QUANTUM LEAP: Killer viruses on the prowl

By Dinesh C Sharma

Published: 17:47 EDT, 12 August 2014 | Updated: 17:47 EDT, 12 August 2014

Doctors in Germany step out of a disinfection chamber after cleaning their protective suits at the quarantine station for patients

The emergence of Ebola virus disease as a global health emergency comes in the long series of such outbreaks which have threatened global health in the past decade or so.

We have seen bird flu or Avian Influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and several pathogens cause much damage to human health in recent years.

The emergence of some new killers - like the Mojiang paramyxovirus (MojV) named after the place in China where it was found recently - has been localised as yet, while others are older viruses but becoming global threat now. 

Ebola, for instance, was reported in a village near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo and also in a remote area of Sudan in 1976.

MERS virus which surfaced in Saudi Arabia two years ago is a relative of SARS virus killed several people in 2002.

In India, Chikungunya reappeared after several decades. No new cases of Chandipura virus have been reported for many decades now, but one can never predict when it can hit back.

Whenever emergencies such as Ebola appear, they send the world into a tizzy.

In an economically integrated world with speedy communication, there is much at stake. Health emergencies can spread panic, lead to travel restrictions and even bans, loss of tourist traffic, and a clamour for drugs and new vaccines.

And it can cause loss of trade and revenue to countries if the outbreak involves an edible commodity such as chicken and meat. This is the reason China suppressed information about the outbreak of SARS and eventually paid a very high price.

In the case of MERS, the governments in Middle East have blamed exaggerated reporting by the Western press. That's why the World Health Organisation is very cautious before declaring the outbreak of a new or old virus as a global health emergency, and always suggests caution before countries issue travel advisories.

Scientists have been trying to figure out why old viruses are resurfacing, new ones are emerging and existing viruses are becoming more virulent through mutation in the environment.

Workers unload medical supplies from China at the Conakry in Guinea. The supplies are for Ebola-hit-countries.

The bulk of infectious diseases are of a zoonotic nature, meaning they spread between humans and animals (both wild livestock).

Viruses, bacteria, fungi and other pathogens that cause these diseases are carried by animals. All new viruses, including HIV, have an animal origin. Ebola too is known to occur in fruit bats, while SARS virus first spread through wildlife contact. Japanese encephalitis is associated with pig farming.

Some of the emerging pathogens have more than one host, making their control even more challenging.

A careful analysis has shown that wildlife-livestock-human interface has changed dramatically in the past two to three decades because of deforestation, environmental degradation, damage caused to biodiversity, intensification of livestock farming like poultry and modern agricultural practices.

While tackling Ebola and other health emergencies, we also need to examine underlying causes for the upsurge of new threats to human health and take corrective measures.

Close all ivory markets

Here is a novel suggestion to end trade in ivory which threatens elephants: close down all ivory markets and destroy all ivory stockpiles.

Elephants will continue to be killed for ivory as long as a legal market for ivory exists somewhere in the world, says new research by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Corruption undermines all aspects of controls as long as a legal market remains.

Government stockpiles of ivory in different countries need to be destroyed since they are known to be significant sources of ivory leaking into illegal trade.

Corruption, organised crime and a lack of enforcement make any legal trade of ivory a major factor contributing to the demise of elephants.

Creating perfect vision

Ramesh Raskar has developed a revolutionary piece of technology for the eyes

Ramesh Raskar, head of the camera culture group at MIT Media Lab, is an amazing technologist and innovator. He has developed some revolutionary technologies relating to vision - from a camera that can capture movement of light to a cell phone devise that can check vision and even detect cataracts.

Raskar has dozens of patents to his credit, many of whom have found ready takers in industry.

The latest from him is a new display technology that automatically corrects for vision defects - no glasses or contact lenses required.

Instead of people with defective vision wearing glasses or lenses, the new technology can be embedded in devices making them visible for people with poor vision.

The innovation is a variation of glasses-free 3-D technology developed by Raskar's team a couple of years ago.

A vision defect occurs due to mismatch between the eye's focal distance - the range at which it can actually bring objects into focus - and the distance of the object it is trying to focus on. The new display simulates an image at the correct focal distance - somewhere between the display and the viewer's eye.

However, it will have limited applications such as GPS displays on dashboard that far-sighted drivers can consult without putting their glasses on or electronic readers that eliminate the need for reading glasses.

"It will not be able to help you see the rest of the world more sharply, but today, we spend a huge portion of our time interacting with the digital world," explained Gordon Wetzstein, a member of the research team.  

Concern over plastics

Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in hard plastics which are used to make bottles and lunch boxes, continues to cause concern because of its adverse impact on the brains of infants and children exposed to it.

Though the US food and drug regulator has ruled that it is safe at low levels, scientists are busy studying this chemical.

A group of Indian scientists have deciphered the cellular mechanism of how BPA affects the brain in animal studies. The team studied effects of BPA on cellular and molecular alteration in myelination - the process by which nerve cells are insulated with lipids for normal nerve conduction.

"We found that BPA adversely affects myelination by decreasing production of proteins. Such altered myelination causes cognitive deficit," explained Dr Vijaya Nath Mishra, a member of the research team.

The study done by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, and Department of Neurology at Banaras Hindu University has been published in the scientific journal, Molecular Neurobiology.