Author: Sarah Spencer

From CBS News March 8, 2019 It was late 2015 when communities in northeast Brazil started noticing an alarming increase in babies born with an unusual and devastating type of…

From CBS SF Bay Area March 7, 2019 TUCSON, Ariz. (CBS Local) — Scientists say they’ve taken a major step toward developing a “mosquito birth control” drug to curb the spread…

From Vox March 7, 2019 Climate change, urbanization, and changes in human populations have driven many beloved species to the brink of extinction. But one of the deadliest animals in the world —…

From Synbiobeta March 6, 2019 It seems as though every year there is another story of a virus rampaging through Africa, Asia, or even the Americas. And each time another Ebola outbreak…

From Precision Vaccinations March 6, 2019 March 6th, 2019 – An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Moritz Kraemer, have used statistical mapping techniques to predict where infectious disease-carrying mosquitoes…

From the Infectious Disease Advisor March 4, 2019 When surveyed about participation in a hypothetic Zika vaccine clinical trial, pregnant participants placed a high premium on clinical evidence and pregnancy-specific…

From Science Advances February 27, 2019 Zika virus (ZIKV) belongs to the family of Flaviviridae, which includes other arboviruses, such as dengue virus (DENV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and West…

From The Lancet February 27, 2019 Background Little is known about the historical and current risk of Zika virus infection in southeast Asia, where the mosquito vector is widespread and…

From the Neurology Times February 26, 2019 Most infants who are exposed prenatally to Zika virus and do not develop microcephaly have normal neurodevelopment. But roughly 20% do not, and…

From NBC News February 21, 2019 As Venezuela grapples with an escalating humanitarian and political crisis, experts are warning about a surge in potentially deadly diseases transmitted by insects that…

From Pest Control Technology February 20, 2019 Flies, ants, and mosquitoes caused the most widespread problems among US households according to a recent study by Organic Lesson. The three insects were…

From AZ Big Media February 18, 2019 Every day is a challenge for Bruce Gran, 52, who was diagnosed with West Nile virus seven years ago. “From Day 1, it’s…

From Contagion Live February 14, 2019 As several Zika virus vaccine candidates undergo clinical trials, a group of investigators is taking an alternate approach to quell transmission by genetically engineering…

From The Verge February 13, 2019 The recently announced Green New Deal, a resolution to help address the threats of climate change, gives public health advocates a chance to confront…

From The Daily Tar Heel February 11, 2019 A team of UNC researchers filed a patent for a potential Zika virus vaccine in late January. No vaccine or treatment exists…

From KSAT February 10, 2019 SAN ANTONIO – A groundbreaking new study could soon take the guessing out of Zika treatment. The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio is working with a team at…

From NPR February 7, 2019 Splat! A lucky strike and the telltale red splodge that your nightly tormentor has sucked its last blood vessel. Staring at the mess on the…

From the Campbell Patch February 7, 2019 SAN JOSE, CA –Heads up Santa Clara County residents. The Vector Control District has started its annual program Thursday to prevent the onslaught…

From the New Atlas February 6, 2019 Scientists in Australia are looking at some pretty creative ways to tackle the Zika virus, which continues to pose a risk to millions…

From Stanford Medicine February 6, 2019 The Zika virus, which made headlines in 2016 following an outbreak in South America, is transmitted by mosquitos and can cause serious birth defects and neurological…

From EurekAlert! February 4, 2019 During the Zika virus outbreak of 2015-16, public health officials scrambled to contain the epidemic and curb the pathogen’s devastating effects on pregnant women. At…

From the Stanford Blood Center January 30, 2019 TRACKING THE EPIDEMIC In 2016, the world was in the midst of a Zika outbreak, with the largest occurring in 2016 in…

From The Hindu January 30, 2019 Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have found a drug hydroxychloroquine or HCQ, that is already being used for treating malaria to…

From Texas Public Radio January 29, 2019 A Texas Biomedical Research Institute scientist is helping develop a test for the Zika virus that has been called “a lab on a chip.” The new technology…

From The Malibu Times January 27, 2019 Barbara Edelston Yaroslavsky, wife of longtime LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, died in late December. Yaroslavsky, 71, was herself a longtime community leader,…

From EDF.org January 24, 2019 This year will be like no other for me: I’ll be without my dad. His recent death in Yolo County, California, intersected with my work…

From the Miami Herald January 22, 2019 As scientists continue to study the relatively novel Zika virus, researchers have found that children with a history of prior dengue infection had…

From KYMA January 21, 2019 PHOENIX (AP) – A new study suggests that a strain of the West Nile virus is going to remain in Arizona’s most populous county for the…

From Health24 January 21, 2019 Ultrasounds and MRIs during pregnancy and after birth can detect most Zika-related brain abnormalities in infants, researchers report. Foetal MRIs and ultrasound If a woman…

From Science News January 16, 2019 Molecules made by bacteria keep mosquitoes at bay. The compounds are a newfound potential stand-in for DEET, a ubiquitous chemical used in most commercially…

From Penn State News January 14, 2019 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A cellular protein that interacts with invading viruses appears to help enable the infection process of the Zika virus,…

From Digital Trends January 12, 2019 A new development in molecular biology is a step towards enabling mobile and instant diagnosis of viruses like Ebola or Zika in the field. The Oxford Nanopore MinION device can…

From the Signal Tribune January 11, 2019 Even though the annoyance of mosquitoes never seems to go away, residents finally have good news in the war against the buzzing pests.…

From the Medical News Bulletin January 9, 2019 Researchers from the United States utilized ribosome display technology to generate six antibodies that could diagnose and treat Zika virus. Zika virus…

From Smarter Travel January 7, 2019 On a recent trip to Southeast Asia, I saw signs warning about Zika transmission and realized that it had been over a year since…

From the New York Times January 7, 2019 The mosquito-borne virus that causes Rift Valley fever may severely injure human fetuses if contracted by mothers during pregnancy, according to new…

From EurekAlert! January 4, 2019 After collecting data and comparing it with every known mammal and bird species on Earth, scientists from the University of California, Davis, have identified wildlife…

From the Long Beach Post January 3, 2019 For the first time in nearly a decade, Long Beach reported no cases of West Nile virus in 2018, health officials said…

From Lancaster Online January 3, 2019 Almost three years since the Zika virus burst onto the international news, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention show zero Pennsylvania cases…

From Science News January 3, 2019 When an outbreak of a viral hemorrhagic fever hit Nigeria in 2018, scientists were ready: They were already in the country testing new disease-tracking…