Scientists find new killer virus in Africa

Atlanta (AP): Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus.

The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.

It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.

"This one is really, really aggressive" he said of the virus.

A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online yesterday on in PLoS Pathogens.

The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.

A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.

Eat oily fish to keep brain healthy

Eating oily fish, rich in vitamin D, may be vital in keeping your brain healthy as you age, according to a new study.

University of Manchester scientists and other researchers have found that higher levels of vitamin D, synthesised in the skin following sun exposure, is also found in oily fish.

The study assessed the cognitive performance of more than 3,000 men aged 40 to 79 years at eight test centres in Europe.

It was found that men with higher levels of vitamin D performed consistently better in a simple and sensitive neuro-psychological test that assesses an individual's attention and speed of information processing.

"Previous studies exploring the relationship between vitamin D and cognitive performance in adults have produced inconsistent findings. But we observed a significant, independent association between a slower information processing speed and lower levels of vitamin D," said study author David Lee of Manchester's School of Translational Medicine.

"The main strengths of our study are that it is based on a large population sample and took into account potential interfering factors, such as depression, season and levels of physical activity," Lee said.

"Interestingly, the association between increased vitamin D and faster information processing was more significant in men aged over 60 years, although the biological reasons for this remain unclear," he added.