Three patients who received visceral-organ transplants from a single donor on the same day died of a febrile illness 4 to 6 weeks after transplantation. Culture, polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) and serologic assays, and oligonucleotide microarray analysis for a wide range of infectious agents were not informative.

Background. Although pandemic and avian influenza are known to be transmitted via human hands, there are minimal data regarding the effectiveness of

We assessed the in vivo efficacy of surgical and N95 (respirator) masks to filter reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-detectable

Zika virus infection closely resembles dengue fever. It is possible that many cases are misdiagnosed or missed. We report a case of Zika virus infection in an Australian traveler who returned from Indonesia with fever and rash. Further case identification is required to determine the evolving epidemiology of this disease.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) 7a protein, which is not expressed by other known coronaviruses, can induce apoptosis in various cell lines. In this study, we show that the overexpression of Bcl-X _L , a prosurvival member of the Bcl-2 family, blocks 7a-induced apoptosis, suggesting that the mechanism for apoptosis induction by 7a is at the level of or upstream from the Bcl-2 family. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that 7a interacts with Bcl-X _L and other prosurvival proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-w, Mcl-1, and A1) but not with the proapoptotic proteins (Bax, Bak, Bad, and Bid). A good correlation between the abilities of 7a deletion mutants to induce apoptosis and to interact with Bcl-X _L was observed, suggesting that 7a triggers apoptosis by interfering directly with the prosurvival function of Bcl-X _L . Interestingly, amino acids 224 and 225 within the C-terminal transmembrane domain of Bcl-X _L are essential for the interaction with the 7a protein, although the BH3 domain of Bcl-X _L also contributes to this interaction. In addition, fractionation experiments showed that 7a colocalized with Bcl-X _L at the endoplasmic reticulum as well as the mitochondria, suggesting that they may form complexes in different membranous compartments.