Two groundbreaking discoveries by USC researchers could lead to medications and a vaccine to treat or prevent a hemorrhagic fever transmitted by a new tick species before it spreads across the United States.
In the Jan. 7 Nature Microbiology, researchers describe the molecular mechanisms used by the virus to infect and sicken humans, a puzzle that has stumped scientists since the disease emerged in rural China in 2009.
In a related discovery published in Nature Microbiology last month, researchers at USC and in Korea found that aged ferrets with the virus exhibit symptoms similar to those seen in older humans, while young ferrets show no clinical symptoms. An animal model in which to study the virus, a crucial tool in vaccine or drug discovery, has been elusive, until now.
"The ticks are already in the United States. If they start spreading the virus, it will be a major problem," said Jae Jung, the study's senior author and chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "I started studying this virus five years ago because once it appeared in China, I knew it would eventually appear in the United States."
The findings come at a time when health officials are increasingly concerned about the growing danger of tick-borne illnesses. In the United States, Lyme disease accounts for most cases, but other illnesses are on the rise. The total number of reported cases has more than doubled in the past 13 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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2 comments:
Health officials are not increasingly concerned about tick-borne illnesses. If they were they would tell the truth about the epidemic of chronic Lyme disease cases. As it stands now, they say it doesn't even exist. Try telling that to a person who has had it for 10 years, such as myself. I have Lyme, Bartonella infection, and Borrelia that I know of. I could actually have a few more as a tick can carry 4-5 different diseases which it can transmit when it bites. As long as they continue to say the disease doesn't exist the insurance companies do not have to pay for any type of treatments and let me tell you they are expensive. Most people with chronic Lyme will go through everything they have just trying to stay alive. We aren't all in the Hadid family.
first off if our government really cared we wouldn't be letting these people from turd world countries keep coming here and bringing these horrible diseases with them! how come schumer and pelosi never get them? it's called professional courtesy! from one blood sucking parasite to another!
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