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A pest control worker fumigates the grounds of a residential estate in the Bedok North area of Singapore on Sept. 1, 2016.  Roslan Rahman—AFP/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - Potential for Zika virus introduction and transmission in resource-limited countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region: a modelling study

time.com - by Maria Cheng - September 1, 2016

Scientists are trying to figure out where Zika might gain a future foothold

(LONDON) — Scientists trying to predict the future path of Zika say that 2.6 billion people living in parts of Asia and Africa could be at risk of infection, based on a new analysis of travel, climate and mosquito patterns in those regions.

Some of the most vulnerable countries include India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to the research. . . .

. . . The study was published online Thursday in the journal, Lancet.

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cidrap.umn.edu - September 2, 2016

A cluster of Ebola cases in Guinea earlier this year has been traced to sexual transmission from a man who had recovered from the disease close to 15 months earlier, marking the longest known period of sexual transmissibility after recovery from the disease.

"Evidence for sexual transmission of the persisting EBOV in February 2016, about 470 days after onset of symptoms in the survivor, is compelling," says the report by an international team of researchers, published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The cluster involved 3 probable and 7 confirmed cases in Guinea, with 8 deaths, in February, March, and April of this year, the report says.

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CLICK HERE - CID - Resurgence of Ebola virus disease in Guinea linked to a survivor with virus persistence in seminal fluid for more than 500 days

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Zika Virus Infects Neural Progenitors in the Adult Mouse Brain and Alters Proliferation

New research has found evidence the mosquito-borne virus can adversely affect cells necessary for replenishing damaged neurons.

theatlantic.com - by Marina Koren - August 19, 2016

Zika is understood to pose the greatest threat to pregnant women and their fetuses, which can be born with severe brain defects if infected with the mosquito-borne virus. But new research suggests Zika may damage adult brains, too, giving scientists another thread to follow in their attempts to understand the virus as the number of infections continues to rise in South America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

U.S. researchers have found evidence that a certain kind of brain cell present in newborns that remains in some amounts in adulthood can be susceptible to Zika infection, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

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Image: Art of a dog infested with a Guinea worm by Sally Deng for NPR

npr.org - August 9th, 2016 - Michaeleen Doucleff

For the past few years, the world has been on the edge of one of the biggest medical triumphs of modern history: Wiping out a horrific parasite from the face of the Earth.

In the early '80s, there were 3.2 million cases of Guinea worm — a two-feet long worm that emerges slowly — and excruciatingly — from a blister on the skin.

A massive campaign, led by President Jimmy Carter, has eradicated the worm from all but four countries.

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