Health research:What salamanders can teach us about baseball ♦ One very brainy bird ♦ Is testosterone therapy safe?

What salamanders can teach us about baseball Researchers have increased our understanding of how people and animals deal with sensorimotor delay in day-to-day interactions by analyzing the hunting skills of salamanders.

One very brainy bird A new study has found pigeons performed as well as humans in categorizing digitized slides and mammograms of benign and malignant human breast tissue.

Weekday sleep changes may raise risk of diabetes, heart disease Monday mornings could be harmful to your health. Even routine sleep changes such as waking up early for work during the week may raise the risk of developing metabolic problems such as diabetes and heart disease.

Is testosterone therapy safe? The increasing use of testosterone replacement therapy to treat reduced testosterone level in older men has been accompanied by growing concerns over its long-term safety. The findings of two studies examining the health risks of receiving testosterone are presented by scientists

FDA-approved drug protects mice from Ebola A new study suggests that gamma interferon, which is an FDA-approved drug, may have potential as an antiviral therapy to prevent Ebola infection when given either before or after exposure to the virus. The study found that gamma interferon, given up to 24 hours after exposure, can inhibit Ebola infection in mice and completely protect the animals from death

Health Research:Generic heart disease medications offer promise for Ebola treatment ♦ Potential treatment target identified for rare form of diabetes ♦ Researchers identify new class of antifungal agents

Study predicts variation in illness severity in a population When individual random quantities, such as reactions in the body, are instead correlated, and multiplied, the process gives rise to the ubiquitous, highly skewed pattern, and that this pattern is more accurately called a Weibull distribution.

Generic heart disease medications offer promise for Ebola treatment Generic medications used frequently in the management of heart disease patients also have the potential to bolster the immune systems of patients with Ebola virus and some other life-threatening illnesses.

Potential treatment target identified for rare form of diabetes, other disorders Scientists working to find treatments for a rare and severe form of diabetes known as Wolfram syndrome have identified a gatekeeper in cells that prevents harmful molecules from spilling and triggering cell death. The researchers also have found that the gatekeeper may be a good treatment target not only for diabetes but for heart problems, Parkinson’s disease and other disorders.

Researchers identify new class of antifungal agents A new class of antifungals has been identified, potentially useful to treat the more than 300 million people worldwide who develop serious fungal infections. Fungal infections are most commonly found in individuals with medical conditions that compromise the immune system, such as AIDS, or individuals who are being treated with immunosuppressives, such as those battling cancer..

Men think they are maths experts, therefore they are Just because more men pursue careers in science and engineering does not mean they are actually better at math than women are. The difference is that men think they are much better at math than they really are. Women, on the other hand, tend to accurately estimate their arithmetic prowess.

Health News: FBI investigating Johnson & Johnson ♦ Supermarkets with worst records on contaminated chickens ♦ Nearly indestructible virus yields tool to treat diseases

FBI investigating Johnson & Johnson The FBI is questioning makers of a surgical device that can spread cancer cells in female patients, asking Johnson & Johnson officials what the manufacturing giant knew about the tool before yanking it out of service in 2014. The FBI's Newark

Supermarkets with worst records on contaminated chickens THE CONTAMINATION of nearly three-quarters of supermarket chickens with a potentially deadly bug is now the biggest food safety concern in the UK, the Food Standards Agency said. The watchdog said it was putting pressure on supermarkets to take action after a year-long study found all the major retailers failed to reach industry targets for reducing rates of campylobacter

Nearly indestructible virus yields tool to treat diseases By unlocking the secrets of a bizarre virus that survives in nearly boiling acid, scientists have found a blueprint for battling human disease using DNA clad in near-indestructible armor.

Study identifies Ebola virus's Achilles' heel The molecular "lock" that the deadly Ebola virus must pick to gain entry to cells has been identified by researchers. The findings, made in mice, suggest that drugs blocking entry to this lock could protect against Ebola infection

Herpes offers big insights on coughing -- and potential new remedies Cough treatments could change dramatically after the herpesvirus helped researchers discover that the respiratory tract links to two different parts of the nervous system.

Health Research:Artificial membranes with programmable surfaces ♦ Sleep loss impedes decision making in crisis ♦ Ebola virus in patient’s eye fluid

Researchers develop custom artificial membranes with programmable surfaces Researchers have developed artificial membranes with programmable features, enabling studies of cell communication and the molecular basis of disease. The new study demonstrates how researchers can examine the interactions of cell surfaces with other biological molecules, with far ranging applications in medicine, biochemistry and biophysics.

Sleep loss impedes decision making in crisis The difference between life and death in the operating room, on the battlefield or during a police shootout often comes down to the ability to adapt to the unexpected. Sleep deprivation may make it difficult to do so, according to a study that for the first time created a laboratory experiment that simulates how sleep loss affects critical aspects of decision making in high-stakes, real-world situations

Ebola virus in patient’s eye fluid 10 weeks after it was undetectable in blood Researchers are reporting a case study in which viable Ebola virus was present in the eye’s aqueous humor — the clear fluid in the front of the eye, between the lens and the cornea — 10 weeks after the virus was no longer detectable in the patient’s blood.

Ecologist warns of bamboo fueling spread of hantavirus The popularity of bamboo landscaping could increase the spread of hantavirus, researchers say, with the plant's prolific seed production creating a population boom among seed-eating deer mice that carry the disease.

The opioid epidemic and its impact on orthopaedic care The United States makes up less than five percent of the world's population but consumes 80 percent of the global opioid supply and approximately 99 percent of all hydrocodone -- the most commonly prescribed opioid in the world.

Lipid Nanoparticle Therapeutic Treats Ebola in Monkeys

Lipid Nanoparticle Therapeutic Treats Ebola in Monkeys

The 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest Ebola outbreak in history. More than 25,000 cases and 10,000 deaths have been reported. It has caused more fatalities than all previous outbreaks combined.

Ebola virus (green) on a cell in culture. The virus was isolated in November 2014 from patient blood samples obtained in Mali. Credit: NIAID.

Symptoms of Ebola usually appear 2 to 21 days after exposure. Infection can cause fever, headache, body aches, weakness, stomach pain, and lack of appetite. Later symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and in some cases internal and external bleeding.

A team led by Dr. Thomas Geisbert at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, in collaboration with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals in Vancouver, Canada, have been developing therapies that can target specific strains of the Ebola virus. The strategy uses molecules called small interfering RNA (siRNA). These are short pieces of RNA designed and built with specific sequences that “interfere” with production of key proteins crucial for survival of the virus without interfering with any processes in uninfected cells. An important advantage of siRNAs is that their sequences can be rapidly redesigned to target various strains of the Ebola virus.

The Tekmira team developed a new siRNA treatment, called siEbola-3, against the Makona outbreak strain of Ebola. Directly administering siRNAs can cause harmful immune responses. Thus the team encapsulated the siRNAs in lipid nanoparticles for safer delivery. The UTMB scientists tested the lipid nanoparticle siRNA treatment in monkeys that had been exposed to the Makona strain.

Animals treated 3 days after virus exposure—at which point they showed evidence of advanced disease—developed only mild symptoms and fully recovered. The animals showed less liver and kidney damage than normally occurs during an Ebola infection. Untreated animals succumbed to the disease in a time course similar to what has been reported in patients who begin showing symptoms of Ebola.

“The candidate treatment was rapidly adapted to target the Makona outbreak strain of Ebola virus,” Geisbert says. “We were able to protect all of our nonhuman primates against a lethal Makona Ebola infection when treatment began 3 days following infection.”

The siEbola-3 agent is currently being administered to Ebola-infected patients in Sierra Leone in a phase 2 study. The researchers note that use of a blend of several different siRNAs could potentially be used to combat newly emerging viral strains.

—by Carol Torgan, Ph.D.

Health News: New Ebola treatment effective three days ♦ Overcoming drug-resistant malaria ♦ Impact study of chronic pain conditions

Stressed-out parasites: Overcoming drug-resistant malaria Drug resistance to the critical antimalarial therapeutics of the artemisinin family has emerged in Southeast Asia, highlighting the need to understand how these drugs work and how they can be used more effectively. Artemisinins may function by chemically damaging the malaria parasite's proteins, causing them to activate a cellular stress response

Discovery could impact study of chronic pain conditions Researchers have uncovered the critical role in pain processing of a gene associated with a rare disease. Their breakthrough paves the way for a better understanding of chronic pain

Missing genetic link found in a challenging immune disease In the largest genome-wide analysis to date of common variable immunodeficiency disorder, scientists have identified a gene that may be a 'missing link' between overactive and underactive immune activity.

Finding effective, cost-effective treatments for complex wounds Two new papers identify which of the hundreds of available treatments for complex wounds are most likely to be effective and which are most likely to be cost-effective. Complex wounds are a significant burden on patients and on the economy, costing the North American health-care system $10 billion a year.

New Ebola treatment effective three days after infection  A post-exposure treatment that is effective against a specific strain of the Ebola virus that killed thousands of people in West Africa has been developed. The treatment uses a sequence specific short strand of RNA, known as siRNA, designed to target and interfere with the Ebola virus, rendering it harmless.

Health Research: 160 people die of rabies every day ♦ Smokers underestimate risks of a few cigarettes ♦ Sleep for helping people absorb new information

Smokers underestimate risks of a few cigarettes Many people still dangerously underestimate the health risks of smoking even a few cigarettes a day, despite decades of public health statements. People who smoke very much tend to underestimate their risks and denial is prevalent.

Experts warn Ebola epidemic could return with a vengeance unless lessons about medical trials are learned  Health experts have warned that a greater flexibility must be brought to medical trials to combat diseases like Ebola to avoid facing another nightmare outbreak. The rapid spread of the Ebola and the urgency of a response led to many challenges of advising  those managing people of the best way to treat the illness.

Nothing beats a good night's sleep for helping people absorb new information Researchers have found that successful long-term learning happens of classroom teaching, after the learners have slept.

9/11 leaves legacy of chronic ill health among emergency medical services workers The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 have left a legacy of chronic ill health among emergency medical services workers who came to rescue victims. Those who arrived first are most at risk of physical and mental ailments,.

160 people die of rabies every day, says major new study A global study on canine rabies has found that 160 people die every day. The report is the first study to consider the impact in terms of deaths and the economic costs of rabies across all countries. Even though the disease is preventable, 59,000 people die every year of rabies transmitted by dogs, and the disease costs global economies $8.6 billion US.

CDC investigating potential exposures of American citizens to Ebola in West Africa

On March 13, an American volunteer health care worker in Sierra Leone who tested positive for Ebola virus returned to the U.S. by medevac and was admitted to the NIH Clinical Center for care and treatment.  As a result of this case, CDC is conducting contact tracing of individuals in Sierra Leone, including several other American citizens, who may have had potential exposure to this index patient.  At this time, none of these individuals have tested positive for Ebola. These individuals are volunteers in the Ebola response and are currently being monitored in Sierra Leone.  Out of an abundance of caution, CDC and the State Department are developing contingency plans for returning those Americans with potential exposure to the U.S. by non-commercial air transport. Those individuals will voluntarily self-isolate and be under direct active monitoring for the 21-day incubation period.

One of these American citizens had potential exposure to the individual being treated at NIH and is currently being transported via charter to the Atlanta area to be close to Emory University Hospital. The individual has not shown symptoms of Ebola and has not been diagnosed with Ebola. Upon arrival in Atlanta, the individual will voluntarily self-isolate and be under direct active monitoring for the 21-day incubation period.

Traveler Alert:Ebola in Mali

• • The purpose of this alert is to notify travelers that a few Ebola cases have been reported in Bamako, Mali, and to inform them of actions they can take to reduce their risk of getting the disease.
    CDC recommends that travelers to Mali protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are sick, because of the possibility they may be sick with Ebola. Although a cluster of cases has been reported only in Bamako, travelers to all parts of Mali should be alert for reports of possible further spread within the country.
    As of November 12, 2014, the World Health Organization reported a cluster of Ebola cases in Bamako, Mali (see box for case counts). (An unrelated death from Ebola occurred in Kayes, Mali on October 24, 2014 and no additional cases related to that person have been reported.) The cluster in Bamako is linked to a man who had been in a clinic in Bamako after becoming sick in Guinea. Since that time, a small number of Ebola cases linked to this patient have been reported in Bamako. The Malian government has taken actions to contain further spread. CDC recommends that travelers to Mali protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are sick and following the other recommendations listed below.
    The cases of Ebola in Bamako, Mali, are related to an ongoing Ebola outbreak that has been occurring since March 2014 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and is the largest outbreak of Ebola in history.
    For more information about the ongoing outbreak in West Africa, visit 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa on the CDC Ebola website.
    What is Ebola?
    Ebola is a rare and deadly disease. The disease is caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus species (Zaire, Sudan, Bundibugyo, or Tai Forest virus). It is spread by direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth) with
    • blood or body fluids (such as urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola,
    • objects (like needles and syringes) that have been contaminated with the virus, and
    • infected fruit bats or primates (apes and monkeys).
    Signs of Ebola include fever and symptoms such as severe headache, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising.
    Who is at risk?
    Travelers could be infected if they come into contact with blood or body fluids from someone who is sick or has died from Ebola. Healthcare workers and the family and friends in close contact with Ebola patients are at risk of getting sick because they may come in contact with infected blood or body fluids.
    People also can become sick with Ebola if they come into contact with infected wildlife or raw or undercooked bushmeat (wild animals hunted for food) from an infected animal.
    There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Ebola, and many people who get the disease die. Therefore, it is important to take steps to prevent Ebola.
    You can be exposed to the Ebola virus if you have contact with blood or body fluids (such as urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person sick with Ebola without wearing the right protective clothing and equipment. For healthcare workers, this includes wearing a face shield or goggles, a medical mask, double gloves, a waterproof gown or coveralls, an apron, and waterproof boots.
    ding or bruising.This kind of exposure can happen if you —
    • Are stuck with a needle or splashed in the eye, nose, or mouth with blood or body fluids of someone sick with Ebola.
    • Handle blood or body fluids of a sick Ebola patient.
    • Touch a person who is sick with Ebola.
    • Touch the body of someone who died from Ebola.
    • Care for or live with a person who is sick with Ebola.
    • Spend a long amount of time within 3 feet (1 meter) of a person who is sick with Ebola.
    If you are traveling to Mali, please make sure to do the following:
    • Before your trip, review your health insurance plan to determine what medical services it would cover during your trip. Consider purchasing travel health and medical evacuation insurance.
    • Practice careful hygiene. For example, wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
    • Avoid contact with blood and body fluids (such as urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk and semen).
    • Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids.
    • Avoid direct contact with dead bodies, including participating in funeral or burial rituals.
    • Avoid contact with animals (such as bats or monkeys) or with raw or undercooked meat.
    • Do not eat or handle bushmeat (wild animals hunted for food).
    • Avoid hospitals in West Africa where Ebola patients are being treated. The US Embassy or consulate is often able to provide advice on facilities that are suitable for your medical needs. The US Embassy in Bamako can be reached at (+223) 20 70 25 05. The after-hours emergency number is (+223) 20 70 23 01 or 20 70 23 02.
    • Seek medical care immediately if you develop fever (100.4°F / 38°C or above) or other symptoms such as severe headache, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, or unexplained blee
    Special Recommendation for Healthcare Workers
    If you will be working in a healthcare setting while in Mali, you should be prepared to care for patients in a region where resources are limited and the healthcare system is strained.
    After Your Return to the United States
    If you were exposed to Ebola during your trip, call your state health department even if you do not have symptoms. A public health worker should evaluate your exposure level and symptoms, if you have them, to determine whether actions, such as medical evaluation and testing for Ebola, symptom monitoring, or travel restrictions are needed.
    Pay attention to your health after you return, even if you were not exposed to Ebola during your trip.
    • Monitor your health for 21 days if you were in an area in Mali with an Ebola outbreak.
    • Take your temperature every morning and night.
    • Watch for other Ebola symptoms: severe headache, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising.
    • If your temperature is 100.4°F / 38°C or above or you have any other Ebola symptoms, seek medical care right away.
    • Tell the doctor about your recent travel and your symptoms before you go to the doctor’s office or hospital. Advance notice will help the doctor care for you and protect other people who may be in the doctor’s office or hospital.
    • Limit your contact with other people when you travel to the doctor; avoid public transportation.
    • Do not travel anywhere except to the doctor’s office or hospital.
    • During the time that you are monitoring your health, you can continue your normal activities, including work. If you get symptoms of Ebola, it is important to stay apart from other people and to call your doctor right away.
    Traveler Information
    • 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
    • CDC Ebola website
    • Health Information for Travelers to Mali
    • Infographics
    • Infographic: Going to West Africa?
    • Infographic: Recently in West Africa?
    • Additional Ebola Outbreak Infographics