Deadly Ebola Virus Kills One Near Uganda's Capital

Health officials reported on Saturday that a 12-year-old girl died of the deadly Ebola virus about 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Kampala.

Preliminary testing carried out at the Uganda Virus Research Institute showed on Friday that the girl died from the virus on May 6 at Bombo hospital, said Dr Miriam Nanyunja, disease prevention and control officer for the World Health Organisation in Uganda.

Scientists Identify Cellular Protein That Acts as Receptor for Ebola Virus
A cellular protein that acts as a receptor for Ebola virus and Marburg virus has been identified by a team of scientists.

"She came into the hospital and died a few hours later," Nanyunja said. "They tested for Ebola and the confirmatory result came out yesterday."

Nanyunja said that health officials were currently looking for more cases in the area and planned to set up an isolation unit at Bombo hospital in anticipation of new patients.

Ugandan director general of health services Dr Nathan Mugisha confirmed the preliminary results and said that a taskforce was meeting on Saturday to work out how to deal with any potential outbreak.

Fight Against Ebola Infection Boosted by New Discovery
A family of small molecules that appear to bind to Ebola virus' outer protein coat and may inhibit its entry into human cells has been uncovered by scientists.

"So far it is only preliminary test results and there is a meeting in progress," Mugisha told AFP.

The rare haemorrhagic disease, named after a small river in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, killed 37 people in western Uganda in 2007 and claimed the lives of at least 170 people in the north of the country in 2000.

Hope for Treating Ebola, Lassa, Marburg and Other Fast-acting Viruses
The sugar dish was the unlikely place to search for when a team of European researchers sought to discover how a class of antiviral drugs worked.

Source-AFP

Scientists Move A Step Closer to Ebola Drug
US scientists said on Sunday they had cleared a key hurdle in the quest for a drug to treat Ebola, a notorious African virus and feared future weapon of bioterrorism.