China in action: national strategies to combat against emerging infectious diseases

正During the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa,there was a special team as part of an international effort working in field.This was the Chinese aid team deployed to West Africa as a multidisciplinary group composed of experienced virologists,epidemiologists and physicians.As part of an international effort,they participated in the control of Ebola virus disease from the very beginning until the end of the     

Do corticosteroids have a role in treating Ebola virus disease?

<正>Dear Editor,Humans have been fighting Ebola virus disease(EVD)since its first outbreak in 1976 in Yambuku village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(previously Zaire).EVD is part of the Filoviridae family of viruses that includes Ebola and Marburg viruses.To date,EVD,one of the most deadly communicable diseases known to humans,has had15 outbreaks in Africa.In 2014,the most severe and complicated outbreak yet swept through the West African countries of Guinea,Liberia,Nigeria,Senegal and Sierra Leone,     

May early intervention with intravenous immunoglobulin pose a potentially successful treatment for Ebola virus infection?

<正>Dear Editor,Ebola virus is negative-sense,single stranded RNA virus of the family Filoviridae.Since their discovery in 1976,Ebola viruses have caused numerous outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic fevers in Africa.The emergence of Ebola virus disease(EVD)in Guinea and its spread to urban centers in neighboring West African countries recently has caused international alarm.These filovirus infections are characterized by acute onset of illness after an incubation period of2-21 days,with initial symptoms of fever,chills,myalgia,and malaise.The disease signs and symptoms frequently     

Fighting Ebola with ZMapp: spotlight on plant-made antibody

<正>Currently,a large Ebola endemic is ongoing in West Africa.According to the World Health Organization,as of August19,the viral outbreak has led to 2240 suspected and confirmed cases and 1229 deaths in four countries:Guinea,Liberia,Nigeria,and Sierra Leone(http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/index.html).     

MicroRNAs: the novel targets for Ebola drugs

<正>The re-emergence of Ebola viral disease(EVD)in West Africa has caused an international alarm,even panic.As of August 27th,2014,the Ebola virus(EBOV)has infected3069 people with 1552 death cases starting from December2013(http://www.who.int/csr/don/2014_08_28_ebola/en/).Recently,an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the north of Congo(Democratic Republic)has been confirmed     

Are developing countries prepared to face Ebola-like outbreaks?

<正>Ebola virus disease has caused havoc in West Africa,with 11,162deaths and more than 27,181 cases(as of May 31,2015)being reported since the virus emerged in early2014 in Guinea.The maximum number of cases has been reported in Sierra Leone(12,827),while most of the reported deaths have occurred in Liberia(4,806),according to the Center for Disease Control and     

Nanopore sequencing: a rapid solution for infectious disease epidemics

<正>Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have given rise to a large number of human infections, morbidity, and heavy economic burden, including the Middle East respiratory syndrome caused by a coronavirus in 2012, global influenza pandemic caused by the H7N9 influenza A virus in2013, Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, and Lassa fever epidemic in Nigeria in 2019. The healthcare war against viruses deserves constant surveillance due to the continuous emergence of new viruses and rapid evolution of     

Mobile laboratory in Sierra Leone during outbreak of Ebola: practices and implications

<正>Dear Editors,Ebola virus disease(EVD)is an acute,serious and fatal illness caused by the Ebola virus.EVD was first identified in 1976 during two simultaneous outbreaks,one in Nzara,Sudan,and the other in Yambuku,Democratic Republic of Congo[1].The latter o ccurred in a village near the Ebola River,from which the disease takes its name.Since its     

Potential clinical treatment for Ebola pandemic

<正>West African countries are currently suffering the most severe pandemic of Ebola virus disease ever recorded,with4269 human cases and 2288 deaths(through 6 September2014),and the number of cases in the current outbreak exceeds the number from all previous outbreaks combined.Ebola virus disease was first described in 1976 originating from the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Five Ebola viruses have been reported to cause     

It's not just science: challenges for public health intervention in Ebola epidemics in the Democratic Republic of Congo

正The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is suffering from the world’s second largest and most prolonged Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic on record (Figure 1). The current prevalence of EVD in the DRC makes this the 10th (and largest) EVD epidemic in the DRC since the first discovery of the Zaire Ebola virus in 1976 (Ilunga Kalenga, 2019).Globally, it is the second worst outbreak in the history of Ebola epidemics, and is only superceded by the EVD epi-     

Old Weapon for New Enemy: Drug Repurposing for Treatment of Newly Emerging Viral Diseases

正Emerging and re-emerging viral diseases are a public health concern for the whole world and pose a major threat to human health and life. In last decades, numerous major outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging viral diseases with gross public concern were recorded in different regions,including Ebola in western Africa, Zika in South America,     

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.2.1c virus in migratory birds,2014–2015

A novel Clade 2.3.2.1c H5N1 reassortant virus caused several outbreaks in wild birds in some regions of China from late 2014 to 2015.Based on the genetic and phylogenetic analyses,the viruses possess a stable gene constellation with a Clade 2.3.2.1c HA,a H9N2-derived PB2 gene and the other six genes of Asian H5N1-origin.The Clade 2.3.2.1c H5N1 reassortants displayed a high genetic relationship to a human H5N1 strain(A/Alberta/01/2014).Further analysis showed that similar viruses have been circulating in wild birds in China,Russia,Dubai(Western Asia),Bulgaria and Romania(Europe),as well as domestic poultry in some regions of Africa.The affected areas include the Central Asian,East Asian-Australasian,West Asian-East African,and Black Sea/Mediterranean flyways.These results show that the novel Clade 2.3.2.1c reassortant viruses are circulating worldwide and may have gained a selective advantage in migratory birds,thus posing a serious threat to wild birds and potentially humans.     

Medical Virology in Malaysia

Virology is a branch of biological science dealing with the study of viruses, and medical virology focuses on the study and control of diseases due to viruses that is of medical importance. The development of medical virology in Malaysia has its beginning in the Institute for Medical Research （IMR）, following the establishment of the Division of Medical Zoology and Virus Research in the institute on 23 March 1953. The second institution in the country to establish diagnostic and research work in medical virology was Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya. This was followed by University Kebangsaan Malaysia, University Sains Malaysia and University of Sarawak Malaysia. The National Public Health Laboratory （NPHL） is the latest institution to establish a laboratory in 2003 for virus isolation and services to support country surveillance and outbreak investigation of infectious diseases due to viruses. In the field of medical virology, Malaysia contributed substantially in the areas of virus diagnostic services, development and research ranging from survey and documentation on the existence and prevalence of viruses causing diseases in Malaysia, clinical presentation and epidemiological features of virus diseases, evaluation of new diagnostic tests to pathogenesis of viral diseases. Malaysia contributed to the discoveries of at least 12 new viruses in the world. ASEAN plus Three （China, Japan, Republic of Korea） Emerging Infectious Programme was established to overcome the challenges and impact of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in this region. Malaysia as the co-ordinator of the laboratory component of the programme, contributed to strengthen the regional laboratory capability, capacity, laboratory-based surveillance and networking. The future of medical virology in Malaysia in terms of integration of diagnostic, reference and research to support the country＇s need will be enhanced and strengthened with the on-going development of the National Centre fo     

Innovation for better health of children

<正>The past decades have witnessed a rapid development in the pediatric field along with the development of medical sciences in China. However, the increasing demand for pediatric healthcare services still cannot be met owing to various reasons. The shortage of pediatric medical resources and the limited access to medical care for pediatric patients have     

Getting the right stuff： controlling neural stem cell state and fate in vivo and in vitro with biomaterials

Stem cell therapy holds great promises in medical treatment by, e.g., replacing lost cells, re-constitute healthy cell populations and also in the use of stem cells as vehicles for factor and gene delivery. Embryonic stem cells have rightfully attracted a large interest due to their proven capacity of differentiating into any cell type in the embryo in vivo. Tissue-specific stem ceils are however already in use in medical practice, and recently the first systematic medical trials involving human neural stem cell （NSC） therapy have been launched. There are yet many obstacles to overcome and procedures to improve. To ensure progress in the medical use of stem cells increased basic knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that govern stem cell characteristics is necessary. Here we provide a review of the literature on NSCs in various aspects of cell therapy, with the main focus on the potential of using biomaterials to control NSC characteristics, differentiation, and delivery. We summarize results from studies on the characteristics of endogenous and transplanted NSCs in rodent models of neurological and cancer diseases, and highlight recent advancements in polymer compatibility and applicability in regulating NSC state and fate. We suggest that the development of specially designed polymers, such as hydrogels, is a crucial issue to improve the outcome of stem cell therapy in the central nervous system.     

Medical genetics: Towards precision medicine

正Medical genetics is defined as a branch of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders by applying genetics to medical care.The Human Genome Project,initiated in1990 and completed in 2004,has profoundly changed biology and is rapidly catalyzing a transformation of medical genetics and medicine in general(Collins and McKusick,2001;Green and Guyer,2011).Before the Human Genome Project,researchers     

The current and future potential geographic range of West Indian fruit fly,Anastrepha obliqua （Diptera： Tephritidae）

The West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua （Macquart）, is one of the most important pests throughout the Americas. CLIMEX 3.0 and ArcGIS 9.3 were used to model the current and future potential geographical distribution of this pest. Under current climatic conditions, A. obliqua is predicted to be able to establish throughout much of the tropics and subtropics, including not only North and South America, where it has been reported, but also southern Asia, northeastern Australia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The main factors limiting the pest＇s range expansion may be cold stress. Climate change expands the potential distribution of A. obliqua poleward as cold stress boundaries recede, but the predicted distribution in northwestern Australia and northern parts of Sub-Saharan Africa will decrease because of heat stress. Considering the widely suitable range for A. obliqua globally and in China, enhanced quarantine and monitoring measures should be implemented in areas that are projected to be suitable for the establishment of the pest under current and future climatic conditions.     

Screening landraces for additional sources of field resistance to cassava mosaic disease and green mite for integration into the cassava improvement program

Twelve cassava landraces were evaluated for sources of resistance genes to diseases and pests of major economic importance in Africa. The objective was to assess their levels of field resistance to mosaic disease （ACMD）, bacterial blight （CBB）, anthracnose （CAD）, and green mite （CGM）, compared to TMS30572, an elite cultivar widely adopted in Africa. Considerable genotypic variation was observed among cultivars for resistance to ACMD and CGM but not for CBB and CAD. The lowest mean incidence of 12% and severity of 1.8 on a scale of 1-5 for ACMD was recorded for Atu, a landrace with farmer acceptable qualities. In comparison, the improved cultivar, TMS 30572, had a mean disease incidence of 72% and a severity score of 2.8. Another landrace, MS-20 had the lowest CGM damage score （2.1） while TMS 30572 emerged as one of the susceptible cultivars with a damage score of 3. Additional sources of resistance to ACMD and CGM that may possibly be better than the popular improved cultivar, TMS 30572, were identified in this study. These could serve as novel sources of additional genes to complement existing resources for elite cassava breeding in Africa.     

MAMMALIAN REMAINS FROM THE PLIOCENE OF THE HANSHUI RIVER BASIN, SHAANXI

<正> A lot of mammalian remains from Yangjiawan village, the Hanshui River basin, Mianxian, Shaanxi, were collected by a field team of IVPP and the Geological Museum of Shaanxi Province in the autumn of 1984. Fossil mammals found in Yangjiawan Formation include 13 species (including three new species) belonging to 12 genera. This paper will give a preliminary study of the mammalian remains and observation of stratigraphic sections of several localities.     

Characterization of the Receptor-binding Domain of Ebola Glycoprotein in Viral Entry

Ebola virus infection causes severe hemorrhagic fever in human and non-human primates with high mortality. Viral entry/infection is initiated by binding of glycoprotein GP protein on Ebola virion to host cells, followed by fusion of virus-cell membrane also mediated by GP. Using an human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-based pseudotyping system, the roles of 41 Ebola GP1 residues in the receptor-binding domain in viral entry were studied by alanine scanning substitutions. We identified that four residues appea...