Scientists find compound to fight virus behind SARS, MERS

GENEVA: An international team of scientists say they have identified a compound that can fight coronaviruses, responsible for the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which currently have no cure.

Coronaviruses affect the upper and lower respiratory tracts in humans. They are the reason for up to a third of common colds. A more severe strain of the virus, thought to have come from bats, triggered the global SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic in 2002, which killed nearly 800 people.

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a new strain discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and thought to have originated in camels. More deadly but less contagious, it has so far killed 193 people out of 636 confirmed cases.

Now, a team of scientists led by Edward Trybala from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and Volker Thiel from the University of Bern, have discovered a compound called K22, which appears to block the ability of the virus to spread in humans.

"This finding is important in light of the fact that some emerging coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS... are potential pandemic-causing pathogens," Trybala said in an email to AFP.

In "our work we found a novel strategy to combat these viruses," he added.

The team screened 16,671 different compounds before realising that K22 could combat a weak form of coronavirus that causes mild cold-like symptoms.

They then went on to show that it can fight more serious strains, including SARS and MERS.

- ´Viral factories´ -

In an article for specialist journal "PLOS Pathogens", the scientists explained that the virus reproduces in the cells that line the human respiratory system. The virus takes over the membranes that separate different parts of human cells, reshaping them into a sort of protective armour in order to start its production cycle, and so creating "viral factories," Trybala told AFP.

K22 acts at an early stage in this process, preventing the virus from taking control of the cell membranes and so opening up "new treatment possibilities," he said.

"The results confirm that the use of the membrane of the host cell is a crucial step in the life-cycle of the virus," the researchers wrote.

Their work shows that "the process is highly sensitive and can be influenced by anti-viral medications".

They said the recent SARS epidemic and MERS outbreak mean there should be urgent investment in testing K22 outside the laboratory and developing medicines.

While K22 still has a way to go before it can be tested on humans, Trybala still believes "that identification of this new strategy of combating coronaviruses will aid to develop an effective and safe antiviral drug".

Earlier this month, experts gathered in Geneva by the World Health Organization confirmed that MERS was spreading but had yet to reach the level of global emergency.

Most of the MERS cases and deaths so far have been in Saudi Arabia, but the virus has been imported to more than a dozen other countries. All of those cases have involved people who became ill while in the Middle East.

Iran registered its first death from MERS on Thursday, and has registered six cases of the infection. (AFP)

Haiti offers treatment as virus outbreak surges

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian health authorities will distribute pain medication to clinics around the country amid a surge in suspected cases of a mosquito-borne virus that is new to the region, a government official said Friday.

More than 5,500 suspected cases of the chikungunya virus have been reported in Haiti, up from 1,500 cases a week earlier, Public Health Minister Florence Guillaume said.

The outbreak has been spreading around the Caribbean since the first known locally transmitted case was reported in French St. Martin in December. There have been more than 55,000 suspected and confirmed cases in the region.

There is no vaccine for chikungunya and the primary treatment is pain medication for the high fever and arthritis-like ache in the joints that are symptoms of the illness.

Guillaume said in an interview on Radio Caribe that the government has 400,000 doses of acetaminophen to distribute and that any people who believe they have the virus can be treated at no cost. She urged anyone who has had a fever lasting more than 72 hours to seek medical attention.

The illness is rarely fatal though there have been deaths associated with chikungunya among people who are elderly or who have an underlying medical condition.

Saudi reports one more death from MERS virus

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s health ministry says one more patient who contracted the potentially fatal Middle East virus related to SARS has died and that 14 new cases have been detected.

The ministry said on its website Sunday that a Saudi man in his 70s died in Riyadh. It says this brings to 112 the number of deaths from the virus in the kingdom since September 2012.

The new 14 cases raise the number of those infected in Saudi Arabia to 411. Five of the new cases were detected in Riyadh, five in Jeddah and four in Makka — three women and a 14-year-old boy.

MERS belongs to the coronavirus family that includes the common cold and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which caused some 800 deaths globally in 2003. (AP)

Newly arrived virus gains foothold in Caribbean

KINGSTON: A recently arrived mosquito-borne virus that causes an abrupt onset of high fever and intense joint pain is rapidly gaining a foothold in many spots of the Caribbean, health experts said Thursday.

There are currently more than 4,000 confirmed cases of the fast-spreading chikungunya virus in the Caribbean, most of them in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin. Another 31,000 suspected cases have been reported across the region of scattered islands.

The often painful illness most commonly found in Asia and Africa was first detected in December in tiny St. Martin. It was the first time that local transmission of chikungunya had been reported in the Americas. Since then, it has spread to nearly a dozen other islands and French Guiana, an overseas department of France on the north shoulder of South America.

It is rarely fatal and most chikungunya patients rebound within a week, but some people experience joint pain for months to years. There is no vaccine and it is spread by the pervasive Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue fever, a similar but often more serious illness with a deadly hemorrhagic form.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely monitoring the uncontrolled spread of the new vector-borne virus in the Caribbean and has been advising travelers about how best to protect themselves, such as applying mosquito repellant and sleeping in screened rooms. It is also closely watching for any signs of chikungunya in the US.

"To help prepare the United States for possible introduction of the virus, CDC has been working with state health departments to increase awareness about chikungunya and to facilitate diagnostic testing and early detection of any US cases," said Dr. Erin Staples, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC.

In the Caribbean, concern about chikungunya is growing as many countries enter their wettest months. The only way to stop the virus is to contain the population of mosquitoes - a task that commonly relies on individual efforts such as installing screened windows and making sure mosquitoes are not breeding in stagnant water.

Experts say eradicating vector-borne diseases like chikungunya once they become entrenched is an extremely difficult task. Dr. James Hospedales, executive director of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency, recently described the virus as the "new kid on the block."

In late April, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua & Barbuda became the latest Caribbean countries to report confirmed cases. In the Dominican Republic, there are now 17 confirmed cases and over 3,000 suspected ones. This week, the virus was discussed by health authorities at a two-day conference in the Dominican Republic attended by representatives of Central American countries.

Marie Guirlaine Raymond Charite, general director of Haiti's health ministry, said there are several suspected cases of chikungunya but nothing has been confirmed yet.

 

Egypt reports first case of MERS virus

CAIRO: Egyptian authorities have detected the first case of a dangerous SARS-like virus in the country, the state news agency said Saturday.

MENA said a 27-year-old civil engineer was diagnosed Saturday morning after returning from Saudi Arabia, where the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, has been centered.

It said the man was quarantined upon his arrival at Cairo airport Friday and transported to a nearby hospital.

MERS belongs to a family of viruses known as coronaviruses that include both the common cold and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed some 800 people in a global outbreak in 2003.

MERS can cause symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.

There is no vaccine or treatment for the MERS virus, and it is still unclear how it is transmitted. It also has been detected in Asia and Europe.

Saudi Arabia´s Health Ministry said late Friday that five more people in the kingdom have died from MERS.

The ministry says 92 people have died and 313 have contracted the virus in Saudi since September 2012.

King Abdullah fired his health minister Monday as officials struggle to alleviate public concerns amid a spike in infections.

On Saturday, the new health minister, Adel Faqih, announced that the country was reserving three medical centers in several cities for treating MERS cases exclusively, as part of a nation-wide plan for containing the disease´s spread.

In a statement on the ministry´s website, Faqih said the centers would be equipped with the latest medical technologies for diagnosing and treating the virus. He also said he plans to invite experts from Germany, Britain, France and the United States to study the outbreak. (AP)

Mosquito-borne virus arrives in Dominican Republic

SANTO DOMINGO: Health authorities in the Dominican Republic have reported the first outbreak of a mosquito-borne virus that has spread quickly in the Caribbean in the weeks since it was first detected in the region.

Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo says blood samples analyzed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first cases in the country of the virus known as chikungunya.

Health officials said Friday that 150-200 cases have been treated for symptoms since the first incidence was detected March 22. Most were in and around the town of Nigua, west of the capital.

Chikungunya is found mainly in Africa and Asia. It is rarely fatal but can cause fever, rash, fatigue and intense muscle and joint pain. The first Caribbean cases were detected in December in French St. Martin.