We spotted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on polystyrene plastic, aluminum, and glass for 96 hours with and without bovine serum albumin (3 g/L). We observed a steady infectivity (<1 ...log
drop) on plastic, a 3.5 log
decrease on glass, and a 6 log
drop on aluminum. The presence of proteins noticeably prolonged infectivity.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In 2006, an outbreak of chikungunya fever swept over a number of islands in the Indian Ocean and India. Drs. Rémi Charrel, Xavier de Lamballerie, and Didier Raoult write that the chikungunya outbreak ...is an example of the abrupt expression of vectorborne diseases in the global village.
In 2006, an outbreak of chikungunya fever — an arthralgic disease caused by a mosquito-borne alphavirus — swept over a number of islands in the Indian Ocean (the Comoros, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Reunion). In Reunion, which has a population of 770,000, there were 265,000 clinical cases (an incidence of 34%), and the disease was implicated in 237 deaths (about 1 per 1000 clinical cases); a recent report by Reunion health authorities indicated that the seroprevalence was 35%, with very few asymptomatic cases. The epidemic had started with outbreaks in Kenya in 2004 and the Comoros early in . . .
Toscana and sandfly fever Sicilian viruses (TOSV and SFSV, respectively), both transmitted by sand flies, are prominent human pathogens in the Old World. Of 1,086 serum samples collected from cattle ...and sheep during 2013 in various regions of Kosovo (Balkan Peninsula), 4.7% and 53.4% had neutralizing antibodies against TOSV and SFSV, respectively.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) emerged in Indian Ocean islands in 2005 and is causing an ongoing outbreak that involves >260,000 patients, including travelers returning home from these islands. We ...investigated cases in 4 patients returning from Mayotte and Reunion Islands with CHIKV infection and a nurse infected in metropolitan France after direct contact with the blood of a traveler. Four patients had tenosynovitis and pain at wrist pressure, and 1 had life-threatening manifestations. Four CHIKV strains were isolated, including 1 from the patient with the autochthonous case. The complete genomic sequence identified a new CHIKV variant emerging from the East/ central African evolutionary lineage. Aedes albopictus, the implicated vector of CHIKV in Indian Ocean islands, has dispersed worldwide in recent decades. High viral loads in patients returning from Indian Ocean islands to countries where Ae. albopictus is prevalent may be a source of epidemics.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To review the state of knowledge about diagnostic testing for Zika virus infection and identify areas of research needed to address the current gaps in knowledge.
We made a non-systematic review of ...the published literature about Zika virus and supplemented this with information from commercial diagnostic test kits and personal communications with researchers in European preparedness networks. The review covered current knowledge about the geographical spread, pathogen characteristics, life cycle and infection kinetics of the virus. The available molecular and serological tests and biosafety issues are described and discussed in the context of the current outbreak strain.
We identified the following areas of research to address current knowledge gaps: (i) an urgent assessment of the laboratory capacity and capability of countries to detect Zika virus; (ii) rapid and extensive field validation of the available molecular and serological tests in areas with and without Zika virus transmission, with a focus on pregnant women; (iii) monitoring the genomic diversity of circulating Zika virus strains; (iv) prospective studies into the virus infection kinetics, focusing on diagnostic sampling (specimen types, combinations and timings); and (v) developing external quality assessments for molecular and serological testing, including differential diagnosis for similar viruses and symptom clusters. The availability of reagents for diagnostic development (virus strains and antigens, quantified viral ribonucleic acid) needs to be facilitated.
An international laboratory response is needed, including preparation of protocols for prospective studies to address the most pressing information needs.
Many enteric viruses are found in pig farms around the world and can cause death of animals or important production losses for breeders. Among the wide spectrum of enteric viral species, porcine ...Sapelovirus (PSV), porcine Kobuvirus (PKoV) and porcine Astrovirus (PAstV) are frequently found in pig feces. In this study we investigated sixteen pig farms in Corsica, France, to evaluate the circulation of three enteric viruses (PKoV, PAstV-1 and PSV). In addition to the three viruses studied by RT-qPCR (908 pig feces samples), 26 stool samples were tested using the Next Generation Sequencing method (NGS). Our results showed viral RNA detection rates (i) of 62.0% 58.7-65.1 (n = 563/908) for PSV, (ii) of 44.8% 41.5-48.1 (n = 407/908) for PKoV and (iii) of 8.6% 6.8-10.6 (n = 78/908) for PAstV-1. Significant differences were observed for all three viruses according to age (P-value = 2.4e-13 for PAstV-1; 2.4e-12 for PKoV and 0.005 for PSV). The type of breeding was significantly associated with RNA detection only for PAstV-1 (P-value = 9.6e-6). Among the 26 samples tested with NGS method, consensus sequences corresponding to 10 different species of virus were detected. This study provides first insight on the presence of three common porcine enteric viruses in France. We also showed that they are frequently encountered in pigs born and bred in Corsica, which demonstrates endemic local circulation.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Many studies have presented virus sequences which suggest the existence of a variety of putative new phleboviruses transmitted by sandflies in the Old World. However, in most of these studies, only ...partial sequences in the polymerase or the nucleoprotein genes were characterised. Therefore to further our understand of the presence and potential medical importance of sandfly-borne phleboviruses that circulate in southern Anatolia, we initiated field campaigns in 2012 and 2013 designed to identify, isolate and characterise phleboviruses in sandflies in this region.
An entomological investigation encompassing 8 villages in Adana, Mediterranean Turkey was performed in August and September 2012 and 2013. A total of 11,302 sandflies were collected and grouped into 797 pools which were tested for the presence of phleboviruses using specific primers for RT-PCR analysis and also cell culture methods for virus isolation. Seven pools were PCR positive, and viruses were isolated from three pools of sandflies, resulting in the identification of two new viruses that we named Zerdali virus and Toros virus. Phylogenetic analysis based on full-length genomic sequence showed that Zerdali virus was most closely related with Tehran virus (and belongs to the Sandfly fever Naples species), whereas Toros virus was closest to Corfou virus.
The results indicate that a variety of phleboviruses are co-circulating in this region of southern Anatolia. Based on our studies, these new viruses clearly belong to genetic groups that include several human pathogens. However, whether or not Toros and Zerdali viruses can infect humans and cause diseases such as sandfly fever remains to be investigated.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Jingmenviruses are a group of viruses identified recently, in 2014, and currently classified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as unclassified
Flaviviridae
. These viruses closely ...related to flaviviruses are unique due to the segmented nature of their genome. The prototype jingmenvirus, Jingmen tick virus (JMTV), was discovered in
Rhipicephalus microplus
ticks collected from China in 2010. Jingmenviruses genomes are composed of four to five segments, encoding for up to seven structural proteins and two non-structural proteins, both of which display strong similarities with flaviviral non-structural proteins (NS2B/NS3 and NS5). Jingmenviruses are currently separated into two phylogenetic clades. One clade includes tick- and vertebrate-associated jingmenviruses, which have been detected in ticks and mosquitoes, as well as in humans, cattle, monkeys, bats, rodents, sheep, and tortoises. In addition to these molecular and serological detections, over a hundred human patients tested positive for jingmenviruses after developing febrile illness and flu-like symptoms in China and Serbia. The second phylogenetic clade includes insect-associated jingmenvirus sequences, which have been detected in a wide range of insect species, as well as in crustaceans, plants, and fungi. In addition to being found in various types of hosts, jingmenviruses are endemic, as they have been detected in a wide range of environments, all over the world. Taken together, all of these elements show that jingmenviruses correspond exactly to the definition of emerging viruses at risk of causing a pandemic, since they are already endemic, have a close association with arthropods, are found in animals in close contact with humans, and have caused sporadic cases of febrile illness in multiple patients. Despite these arguments, the vast majority of published data is from metagenomics studies and many aspects of jingmenvirus replication remain to be elucidated, such as their tropism, cycle of transmission, structure, and mechanisms of replication and restriction or epidemiology. It is therefore crucial to prioritize jingmenvirus research in the years to come, to be prepared for their emergence as human or veterinary pathogens.
•We provide a comprehensive review of phleboviruses vectored by sandflies in the Old World.•Toscana virus is the agent with the greatest known virulence for humans.•Several properties of these ...viruses make them candidates for emergence as human pathogens.•The possible future evolution and geographic spread of sandfly-borne phleboviruses are discussed.•We suggest potential studies for the discovery of antiviral drug and vaccines against these viruses.
Sandfly-borne phleboviruses may cause a transient febrile illness (sandfly fever) or more severe neuroinvasive disease. In the Old World, they are vectored by phlebotomine flies, which are widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and central Asia. High seroprevalence rates have been recorded in humans and domestic animals in areas where sandflies are present. Most published studies have focused on phlebovirus infections of travelers and of soldiers stationed in endemic areas, but the health impact on local populations should not be underestimated, as seroprevalence studies indicate massive circulation of these viruses, even if disease is seldom documented. Except for Toscana virus, which shows a marked neurotropism and is a leading cause of aseptic meningitis in endemic regions, phlebovirus infections are inadequately considered by physicians and are generally underestimated. However, several properties of these viruses suggest that they will extend their geographic range. First, changes in the areas occupied by sandflies as a result of climate change have a direct impact on the epidemiology of associated human and animal diseases. Second, phleboviruses exhibit a high mutation rate, and their tri-segmented genome is prone to reassortment and recombination. Third, distinct virus strains can be transmitted by the same arthropod species. Recent studies have documented the distribution of sandfly-borne phleboviruses in Western Europe, but data for Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa are very limited. With the goal of filling knowledge gaps and planning new research programs, we have examined available information and present it as a comprehensive review, with a specific focus on understudied regions. We also discuss the need to conduct studies aimed at developing new antiviral drugs and vaccines.
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