Infectious Diseases
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November 19, 2012 | Research News
UGA partners with Emory, Georgia Tech and CDC Foundation on malaria research center
The University of Georgia, an internationally recognized leader in tropical and emerging global diseases and bioinformatics, will partner with other Georgia institutions to establish a comprehensive center that will study the systems biology of nonhuman primate and human malaria.
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November 8, 2012 | Research News
People with natural immunity to HIV may serve as basis for new vaccine
Despite urgent need and tremendous scientific effort, researchers have yet to discover a vaccine for HIV that adequately protects humans from infection. But some people don't need one. For reasons not completely understood, there are individuals who have developed a natural immunity to the virus without any medical intervention.
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October 25, 2012 | Research News
Tamiflu doesn’t offer relief promised, says UGA study
For the nearly 62 million Americans infected with influenza each year, oseltamivir, commonly called Tamiflu, promises to offer relief. New research from the University of Georgia finds the medication may not have all of the benefits flu sufferers and doctors are hoping for.
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October 24, 2012 | General News
Growing “braaains”: New UGA seminar uses zombies to teach about infectious diseases
Ah, the humble zombie, bereft of all emotion save for an insatiable lust for human flesh. These nightmarish ghouls have recently gone from horror movie cannon fodder to virtual pop icons, shuffling and groaning their way onto television shows, novels, video games and toy markets. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have gotten in on the fun with its own tongue-in-cheek Web page dedicated to educating the public about zombie preparedness.
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July 20, 2012 | Research News
UGA researcher honored for life sciences research
University of Georgia Distinguished Research Professor Daniel Colley has been awarded the 2012 Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Distinguished Life Sciences Scientist Award for his research in tropical medicine and parasitology. Colley has focused for more than 40 years on the immunology of schistosomiasis, a debilitating chronic worm disease that affects 240 million people worldwide, most in the developing world.
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July 19, 2012 | Research News
Overuse of deworming drugs led to widespread resistance among parasites
A long forgotten foe is beginning to reemerge on pastures and meadows around the world, and farmers are finding that they have no way to combat it. Parasitic worms infecting cows, sheep, goats and horses are becoming resistant to the drugs used to kill them, and if changes are not made in how the few remaining drugs that still work are used, there may be no way left to fight the growing threat, according to Ray Kaplan, a University of Georgia professor in the department of infectious diseases.
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June 15, 2012 | Research News
UGA study may lead to more effective rabies control strategies
A new study of rabies in vampire bats in Peru has found that culling bats—a common rabies control strategy—does not reduce rates of rabies exposure in bat colonies and may even be counterproductive. The findings may eventually help public health and agriculture officials in Peru develop more effective methods for preventing rabies infections in humans and livestock. The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on June 13, was conducted by a team of scientists from the U.S. and Peru led by Daniel Streicker, a postdoctoral associate in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology.
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June 13, 2012 | Research News
UGA researcher developing new vaccine to fight resurging mumps virus
Mumps may seem like a disease of a bygone era to many people in the U.S. who, thanks to immunization programs, have been spared the fever, aches and characteristic swollen jawline of the once common viral infection. Biao He, a University of Georgia professor of infectious diseases and a Georgia Research Alliance distinguished investigator in the College of Veterinary Medicine, worries that a new strain of the virus is spreading, and it could lead to the widespread reintroduction of mumps. Now, thanks in part a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, He and his team are working on a new vaccine to stop it.
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June 5, 2012 | Research News
UGA researcher receives NSF CAREER Award to study evolution of cellular signaling
When people don't communicate effectively, relationships suffer and entire organizations can fail. When cells don't communicate effectively, disease and sometimes death follows.
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May 18, 2012 | Research News
Hitting parasites where they hurt: New research shows promise in the fight against toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is one of the most common parasitic infections in the world. In the U.S. it is estimated that more than 22 percent of the population 12 years and older have been infected with toxoplasma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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May 18, 2012 | Research News
Hitting snooze on the molecular clock: Rabies evolves slower in hibernating bats
The rate at which the rabies virus evolves in bats may depend heavily upon the ecological traits of its hosts, according to researchers at the University of Georgia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Their study, published May 17 in the journal PLoS Pathogens, found that the host's geographical location was the most accurate predictor of the viral rate of evolution. Rabies viruses in tropical and sub-tropical bat species evolved nearly four times faster than viral variants in bats in temperate regions.
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May 10, 2012 | Research News
Malaria discoveries could pave way for new therapies
Half the world's population is at risk for contracting malaria. The deadly disease, spread by hungry mosquitoes that bite humans for their blood meals, affects more than 200 million people each year, and many people-mostly children-die.
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May 1, 2012 | Research News
UGA researcher receives $2.82 million grant to track tuberculosis transmissions in Africa
Christopher Whalen, the Ernest Corn Professor of Epidemiology in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the University of Georgia College of Public Health, has received a five-year, $2.82 million grant to understand how tuberculosis is transmitted in urban environments in Africa.
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April 9, 2012 | Research News
Black flies may have a purpose after all
Black flies drink blood and spread disease such as river blindness-creating misery with their presence. A University of Georgia study, however, proves that the pesky insects can be useful.
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April 6, 2012 | Events on Campus
UGA Voices lecture series concludes with wildlife’s role in health pandemics
An international ecology expert with a passion for wildlife and life in the bush will deliver this year's final Global Diseases: Voices from the Vanguard lecture on April 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the University of Georgia Chapel.