Articles by "US"
2020 agriculture air air pollution alien Amazing android animals apes app Archaeology Arctic circle ash dieback Atmosphere Attack Australia bacteria BBC beautiful beauty biodiversity biology Canada case studies causes chalk writing chernobyl disaster china climate climate change conservation conserve convenient coronavirus cosmic countries COVID 19 cryosphere cyclones difference earth earth day earth hazards EarthScience EC TALKS Ecology ecowatch Ecowatch education effects electric cars electricity endangered species energy engineers env issues env management env news environment Environmental Science evidence Evolution Evolutionary Biology ezymes facts Fanal fear fear of failure fires food forest forset fossil & ruins galaxies garbage global problem gorillas greece green revolution greenland Human Evolution hurricanes hydraulic press ice impacts Incredible industrial revolution information insects interesting facts invaders IPCC italy land land pollution landscapes light lockdown Locusts locusts v/s grasshopper loss Madeira mammals marine motivation mouse Mutation mystery nano scale NASA national geographic Nature Newyork Nitrogen dioxide NMR noise noise pollution ocean oceans oil spill old trees olive orangutans pacific Pakistan pandemic park peace petrochemicals photography Pink lakes planet plants plastic plastic pollution playstore poem pollution ponder protect Rachel Summer rain forest Ramadan kareem recycling renewable research researchers rodents Russia safe practices SAS satisfaction save science situation size social distancing Solar system solution solutions Soothing south korea stars statistics success symptoms technology the Azores the Canary Islands think tank treatment tree planting trees Turtles types UK UK govt ukraine UNESCO US virus water water pollution WHO wildfires wildlife William Wordsworth woodlands WWF Zoo zoology
Twitter Facebook

May 07, 2020 , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Researchers in the US and UK have identified hundreds of mutations to the virus which causes the disease Covid-19.

But none has yet established what this will mean for virus spread in the population and for how effective a vaccine might be.
Viruses mutate - it's what they do.
The question is: which of these mutations actually do anything to change the severity or infectiousness of the disease?
Preliminary research from the US has suggested one particular mutation - D614G - is becoming dominant and could make the disease more infectious.
It hasn't yet been reviewed by other scientists and formally published.
The researchers, from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, have been tracking changes to the "spike" of the virus that gives it its distinctive shape, using a database called the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID).
They noted there seems to be something about this particular mutation that makes it grow more quickly - but the consequences of this are not yet clear.
The research team analysed UK data from coronavirus patients in Sheffield. Although they found people with that particular mutation of the virus seemed to have a larger amount of the virus in their samples, they didn't find evidence that those people became sicker or stayed in hospital for longer.

'Mutations not a bad thing'

Another study from University College London (UCL) identified 198 recurring mutations to the virus.
One of its authors, Professor Francois Balloux, said: "Mutations in themselves are not a bad thing and there is nothing to suggest SARS-CoV-2 is mutating faster or slower than expected.
"So far, we cannot say whether SARS-CoV-2 is becoming more or less lethal and contagious."
A study from the University of Glasgow, which also analysed mutations, said these changes did not amount to different strains of the virus. They concluded that only one type of the virus is currently circulating.
Monitoring small changes to the structure of the virus is important in understanding the development of vaccines.
Take the 'flu virus: it mutates so fast that the vaccine has to be adjusted every year to deal with the specific strain in circulation.

Drug development

Many of the Covid-19 vaccines currently in development target the distinctive spikes of the virus - the idea is that getting your body to recognise a unique element of the spike will help it to fight off the whole virus. But if that spike is changing, a vaccine developed this way could become less effective.
At the moment this is all theoretical. Scientists don't yet have enough information to say what changes to the virus's genome will mean.
Dr Lucy van Dorp, UCL study co-author, said being able to analyse a large number of virus genomes could be "invaluable to drug development efforts".
However, she told the BBC: "I love genomes, but there is only so much they can say."
Source: By Rachel Schraer
Health reporterDate: 6th May, 2020
Twitter Facebook

May 03, 2020 , , , , ,
Experts warn remdesivir shouldn't be seen as a "magic bullet"

The US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized emergency use of the Ebola drug remdesivir for treating the coronavirus.

The authorization means the anti-viral drug can now be used on people who are hospitalized with severe Covid-19.
A recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who were seriously ill.
However, it did not significantly improve survival rates.
Experts have warned the drug - which was originally developed to treat Ebola, and is produced by Gilead pharmaceutical company in California - should not be seen as a "magic bullet" for coronavirus.
The drug interferes with the virus's genome, disrupting its ability to replicate.
During a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day said the FDA authorization was an important first step.
The company would donate 1.5 million vials of the drug, he said.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn also said at the meeting: "It's the first authorized therapy for Covid-19, so we're really proud to be part of it."
Emergency FDA authorization is not the same as formal approval, which requires a higher level of review.

What do we know about remdesivir?

The drug did not cure Ebola, and Gilead says on its website: "Remdesivir is an experimental medicine that does not have established safety or efficacy for the treatment of any condition." Gilead also warns of possible serious side-effects.
However, President Trump has been a vocal supporter of remdesivir as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.
In its clinical trial, whose full results are yet to be released, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) found that remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11.
The trials involved 1,063 people at hospitals around the world - including the US, France, Italy, the UK, China and South Korea. Some patients were given the drug and others were given a placebo (dummy) treatment.
Dr Anthony Fauci who runs NIAID, said that remdesivir had "a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery".
However, although remdesivir may aid recovery - and possibly stop people having to be treated in intensive care - the trials did not give any clear indication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus.
As much remains uncertain about the treatment regime, Gilead suggests a 10-day dosing duration for patients on ventilators and five days for patients who are not.

Could other countries use remdesivir?

The FDA's jurisdiction does not stretch overseas so the authorization only applies to US. Experts also stressed that the emergency use is not the same as full approval.
Gilead says it is currently using up existing stocks of the drug, and the supply is limited. The US government will co-ordinate distribution of remdesivir to hospitals in US cities most heavily impacted by Covid-19.
So it is not clear how much of the drug could be distributed worldwide, nor at what price.
Gilead says it is donating 1.5 million individual doses of remdesivir, which "equates to more than 140,000 treatment courses that will be provided at no cost". The emergency distribution in the US is included in that.
But worldwide there are more than three million confirmed cases, in 185 countries.
Gilead says it is striving to expand production rapidly, with global partners.
The company aims to produce at least 500,000 treatment courses by October, 1 million treatment courses by December 2020 and millions more in 2021, if required.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a US body which studies drug prices, estimated the cost of a 10-day course of remdesivir at $10 (£8), but suggested a cost-effective price could be as much as $4,500, based on the clinical trials.
Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said the move "shows the importance of exploring the use of existing therapeutics when new pathogens emerge".
"This is an important step in options available to clinicians to treat those hospitalized with Covid-19. The data shows that many hospitalized patients will die, so although the effectiveness of remdesivir is limited, it may be a useful addition as an option for treatment."
Source: BBC NEWS
Date: 2nd May, 2020
Twitter Facebook

April 07, 2020 , , , , , , , , , ,

A four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus.


The tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with Covid-19 in the US.
The Bronx Zoo, in New York City, says the test result was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa.
Nadia, along with six other big cats, is thought to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper.
The cats started showing symptoms, including a dry cough, late last month after exposure to the employee, who has not been identified.
"This is the first time that any of us know of anywhere in the world that a person infected the animal and the animal got sick," Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.
There have been isolated instances of pets testing positive for the coronavirus elsewhere in the world, but experts have stressed there is no evidence they can become sick or spread the disease.
Mr Calle said he intends to share the findings with other zoos and institutions researching the transmission of Covid-19.
  • Tiger King star in virus isolation, husband says
  • Pangolins carry strains related to new coronavirus
"We tested the cat [Nadia] out of an abundance of caution and will ensure any knowledge we gain about Covid-19 will contribute to the world's continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus," the zoo said in a statement.
Nadia, her sister Azul, as well as two Amur tigers and three African lions who showed symptoms, are all expected to make a full recovery, the zoo said.
The big cats did have some decrease in appetite but "are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers", it said.
The zoo said it is not known how the virus will develop in animals like tigers and lions since various species can react differently to new infections, but all the animals will be closely monitored.
None of the zoo's other big cats are showing any signs of illness. All the tigers showing symptoms were housed in the zoo's Tiger Mountain area. It is unclear if the others will be tested.
All four zoos run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York City, including the Bronx Zoo, have been closed to the public since 16 March. New measures will now be put in place to protect the animals and their caretakers at all the facilities.
  • Calls to protect great apes from coronavirus
  • Shenzhen becomes first Chinese city to ban eating cats and dogs
  • Coronavirus: Five things you need to know

What do we know about animals and the virus?

This coronavirus was first detected in humans in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The coronavirus (called Sars-CoV-2, which causes the disease Covid-19) is thought to have originated in wildlife and been passed to humans via a live animal market in Wuhan.
The pandemic has been driven by human-to-human transmission, but the infection of Nadia raises new questions about human-to-animal transmission.

There have been less than a handful of isolated reports of companion animals testing positive for coronavirus, including two dogs in Hong Kong.
There is "no evidence that any person has been infected with Covid-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats," the zoo's statement noted.
That is also the view of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), which says there is no evidence that pet dogs or cats can pass on the coronavirus.
The World Organisation for Animal Health says studies are under way to understand the issue more. and urges anyone who has become sick to limit contact with pets.
Dr Sarah Caddy, Veterinarian and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, is among experts to respond to the reports.
"It is surprising that the tiger has become infected with what must have been a fairly low dose of virus - we can assume the tiger did not have continual close contact with the asymptomatic zoo keeper," she said about the transmission.
"It is also interesting that the tiger showed clinical signs consistent with Covid-19 in humans. Although scientific proof is lacking, the chance this is just a coincidence is low."
Conservation experts have warned that the virus could pose a threat to some wildlife like the great apes - and have said measures are needed to reduce the risk of wild gorillas, chimps and orangutans.
Source: BBC News
Date: 6th April, 2020

MKRdezign

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Powered by Blogger.
Javascript DisablePlease Enable Javascript To See All Widget