours that what happened at the Synod does not make the enemies of Mother Church right. It just makes Pope Francis so tragically wrong There’s a bitterly cold, ill wind blowing all over the land and another brutal winter lurking ‘round the corner. The ill wind is raising up dust devils of a most hideous nature. The most worrisome dust devil of the moment is Ebola, which the United Nations-run World Health Organization (WHO) predicts will have spread to 1 million by this January. To the international scare mongers living la dolce vita at the...

The world’s leading news aggregator always stays on top of the most important stories in the world. With over a billion monthly visitors to his web site at DrudgeReport.com, it’s why thousands of media organizations follow his every post. Though seemingly a private person, there is no doubt that Matt Drudge has the inside scoop on many goings on in Washington and around the country. With contacts in high places, it stands to reason that the man behind the largest news source on the planet might get a heads up about key developments every so often. Yesterday, after having completely...

A plane from Nigeria landed at JFK Airport Thursday with a male passenger aboard who had died during the flight after a fit of vomiting — and CDC officials conducted a “cursory” exam before announcing there was no Ebola and turning the corpse over to Port Authority cops to remove, Rep. Peter King said on Thursday. The congressman was so alarmed by the incident — and by what he and employees see as troubling Ebola vulnerabilities at JFK — that he fired off a letter to the federal Department of Homeland Security demanding more training and tougher protocols for handling...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The current Ebola outbreak is “running much faster” than the international response to it, the co-discoverer of the virus said Thursday. “This is the first Ebola epidemic where entire nations are involved, where big cities are affected,” Peter Piot, a microbiologist and a former undersecretary general of the United Nations, told Global Public Square host Fareed Zakaria. “And I continue to be worried that the response to the epidemic is really running behind the virus.” According to the World Health Organization’s latest update, there have been almost 9,000 confirmed and suspected cases, with almost 4,500 deaths. However, the WHO warned...

"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden began his grilling Thursday on Capitol Hill with a stark admission that his agency is still searching for ways to combat the Ebola virus as it burrows into the United States. Two members of Congress are calling for his resignation, and the White House began the torturous process of throwing him under the disease-control bus on Thursday afternoon, saying that Frieden is 'taking responsibility' for his agency's screwups. 'We're always open to ideas for what we can do to keep Americans safe,' Frieden said in his opening statement, departing from...

I am asking Freepers for help in diagnosing the mysterious illness that doctors have failed to diagnose thus far. Our 3-year-old grandson has been sick for several days with high fever, a rash that started on his face but has now spread to his entire body, loss of appetite, and now peeling skin around his eyes, nose and mouth. His fever is minimal during the day, but starts to increase in the afternoon and gets close to 103. He has been to the doctor several times, had a strep test that came back negative, and was taken to the local...

President Barack Obama, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NiH) keep reiterating that we the American people need not worry about the Ebola virus – that it stands no chance of blowing up across the country. President Obama himself said, “The chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low.” According to HealthDay, back in late July, CDC official Stephan Monroe asserted that “the fact that most flights between West Africa and the United States require one or more stops in other countries make it unlikely that a sick person...

This Ebola outbreak is being called the “most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times“, and the U.S. health care system is completely and totally unprepared for it. The truth is that most U.S. hospitals are simply not equipped to safely handle Ebola patients, and most hospital staff members have received little or no training on Ebola. And the fact that Barack Obama and our top public health officials are running around proclaiming that Ebola is “difficult to catch” is giving doctors and nurses a false sense of security. There is a reason why Ebola has been classified as...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Michigan toddler Madeline Reid died Friday in her parents' arms. Doctors say she'd been battling Enterovirus D-68 when her heart failed. Lab tests will have to confirm the Enterovirus was directly responsible for the death of Madeline, 4-year-old Eli Waller of New Jersey, and 4 others. Nearly 700 people, mostly kids, have been infected with Enterovirus D-68 in 46 states....

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The first case of Ebola transmitted between patients in America has experts across the country reviewing safety protocols. At Purdue University, Dr. David Sanders has been studying the virus since 2003 – specifically how this particular Zaire strain of Ebola enters human cells. While the virus has thus far only been shown to be transferred via bodily fluids, Sanders argues that it could become airborne. "It can enter the lung from the airway side," Sanders said. "So this argues that Ebola is primed to have respiratory transmission. "We need to be taking this into consideration," he...

An NBC news crew that was exposed to a cameraman with the deadly Ebola virus has been forced to undergo a mandatory quarantine. The group, which includes chief medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman had been asked to isolate itself for 21 days after their colleague Ashoka Mukpo was diagnosed with Ebola this month. But someone in the NBC crew violated the voluntary agreement forcing New Jersey officials to step in and issue a mandatory quarantine order on Friday night.

AbstractIn March 2014, the World Health Organization was notified of an outbreak of a communicable disease characterized by fever, severe diarrhea, vomiting, and a high fatality rate in Guinea. Virologic investigation identified Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) as the causative agent. Full-length genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that EBOV from Guinea forms a separate clade in relationship to the known EBOV strains from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. Epidemiologic investigation linked the laboratory-confirmed cases with the presumed first fatality of the outbreak in December 2013. This study demonstrates the emergence of a new EBOV strain in Guinea.

A British man suspected of being the first UK citizen to die of Ebola did not have the deadly virus, officials have confirmed today. Colin Jaffray, 58, from Royston, Cambridgeshire, was struck down with a fever, vomiting and internal bleeding during a business trip to Macedonia - and died in hospital on Thursday evening. Officials in Skopje say that although the cause of death was not known, it is thought that a drinking binge may have played a part in his death.

A virus that killed millions of baby pigs in the last year and led to higher pork prices has waned thanks to warmer weather and farmers’ efforts to sterilize their operations. And as pigs’ numbers increase, sticker shock on things like bacon should ease. Already, hog supplies are on the rise, with 5.46 million baby pigs born between June and August in Iowa, the nation’s leading producer—the highest quarterly total in 20 years and a record 10.7 surviving pigs per litter, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. It’s a significant turnaround from a year ago when the porcine...