Virology News

February 27, 2025

Top Headlines

Immunity Against Seasonal H1N1 Flu Reduces Bird Flu Severity in Ferrets, Study Suggests

Feb. 26, 2025 — Pre-existing immunity against seasonal H1N1 flu might help explain why most reported human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. have not resulted in lethal ...

Understanding the World Within: Study Reveals New Insights Into Phage--Bacteria Interactions in the Gut Microbiome

Feb. 25, 2025 — Researchers are investigating whether certain viruses known as bacteriophages, or phages, which specifically infect bacteria but not human cells, affect the development of type 1 diabetes in young ...

As Dengue Spreads, Researchers Discover a Clue to Fighting the Virus

Feb. 24, 2025 — This research comes as dengue-carrying mosquitoes expand their territory into new regions, including Southern ...

Backyard Poultry Face Bird Flu Risk When Migrating Mallards Stop to Rest

Feb. 24, 2025 — Knowing where, when and for how long mallard ducks -- natural carriers of avian influenza -- stop and rest as they migrate can help predict the probability that they will spread bird flu to backyard poultry flocks, according to a new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:17pm EST

Stealth Virus: Zika Virus Builds Tunnels to Covertly Infect Cells of the Placenta

Feb. 21, 2025 — Infection with Zika virus in pregnancy can lead to neurological disorders, fetal abnormalities and fetal death. Until now, how the virus manages to ...

Digging Into a Decades-Old Hepatitis B Mystery Suggests a New Potential Treatment

Feb. 20, 2025 — In their effort to answer a decades-old biological question about how the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is able to establish infection of liver cells, ...

Scientists Warn of Increased Mpox Transmission

Feb. 20, 2025 — International researchers warn that the ongoing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the potential to spread across borders more rapidly. The mpox virus has mutated, and ...

New Research Shows Neonatal HSV Infections May Lead to Long-Term Cognitive Impairment

Feb. 19, 2025 — Very early exposure to even a very small dose of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in infant mice can lead to cognitive decline later in life, according to ...

Designing Antivirals for Shape-Shifting Viruses

Feb. 18, 2025 — Viruses, like those that cause COVID-19 or HIV, are formidable opponents once they invade our bodies. Antiviral treatments strive to block a virus or halt its replication. However, viruses are ...

Killing H5N1 in Waste Milk -- An Alternative to Pasteurization

Feb. 14, 2025 — Researchers have found that acidification can kill H5N1 in waste milk, providing dairy farmers an affordable, easy-to-use alternative to ...

An Unexpected Mechanism Regulates the Immune Response During Parasitic Infections

Feb. 7, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that regulates the immune response against parasites. During a parasitic infection, ...

Mpox: Better Understanding of Tecovirimat Resistance

Feb. 12, 2025 — A virus originally found in animals, mpox -- which causes the disease of the same name -- is now circulating in humans. Since 2022, it has been the cause of major epidemics spreading outside endemic ...

Influenza A Viruses Adapt Shape in Response to Environmental Pressures

Feb. 10, 2025 — Influenza A virus particles strategically adapt their shape -- to become either spheres or larger filaments -- to favor their ability to infect cells depending on environmental conditions, according ...

Potential New Pathway to Fight Viruses

Feb. 7, 2025 — Scientists have identified genetic components in bats that provide insight into their immune ...

Research Suggests Common Viral Infection Worsens Deadly Condition Among Premature Babies

Feb. 24, 2025 — Researchers say they found that infection with a common virus that can be transmitted from mother to fetus before birth significantly worsens an often-fatal complication of premature birth called ...

Some Species Are Susceptible to Broad Range of Viruses

Feb. 6, 2025 — A study of fruit flies shows some species are highly susceptible to a wide range of ...

How Sudan Virus Binds to Human Cells

Feb. 4, 2025 — The Sudan virus, a close relative of Ebola, has a fatality rate of 50% but remains poorly understood in terms of how it infects cells. Currently, no approved treatments exist. To address this ...

Hijacking of Plasmin by Dengue Virus for Infection

Feb. 3, 2025 — Biological scientists have uncovered how the dengue virus uses its envelope protein to capture human plasmin from a blood meal to enhance the permeability of the mosquito midgut for ...

Antibody Treatment Prevents Severe Bird Flu in Monkeys

Jan. 30, 2025 — The antibody targets a stable part of the bird flu virus, ensuring that the immune protection can resist new variants and offer long-term protection against the globally spreading airborne ...

Zika Uses Human Skin as 'Mosquito Magnet' to Spread Virus Further

Jan. 30, 2025 — Zika virus hijacks the skin of its human host to send out chemical signals that lure more mosquitoes to infect and spread the disease further, new research ...

Relative of Deadly Hendra Virus Found in the US

Jan. 28, 2025 — Researchers have identified the first henipavirus in North ...

Fruit Flies' Courtship Song May Hold Key to Controlling Mosquitoes

Jan. 24, 2025 — Researchers have found and confirmed a gene that allows female fruit flies to get on the same frequency as courting males. Mosquitoes have the same gene and a similar courtship ritual, meaning that ...

Imagining the Physics of George R.R. Martin's Fictional Universe

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have derived a formula for viral behavior in the Wild Cards, a science fiction series written by a collection of authors about an alien virus called the Wild Card that mutates human DNA. ...

Scientists Uncover Structure of Critical Component in Deadly Nipah Virus

Jan. 20, 2025 — Researchers have profiled the molecular structure and features of a key part of the deadly Nipah virus. Experiments in cells showe how changes in the viral polymerase -- a protein involved in viral ...

Ancient Viral DNA Shapes Early Embryo Development

Jan. 20, 2025 — Over half of our genomes consists of thousands of remnants of ancient viral DNA, known as transposable elements, which are widespread across the tree of life. Once dismissed as the 'dark ...

A Chain Reaction: HIV Vaccines Can Lead to Antibodies Against Antibodies

Jan. 17, 2025 — Many vaccines work by introducing a protein to the body that resembles part of a virus. Ideally, the immune system will produce long-lasting antibodies recognizing that specific virus, thereby ...

Rotavirus Protein NSP4 Manipulates Gastrointestinal Disease Severity

Jan. 17, 2025 — Researchers have improved our understanding of how rotavirus, the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in children, makes people sick. The study is among the first to show that the rotavirus ...

Decoding HIV's Tactics

Jan. 16, 2025 — Scientists have unveiled insights into how HIV-1, the virus responsible for AIDS, skillfully hijacks cellular machinery for its own survival. By dissecting the molecular interplay between the virus ...

The Hunt Narrows for Ebolavirus Hosts

Jan. 15, 2025 — Scientists have developed a tool to narrow down potential host species of filoviruses like Ebola and better prioritize wildlife ...

'Perfect Storm' of Mutations Drives Infection-Triggered Autoimmune Disease

Jan. 15, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered how chronic hepatitis C infection leads to autoimmune disease, which opens new paths for ...

Bird Flu Is Mutating, but Antivirals Still Work

Jan. 15, 2025 — Researchers have identified nine mutations in a bird flu strain from a person in Texas. Bad news: this strain is more capable of causing disease and replicates better in the brain. Good news: ...

Hepatitis E Vaccination Is Effective in an Epidemic

Jan. 14, 2025 — Hepatitis E, a potentially serious viral liver disease, is transmitted through contaminated water. The risk is particularly high in populations with limited access to safe water and sanitation. In ...

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Why Zika Virus Hijacks a Protein Needed for Brain Growth

Jan. 13, 2025 — The mosquito-borne Zika virus is known for causing microcephaly, a birth defect in which abnormal brain development results in a smaller-than-expected head. A new study shows that the Zika virus ...

Route of Entry for Semliki Forest Virus Into the Brain Revealed

Jan. 13, 2025 — Semliki Forest virus was originally isolated from mosquitoes in the Semliki Forest, Uganda, hence the name. Upon systemic infection from mosquito bites, Semliki Forest virus causes mild blood viremia ...