Israel and Hamas agree to 72 hour humanitarian cease fire.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIkR18JcBU4_9-FX9M2a9bNGhVAAIbiIIE-HalnXG2-IqdMDZcpSG25_bEtNPWaxDGuiwezUVIeRsWml44jITWIEGSp0L3vpgAhHf6rGHYdy19W3QyseNyRG65O2SyWp1Ubl6T7aV_i-E/s1600/GAZ07-MIDEAST-GAZA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIkR18JcBU4_9-FX9M2a9bNGhVAAIbiIIE-HalnXG2-IqdMDZcpSG25_bEtNPWaxDGuiwezUVIeRsWml44jITWIEGSp0L3vpgAhHf6rGHYdy19W3QyseNyRG65O2SyWp1Ubl6T7aV_i-E/s1600/GAZ07-MIDEAST-GAZA.JPG" /></a></div>Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire beginning Friday, during which time there will be negotiations on a more durable truce in the 24-day-old Gaza war, the United States and United Nations announced Thursday.<br /><br />The announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas’ tunnel network “with or without a ceasefire” and as the Palestinian death toll soared past 1,400. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the announcement.<br /><br /><br /><br />In a statement released in New Delhi where Secretary of State John Kerry is travelling, the U.S. and U.N. said they had gotten assurances that all parties to the conflict had agreed to an unconditional cease-fire.<br /><br />“This humanitarian cease-fire will commence at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. It will last for a period of 72 hours unless extended. During this time the forces on the ground will remain in place,” the statement said.<br /><br />“We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian cease-fire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the cease-fire.”<br /><br />The statement said the ceasefire was critical to give civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence. During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive humanitarian relief and have time to bury the dead, take care of the injured and restock food supplies. The time also will be used to repair water and energy infrastructure.<br /><br />Israeli and Palestinian delegations were expected to travel immediately to Cairo for talks with the Egyptian government aimed at reaching an end to the conflict.<br /><br />PROTECTING CIVILIANS<br /><br />The Pentagon called on Israel on Thursday to do more to protect civilian life during its military operations in Gaza, saying the conflict was taking too high a toll on civilians.<br /><br />“The civilian casualties in Gaza have been too high. And it’s become clear that the Israelis need to do more to live up to their very high standards - their very high and very public standards - for protecting civilian life,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said at a news briefing.<br /><br />Israel said Thursday it has called up another 16,000 reservists, allowing it to potentially widen its Gaza offensive against the territory’s Hamas rulers in a war that has killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and more than 50 Israelis.<br /><br />Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said on Thursday he would not accept any ceasefire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants’ infiltration tunnels.<br /><br /><br />The UN’s top human rights official accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the Gaza conflict, but reserved her harshest words for the Israeli government, which she said Thursday was deliberately defying international law.<br /><br />Israeli attacks in the strip continued Thursday, with witnesses saying that munitions struck the Omar Ibn al-Khatab mosque next to a UN school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.<br /><br />BEIT LAHIYA: ISRAELI ATTACKS REPORTED TO HIT MOSQUE<br /><br />The strike in Beit Lahiya early Thursday damaged water tanks on the roof of a building near the mosque, sending shrapnel flying into the adjacent school compound.“The shrapnel from the strike on the mosque hit people who were in the street and at the entrance of the school,” said Sami Salebi, an area resident.<br /><br />Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said at least 15 people were wounded, with three of them in critical condition.<br /><br />Kifah Rafati, 40, was being treated for shrapnel injuries at the nearby Kamal Adwan hospital. She said she and her six children had been sleeping in a classroom facing the mosque when the explosion went off. “There is no safety anywhere,” she said.<br /><br />TUNNELS: ‘WE ARE DETERMINED TO COMPLETE THIS MISSION’<br /><br />The Israeli military estimated on Wednesday the task of destroying tunnels into Gaza, already into its fourth week, would take several more days.<br /><br />“We are determined to complete this mission, with or without a ceasefire,” Netanyahu said in public remarks at the start of a meeting of his full cabinet in Tel Aviv on Thursday. “I wont agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to finish this important task, for the sake of Israel’s security.”<br /><br />“Progress has been satisfactory, and we are completing our treatment of the terror tunnels,” Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Thursday. “During the fighting, soldiers are finding new tunnel shafts, and they are also being neutralized.”<br /><br />Three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday by a booby trap detonated as they uncovered a tunnel shaft, the army said.<br /><br />GENEVA: UN RIGHTS WATCHDOG SAYS HAMAS, ISRAEL GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES<br /><br />U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated areas both sides are committing “a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.”<br /><br />“Locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas are violations of international humanitarian law,” Pillay said, referring to Hamas, but added that doesn’t “absolve” Israel from disregarding the same law.<br /><br />Pillay also took aim at the United States, Israel’s main ally, for providing financial support for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system. “No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling,” she said.<br /><br />ISRAEL: 86,000 RESERVES NOW CALLED UP<br /><br />Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict, which it launched to try to end the rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.<br /><br />An initial aerial campaign was widened into a ground offensive on July 17. Since then the campaign has concentrated on destroying more than 30 cross-border tunnels that militants have constructed to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.<br /><br />Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted.<br /><br />JEBALIYA: SCHOOL ATTACK ‘OUTRAGEOUS,’ UN SAYS<br /><br />On Wednesday Israeli tank shells struck a UN school in the Jebaliya refugee camp where some 3,300 Gazans had crammed in to seek refuge from the fighting, killing at least 17 people and drawing sharp condemnation from the United Nations.<br /><br />Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the deadly school shelling “outrageous” and “unjustifiable,” and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.<br /><br />“Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children,” the UN chief said.<br /><br />Hours later, an Israeli airstrike hit a crowded shopping area in the Shijaiyah district in Gaza City, killing at least 16 people, including local Palestinian photographer Rami Rayan, who was wearing a press vest at the time, and wounding more than 200 people, al-Kidra said.

Israel and Hamas agree to 72 hour humanitarian cease fire.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire beginning Friday, during which time there will be negotiations on a more d...

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Virology of EBOLA VIRUS

<br /><br />The EBOV genome is approximately 19 kb in length. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerase cofactor (VP35), (VP40), GP, transcription activator (VP30), VP24, and RNA polymerase (L).[3]<br />Structure[edit]<br /><br />Electron micrographs of EBOV show them to have the characteristic threadlike structure of a filovirus.[4] EBOV VP30 is around 288 amino acids long.[5] The virions are tubular in general form but variable in overall shape and may appear as the classic shepherd's crook or eyebolt, as a U or a 6, or coiled, circular, or branched; laboratory techniques, such as centrifugation, may be the origin of some of these formations.[6] Virions are generally 80 nm in diameter with a lipid bilayer anchoring the glycoprotein which projects 7 to 10 nm long spikes from its surface.[7] They are of variable length, typically around 800 nm, but may be up to 1000 nm long. In the center of the virion is a structure called nucleocapsid, which is formed by the helically wound viral genomic RNA complexed with the proteins NP, VP35, VP30, and L.[8] It has a diameter of 80 nm and contains a central channel of 20–30 nm in diameter. Virally encoded glycoprotein (GP) spikes 10 nm long and 10 nm apart are present on the outer viral envelope of the virion, which is derived from the host cell membrane. Between envelope and nucleocapsid, in the so-called matrix space, the viral proteins VP40 and VP24 are located.[9]<br />Genome[edit]<br /><br />Each virion contains one molecule of linear, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA, 18,959 to 18,961 nucleotides in length. The 3′ terminus is not polyadenylated and the 5′ end is not capped. It was found that 472 nucleotides from the 3' end and 731 nucleotides from the 5' end are sufficient for replication.[10] It codes for seven structural proteins and one non-structural protein. The gene order is 3′ – leader – NP – VP35 – VP40 – GP/sGP – VP30 – VP24 – L – trailer – 5′; with the leader and trailer being non-transcribed regions, which carry important signals to control transcription, replication, and packaging of the viral genomes into new virions. The genomic material by itself is not infectious, because viral proteins, among them the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, are necessary to transcribe the viral genome into mRNAs because it is a negative sense RNA virus, as well as for replication of the viral genome. Sections of the NP and the L genes from filoviruses have been identified as endogenous in the genomes of several groups of small mammals.[11]<br />Entry[edit]<br /><br />Niemann–Pick C1 (NPC1) appears to be essential for Ebola infection. Two independent studies reported in the same issue of Nature showed that Ebola virus cell entry and replication requires the cholesterol transporter protein NPC1.[12][13] When cells from Niemann Pick Type C patients were exposed to Ebola virus in the laboratory, the cells survived and appeared immune to the virus, further indicating that Ebola relies on NPC1 to enter cells. This might imply that genetic mutations in the NPC1 gene in humans could make some people resistant to one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. The same studies described similar results with Ebola's cousin in the filovirus group, Marburg virus, showing that it too needs NPC1 to enter cells.[12][13] Furthermore, NPC1 was shown to be critical to filovirus entry because it mediates infection by binding directly to the viral envelope glycoprotein.[13] A later study confirmed the findings that NPC1 is a critical filovirus receptor that mediates infection by binding directly to the viral envelope glycoprotein and that the second lysosomal domain of NPC1 mediates this binding.[14]<br /><br />In one of the original studies, a small molecule was shown to inhibit Ebola virus infection by preventing the virus glycoprotein from binding to NPC1.[13][15] In the other study, mice that were heterozygous for NPC1 were shown to be protected from lethal challenge with mouse adapted Ebola virus.[12] Together, these studies suggest NPC1 may be potential therapeutic target for an Ebola anti-viral drug.<br />Replication[edit]<br /><br />Being acellular, viruses do not grow through cell division; instead, they use the machinery and metabolism of a host cell to produce multiple copies of themselves, and they assemble in the cell.[8]<br />The virus attaches to host receptors through the glycoprotein (GP) surface peplomer and is endocytosed into macropinosomes in the host cell [16]<br />Viral membrane fuses with vesicle membrane, nucleocapsid is released into the cytoplasm<br />Encapsidated, negative-sense genomic ssRNA is used as a template for the synthesis (3' – 5') of polyadenylated, monocistronic mRNAs<br />Using the host cell's machinery, translation of the mRNA into viral proteins occurs<br />Viral proteins are processed, glycoprotein precursor (GP0) is cleaved to GP1 and GP2, which are heavily glycosylated. These two molecules assemble, first into heterodimers, and then into trimers to give the surface peplomers. Secreted glycoprotein (sGP) precursor is cleaved to sGP and delta peptide, both of which are released from the cell.<br />As viral protein levels rise, a switch occurs from translation to replication. Using the negative-sense genomic RNA as a template, a complementary +ssRNA is synthesized; this is then used as a template for the synthesis of new genomic (-)ssRNA, which is rapidly encapsidated.<br />The newly formed nucleocapsids and envelope proteins associate at the host cell's plasma membrane; budding occurs, destroying the cell.

Virology of EBOLA VIRUS

The EBOV genome is approximately 19 kb in length. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerase cofactor (VP35), (VP4...

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Israel and Hamas agree to 72 hour humanitarian cease fire

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire beginning Friday, during which time there will be negotiations on a more durable truce in the 24-day-old Gaza war, the United States and United Nations announced Thursday.<br /><br />The announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas’ tunnel network “with or without a ceasefire” and as the Palestinian death toll soared past 1,400. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the announcement.<br /><br /><br /><br />In a statement released in New Delhi where Secretary of State John Kerry is travelling, the U.S. and U.N. said they had gotten assurances that all parties to the conflict had agreed to an unconditional cease-fire.<br /><br />“This humanitarian cease-fire will commence at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. It will last for a period of 72 hours unless extended. During this time the forces on the ground will remain in place,” the statement said.<br /><br />“We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian cease-fire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the cease-fire.”<br /><br />The statement said the ceasefire was critical to give civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence. During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive humanitarian relief and have time to bury the dead, take care of the injured and restock food supplies. The time also will be used to repair water and energy infrastructure.<br /><br />Israeli and Palestinian delegations were expected to travel immediately to Cairo for talks with the Egyptian government aimed at reaching an end to the conflict.<br /><br />PROTECTING CIVILIANS<br /><br />The Pentagon called on Israel on Thursday to do more to protect civilian life during its military operations in Gaza, saying the conflict was taking too high a toll on civilians.<br /><br />“The civilian casualties in Gaza have been too high. And it’s become clear that the Israelis need to do more to live up to their very high standards - their very high and very public standards - for protecting civilian life,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said at a news briefing.<br /><br />Israel said Thursday it has called up another 16,000 reservists, allowing it to potentially widen its Gaza offensive against the territory’s Hamas rulers in a war that has killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and more than 50 Israelis.<br /><br />Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said on Thursday he would not accept any ceasefire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants’ infiltration tunnels.<br /><br /><br />The UN’s top human rights official accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the Gaza conflict, but reserved her harshest words for the Israeli government, which she said Thursday was deliberately defying international law.<br /><br />Israeli attacks in the strip continued Thursday, with witnesses saying that munitions struck the Omar Ibn al-Khatab mosque next to a UN school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.<br /><br />BEIT LAHIYA: ISRAELI ATTACKS REPORTED TO HIT MOSQUE<br /><br />The strike in Beit Lahiya early Thursday damaged water tanks on the roof of a building near the mosque, sending shrapnel flying into the adjacent school compound.“The shrapnel from the strike on the mosque hit people who were in the street and at the entrance of the school,” said Sami Salebi, an area resident.<br /><br />Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said at least 15 people were wounded, with three of them in critical condition.<br /><br />Kifah Rafati, 40, was being treated for shrapnel injuries at the nearby Kamal Adwan hospital. She said she and her six children had been sleeping in a classroom facing the mosque when the explosion went off. “There is no safety anywhere,” she said.<br /><br />TUNNELS: ‘WE ARE DETERMINED TO COMPLETE THIS MISSION’<br /><br />The Israeli military estimated on Wednesday the task of destroying tunnels into Gaza, already into its fourth week, would take several more days.<br /><br />“We are determined to complete this mission, with or without a ceasefire,” Netanyahu said in public remarks at the start of a meeting of his full cabinet in Tel Aviv on Thursday. “I wont agree to any proposal that will not enable the Israeli military to finish this important task, for the sake of Israel’s security.”<br /><br />“Progress has been satisfactory, and we are completing our treatment of the terror tunnels,” Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Thursday. “During the fighting, soldiers are finding new tunnel shafts, and they are also being neutralized.”<br /><br />Three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday by a booby trap detonated as they uncovered a tunnel shaft, the army said.<br /><br />GENEVA: UN RIGHTS WATCHDOG SAYS HAMAS, ISRAEL GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES<br /><br />U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated areas both sides are committing “a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime.”<br /><br />“Locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas are violations of international humanitarian law,” Pillay said, referring to Hamas, but added that doesn’t “absolve” Israel from disregarding the same law.<br /><br />Pillay also took aim at the United States, Israel’s main ally, for providing financial support for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system. “No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling,” she said.<br /><br />ISRAEL: 86,000 RESERVES NOW CALLED UP<br /><br />Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict, which it launched to try to end the rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.<br /><br />An initial aerial campaign was widened into a ground offensive on July 17. Since then the campaign has concentrated on destroying more than 30 cross-border tunnels that militants have constructed to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.<br /><br />Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted.<br /><br />JEBALIYA: SCHOOL ATTACK ‘OUTRAGEOUS,’ UN SAYS<br /><br />On Wednesday Israeli tank shells struck a UN school in the Jebaliya refugee camp where some 3,300 Gazans had crammed in to seek refuge from the fighting, killing at least 17 people and drawing sharp condemnation from the United Nations.<br /><br />Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the deadly school shelling “outrageous” and “unjustifiable,” and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.<br /><br />“Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children,” the UN chief said.<br /><br />Hours later, an Israeli airstrike hit a crowded shopping area in the Shijaiyah district in Gaza City, killing at least 16 people, including local Palestinian photographer Rami Rayan, who was wearing a press vest at the time, and wounding more than 200 people, al-Kidra said.

Israel and Hamas agree to 72 hour humanitarian cease fire

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire beginning Friday, during which time there will be negotiations on a more d...

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Gaza and Hamas blaming each other for killings

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAj49bsIhQ5PbuuGUFF1czgBMefj7hj4CSDffWjRAxJiJZsuCAkAkDIczY2jRgLm2ZncpdTM-mPUDvtxBAXxmz3tQF_ocqxnVqz-TGJVUSzI2maewT9g3KEwO2HsiALqiXET1fBJqHqUh/s1600/Gaza+dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAj49bsIhQ5PbuuGUFF1czgBMefj7hj4CSDffWjRAxJiJZsuCAkAkDIczY2jRgLm2ZncpdTM-mPUDvtxBAXxmz3tQF_ocqxnVqz-TGJVUSzI2maewT9g3KEwO2HsiALqiXET1fBJqHqUh/s1600/Gaza+dead.jpg" /></a></div>Gaza  -- Hamas and Israel blamed one another for the lack of a cease-fire in a conflict that has left more than 1,200 people dead, raising questions about just what it will take to end the fighting in Gaza.<br /><br />The violence continued Wednesday morning, when Israeli forces shelled the Abu Hussein School in northern Gaza and killed at least 20 people, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.<br /><br />The Israeli military said they are looking into the incident.<br /><br />International efforts to broker a deal to end the violence failed again Tuesday, with Hamas rejecting a cease-fire proposal put forward by the Palestinian Authority that called for a 24-hour truce that could be extended to 72 hours. Hamas maintains that any deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza.<br /><br />Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said any truce must allow for its protection against tunnels used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to make their way into Israel.<br /><br />"Hamas is responsible for all deaths on their side and on our side because they are the ones who kept this conflict going," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said<br /><br />"People are fighting and people are dying because Hamas said no to a cease-fire."<br /><br />Israel is "ready for a period of sustained peace and security" Regev said earlier in the day on CNN. But he asserted that Hamas has consistently rejected truces and an Egyptian initiative for a cease-fire put forth this month.<br /><br />On Hamas-run television, Mohammed Deif, chief of the group's military wing, said that "there is no middle ground" regarding a truce until Israel ends its "siege" of Gaza.<br /><br />"The Israeli enemy will not have security as long as we don't have security for our people," he said.<br /><br />Hamas wants Israel to lift a blockade it began on Gaza in 2007, a move Israel has said was necessary to stop Hamas and other allied militant group from bringing weapons into Gaza. But Israel has been under fire for sealing the borders, with aid groups saying the blockade has cut off basic supplies and created a humanitarian crisis<br /><br /><br />While leaders continued to talk, the lights in Gaza flickered on and off in many homes after its only power plant was hit.<br /><br />Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike. But Israel said the power plant was not a target.<br /><br />At least 40% of Gaza's fuel had been burned by early Tuesday, according to Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Energy Natural Resources Authority in Gaza. The plant will have to be reconstructed and will not operate as it did for at least a year, he said.<br /><br />"We cannot supply electricity" for hospitals, sewage treatment or domestic use, he said. "This is a disaster."<br /><br />Hamas-run television reported early Tuesday that Israeli strikes hit the Ministry of Finance in western Gaza and the house of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior political leader of Hamas. A radio station run by Hamas was bombed.<br /><br />At least 1,242 people in Gaza have died and more than 7,000 have been wounded since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said.<br /><br />The number of militants killed is unclear, but the United Nations estimates that 70% to 80% of the dead are civilians. <br />Source: CNN

Gaza and Hamas blaming each other for killings

Gaza  -- Hamas and Israel blamed one another for the lack of a cease-fire in a conflict that has left more than 1,200 people dead, raising q...

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Why Israel and Gaza are fighting.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9MI5_ZkG2UhBejd6G_GABga8yqUfxq_NTSOpat_qTn0SxlVzJecwwugL2XmVOlnzaH7IoQTYzyaAcX2iaxojKJ0Wzqs4WBgKA-UWMBsDH6PFRwFQuNg39mXBa-9p3op7miLNT2Mas0r8/s1600/Apache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9MI5_ZkG2UhBejd6G_GABga8yqUfxq_NTSOpat_qTn0SxlVzJecwwugL2XmVOlnzaH7IoQTYzyaAcX2iaxojKJ0Wzqs4WBgKA-UWMBsDH6PFRwFQuNg39mXBa-9p3op7miLNT2Mas0r8/s1600/Apache.jpg" /></a></div>Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It's part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict.<br /><br />After World War II and the Holocaust in which six million Jewish people were killed, more Jewish people wanted their own country.<br /><br />They were given a large part of Palestine, which they considered their traditional home but the Arabs who already lived there and in neighbouring countries felt that was unfair and didn't accept the new country. <br /><br />Under its 2005 <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%27s_unilateral_disengagement_plan" title="Israel's unilateral disengagement plan">disengagement plan</a>, Israel retained exclusive control over Gaza's airspace and territorial waters, continued to patrol and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, with the exception of its southernmost border (where Egypt retained control of the border and border crossings were supervised by European monitors) and continued to monitor and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%93present_blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip" title="2007–present blockade of the Gaza Strip">blockade</a> Gaza's coastline. Israel largely provides for and controls Gaza's water supply, electricity and communications infrastructure.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%E2%80%93Israel_conflict#cite_note-7"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%E2%80%93Israel_conflict#cite_note-8"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup> According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch" title="Human Rights Watch">Human Rights Watch</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International" title="Amnesty International">Amnesty International</a>, Israel remains an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_occupation" title="Military occupation">occupying power</a> under international law.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%E2%80%93Israel_conflict#cite_note-9"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a></sup> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> has stated that under resolutions of both the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly" title="United Nations General Assembly">General Assembly</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council" title="United Nations Security Council">Security Council</a> it regards Gaza to be part of the "Occupied Palestinian Territories".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%E2%80%93Israel_conflict#cite_note-10"><span>[</span>10<span>]</span></a></sup> Meanwhile, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatah_government_in_the_West_Bank" title="Fatah government in the West Bank">Fatah government in the West Bank</a>, officially recognized as the sole representative of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine" title="State of Palestine">State of Palestine</a> refers to the Gaza Strip as part of the Palestinian State and doesn't recognize the Hamas government, hence avoiding interfering in the conflict. <br /><br />A history of the Gaza conflict<br /><br />In 1948, the two sides went to war. When it ended, Gaza was controlled by Egypt and another area, the West Bank, by Jordan. They contained thousands of Palestinians who fled what was now the new Jewish home, Israel.<br />Israel's recognition<br /><br />But then, in 1967, after another war, Israel occupied these Palestinian areas and Israeli troops stayed there for years. Israelis hoped they might exchange the land they won for Arab countries recognising Israel's right to exist and an end to the fighting.<br /><br />Israel finally left Gaza in 2005 but soon after, a group called Hamas won elections and took control there. Much of the world calls Hamas a terrorist organisation. It refuses to recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to their old home - and will use violence to achieve its aims.<br /><br />Click here to see where Israel is...<br /><br />Since then, Israel has held Gaza under a blockade, which means it controls its borders and limits who can get in and out. <br />Life in Gaza<br /><br />Life for the many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip is difficult.<br /><br />Martin Patience reports from Gaza about children there (29 July)<br /><br />Israel controls its coastline and all the entry and exit crossings into Israel. There is another crossing point into Egypt. There is no working airport. Because access is so restricted, not many goods get into or out of Gaza. Food is allowed in, but aid agencies say families are not eating as much meat or fresh vegetables and fruit as they used to. There are often power cuts.<br /><br />Large numbers of people are unemployed because businesses can get very few of their products out of Gaza to sell, and people don't have much money to buy things.<br />Palestinian refugees<br /><br />During the 1948 and 1967 wars hundreds of thousands of Palestinians left, or were forced out of, their homes and moved to neighbouring countries to become refugees.<br /><br />More than 4.6 million Palestinians are refugees and their descendants, many living in camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. They get help from the United Nations.<br /> <br />Violence in Gaza<br /><br />Though the Palestinians don't have an army, rockets are regularly fired from Gaza into Israel. Israelis living in border towns are used to having to take shelter and adapting their lives to deal with the rockets.<br /><br />In the years since Israel withdrew its troops in 2005, Gaza has seen several Israeli offensives. Israel says these were aimed at putting a stop to rocket fire. <br /> In 2008, Israel sent soldiers into Gaza. An estimated 1,300 people, many of them civilians, were killed in Gaza before a ceasefire was declared; 13 Israeli soldiers also died. <br /> In 2012, at least 167 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during an Israeli operation. After eight days a ceasefire was declared with both sides promising to stop attacks.<br /> Most recently in July 2014, Palestinian authorities said over 200 people were killed by Israeli air strikes and many more injured. Israel says more than 1,100 rockets were fired from Gaza, seriously injuring at least four Israelis, with one Israeli man killed. <br />Peace Process<br /><br />Other countries, particularly America, have worked hard to settle the fighting between the Arabs and Israelis but so far nothing has worked. Many people want Gaza and the West Bank to be turned into a new country - Palestine. Israel won't agree to this unless it feels safe - and Hamas accepts its right to exist. The other sticking points are what will happen to Israelis who've settled in the West Bank, who will run Jerusalem and what will happen to the Palestinian refugees.<br /><br />Source: BBC and WIKIPEDIA

Why Israel and Gaza are fighting.

Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It's part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict. After World War I...

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Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It's part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict.<br /><br />After World War II and the Holocaust in which six million Jewish people were killed, more Jewish people wanted their own country.<br /><br />They were given a large part of Palestine, which they considered their traditional home but the Arabs who already lived there and in neighbouring countries felt that was unfair and didn't accept the new country. <br /><br />A history of the Gaza conflict<br /><br />In 1948, the two sides went to war. When it ended, Gaza was controlled by Egypt and another area, the West Bank, by Jordan. They contained thousands of Palestinians who fled what was now the new Jewish home, Israel.<br />Israel's recognition<br /><br />But then, in 1967, after another war, Israel occupied these Palestinian areas and Israeli troops stayed there for years. Israelis hoped they might exchange the land they won for Arab countries recognising Israel's right to exist and an end to the fighting.<br /><br />Israel finally left Gaza in 2005 but soon after, a group called Hamas won elections and took control there. Much of the world calls Hamas a terrorist organisation. It refuses to recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to their old home - and will use violence to achieve its aims.<br /><br />Click here to see where Israel is...<br /><br />Since then, Israel has held Gaza under a blockade, which means it controls its borders and limits who can get in and out. <br />Life in Gaza<br /><br />Life for the many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip is difficult.<br /><br />Martin Patience reports from Gaza about children there (29 July)<br /><br />Israel controls its coastline and all the entry and exit crossings into Israel. There is another crossing point into Egypt. There is no working airport. Because access is so restricted, not many goods get into or out of Gaza. Food is allowed in, but aid agencies say families are not eating as much meat or fresh vegetables and fruit as they used to. There are often power cuts.<br /><br />Large numbers of people are unemployed because businesses can get very few of their products out of Gaza to sell, and people don't have much money to buy things.<br />Palestinian refugees<br /><br />During the 1948 and 1967 wars hundreds of thousands of Palestinians left, or were forced out of, their homes and moved to neighbouring countries to become refugees.<br /><br />More than 4.6 million Palestinians are refugees and their descendants, many living in camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. They get help from the United Nations.<br /> <br />Violence in Gaza<br /><br />Though the Palestinians don't have an army, rockets are regularly fired from Gaza into Israel. Israelis living in border towns are used to having to take shelter and adapting their lives to deal with the rockets.<br /><br />In the years since Israel withdrew its troops in 2005, Gaza has seen several Israeli offensives. Israel says these were aimed at putting a stop to rocket fire. <br /> In 2008, Israel sent soldiers into Gaza. An estimated 1,300 people, many of them civilians, were killed in Gaza before a ceasefire was declared; 13 Israeli soldiers also died. <br /> In 2012, at least 167 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during an Israeli operation. After eight days a ceasefire was declared with both sides promising to stop attacks.<br /> Most recently in July 2014, Palestinian authorities said over 200 people were killed by Israeli air strikes and many more injured. Israel says more than 1,100 rockets were fired from Gaza, seriously injuring at least four Israelis, with one Israeli man killed. <br />Peace Process<br /><br />Other countries, particularly America, have worked hard to settle the fighting between the Arabs and Israelis but so far nothing has worked. Many people want Gaza and the West Bank to be turned into a new country - Palestine. Israel won't agree to this unless it feels safe - and Hamas accepts its right to exist. The other sticking points are what will happen to Israelis who've settled in the West Bank, who will run Jerusalem and what will happen to the Palestinian refugees.

Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It's part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict. After World War I...

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The genetic and scientific view of the EBOLA VIRUS

Virology<br />The EBOV genome is approximately 19 kb in length. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerase cofactor (VP35), (VP40), GP, transcription activator (VP30), VP24, and RNA polymerase (L).[3]<br />Structure[edit]<br /><br />Electron micrographs of EBOV show them to have the characteristic threadlike structure of a filovirus.[4] EBOV VP30 is around 288 amino acids long.[5] The virions are tubular in general form but variable in overall shape and may appear as the classic shepherd's crook or eyebolt, as a U or a 6, or coiled, circular, or branched; laboratory techniques, such as centrifugation, may be the origin of some of these formations.[6] Virions are generally 80 nm in diameter with a lipid bilayer anchoring the glycoprotein which projects 7 to 10 nm long spikes from its surface.[7] They are of variable length, typically around 800 nm, but may be up to 1000 nm long. In the center of the virion is a structure called nucleocapsid, which is formed by the helically wound viral genomic RNA complexed with the proteins NP, VP35, VP30, and L.[8] It has a diameter of 80 nm and contains a central channel of 20–30 nm in diameter. Virally encoded glycoprotein (GP) spikes 10 nm long and 10 nm apart are present on the outer viral envelope of the virion, which is derived from the host cell membrane. Between envelope and nucleocapsid, in the so-called matrix space, the viral proteins VP40 and VP24 are located.[9]<br />Genome[edit]<br /><br />Each virion contains one molecule of linear, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA, 18,959 to 18,961 nucleotides in length. The 3′ terminus is not polyadenylated and the 5′ end is not capped. It was found that 472 nucleotides from the 3' end and 731 nucleotides from the 5' end are sufficient for replication.[10] It codes for seven structural proteins and one non-structural protein. The gene order is 3′ – leader – NP – VP35 – VP40 – GP/sGP – VP30 – VP24 – L – trailer – 5′; with the leader and trailer being non-transcribed regions, which carry important signals to control transcription, replication, and packaging of the viral genomes into new virions. The genomic material by itself is not infectious, because viral proteins, among them the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, are necessary to transcribe the viral genome into mRNAs because it is a negative sense RNA virus, as well as for replication of the viral genome. Sections of the NP and the L genes from filoviruses have been identified as endogenous in the genomes of several groups of small mammals.[11]<br />Entry[edit]<br /><br />Niemann–Pick C1 (NPC1) appears to be essential for Ebola infection. Two independent studies reported in the same issue of Nature showed that Ebola virus cell entry and replication requires the cholesterol transporter protein NPC1.[12][13] When cells from Niemann Pick Type C patients were exposed to Ebola virus in the laboratory, the cells survived and appeared immune to the virus, further indicating that Ebola relies on NPC1 to enter cells. This might imply that genetic mutations in the NPC1 gene in humans could make some people resistant to one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. The same studies described similar results with Ebola's cousin in the filovirus group, Marburg virus, showing that it too needs NPC1 to enter cells.[12][13] Furthermore, NPC1 was shown to be critical to filovirus entry because it mediates infection by binding directly to the viral envelope glycoprotein.[13] A later study confirmed the findings that NPC1 is a critical filovirus receptor that mediates infection by binding directly to the viral envelope glycoprotein and that the second lysosomal domain of NPC1 mediates this binding.[14]<br /><br />In one of the original studies, a small molecule was shown to inhibit Ebola virus infection by preventing the virus glycoprotein from binding to NPC1.[13][15] In the other study, mice that were heterozygous for NPC1 were shown to be protected from lethal challenge with mouse adapted Ebola virus.[12] Together, these studies suggest NPC1 may be potential therapeutic target for an Ebola anti-viral drug.<br />Replication[edit]<br /><br />Being acellular, viruses do not grow through cell division; instead, they use the machinery and metabolism of a host cell to produce multiple copies of themselves, and they assemble in the cell.[8]<br />The virus attaches to host receptors through the glycoprotein (GP) surface peplomer and is endocytosed into macropinosomes in the host cell [16]<br />Viral membrane fuses with vesicle membrane, nucleocapsid is released into the cytoplasm<br />Encapsidated, negative-sense genomic ssRNA is used as a template for the synthesis (3' – 5') of polyadenylated, monocistronic mRNAs<br />Using the host cell's machinery, translation of the mRNA into viral proteins occurs<br />Viral proteins are processed, glycoprotein precursor (GP0) is cleaved to GP1 and GP2, which are heavily glycosylated. These two molecules assemble, first into heterodimers, and then into trimers to give the surface peplomers. Secreted glycoprotein (sGP) precursor is cleaved to sGP and delta peptide, both of which are released from the cell.<br />As viral protein levels rise, a switch occurs from translation to replication. Using the negative-sense genomic RNA as a template, a complementary +ssRNA is synthesized; this is then used as a template for the synthesis of new genomic (-)ssRNA, which is rapidly encapsidated.<br />The newly formed nucleocapsids and envelope proteins associate at the host cell's plasma membrane; budding occurs, destroying the cell.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqw0R4O8UVXrvcXKPD0jXqDN6vjCCLCgLz9fhh_-CtlrWXycxxoSq0GOnNGaBQkRnkWJbMRMtPWPVd3QcrtGhVechcyaeZmW7tgqzVwFDP06LJVY69DzgJ_DvQoHkbN09-pGWRfxDCKaKU/s1600/Ebola_virus_em.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqw0R4O8UVXrvcXKPD0jXqDN6vjCCLCgLz9fhh_-CtlrWXycxxoSq0GOnNGaBQkRnkWJbMRMtPWPVd3QcrtGhVechcyaeZmW7tgqzVwFDP06LJVY69DzgJ_DvQoHkbN09-pGWRfxDCKaKU/s1600/Ebola_virus_em.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ebola virus was first introduced as a possible new "strain" of Marburg virus in 1977 by two different research teams.[18][19] At the same time, a third team introduced the name Ebola virus.[20] In 2000, the virus name was changed to Zaire Ebola virus,[25][26] and in 2005 to Zaire ebolavirus.[23][27] However, most scientific articles continued to refer to Ebola virus or used the terms Ebola virus and Zaire ebolavirus in parallel. Consequently, in 2010, the name Ebola virus was reinstated.[2] Previous abbreviations for the virus were EBOV-Z (for Ebola virus Zaire) and most recently ZEBOV (for Zaire Ebola virus or Zaire ebolavirus). In 2010, EBOV was reinstated as the abbreviation for the virus.[2]</div><br />

The genetic and scientific view of the EBOLA VIRUS

Virology The EBOV genome is approximately 19 kb in length. It encodes seven structural proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), polymerase cofactor (VP...

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EBOLA VIRUS ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW

Ebolavirusdisease(EVD) orEbolahemorrhagic fever(EHF) is the human disease caused by the ebola virus. Symptoms typically start two days to three weeks after contracting thevirus, with a fever, throat and muscle pains, and headaches. There is then typically nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, along with decreased functioning of the liverand kidneys. At this point, some people begin to have problems with bleeding. [ 1 ] The disease is usually acquired when a person comes into contact with the blood or bodily fluidsof an infected animal such as a monkey or fruit bat. Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread theviruswithout being affected by it. Once infection of a human occurs, the disease may be spread from one person to another. Men who survive may be able to transmit the disease via their semenfor nearly two months. To make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, choleraand other viral hemorrhagic feverare first excluded. The blood may then be tested for antibodiesto thevirus, or the viral RNA, or thevirusitself, to confirm the diagnosis. [ 1 ] Prevention includes decreasing the spread of the disease from infected monkeys and pigs to humans. This may be done by checking these types of animals for infection and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective clothing when handling meat may also be helpful, as is wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around a person who has the disease. Samples of bodily fluids and tissues from people with the disease should be handled with special caution. [ 1 ] There is no specific treatment for thevirus. Efforts to help persons who are infected include giving them either oral rehydration therapyor intravenous fluids. [ 1 ]The disease has a high mortality rate: often between 50% and 90% of those who are infected with thevirus. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]It typically occurs in outbreaks in tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. [ 1 ]Between 1976, when it was first identified, and 2014, fewer than 1,000 people a year have been infected. [ 1 ] [ 3 ]The largest outbreak to date is the ongoing 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The disease was first identified in the Sudanand the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts are ongoing to develop a vaccine; however, none exists as of 2014. [ 1 ] Contents 1 Signs and symptoms 1.1 Hemorrhage 2 Causes 2.1 Transmission 2.2 Risk factors 2.3 Virology 3 Diagnosis 3.1 Classification 4 Prevention 4.1 Endemic zones 4.2 During outbreaks 4.3 In the laboratory 5 Treatment 5.1 Experimental therapies 6 Prognosis 7 Epidemiology 7.1 2007 to 2011 7.2 2012 outbreaks 7.3 2014 outbreak 8 History 9 Other animals 9.1 Domestic animals 10 Recent research 11 References 12 External links Signs and symptoms [ edit] Manifestation ofEbolabegins abruptly with a sudden onset of an influenza-like stage characterized by general malaise, fever with chills, sore throat, severe headache, weakness, joint pain, muscle pain, and chest pain. [ 4 ] Respiratory tractinvolvement is characterized by pharyngitiswith sore throat, cough, dyspnea, and hiccups. The central nervous systemis affected as judged by the development of severe headaches, agitation, confusion, fatigue, seizures, and sometimes coma. Cutaneous presentation may include: maculopapular rash, petechiae, purpura, ecchymoses, and hematomas(especially around needle injection sites). In general, development of hemorrhagic symptoms is indicative of a negative prognosis. However, contrary to popular belief, hemorrhage does not lead to hypovolemiaand is not the cause of death(total blood loss is low except during labor). Instead, death occurs due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS) due to fluid redistribution, hypotension, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and focal tissue necroses. The average time between contracting the infection and the onset of symptoms is 13 days, but can be as long as 25 days. [ 5 ] Hemorrhage[ edit] All people infected show some extent of coagulopathyand impaired circulatory system symptomology. [ 6 ]Bleeding from mucous membranes and puncture sites is reported in 40–50% of cases, [ 7 ]while maculopapular rashes are evident in approximately 50% of cases. [ 6 ]Sources of bleeds include hematemesis, hemoptysis, melena, and aforementioned bleeding from mucous membranes ( gastrointestinal tract, nose, vaginaand gingiva). However diffuse bleeding (i.e. heavy) is rare; occurrence is usually exclusive to the gastrointestinal tract. [ 6 ] [ 8 ] Causes [ edit] Main article: Ebolavirus EVD is caused by four of five viruses classified in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales: Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), Ebola virus(EBOV), Sudan virus(SUDV), Taï Forest virus(TAFV). The fifthvirus, Reston virus(RESTV), is thought not to be disease-causing in humans. Transmission[ edit] EVD is believed to occur after anebolavirusis transmitted to a human index case via contact with an infected animal's bodily fluids. Human-to-human transmission occurs via direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person (including embalmingof an infected dead person) or by contact with contaminated medical equipment, particularly needles and syringes. Medical workers who do not wear protective clothing, such as gloves and surgical masks, may also contract the disease. [ 9 ]In the past, explosive nosocomialtransmission has occurred in under-equipped African hospitals due to the reuse of needles and lack of implementation of universal precautions.[ citation needed]Aerosol transmission has not been observed during natural EVD outbreaks. [ citation needed]The potential for widespread EVD epidemicsis considered low due to the high case-fatality rate, the rapidity of demise of patients, and the often remote areas where infections occur. [ citation needed] Risk factors[ edit] [image] Bushmeatbeing prepared for cooking in Ghana, 2013. Human consumption of equatorial animals in Africa in the form of bushmeat has been linked to the transmission of diseases to people, includingEbola. [ 10 ] Between 1976 and 1998, in 30,000 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropodssampled from outbreak regions, noebolaviruswas detected apart from some genetic traces found in six rodents ( Mus setulosusand Praomys) and one shrew ( Sylvisorex ollula) collected from the Central African Republic. [ 11 ] [ 12 ]Traces of EBOV were detected in the carcasses of gorillasand chimpanzees during outbreaks in 2001 and 2003, which later became the source of human infections. However, the high lethality from infection in these species makes them unlikely as a natural reservoir. [ 11 ] Plants, arthropods, and birds have also been considered as possible reservoirs; however, batsare considered the most likely candidate. [ 13 ]Bats were known to reside in the cotton factory in which the index casesfor the 1976 and 1979 outbreaks were employed, and they have also been implicated in Marburg virusinfections in 1975 and 1980. [ 11 ]Of 24 plant species and 19 vertebrate species experimentally inoculated with EBOV, only bats became infected. [ 14 ] The absence of clinical signs in these bats is characteristic of a reservoir species. In a 2002–2003 survey of 1,030 animals including 679 bats from Gabonand the Republic of the Congo, 13 fruit bats were found to contain EBOV RNA fragments. [ 15 ]As of 2005, three types of fruit bats( Hypsignathus monstrosus, Epomops franqueti, and Myonycteris torquata) have been identified as being in contact with EBOV. They are now suspected to represent the EBOV reservoir hosts. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] The existence of integrated genes of filoviruses in some genomes of small rodents, insectivorous bats, shrews, tenrecs, and marsupials indicates a history of infection with filoviruses in these groups as well. [ 18 ]However, it has to be stressed that infectious ebolaviruses have not yet been isolated from any nonhuman animal. Bats drop partially eaten fruits and pulp, then terrestrial mammals such as gorillas and duikersfeed on these fallen fruits. This chain of events forms a possible indirect means of transmission from the natural host to animal populations, which have led to research towards viral shedding in the saliva of bats. Fruit production, animal behavior, and other factors vary at different times and places that may trigger outbreaks among animal populations. [ 19 ]Transmission between natural reservoirs and humans are rare, and outbreaks are usually traceable to a single index case where an individual has handled the carcass of gorilla, chimpanzee, or duiker. [ 20 ]Fruit bats are also eaten by people in parts of West Africa where they are smoked, grilled or made into a spicy soup. [ 17 ] [ 21 ]Thevirusthen spreads person-to-person, especially within families, hospitals, and during some mortuaryrituals where contact among individuals becomes more likely. [ 22 ] Thevirushas been confirmed to be transmitted through body fluids. Transmission through oral exposure and through conjunctivaexposure is likely [ 23 ]and has been confirmed in non-human primates. [ 24 ]Filoviruses are not naturally transmitted by aerosol. They are, however, highly infectious as breathable 0.8–1.2 micrometre droplets in laboratory conditions; [ 25 ] because of this potential route of infection, these viruses have been classified as Category A biological weapons. [ 26 ] All epidemics ofEbolahave occurred in sub-optimal hospital conditions, where practices of basic hygiene and sanitation are often either luxuries or unknown to caretakers and where disposable needles and autoclavesare unavailable or too expensive. In modern hospitals with disposable needles and knowledge of basic hygiene and barrier nursing techniques,Ebolahas never spread on a large scale. In isolated settings such as a quarantined hospital or a remote village, most victims are infected shortly after the first case of infection is present. The quick onset of symptoms from the time the disease becomes contagious in an individual makes it easy to identify sick individuals and limits an individual's ability to spread the disease by traveling. Because bodies of the deceased are still infectious, some doctors had to take measures to properly dispose of dead bodies in a safe manner despite local traditional burial rituals. [ 27 ] Virology[ edit] Main article: Ebola virus GenusEbolavirus: species and their EVD-causing viruses Species name Virus name (abbreviation) Bundibugyo ebolavirus(accepted) [ 28 ] Bundibugyo virus(BDBV; previously BEBOV) Sudan ebolavirus Sudan virus(SUDV; previously SEBOV) Taï Forest ebolavirus Taï Forest virus(TAFV; previously CIEBOV) Zaire ebolavirus* Ebola virus(EBOV; previously ZEBOV) Table legend: *: The type species accepted: Taxon that has been accepted by the Executive Committee of the ICTV but that has yet to be ratified. Genome[

EBOLA VIRUS ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW

Ebolavirusdisease(EVD) orEbolahemorrhagic fever(EHF) is the human disease caused by the ebola virus. Symptoms typically start two days to th...

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