Biopeer

Phage technology rolls-out possible control for food poisoning

University of Nottingham experts have collaborated with the Canadian biotech company GangaGen Life Sciences Inc. to develop bacteriophage-based treatments for the control of Campylobacter. Campylobacter is a bacterial intestinal disease characterized by vomiting, diarrhea and fever. The research implements phage technology for preventing food contamination from pathogenic bacteria in animal products. “GangaGen has demonstrated in production animal trials that we can isolate and use phages with full regard for safety, and that are benign to animals, humans and the environment,” said Dr Rainer Engelhardt, chief executive of GangaGen Life Sciences Inc.

Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have reported that a combination therapy with three classes of antiretroviral drugs could possibly reduce HIV in people with an existing low viral count. Research evaluated seven HIV-positive people for 3.5 to 4.5 years, keeping a count on the resting CD4+ T cells in which HIV remained throughout treatment. Research showed that early treatment with the three-drug combination therapy reduced the number of infected resting T cells by 50% every 4.6 months. Inferences from the research showed that 7.7 years of the combination therapy in the early stages of HIV could facilitate complete elimination of the HIV virus.

Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center have declared the capacity of the drug peginterferon (pegylated interferon alfa-2a) for curing Hepatitis C. The study showed peginterferon either alone, or in combination with ribavirin, could cure Hepatitis C. The study was presented at the 38th annual Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington. The study involved six months of drug therapy for patients suffering from Hepatitis C. Tests following the drug therapy showed positive results, as 50 % of the patients tested negative for Hepatitis C.

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Retrovirus hops from primate to man

Next time you decide to photo freeze yourself feeding bananas to an endearing ape on your Asia jaunt, be careful. You may be exposing yourself to the risk of contracting the Simian Foamy Virus (SFV). An international group of scientists have identified the first reported case in Asia of primate-to-human transmission of SFV. SFV is a retrovirus found in macaques and other primates that so far has not been known to cause disease in humans.

The transmission of the virus from a monkey to a human took place at a monkey temple in Bali, Indonesia. The researchers tested blood samples from 82 people who work in or around the temple, as well as samples from macaques in the area. Antibodies for SFV were found in the blood of a 47-year-old farmer who visited the temple regularly. A DNA analysis of the man’s blood revealed that the SFV strain he carried was the same strain found in the temple’s macaques. The man neither owned a monkey nor hunted monkeys for food, but he had been bitten once and scratched several times by the temple’s macaques.

Even though this virus may not prove to be dangerous to humans, the dense human populations and huge primate diversity in Asia could lead to other viruses jumping the species barrier and causing human disease. The study triggers questions about its potential to possibly sicken people in the future just as scientists believe HIV evolved decades after the simian immunodeficiency virus jumped the species barrier to humans when African bushmeat hunters came into contact with blood from infected animals.

It is still uncertain how SFV would react in humans over time and there’s no guarantee it won’t alter and eventually become harmful to humans. The discovery of HTLV-3 and HTLV-4 in African bushmeat hunters in May this year show that, far from being rare events, retroviruses are actively crossing into human populations. More research is required on the likelihood of human-to-human transmission of cross-species infections.

From CBC News- Canada geese may spread superbugs

Canada geese.  You watch them fly over in their distinctive "V" pattern.  A symbol of Canada.  A carrier of deadly pathogens--CBC News- Canada geese may spread superbugs.  Canada geese are well known--and hated--for the sheer quantity of feces they produce.  A park or field can be made impassible in short order by a large flock of geese.

Always considered a nuisance and health hazard, now it has been learned that geese could pose a serious health hazard.  As geese migrate across the continent they are picking up disease resistant strains of E. coli and salmonella, especially at industrial livestock operations like pig farms.  Combine this with North America's overuse of antibiotics, especially triclosan-based products like soaps, we could be facing serious problems.

The solution isn't easy, though.  Industrial livestock production requires large amounts of antibiotics to keep disease at bay in the close confines of a pig barn, feed lot, or chicken barn.  The use of antibacterial products is booming, and geese aren't going anywhere.  We just have to be careful, I suppose.

Technorati tags: antibiotic resistance

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Tris Hussey is the Chief Blogging Officer for Qumana Software and Managing Director of Qumana Services.  He can be reached at tris AT qumana DOT com or tris AT trishussey DOT com.

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Small molecule drug blocks a key signal in the cell machinery used by smallpox virus

In a finding that represents an entirely new approach to treating viral diseases such as smallpox, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborating institutions have shown that infections can be stymied by interfering with signals used by viruses to reproduce in human cells.