Scientists make major breakthrough that may curb the threat of Ebola: 'Information we should have'
The largest outbreak of Ebola happened between 2014 and 2016, with more than 11,000 people killed. However, scientists have recently made a major breakthrough when it comes to bats and filoviruses that may help curb the threat of Ebola.
A study published January 12 in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe shared information about a new tool scientists have developed to help identify the particular bat species that carry filoviruses such as Ebola.
Do you worry about getting diseases from bug bites?
Absolutely
Only when I'm camping or hiking
Not really
Never
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Determining the species that are more likely to host such viruses can also help identify potential areas in danger and prevent significant outbreaks.
Identification and prevention become more important as the level of gases in the atmosphere causing pollution rises, as these heat-trapping gases can increase the risk of Ebola outbreaks.
According to Science Daily, co-leading author of the study Simon Anthony explained, "The fundamental question is, where is the next ebolavirus outbreak going to come from? If we don't know what the wildlife host is, we can't know how, where or when that will be."
Researchers built this latest project off the back of a 2011 study by Kartik Chandran, another co-leading author of the current study.
In the 2011 study, Chandran discovered that Ebola must have a particular protein receptor to bind to in order to take hold. The 2025 study looked at which bat species have this protein receptor, how strongly their receptors bind to Ebola, and whether the species live in areas that have experienced outbreaks in the past.
Finding the answers to those three questions helps determine which bat species have the most potential to act as hosts for the Ebola virus. Accomplishing this could not only aid wildlife surveillance in identifying major hosts of Ebola but also enable scientists to decipher how likely a certain virus is to infect people.
Anthony said in the Science Daily report, "Having information about which species are and are not more likely to be the host reservoir is information we should have."
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Yahoo
Could GLP-1 Drugs Potentially Help Treat Cancer? 1 Promising Study Suggests They Might
Key Points Obesity is linked to many diseases, including cancer. A recent study found that tumors in mice shrank after they were administered tirzepatide. It could take years for GLP-1 drugs to obtain regulatory approval as cancer-related treatments. 10 stocks we like better than Eli Lilly › GLP-1 agonist drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro from drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) continue to rise in popularity as people are hopeful about the weight loss they can achieve with their help. But a growing number of studies suggest that they could be useful in indications beyond diabetes and weight loss. One particularly intriguing study involves cancer, and it reveals a potential role for GLP-1 agonists in that area of healthcare. If GLP-1 drugs end up obtaining approval as treatments related to oncology, that could unlock a massive new sales growth opportunity for them. That could make a stock like Eli Lilly an even better buy than it is today. Study finds tumors shrank in mice with the help of tirzepatide Previous studies have shown that when people shed weight, they reduce their risks of developing many illnesses, among them, cancer. But a recent study presented at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting found that GLP-1 agonists could have a more direct impact: They may also reduce the size of breast cancer tumors. The study was modest in scope and not on human patients: Its subjects were 16 mice. Those mice that received injections of tirzepatide (the active ingredient in both Zepbound and Mounjaro) for 16 weeks lost around 20% of their weight, which was comparable to the weight loss that humans achieve while on the drug. And their tumors shrank by around that percentage as well. "Researchers found that tumor volume was significantly correlated with body weight," reported ScienceDaily. But even though these results are promising, they are very preliminary. It would take years of studies on humans before a GLP-1 drug could conceivably obtain a label expansion for use in treating any type of cancer. However, there is hope that GLP-1 drugs can do more than just help with diabetes and weight reduction. Regulators did approve tirzepatide for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea last year. And another study found that it can help reduce the risk of heart failure. As more research is done on GLP-1 drugs, the number of indications they can treat may grow significantly. And if tirzepatide is able to help treat cancer, it could make this already massive drug a sales behemoth for Eli Lilly. Business has been booming for Eli Lilly, and more growth is still ahead Eli Lilly has already been performing incredibly well, thanks in large part to its highly successful GLP-1 drugs. In the first three months of 2025, its sales soared by 45% year over year to $12.7 billion. Zepbound and Mounjaro combined to make up $6.2 billion of that tally. And what's exciting is that these drugs are still in their early growth stages. That's a big reason why Eli Lilly stock trades at a hefty premium of 65 times its trailing earnings. Its 5-year price-to-earnings growth (PEG) multiple of 1.2 indicates, however, that it may not be that expensive relative to its medium-term growth potential. Eli Lilly stock is a no-brainer buy Although the stock may not look cheap, Eli Lilly could be among the best long-term investments you can add to your portfolio today. If tirzepatide racks up more indications and Eli Lilly's already approved drugs reach greater numbers of people, its sales and profits are likely to rise in the years ahead. This year, the stock is up a modest 4% as the hype around it appears to have cooled. But if you're in it for the long haul, it would be hard to go wrong with Eli Lilly. It may just be one of the best growth stocks in the healthcare sector. Do the experts think Eli Lilly is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did Eli Lilly make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,041% vs. just 183% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 858.71%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Could GLP-1 Drugs Potentially Help Treat Cancer? 1 Promising Study Suggests They Might was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
30-07-2025
David Nabarro, British physician who led UN response to Ebola and COVID-19, dies
GENEVA -- Dr. David Nabarro, a British physician who led the U.N. response to some of the biggest health crises in recent years, including bird flu, Ebola and the coronavirus pandemic, has died. He was 75. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, confirmed Nabarro's death on social media platform X. 'David was a great champion of global health and health equity, and a wise, generous mentor to countless individuals,' Tedros wrote Saturday. 'His work touched and impacted so many lives across the world.' King Charles III knighted Nabarro in 2023 for his contributions to global health after he served as one of six special envoys to the WHO on COVID-19. He won the 2018 World Food Prize for his work on health and hunger issues. He also was a candidate for the top job at the WHO in 2017 but lost out to Tedros in the final round of voting. Nabarro left the U.N. later that year. In 2003, Nabarro survived a bombing at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time, and wounded dozens more. Nabarro, then one of the WHO's senior directors, was in a meeting when 'suddenly there was this extraordinary thud," he told reporters during an emotional news conference days later in Geneva, still carrying his blood-spattered notebook. 'We found some first aid kits, got bandages and turned people onto their sides. We were working like in a cloud, in this fog of moaning and crying,' he recalled. The 4SD Foundation, a social enterprise in Switzerland where Nabarro served as strategic director, said he died Friday in a 'sudden passing.' 'David's generosity and unwavering commitment to improve the lives of others will be sorely missed,' it said. Thuy Maryen, Nabarro's longtime friend and the foundation's former communications director, said he was 75 and died at his home in Ferney-Voltaire, France, a suburb of Geneva. The foundation is focused on mentoring the next generation of leaders in global sustainable development.
Miami Herald
29-07-2025
- Miami Herald
David Nabarro, doctor who tried to raise millions to treat cholera in Haiti, dies at 75
The United Nations and world health community are mourning the death of David Nabarro, the British physician and public health champion who led the U.N response to eradicating cholera in Haiti after taking on some of the world's most pressing diseases, including Ebola. A passionate advocate who was once described to the Miami Herald as the U.N.'s go-to guy for responding 'to really tricky' situations, Nabarro died Friday at his home in Ferney-Voltaire, France, a suburb of Geneva, according to the 4SD Foundation, a Switzerland-based social enterprise he founded and where he served as strategic director. He was 75. His passing was described as a 'sudden death.' 'Dr. Nabarro was a tireless advocate for global health -- a leader who brought clarity, compassion and conviction to some of the world's most complex health emergencies, from AIDS and malaria to avian influenza and the COVID-19 pandemic,' Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said in a statement Tuesday. 'He dedicated his life to the conviction that health is a human right — and worked to help make that right a reality for all people everywhere,' Haq added. Nabarro was known for his organized, results-oriented style and willingness to take personal risks. During the COVID pandemic, he served as one of six special envoys to the World Health Organization dealing with the coronavirus crisis. For his efforts and overall contributions to global health, he was knighted by King Charles III in 2023. Among those contributions was his fight against Ebola. With more than 30 years experience as a public health doctor when he was appointed coordinator of the U.N's efforts, Nabarro ended up raising $3.5 billion to fight Ebola despite the incessant and worrying questions from donors asking him if he knew what he was doing and if he had a strategy. 'There was a question mark always over whether or not we had a strategy that made sense, whether or not we knew what we were up to,'' he told the Herald in a 2016 interview. Soon he faced the same kinds of question as he tried to raise $400 million for the U.N.'s cholera plan in Haiti. Nabarro had been tapped to serve as special adviser to then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who after years of fighting litigation efforts by victims and refusing to acknowledge the U.N.'s role in inadvertently introducing the deadly disease into Haiti, was ready to take it on the problem. Scientific studies and a confidential U.N. report had traced Haiti's outbreak to Nepalese soldiers, part of a U.N. peacekeeping contingent stationed near a river in the rural town of Mirebalais after the devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. By the time Nabarro was involved cholera had killed at least 9,393 people and sickened more than 790,840 in the Caribbean country. His job was to help the secretary general raise hundreds of millions of dollars over two years to fund a U.N. plan to eliminate cholera with rapid responses, vaccinations and improving long-term access to clean water and sanitation. By the time Nabarro came on the scene in late 2016, Ban had finally admitted the U.N.'s role and offered an apology during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. He wanted Nabarro to do for cholera what he had done for Ebola in Africa: galvanize government efforts and raise money. 'I have no illusions about this. It's going to be tough,' Nabarro told the Herald two weeks before visiting Haiti with Ban. 'But I am not scared by it.' Over the next few months, Nabarro made other visits and devoted himself to the cholera problem as well as to the fight against global hunger. To understand the waterborne disease's evolution and response, he reached out to a number of public health experts including Ariel Henry. The physician, who would later serve as Haiti's prime minister, was in the administration of then-President René Préval and was helping with the government's response. At the time Préval was facing immense pressure from the Obama administration to hold presidential and legislative elections in Haiti despite the deaths of more than 300,000 people and 1.5 million homeless in the quake. Fearing that placing blame on the U.N. would lead to the departure of its blue helmet peacekeepers and open the door to more violence and instability, Préval tried to manage the response on his own. But as time went by, pressure built for the U.N. to not only acknowledge its role but to apologize and compensate victims. Instead of checks to victims, Ban called for vaccinating adults and dispatching more rapid response teams within 24 to 48 hours of an infection. He also pledged that the U.N. would improve water and sanitation in places where cholera had spread. In an email exchange in 2017 while vying for the top job at the World Health Organization, Nabarro acknowledged that the effort to raise financing to eradicate cholera in Haiti had not been easy. The amount of money raised was small, but he still held onto hope that the benefits would be enormous. 'I really do hope that I get to the director general of the World Health Organization as I would then be able to give a very high priority to a concerted and sustained effort to reduce the incidence of cholera in the country and to help all Haitians to access drinking water and functioning sanitation,' he told a Herald reporter. Nabarro lost out on the WHO job to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a post on the social media platform X on Saturday, Ghebreyesus remembered Nabarro as 'a great champion of global health and health equity, and a wise, generous mentor to countless individuals.' Through Nabarro's efforts and those of others in Haiti, the country was declared cholera-free in February 2022 by Henry, now the country's prime minister, after three years without a confirmed case. The celebration was short-lived. By the end of the year, repeated gang clashes, which cut off access to water, fuel and hospitals in Port-au-Prince, gave rise to a resurgence of cholera cases. Nabarro is survived by his wife, Flo; his children, Tom, Ollie, Polly, Josie and Lucas, and seven grandchildren.
