Cross Sectional, Seroprevalence Study of Peste des Petits Ruminants and the Related Risk Factors During Outbreak in Goats’ Farm in Egypt

Peste des Petits ruminants' virus (PPRV) is a notifiable transboundary and economically significant viral disease that affects goats and sheep. The current study was conducted to identify the seroprevalences of PPRV in goat farm in Marsa-Matroh province, Egypt during an outbreak in 2022. Moreover, this work aims to study the relevant risk factors directly related to the virus infection and attempt molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the circulating strain. The samples included 356 sera, 154 nasal swabs, and 10 tissue samples were collected for PPRV screening and molecular characterization. The seroprevalence percent was found of 42.69%.  It was observed that the prevalence rate, and case-fatality rate were higher under 6 months of age than in adults, and referring to sex, females had a more significant disease incidence than males. Based on phylogenetic analysis; the strains of the current study: PPR/AHRI-Matrouh1/Egy/2022 (accession number: OP881991) and PPR/AHRI-Matrouh2/Egy/2022 (accession number: OP881992) were identified as PPRV lineage IV, with 99.2% and 98.8% identity to the Ethiopian strain (Accession number MK571524) and Sudanese strain (Accession no HQ131931) respectively. An efficient PPR vaccination program with rigorous quarantine measures at the borders is advised to be implemented in the country to control the spread of the disease and avoid the entry of novel strains into the Egyptian governorates

Overview of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) situation in Egypt from 2017 to 2022

African horse sickness (AHS) is a non-contagious arthropod-borne infectious disease of Equidae. Because of its severity and quick spread, It is cosidered as a notifiable disease. The current study intended to look into the current suitation of the vector-borne African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in Egypt, determine viral seroprevelance, and assess the associated risk factors. In this context, 2739 sera and 150 spleen samples were collected from different Egyptian governorates and tested for AHSV screening. The sera were investigated for presence of antibodies against AHSV whilst spleen samples were tested for AHSV Ag and RNA detection. The obtained results revealed that all 2739 sera samples tested negative for AHSV antibodies. Furthermore, using ELISA and conventional reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), to identify AHSV Ag and nucleic acid, the 150 tested spleen samples gave negative results with both assays. In conclusion, the recorded results indicated the absence of antibodies, antigen, and viral nucleic acid of AHSV in all tested samples which proved that there is no circulating virus in the investigated Egyptian governorates in the period from 2017 to 2022. Evenually, the effective control programs are recommended by carrying out further epidemiological investigations to understand the current situation of arboviruses in the country

Overview of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) situation in Egypt from 2017 to 2022

African horse sickness (AHS) is a non-contagious arthropod-borne infectious disease of Equidae. Because of its severity and quick spread, It is cosidered as a notifiable disease. The current study intended to look into the current suitation of the vector-borne African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in Egypt, determine viral seroprevelance, and assess the associated risk factors. In this context, 2739 sera and 150 spleen samples were collected from different Egyptian governorates and tested for AHSV screening. The sera were investigated for presence of antibodies against AHSV whilst spleen samples were tested for AHSV Ag and RNA detection. The obtained results revealed that all 2739 sera samples tested negative for AHSV antibodies. Furthermore, using ELISA and conventional reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), to identify AHSV Ag and nucleic acid, the 150 tested spleen samples gave negative results with both assays. In conclusion, the recorded results indicated the absence of antibodies, antigen, and viral nucleic acid of AHSV in all tested samples which proved that there is no circulating virus in the investigated Egyptian governorates in the period from 2017 to 2022. Evenually, the effective control programs are recommended by carrying out further epidemiological investigations to understand the current situation of arboviruses in the country

A longitudinal study of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels

Abstract Background Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified in humans in 2012. Since then, 2605 cases and 937 associated deaths have been reported globally. Camels are the natural host for MERS-CoV and camel to human transmission has been documented. The relationship between MERS-CoV shedding and presence of neutralizing antibodies in camels is critical to inform surveillance and control, including future deployment of camel vaccines. However, it remains poorly understood. The longitudinal study conducted in a closed camel herd in Egypt between December 2019 and March 2020 helped to characterize the kinetics of MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies and its relation with viral shedding. Results During the 100-day longitudinal study, 27 out of 54 camels (50%) consistently tested negative for presence of antibodies against MERS-CoV, 19 (35.2%) tested positive and 8 (14.8%) had both, positive and negative test results. Fourteen events that could be interpreted as serological indication of probable infection (two seroconversions and twelve instances of positive camels more than doubling their optical density ratio (OD ratio) in consecutive samples) were identified. Observed times between the identified events provided strong evidence (p = 0.002) against the null hypothesis that they occurred with constant rate during the study, as opposed to clustering at certain points in time. A generalized additive model showed that optical density ratio (OD ratio) is positively associated with being an adult and varies across individual camels and days, peaking at around days 20 and 90 of the study. Despite serological indication of probable virus circulation and intense repeated sampling, none of the tested nasal swab samples were positive for MERS-CoV RNA, suggesting that, if the identified serological responses are the result of virus circulation, the virus may be present in nasal tissue of infected camels during a very narrow time window. Conclusions Longitudinal testing of a closed camel herd with past history of MERS-CoV infection is compatible with the virus continuing to circulate in the herd despite lack of contact with other camels. It is likely that episodes of MERS-CoV infection in camels can take place with minimal presence of the virus in their nasal tissues, which has important implications for future surveillance and control of MERS-CoV in camel herds and prevention of its zoonotic transmission