Epizooty of Tularemia, Detected in the Population of the Common Vole in the Natural Focus of Steppe Type in the South-East of the Rostov Region in 2020

The aim of study was to conduct epizootiological monitoring of natural tularemia foci of the steppe type and investigate epizootic activity in the south-east of the Rostov Region.Materials and methods. An epizootiological survey was carried out on the territory of Remontnensky, Sal’sky and Peschanokopsky districts of the Rostov Region in 2019–2021. To capture and collect mammals, Ixodidae ticks and to study the samples of field material conventional methods were used.Results and discussion. Habitation of 16 species of small mammals, 6 species of Ixodidae ticks has been found. Molecular-genetic analysis of the voles has revealed the presence of the species Microtus arvalis obscurus in the studied area of the region. The circulation of the tularemia agent has been established in the population of common and social voles, forest mouse, hare, rook, Dermacentor marginatus, Hyalomma marginatum, removed from rooks. In May 2020, a high increase in the number of the social vole in the Remontnensky district (up to 21 %), in July 2020 – the common vole in the agrocenoses of the Sal’sky district (up to 33 %) was observed. An extensive epizooty of tularemia was detected in the population of common vole in the south-east of the Rostov Region and in adjacent territories in the Republic of Kalmykia and the Stavropol territory. Two cultures of the pathogen were isolated from the fallen and captured social voles, and four cultures – from the common vole. The isolated strains belong to the Holarctic subspecies of Francisella tularensis EryR. The results obtained attest to the activation of the natural tularemia focus in the south-east of the Rostov Region and its high epizootic activity

Genome Characterization of a Pathogenic Porcine Rotavirus B Strain Identified in Buryat Republic, Russia in 2015

Citation: Alekseev, K.P.; Penin, A.A.; Mukhin, A.N.; Khametova, K.M.; Grebennikova, T.V.; Yuzhakov, A.G.; Moskvina, A.S.; Musienko, M.I.; Raev, S.A.; Mishin, A.M.; Kotelnikov, A.P.; Verkhovsky, O.A.; Aliper, T.I.; Nepoklonov, E.A.; Herrera-Ibata, D.M.; Shepherd, F.K.; Marthaler, D.G. Genome Characterization of a Pathogenic Porcine Rotavirus B Strain Identified in Buryat Republic, Russia in 2015. Pathogens 2018, 7, 46.An outbreak of enteric disease of unknown etiology with 60% morbidity and 8% mortality in weaning piglets occurred in November 2015 on a farm in Buryat Republic, Russia. Metagenomic sequencing revealed the presence of rotavirus B in feces from diseased piglets while no other pathogens were identified. Clinical disease was reproduced in experimentally infected piglets, yielding the 11 RVB gene segments for strain Buryat15, with an RVB genotype constellation of G12-P[4]-I13-R4-C4-M4-A8-N10-T4-E4-H7. This genotype constellation has also been identified in the United States. While the Buryat15 VP7 protein lacked unique amino acid differences in the predicted neutralizing epitopes compared to the previously published swine RVB G12 strains, this report of RVB in Russian swine increases our epidemiological knowledge on the global prevalence and genetic diversity of RVB

Participation of bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia) and their ectoparasites in circulation of pathogens of natural focal infections in the South of Russia

To determine the species composition of ectoparasites, 65 individuals of 6 species of vesper bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) were examined. Altogether, 521 specimens of 11 species of arthropods (gamasid mites, soft ticks, and fleas) were collected, of which Steatonyssus noctulus and Nycteridopsylla eusarca were recorded for the first time from Rostov Province. As the result of laboratory studies of the bats and ectoparasites associated with them in Rostov Province, DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi s. l., genospecies Borrelia afzelii was detected in samples of Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii, Eptesicus serotinus, Carios vespertilionis, Steatonyssus periblepharus; DNA of Borrelia spp. was detected in samples of Macronyssus flavus; DNA of Ehrlichia spp., in samples of P. pipistrellus and P. kuhlii; DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, in samples of Nyctalus noctula. Participation of bats and their ectoparasites in the epizootic process of tularemia was recorded for the first time, by detection of Francisella tularensis DNA in samples of P. pipistrellus, N. noctula, P. kuhlii, and Cimex ex gr. pipistrelli. Markers of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus were discovered for the first time in samples of N. noctula and P. pipistrellus

Novel Mammalian orthorubulavirus 5 Discovered as Accidental Cell Culture Contaminant

A distinct Russian Mammalian orthorubulavirus 5 (PIV5) was detected in cell culture exhibiting cytopathic effect and hypothesized to be contaminated by a scientist with respiratory symptoms. The identification of the divergent strain indicated a lack of knowledge on the diversity of PIV5 strains and calls for surveillance of global PIV5 strains