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Viruses

GUANGZHOU, CHINA - JUNE 20: Chinese Phd student and researcher Zhang Dongjing displays a container of sterile adult male mosquitos that are ready to be released in a lab in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease on June 20, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. Considered the world's largest mosquito factory, the laboratory raises millions of male mosquitos for research that could prove key to the race to prevent the spread of Zika virus. The lab's mosquitos are infected with a strain of Wolbachia pipientis, a common bacterium shown to inhibit Zika and related viruses including dengue fever.??Researchers release the infected mosquitos at nearby Shazai island to mate with wild females who then inherit the Wolbachia bacterium which prevents the proper fertilization of her eggs. The results so far are hopeful:?? After a year of research and field trials on the island, the lab claims there is 99% suppression of the population of Aedes albopictus or Asia tiger mosquito, the type known to carry Zika virus. Researchers believe if their method proves successful, it could be applied on a wider scale to eradicate virus-carrying mosquitos in Zika-affected areas around the world. ??The project is an international non-profit collaboration lead by Professor Xi Zhiyong, director of the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease with support from various levels of Chinas government and other organizations.?? (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Health

Zika or dengue infections make you more appealing to mosquitoes

Infection with Zika or dengue viruses affects the microbiome of the skin, ramping up production of compounds that entice mosquitoes. But treatment with a common acne medication may cancel out this effect

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3D graphical representation of a single Norovirus virion

Health

We may have misunderstood how norovirus and other gut viruses spread

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Light bursting through the ocean

Environment

Thousands of previously undescribed viruses found by huge ocean survey

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A Moderna covid-19 vaccine is prepared

Health

Covid-19 news: Moderna’s omicron booster has promising immune response

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A stock image of a child in hospital

Health

Hepatitis: What could be causing the mysterious outbreak in children?

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Commuters at St Pancras International train station in London, England, in May

Health

Covid-19 news archive: May 2022

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Monkeypox virus particles taken from a human skin sample, captured via a coloured transmission electron micrograph

Health

Monkeypox cases are continuing to rise around the world

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Monkeypox virus particles captured via a coloured transmission electron micrograph

Health

Could monkeypox become a pandemic? Here’s everything you need to know

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People queue for a PCR covid-19 test in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 30 November 2021

Health

Covid-19 news archive: April 2022

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Epstein-Barr virus causes glandular fever and is increasingly being linked to multiple sclerosis

Health

Vaccine may protect against the virus behind multiple sclerosis

The jab could ward off Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever and is increasingly being linked to multiple sclerosis, lymphoma and stomach cancer

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Life

Climate change may increase the spread of viruses between land mammals

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Health

Covid-19 news archive: March 2022

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Health

A single mutation could make Zika virus a lot more dangerous

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Health

Covid-19 news archive: February 2022

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