Viruses and Bacteria

Researchers from Ohio State University have created the first catalog of viral populations known to inhabit the human gut. Called the Gut Virome Database, the study suggests each person’s gut viral population is as unique as their fingerprints.

A new case study is reporting the first clinically confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection. Responding to the news, infectious disease specialists suggest the re-infection is not surprising, could be rare, and may have implications for the efficacy of a vaccine.

A new systematic review is affirming the effectiveness of honey as a first-line treatment for upper respiratory tract infections, suggesting antibiotics are ineffective treating minor coughs and colds, and honey offers superior symptomatic relief.

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to antibiotics, but we may soon have a new weapon to fight back. Bacteriophages are viruses that prey on bacteria, and now scientists have used them to treat Golden Staph infections in diabetic foot ulcers.

If there's one place where you don't want viruses or harmful bacteria to be present, it's in hospitals, where people are already vulnerable. A new process could help, by allowing aluminum surfaces in such buildings to kill the bugs.

In the first case of its kind, a four-year-old tiger at New York City’s Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has confirmed. The female Malayan tiger is believed to have been infected by a worker.

The body protects itself from invading viruses and bacteria using antibodies, but when a new threat emerges it takes time for the body to produce new ones. A new system from Berkeley Lab should speed up the discovery of new artificial antibodies.

A new study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is affirming early estimates suggesting 5.1 days is the average incubation period for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Although fresh produce is usually quite a healthy food choice, there's always a risk that it may be contaminated with norovirus. That said, new research now indicates that a fruit-derived coating helps eliminate such viruses more effectively than ever before.

A lab in the US has produced the most detailed images to date of the novel coronavirus currently spreading across the globe. The digitally colorized images illustrate the crown-like appearance of the virus now officially named SARS-CoV-2.

Scientists are investigating how the cell-destroying abilities of viruses can be leveraged to better attack different cancers, with a new study showing how a gene taken from the Ebola virus could be used to take the fight to a deadly brain tumor.

Ebola, Marburg, SARS, MERS, and now the new coronavirus Covid-19, all share one thing in common – they are thought to have originated in bats. But how do bats live with the viruses that seem to so easily kill other organisms?