Zoonotic pathogens in wild Asian primates: A systematic review highlighting research gaps

peer reviewedOngoing global changes, including natural land conversion for agriculture and urbanization, modify the dynamics of human-primate contacts, resulting in increased zoonotic risks. Although Asia shelters high primate diversity and experiences rapid expansion of human-primate contact zones, there remains little documentation regarding zoonotic surveillance in the primates of this region. Using the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review to compile an inventory of zoonotic pathogens detected in wild Asian primates, while highlighting the coverage of primate species, countries, and pathogen groups surveyed, as well as the diagnostic methods used across the studies. Moreover, we compared the species richness of pathogens harbored by primates across diverse types of habitats classified according to their degree of anthropization (i.e., urban vs. rural vs. forest habitats). Searches of Scopus, PubMed, and the Global Mammal Parasite Database yielded 152 articles on 39 primate species. We inventoried 183 pathogens, including 63 helminthic gastrointestinal parasites, 2 blood-borne parasites, 42 protozoa, 45 viruses, 30 bacteria, and 1 fungus. Considering each study as a sample, species accumulation curves revealed no significant differences in specific richness between habitat types for any of the pathogen groups analyzed. This is likely due to the insufficient sampling effort (i.e., a limited number of studies) which prevents drawing conclusive findings. This systematic review identified several publication biases, particularly the uneven representation of host species and pathogen groups studied, as well as a lack of use of generic diagnostic methods. Addressing these gaps necessitates a multidisciplinary strategy framed in a One Health approach which may facilitate a broader inventory of pathogens and ultimately limit the risk of cross-species transmission at the human-primate interface. Strengthening the zoonotic surveillance in primates of this region could be realized notably through the application of more comprehensive diagnostic techniques such as broad-spectrum analyses without a priori selection

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE: A PATH WORTH EXPLORING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19?

By the end of December 2019, a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 capable of causing pneumonia and respiratory failure emerged in Wuhan, China. The disease resulting from the virus was named COVID-19. [1,2] Despite the efforts to contain the spread of the virus, by March 2020, the WHO declared the world is facing a full-scale pandemic. TCM has been practiced for more than 5000 years and has gathered knowledge throughout the millennia in the fight against epidemic and pandemic threats. [3,4] In this study, 69 TCM entities, as well as eight formulas, were tested in vitro to observe any possible antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 using Vero E6 cells as host cells for the virus. In conclusion, four entities and a formula showed remarkable antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2: Moutan cortex, Glycyrrhizae radix et rhizoma, Armeniacae semen amarum,Cinnamomum ramulus, and Qingfei Paidu Decoction. The Qingfei Paidu Decoction contains twenty-one herbs and not only such as: Ephedrae herba, Glycyrrhizae radix, Armeniacae semen, Gypsum fibrosum, Cinnamomi ramulus, Alismatis rhizoma, Polyporus, Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma, Poria, Bupleuri radix, Scutellariae radix, Pinellinae rhizoma, Zingiberis rhizoma, Asteris radix, Farfarae flos, Belamcandae rhizoma, Asari radix et rhizoma, Dioscoreae rhizoma, Aurantii rructus immaturus, Citri reticulatae pericarpium and Pogostemonis herba. These results support the idea of using TCM as an adjuvant treatment to the western ones in the fight against COVID-19 disease.3. Good health and well-bein

Biomolecular investigation for Capillaria spp. infections on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of owned domestic dogs presented for chronic cough in Belgium

peer reviewedThe trichuroid parasitic nematode Capillaria aerophila (syn. Eucoleus aerophilus) is responsible for lower respiratory infections and Capillaria boehmi (syn. Eucoleus boehmi) for sino-nasal infections in wild and domestic carnivores. Animals become infected by eating environmental embryonated eggs or earthworms. The adult worms live embedded in the epithelia of the bronchioles, bronchi, and trachea or in the nasal sinuses, respectively. Infections with C. aerophila can be sub-clinical or lead to chronic bronchial inflammation, rarely bronchopneumonia. C. boehmi may cause nasal discharge, sneezing or olfactory impairment. Knowledge about prevalence and distribution of both parasites beyond Eastern Europe and Mediterranean countries is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of C. aerophila infection in coughing, client-owned, domestic dogs in Belgium. Stored bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 125 dogs (median age 7.3 years, range: 0.3-17.2 years) from March 2018-2022 was retrieved. All dogs had history of chronic cough (> 2 weeks duration) and underwent BALF collection for microbiologic testing of common respiratory pathogens. DNA extracted from BALF samples was stored at -80°C until further analysis. A conventional polymerase chain reaction targeting a region internal to the cox1 gene of C. aerophila, a Capillarinae consensus sequence, was performed on BALF samples in duplicate and in batch analysis using previously published primers sequences. DNA of adult C. boehmi specimens was included as a positive control. Molecular grade water was used as a negative control. Neither DNA of C. aerophila nor C. boehmi were detected in the BALF samples. Sixty-seven dogs (54%) had a recent history of deworming against lungworms with either moxidectin or fenbendazole (deworming protocol not standardized), 9 dogs (7%) were not up to date with deworming therapy, and the remaining 49 dogs (39%) had unknown deworming status. Result of this study suggest that C. aerophila infection is not prevalent in Belgium in dogs with chronic cough. This might be explained by recent deworming therapy in half of the included dogs. Epidemiosurveillance of capillarid infection may be considered in wild canids, such as foxes, to determine whether these parasites are a potential risk for domestic animals

N-acetylcysteine lacks universal inhibitory activity against influenza A viruses

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been recently proposed as an adjuvant therapeutic drug for influenza pneumonia in humans. This proposal is based on its ability to restrict influenza virus replication in vitro and to attenuate the severity of the disease in mouse models. Although available studies were made with different viruses (human and avian), published information related to the anti-influenza spectrum of NAC is scarce. In this study, we show that NAC is unable to alter the course of a fatal influenza pneumonia caused by inoculation of a murinized swine H1N1 influenza virus. NAC was indeed able to inhibit the swine virus in vitro but far less than reported for other strains. Therefore, susceptibility of influenza viruses to NAC appears to be strain-dependent, suggesting that it cannot be considered as a universal treatment for influenza pneumonia

Expression of Fibroblast Activation Protein in lungs of dogs with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and dogs with lung cancer

peer reviewedCanine Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (CIPF) is a progressive fibrotic interstitial lung disease of unknown aetiology, affecting predominantly the West Highland White Terrier (WHWT) breed. Currently, there is no curative treatment option available. Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) is a cell surface protease usually absent from normal tissue but specifically expressed in areas of active tissue remodelling such as in fibroblast foci in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In humans, it is also upregulated in various types of cancers, either in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), in cancer cells or in both, depending on the tumour type. The aim of this study was to assess the expression and localization of FAP in the lungs of WHWTs affected with CIPF, in comparison with WHWTs with healthy lungs and dogs with lung cancer. Post-mortem formalin-fixed lung biopsies prepared from WHWTs with CIPF (n=17, age from 10 to 15y), control WHWTs exempt from lung disease (n=4, age from 11 to 15y) and dogs from various breeds with lung cancer (n=8, age from 8 to 14y) were retrospectively used. Included lung neoplasia were adenocarcinomas (n=6), histiocytic sarcoma (n=1) and metastasized mammary adenocarcinoma (n=1). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed using a rabbit anti-human FAP monoclonal antibody (#ab207178). An IHC staining index (absent, low, moderate or high) was attributed according to the percentage of positive cells combined with the staining intensity. FAP was identified in the lungs of 16 out of 17 (94%) WHWTs with CIPF (IHC index high, moderate, or low in respectively 10, 4 and 2 dogs), 2 out of 4 (50%) WHWTs with healthy lungs (1 of each moderate and low), and 7 out of 8 (88%) dogs with lung cancer (high and moderate in respectively 6 and 1 dogs). FAP was expressed by fibroblasts in areas of active fibrosis in CIPF and by CAFs (all types of cancer) and cancer cells (adenocarcinomas only, n=5) in lung tumours. Results of this study showed that FAP is moderately to markedly expressed by fibroblasts in most dogs affected with either CIPF or lung cancer. Accordingly, FAP should be considered as an interesting potential therapeutic target for both diseases and should encourage further studies in the future. The expression of FAP in healthy lungs of WHWTs should be further investigated, particularly in comparison with FAP expression in dogs from other breeds, as it might serve as an indicator of early fibrosis

Exploring the antiviral activity of flavonoids from Strychnos variabilis leaves against SARS-CoV-2

peer reviewedStrychnos variabilis De Wild. is a small deciduous tree that is primarily distributed in and around Brazzaville and Kinshasa, located on both sides of the Congo River in Africa [1]. While the leaves have only trace amounts of indoline alkaloids (retuline series) [2] [3], our laboratory isolated numerous rare flavonoids, including flavonol glycosides, from the leaves over three decades ago [4] [5] [6]. Flavonoids are known for their antiviral activity, especially when in glycosidic form, which increases their solubility and effectiveness compared to their non- glycosidic forms [7] [8]. Therefore, our present study aims to investigate the potential antiviral activity of S. variabilis leaves against SARS-CoV-2. Our findings revealed that the total extract of S. variabilis exhibits significant antiviral activity with an IC50 range of 12.5 to 6.25 µg/mL. Moreover, we tested two flavonoids, variabilosides C and D [5], which demonstrated even greater potency with an IC50 range of 6.9 to 3.5 µM. We suggest that the flavonoids present in S. variabilis leaves could provide a promising pathway for the development of a new herbal substrate used as an adjunctive therapeutic in the treatment of coronavirus disease. Further investigation into the pharmacological properties of these flavonoids is thus warranted to fully explore their potential as therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2

Molecular identification of Plasmodium falciparum from captive non-human primates in the Western Amazon Ecuador

peer reviewe

Putative role of arthropod vectors in African swine fever virus transmission in relation to their bio-ecological properties

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most important diseases in Suidae due to its significant health and socioeconomic consequences and represents a major threat to the European pig industry, especially in the absence of any available treatment or vaccine. In fact, with its high mortality rate and the subsequent trade restrictions imposed on affected countries, ASF can dramatically disrupt the pig industry in afflicted countries. In September 2018, ASF was unexpectedly identified in wild boars from southern Belgium in the province of Luxembourg, not far from the Franco-Belgian border. The French authorities rapidly commissioned an expert opinion on the risk of ASF introduction and dissemination into metropolitan France. In Europe, the main transmission routes of the virus comprise direct contact between infected and susceptible animals and indirect transmission through contaminated material or feed. However, the seasonality of the disease in some pig farms in Baltic countries, including outbreaks in farms with high biosecurity levels, have led to questions on the possible involvement of arthropods in the transmission of the virus. This review explores the current body of knowledge on the most common arthropod families present in metropolitan France. We examine their potential role in spreading ASF—by active biological or mechanical transmission or by passive transport or ingestion—in relation to their bio-ecological properties. It also highlights the existence of significant gaps in our knowledge on vector ecology in domestic and wild boar environments and in vector competence for ASFV transmission. Filling these gaps is essential to further understanding ASF transmission in order to thus implement appropriate management measures