Participatory survey of risk factors and pathways for Rift Valley fever in pastoral and agropastoral communities of Uganda

To assess pastoralists’ and agropastoralists’ knowledge on Rift Valley fever (RVF), participatory epidemiological studies were conducted with 215 livestock keepers and 27 key informants in Napak, Butebo, Isingiro and Lyantonde districts, Uganda, between January and February 2022. Livestock keepers in all four districts had knowledge of RVF and even had local names or descriptions for it. Pastoralists and agropastoralists possessed valuable knowledge of RVF clinical descriptions and epidemiological risk factors such as the presence of infected mosquitoes, living in flood-prone areas, and excessive rainfall. RVF was ranked among the top ten most important cattle diseases. Pastoralists called RVF Lonyang, symbolizing a disease associated with jaundice, high fever, abortions in pregnant cows, and sudden death in calves. Key informants identified infected domestic animals, the presence of infected mosquitoes, livestock movement and trade, and infected wild animals as risk pathways for the introduction of RVF into an area. Drinking raw blood and milk was perceived as the most likely pathway for human exposure to RVF virus; while the highest consequence was high treatment costs. The results indicate that pastoralists provided key epidemiological information that could be essential for designing an effective national RVF surveillance and early warning system

Compellingly high SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of Golden Syrian hamsters suggests multiple zoonotic infections of pet hamsters during the COVID-19 pandemic

Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are used as a research model for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Millions of Golden Syrian hamsters are also kept as pets in close contact to humans. To determine the minimum infective dose (MID) for assessing the zoonotic transmission risk, and to define the optimal infection dose for experimental studies, we orotracheally inoculated hamsters with SARS-CoV-2 doses from 1 * 105 to 1 * 10-4 tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50). Body weight and virus shedding were monitored daily. 1 * 10-3 TCID50 was defined as the MID, and this was still sufficient to induce virus shedding at levels up to 102.75 TCID50/ml, equaling the estimated MID for humans. Virological and histological data revealed 1 * 102 TCID50 as the optimal dose for experimental infections. This compelling high susceptibility leading to productive infections in Golden Syrian hamsters must be considered as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 infection for humans that come into close contact with pet hamsters

Curing cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis with an oral multi-component drug containing GS-441524

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) caused by feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a common dis-ease in cats, fatal if untreated, and no effective treatment is currently legally available. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and toxicity of the multi-component drug Xraphconn$^{®}$ in vitro and as oral treatment in cats with spontaneous FIP by examining survival rate, development of clinical and laboratory parameters, viral loads, anti-FCoV antibodies, and adverse effects. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance identified GS-441524 as an active component of Xraphconn$^{®}$. Eighteen cats with FIP were prospectively followed up while being treated orally for 84 days. Values of key parameters on each examination day were compared to values before treatment initiation using linear mixed-effect models. Xraphconn$^{®}$ displayed high virucidal activity in cell culture. All cats recovered with dramatic improvement of clinical and laboratory parameters and massive reduction in viral loads within the first few days of treatment without serious adverse effects. Oral treatment with Xraphconn$^{®}$ containing GS-441524 was highly effective for FIP without causing serious adverse effects. This drug is an excellent option for the oral treatment of FIP and should be trialed as potential effective treatment option for other severe coronavirus-associated diseases across species

EU-Approved Rapid Tests for Bovine Spongform Encephalopathy Detect Atypical Forms: A Study for Their Sensitivities

Since 2004 it become clear that atypical bovine spongiform encephalopthies (BSEs) exist in cattle. Whenever their detection has relied on active surveillance plans implemented in Europe since 2001 by rapid tests, the overall and inter-laboratory performance of these diagnostic systems in the detection of the atypical strains has not been studied thoroughly to date. To fill this gap, the present study reports on the analytical sensitivity of the EU-approved rapid tests for atypical L-and H-type and classical BSE in parallel. Each test was challenged with two dilution series, one created from a positive pool of the three BSE forms according to the EURL standard method of homogenate preparation (50% w/v) and the other as per the test kit manufacturer's instructions. Multilevel logistic models and simple logistic models with the rapid test as the only covariate were fitted for each BSE form analyzed as directed by the test manufacturer's dilution protocol. The same schemes, but excluding the BSE type, were then applied to compare test performance under the manufacturer's versus the water protocol. The IDEXX HerdChek (R) BSE-scrapie short protocol test showed the highest sensitivity for all BSE forms. The IDEXX (R) HerdChek BSE-scrapie ultra short protocol, the Prionics (R) - Check WESTERN and the AJ Roboscreen (R) BetaPrion tests showed similar sensitivities, followed by the Roche (R) PrionScreen, the Bio-Rad (R) TeSeE (TM) SAP and the Prionics (R) - Check PrioSTRIP in descending order of analytical sensitivity. Despite these differences, the limit of detection of all seven rapid tests against the different classes of material set within a 2 log(10) range of the best-performing test, thus meeting the European Food Safety Authority requirement for BSE surveillance purposes. These findings indicate that not many atypical cases would have been missed surveillance since 2001 which is important for further epidemiological interpretations of the sporadic character of atypical forms

Strengthening the interaction of the virology community with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) by linking virus names and their abbreviations to virus species

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is tasked with classifying viruses into taxa (phyla to species) and devising taxon names. Virus names and virus name abbreviations are currently not within the ICTV’s official remit and are not regulated by an official entity. Many scientists, medical/veterinary professionals, and regulatory agencies do not address evolutionary questions nor are they concerned with the hierarchical organization of the viral world, and therefore, have limited use for ICTV-devised taxa. Instead, these professionals look to the ICTV as an expert point source that provides the most current taxonomic affiliations of viruses of interests to facilitate document writing. These needs are currently unmet as an ICTV-supported, easily searchable database that includes all published virus names and abbreviations linked to their taxa is not available. In addition, in stark contrast to other biological taxonomic frameworks, virus taxonomy currently permits individual species to have several members. Consequently, confusion emerges among those who are not aware of the difference between taxa and viruses, and because certain well-known viruses cannot be located in ICTV publications or be linked to their species. In addition, the number of duplicate names and abbreviations has increased dramatically in the literature. To solve this conundrum, the ICTV could mandate listing all viruses of established species and all reported unclassified viruses in forthcoming online ICTV Reports and create a searchable webpage using this information. The International Union of Microbiology Societies could also consider changing the mandate of the ICTV to include the nomenclature of all viruses in addition to taxon considerations. With such a mandate expansion, official virus names and virus name abbreviations could be catalogued and virus nomenclature could be standardized. As a result, the ICTV would become an even more useful resource for all stakeholders in virology

All clinically-relevant blood components transmit prion disease following a single blood transfusion: a sheep model of vCJD

Variant CJD (vCJD) is an incurable, infectious human disease, likely arising from the consumption of BSE-contaminated meat products. Whilst the epidemic appears to be waning, there is much concern that vCJD infection may be perpetuated in humans by the transfusion of contaminated blood products. Since 2004, several cases of transfusion-associated vCJD transmission have been reported and linked to blood collected from pre-clinically affected donors. Using an animal model in which the disease manifested resembles that of humans affected with vCJD, we examined which blood components used in human medicine are likely to pose the greatest risk of transmitting vCJD via transfusion. We collected two full units of blood from BSE-infected donor animals during the pre-clinical phase of infection. Using methods employed by transfusion services we prepared red cell concentrates, plasma and platelets units (including leucoreduced equivalents). Following transfusion, we showed that all components contain sufficient levels of infectivity to cause disease following only a single transfusion and also that leucoreduction did not prevent disease transmission. These data suggest that all blood components are vectors for prion disease transmission, and highlight the importance of multiple control measures to minimise the risk of human to human transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion