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Documents show concerns about Ebola shipment from National Microbiology Lab, no relation to COVID-19 (according to the CBC) Newly-released access to information documents reveal details about a shipment of deadly pathogens last year from Canada's National Microbiology Lab to China — confirming for the first time who sent them, what exactly was shipped, and where it went. CBC News had already reported about the shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses but there's now confirmation one of the scientists escorted from the lab in Winnipeg amid an RCMP investigation last July was responsible for exporting the pathogens to the Wuhan Institute...

Two Canadian government scientists escorted from the National Microbiology Laboratory amidst an RCMP investigation and internal review have been let go from the Public Health Agency of Canada, CBC News has learned. "The two scientists are no longer employed by the Public Health Agency of Canada as of Jan. 20, 2021," Eric Morrissette, chief of media relations for Health Canada and PHAC, confirmed in an email late Friday. "We cannot disclose additional information, nor comment further, for reasons of confidentiality." Sources say members of the lab's special pathogens unit were called to a meeting on Thursday and told that Dr....

Měnglà, Ebola and the lesser-known Marburg are all related as members of the filovirus family. There is no evidence yet that it has spread to humans. Filoviruses are extremely pathogenic and can cause severe fevers that are often fatal. It is at least the seventh filovirus that has been found, of which four are known to cause disease in people, according to the CDC. Like Měnglà, Ebola is thought to have originated in bats. The viruses are typically spread by infected bodily fluids. Researchers are now focusing their efforts on understanding how bats could contribute to a possible epidemic.

Military conventional wisdom, in addition to ACSH President (and former Army officer) Hank Campbell, likes to remind us, “Governments are always fighting the last war.” They have a good point. Fifteen years after 9/11, we still ban non-ticketed passengers from entering airport terminals. Ten years after a failed attack in 2006, we cannot bring more than 3.4 oz of liquids onto an airplane, a policy that has resulted in TSA confiscating gigantic piles of 4-oz cups of applesauce. We continue to remove our shoes 15 years after the Shoe Bomber, but thankfully the Underwear Bomber didn’t provoke a similar “remove...

Ebola, Marburg viruses edit genetic material during infectionFiloviruses like Ebola "edit" genetic material as they invade their hosts, according to a study published this week in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The work, by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Galveston National Laboratory, and the J. Craig Venter Institute, could lead to a better understanding of these viruses, paving the way for new treatments down the road. Using a laboratory technique called deep sequencing, investigators set out to investigate filovirus replication and transcription, processes involved in the virus...

Angola: Marburg hemorrhagic fever death toll reaches 150 ----------------------------------------------- The outbreak of [Marburg hemorrhagic fever] has intensified in Angola, claiming more than 20 lives over the past 3 days [1-3 Apr 2005], taking the nationwide toll to 150. "In total, we have registered 163 cases, of whom 150 have died," Angola's Vice Health Minister Jose Van-Dunem told reporters on Sun 3 Apr 2005. The official toll had stood at 130 on Friday [1 Apr 2005]. The Marburg outbreak has claimed a record number of lives in Angola, overtaking an earlier peak in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. "A 4th...