Washington, April 20, 2022 (PPI-OT):In a significant scientific breakthrough, researchers at Washington University in the US have discovered how the deadly Rift Valley fever virus infects human cells. The discovery has been done by a virologist from Zaloora in Sopore area of Baramulla district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Safder Ganai, one of the leading scientists involved in the discovery.

The discovery by Dr Ganai and his colleagues was recently published in the prestigious journal Cell. He and his team found that the Rift Valley fever virus, speared by mosquitoes, enters human cells via a protein normally involved in mopping up low-density lipoproteins – the carriers of so-called ‘bad cholesterol’ – from the blood.

The discovery is expected to lead to therapies that prevent Rift Valley fever or reduce its severity. The World Health Organization lists Rift Valley fever as a prioritized disease likely to cause epidemics in the near future.

Dr Ganai said that the virus is spread by mosquitoes among domesticated animals, which then pass it on to people. The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, University of Toronto, Harvard University, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and he was the lead author of the study, he said. “This discovery will help us to understand how the Rift Valley fever virus spreads not only throughout the human body but also how it is able to infect mosquitoes and different species of mammals,” he said.

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