Posted on 01/08/2019 9:26:55 PM PST by null and void
Researchers from Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School, in collaboration with scientists in China, have identified and characterised a new genus of filovirus from a Rousettus bat in China. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
Bat-borne viruses around the world pose a threat to human and animal health. Filoviruses, especially Ebola virus and Marburg virus, are notoriously pathogenic and capable of causing severe and often fatal fever diseases in humans by affecting many organs and damaging blood vessels.
"Studying the genetic diversity and geographic distribution of bat-borne filoviruses is very important for risk assessment and outbreak prevention as this type of infectious disease can affect the general public without warning with devastating consequences," said Professor Wang Lin-Fa, Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Signature Research Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, and a senior author of the study.
The researchers discovered the new virus while analysing the diversity of filoviruses in Rousettus bats. They named it the Měnglà virus because it was discovered in Měnglà County, Yunnan Province, China. They detected the virus from a bat sample and conducted sequencing and functional characterization studies.
The results showed that the Měnglà virus represents a new genus named Dianlovirus within the filovirus group. The Měnglà virus is genetically distinct, sharing just 32%-54% of its genetic sequence with other known filoviruses. It is found in different geographic locations compared to other filoviruses. This new genus, which could include more than one species, sits in between Ebola virus and Marburg virus on the evolutionary tree.
The researchers tested the Měnglà virus in cell lines from various animal species and found that, like other filoviruses, it poses a potential risk of interspecies transmission.
The results confirmed that the Měnglà virus is evolutionarily closely related to Ebola virus and Marburg virus and shares several important functional similarities with them. For example, the genome organisation of the Měnglà virus is consistent with other filoviruses, coding for seven genes. The Měnglà virus also uses the same molecular receptor, a protein called NPC1, as Ebola virus and Marburg virus to gain entry into cells and cause infection.
"The early identification of the filovirus from Rousettus bats by Prof Wang and researchers in China is one of the many strong research collaborations the Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme at Duke-NUS engages in," noted Professor Patrick Casey, Senior Vice Dean of Research, Duke-NUS Medical School. "With globalisation, it is important to identify and assess the risk of potential infectious disease outbreaks and, from it, develop effective controls strategies and treatments."
At present, the virus has only been identified in Rousettus bats in China. Further tests will be conducted to assess the risk of the virus spreading to other species.
[[A few weeks ago I found a lucky penny covered in batshit.]]
I hope ya licked it- supposed to lick it for the good luck to activate-
seems like someone shoulda had an oopsie and turned the gas stove on and opened the attic door
The side of the path was fenced off and I noticed these mounds with openings. I passed about four of them and then the path was completely, fenced off with a sign, that was difficult to read because it was at a distance behind the fence (teenagers will take anything) which read: This land is a protected preserve for bats (which would look cool on my terrace).
When I started to leave I found a lucky penny mostly covered in batsh*t (considering where I found it).
My wife said that is where the Berlin Dracula must live. I told her I am going to dig up the mounds till I find his crypt and then use a heavy mallet to drive a large wooden stake through his scrotum.
After, I bought two scratch tickets for a euro each. The first was a euro winner and the second was a two euro winner. I scratched them New Years Day and wished I had bought more. Like a thousand.
Not news.
Researchers from Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School, in collaboration with scientists in China,
have identified and characterised a new genus of filovirus from a Rousettus bat in China.
Their findings were published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
Bat-borne viruses around the world pose a threat to human and animal health.
Filoviruses, especially Ebola virus and Marburg virus, are notoriously pathogenic and capable of causing severe and often fatal fever diseases in humans by affecting many organs and damaging blood vessels.
Researchers named it the Měnglà virus because it was discovered in Měnglà County, Yunnan Province, China.
The Měnglà virus is genetically distinct, sharing just 32%-54% of its genetic sequence with other known filoviruses.
It is found in different geographic locations compared to other filoviruses.
This new genus, which could include more than one species, sits in between Ebola virus and Marburg virus on the evolutionary tree.
The Měnglà virus also uses the same molecular receptor, a protein called NPC1, as Ebola virus and Marburg virus to gain entry into cells and cause infection.
p
Bat scat less a problem than bat livers apparently...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00022-2
Thanks for the ping.
I first became interested in deadly viruses when I read Richard Preston’s book “The Hot Zone” many years ago. I try to read every non-fiction book on this subject.
My interest led to two of my children becoming microbiologists and both entered research doing genetic engineering and cloning, my daughter with NIH and Cornell University Med School doing cloning research on Malaria and Babasia.
I have an interesting experience I would like some feedback on. Please keep the Nutty comments to yourself.
Ever since I died of meningitis 30 + years ago my brain changed in that my GABA inhibitory neurons no longer restricted the action potential firing rate of my pyramidal neurons resulting in my consciousness going into the much higher gamma frequencies. This changed my perception of reality to the extent that consciousness itself is a physical object to my perception, including stored memories of people’s past experiences.
My observation has been that viruses have a separate consciousness from the host they parasitically inhabit. The frequency is different. I feel them like a glob and they move around similar to a swarm of gnats. Does this make sense to anyone?
Don’t take the brown acid.
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