Zimbabwe: Chaos In New Cholera Outbreak, Reports Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

A second cholera outbreak has hit Chegutu, a town 100 km west of Harare, where more than 100 people have died since the first cases appeared on November 24. MSF arrived in Chegutu, which has a population of 55,000, on December 12 after being told that day of the cholera emergency there. The scene MSF found at the town's small government cholera treatment center (CTC) was grim. Read more ...

The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared on 25 December an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Mweka District, Kasai Occidental province based on laboratory results from the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF) in Gabon. CIRMF confirmed the presence of Ebola virus in 2 samples from 2 of the patients in the outbreak by antigen detection. Read more ...

Scientists in Japan are reporting an advance toward using a natural disease-fighting protein in pills or syrups that patients can take by mouth rather than injection. Their study is the first to show that coating the protein with a polymer material already in wide medical use can increase its absorption by the intestine. The research appears in the current issue of ACS' Bioconjugate Chemistry, a monthly journal. Read more ...

Two Cardiovascular Proteins Pose A Double Whammy In Alzheimer's

Researchers have found that two proteins which work in tandem in the brain's blood vessels present a double whammy in Alzheimer's disease. Not only do the proteins lessen blood flow in the brain, but they also reduce the rate at which the brain is able to remove amyloid beta, the protein that builds up in toxic quantities in the brains of patients with the disease. The work, described in a paper published online Dec. Read more ...

News From The Journals Of The American Society For Microbiology

News From The Journals Of The American Society For Microbiology
Killer Peptide May Offer New Therapy Against Influenza A Virus In a new study researchers identified what appears to be the first antibody-derived peptide that inhibits the activities of harmful microbes such as influenza A virus and HIV-1. They report their findings in the December 2008 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.