Protalix share price slumps on Ebola vaccine doubts September 8, 2014 Shares in Israeli pharmaceutical company Protalix fell on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) yesterday, after comments made by the company's chief executive cast doubts on its ability to develop an anti-Ebola drug quickly and effectively. On Saturday, Israel's Channel 2 reported that the company's facility in the north of the country was one [...]
GSK share price falls, despite Ebola vaccine success September 8, 2014 Monkeys given an experimental Ebola vaccine developed by GSK were resistant to the deadly virus when infected with it five weeks later, trials have shown. The results of a drug trial, published in the journal Nature, show all of the monkeys not given the vaccine died within 6 days of infection, whereas the four [...]
Ebola diagnosis sped up with Japan’s 30-minute “sampler” test September 3, 2014 Scientists in Japan have developed a test for Ebola which is much faster than any current diagnosis methods. Researchers at Nagasaki University worked alongside Eiken Chemical Co to develop the new testing method, which they say uses cheaper and faster technology than anything available already. As a result, they claim it can be [...]
Ebola food shortage: Sufferer escapes Liberian hospital to steal bread from crowded market September 2, 2014 Concerns over the shortage of food available for Ebola victims in West Africa have been put in the limelight by a YouTube video uploaded today. It shows an Ebola patient walking through a crowded market after escaping from a hospital in Liberia. He picks up a piece of bread from one of the stalls [...]
Ebola spreads to Senegal August 29, 2014 The Ebola epidemic has reached a fifth West African country. Senegal's Ministry of Health confirmed its first case of of the disease today, which puts Senegal alongside Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the list of countries affected by the outbreak. The infected person was a young man from Guinea, according to [...]
West African ministers call for an end to Ebola travel bans August 29, 2014 Ministers in West Africa have called for Ebola-related travel bans in the region to be lifted. At a meeting of the Economic Community of West African States in Ghana, they said the bans, imposed to limit the spread of the Ebola virus, were causing food and supply shortages. "Excessive restrictions of travel and [...]
GSK Ebola vaccine to be tested in UK August 28, 2014 An international consortium is fast-tracking an Ebola vaccine under development by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and GlaxoSmithKline, with human trials set to begin in the UK as early as September. The move follows a declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a public [...]
Ebola risk: Outbreak set to get worse, official warns August 28, 2014 The Ebola outbreak currently gripping West Africa will get worse before it gets better, a public health official in the US has said. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said that in order to bring the epidemic under control, an “unprecedented” response would be needed. According to the BBC, he [...]
Can Ebola be stopped? 14th century Venice could teach us something August 27, 2014 In 1348, the Black Death arrived in Venice from Sicily. From there it travelled across most of Europe and ultimately killed off an estimated 45 per cent of the population. Spread by a simple flea bite, it turned out to be one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. Venice, the hub [...]
Fujifilm is in the picture as anti- flu drug is earmarked for ebola August 26, 2014 The Japanese government yesterday gave Fujifilm the go ahead to make an experimental anti-flu drug available for use on ebola patients. Favipiravir, developed by Fujifilm subsidiary Toyama Chemical, was approved as a flu treatment by Japan’s health ministry in March. It now seems to have potential applications for ebola treatment, too. Fujifilm is now involved in [...]