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Brazilian scientists decipher Zika virus genome

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    Posted: February 21 2016 at 12:31pm

Brazilian scientists decipher Zika virus genome

Disease confirmed related to microcephaly

Brazilian scientists in Rio de Janeiro have obtained the genome sequence of the Zika virus and found the disease is indeed related to the incidence of microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with small heads and impaired cognition, that country's official news agency said Saturday.

The scientists were able to identify "the full order of the virus's genetic data, a significant step towards understanding how Zika behaves in the human body and how to develop a vaccine as well as new tests," Agencia Brasil reported.

The researchers at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's molecular virology lab analyzed the virus taken from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women, and the scientists also isolated the virus in the brains of fetuses with microcephaly who died in Paraiba state in northeastern Brazil right after birth, the agency said.

"What we know now may help us understand why the virus has chosen children's brain cells over those of adults --the pregnant women," Professor Renato Santana told the outlet.

Brazil's Health Ministry believes the virus infected most of women who gave birth to babies with "microcephaly or changes in the central nervous system suggesting congenital infection," the agency said.

Possibility of other malformations

Brazilian scientists are also considering the possibility that the Zika virus may be capable of causing other types of malformation, the media report said.

Meanwhile, Colombia has seen an increase in the number of Zika cases, which now number more than 37,000, health authorities there said Saturday.

There are 6,356 pregnant women who are among the total number of Zika cases, now standing at 37,011, Colombia's National Institute of Health said in a statement.

At least 30,148 cases have been confirmed through clinical and laboratory tests. Last week, there were 5,456 new reported cases, according to the Colombian NIH.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health estimated that country's number of Zika cases as between 497,593 and almost 1.5 million, but that has ceased counting cases of the Zika virus, according to the World Health Organization.

A problem around the world

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now counts 27 countries or territories in South and North America with active transmission of the Zika virus. Zika has also been circulating in the Cape Verde islands off Africa and the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga.

In January, the head of the World Health Organization recently said Zika virus was "spreading explosively" in the Americas, with another official estimating 3 million to 4 million infections in the region over a 12-month period.

"The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general, told her organization's executive board members then. "We need to get some answers quickly."

http://www.news4jax.com/health/brazilian-scientists-decipher-zika-virus-genome



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Bigger than Ebola? Zika virus genome mapped amid new warning

Scientists claim they have managed to sequence the Zika genome, while the head of the world's second-largest private funder of medical research warns the virus is a larger threat than Ebola.

Saturday’s announcement in Brazil is said to be more evidence of its link to cases of microcephaly in affected countries - and a step toward developing a vaccine.

By understanding how Zika behaves in the human body and how it can be combated through tests and vaccines, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) researcher Renato Santana said on TV Brasil, “What we know now may help us understand why the virus has chosen children's brain cells over those of adults - the pregnant women.”

Jeremy Farrar, a former Professor of Tropical Medicine at Oxford University where the Zika virus "fighting" GM mosquitoes are produced, is now director of the Wellcome Trust, which announced this month it was sharing Zika virus data with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

He said that the “symptomless” Zika poses a greater threat than the Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 2015 which killed 11,000 people: “It is a silent infection in a group of highly vulnerable individuals – pregnant women – that is associated with a horrible outcome for their babies.”

The Zika virus has long been suspected of causing microcephaly in newborn babies, but until now, scientists were theorizing the connection.

Microcephaly is a rare condition where newborn babies have abnormally small heads and brains, causing impaired cognitive development.

About 4,000 infants in Brazil have been born with microcephaly since October, while in 2014 there were fewer than 150 cases.

READ MORE: Developing Zika markers for ‘preventive purposes’ is quite realistic – Russian health minister

“The real problem is that trying to develop a vaccine that would have to be tested on pregnant women is a practical and ethical nightmare,” said Mike Turner, former Professor of Parasitology at University of College and member of the Wellcome Trust.

The virus, which is transferred primarily through mosquitoes, has spread from Latin America to a number of US states, including Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.

https://www.rt.com/news/333194-zika-genome-mapped-ebola/


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