U.S. scientists have gained new insights into how the dengue virus infects cells and spreads across countries, discoveries that could help combat a mosquito-borne disease which affects 50 million people a year. Dengue, which occurs in the tropics, was first identified in the 1950s along with a potentially lethal complication called dengue haemorrhagic fever. One study reported in the science journal Nature shed light on how authorities can contain dengue outbreaks. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland used a mathematical technique developed by NASA to show that dengue cases in Thailand radiate in waves from Bangkok and infect areas throughout the country.
