Posts by GVN
Marburg Virus Disease: Another Filovirus Zoonosis
Recently, Marburg Virus Disease (MVD), Ebola’s equally deadly cousin, emerged in Tanzania and in at least three separate locations in Equatorial Guinea. The two countries are on opposite sides of Africa’s coast and separated by thousands of kilometers, but both are in the range of Egyptian fruit bats. The bats are the natural hosts for…
Read MoreOn the Pandemic Potential for Influenza Currently Circulating Among Birds and Mammals
The Global Virus Network (GVN) recommends that people in close contact with birds and mammals (wild or farmed) use personal protective equipment and get vaccinated against seasonal influenza. * * * It is nearly impossible to predict if the currently spreading avian influenza will become even better adapted to mammals and spill over to people.…
Read MoreLong Covid and the Vascular Endothelium
Infection with SARS-CoV2 infection often involves the vascular endothelium, resulting in a variety of deleterious effects. Among these is endothelial dysfunction, distinct from endothelial injury, in which the vascular endothelium loses elasticity and the ability to vasodilate and vasoconstrict. It constitutes a type of non-obstructive coronary artery disease and is generally associated with impaired production…
Read MoreEradicating Polio Will Require Changing the Current Public Health Strategy
Leadership of the Global Virus Network Say Policy Decisions Should Reflect the Science Baltimore, MD, March 6, 2023— The recent public health emergency declarations in New York and London due to polio infections and detection of the virus in these cities’ wastewater strongly indicate that polio is no longer close to being eradicated.Now, four members…
Read MoreWhy Worry About Avian Flu?
The Covid pandemic is the latest concern regarding potential zoonotic spillover of a dangerous virus. What will actually be the next virus? In the game of spillover roulette, some have put their bets on yet another coronavirus. Lately, however, the smart money seems to be betting on avian flu, or more specifically, H5N1 avian flu.…
Read MoreGlobal Virus Network (GVN) Adds Brazil’s Laboratory for Clinical Research in Neuroinfections at Fiocruz
Baltimore, Maryland, USA, March 1, 2023: The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 71 Centers of Excellence and 9 Affiliates in 40 countries comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil announced the addition of the Laboratory for Clinical Research in…
Read MoreWhy Are Omicron Variants Less Lethal?
Omicron-derived SARS-CoV2 variants (exemplified most recently by XBB1.5(1)) are highly adept at evading immunity against vaccines and infection with previous variants and many parts of the world are currently experiencing high infection rates, yet deaths and hospitalizations have not proportionally increased. Why is this? Could previous waves have already killed those most vulnerable? Has increased…
Read MoreGlobal Virus Network (GVN) Leaders Publish STAT Op-Ed with a U.S. Government Call to Action and Road Map for the Future of COVID-19
BALTIMORE, MD, January 31, 2023: STAT today published “How the Biden Administration’s COVID preparedness policies could narrow America’s political divide” co-authored by leadership of the Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 68 Centers of Excellence and 11 Affiliates in 37 countries, and comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans and some…
Read MoreEbola in Uganda
A moderate sized Ebola outbreak (142 confirmed cases) in Uganda has recently been in the news. Fifty-five people died; the others recovered. It has now largely been controlled, but there are some issues associated with the outbreak that are worth considering. These relate to conventional control by contact tracing and isolation (which was how it…
Read MoreSurge of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in China and USA Further Emphasizes Need for Surveillance, Preparedness, and International Collaborations
BALTIMORE, MD, January 9, 2023: Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, President of the Global Virus Network (GVN), Associate Vice President for International Partnerships and Innovation at the University of South Florida and Professor of the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the GVN Southeast U.S. Regional Headquarters…
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