Assessment of arboviruses circulation in wild rodents and birds in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest

Arboviruses are transmitted by hematophagous arthropods, many of them of sanitary importance for their impact on health, economy and their wide geographic distribution. In the sylvatic cycle, different wild vectors and hosts are involved. Some of these viruses belong to the Flavivirus and Alphavirus genera and are transmitted by different species of mosquitoes. Several wild vertebrates participate in the sylvatic cycles of these viruses as main or alternative hosts. Our aim was to evaluate the circulation of Flavivirus and Alphavirus genera in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest (UPAF) of Misiones, Argentina.Para acceder a la videoconferencia completa, hacer clic en "Enlace externo".Sociedad Latinoamericana de Ecología de Vectore

A localized outbreak of Chikungunya virus in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

A localized Chikungunya virus (CHIKV; East/Central/South African genotype) outbreak (50 cases, 70% laboratory-confirmed; attack rate: 5.3 confirmed cases/100 people) occurred in a Salvador, Brazil neighborhood, between Apr-Jun/2017. Highly clustered cases in space and time, mostly along a single street, highlight an increased risk of CHIKV transmission among pockets of susceptible populations. This finding underscores the need for ongoing local level surveillance for arboviral outbreaks.Fil: Tauro, Laura Beatriz. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; ArgentinaFil: Cardoso, Cristiane W.. Secretaria Municipal da Saúde de Salvador; BrasilFil: Souza, Raquel L.. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Nascimento, Leile Cj. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Santos, Daniela R Dos. Secretaria Municipal da Saúde de Salvador; BrasilFil: Campos, Gubio S.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Ferro Sardi, Silvia Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Reis, Olivete B Dos. Secretaria Municipal da Saúde de Salvador; BrasilFil: Reis, Mitermayer G.. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil. University of Yale; Estados UnidosFil: Kitron, Uriel D.. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil. University of Emory; Estados UnidosFil: Ribeiro, Guilherme S.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; Brasi

Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through on-line media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focussed on process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Anaplasmataceae presence in Amblyomma calcaratum associated with anteaters (Tamandua tetradactyla) in the rainforest ecoregion, Argentina

Bacteria of the sister genera Ehrlichia and Anaplasma (Anaplasmataceae) are obligate intracellular Alphaproteobacteria that are transmitted mostly through arthropod vectors. These agents can infect different vertebrate cells, depending on the species involved, and can cause diseases in animals and humans. In this study, we evaluated the presence of Anaplasmataceae bacteria in Amblyomma calcaratum ticks collected from a road-killed Tamandua tetradactyla in the Rainforest ecoregion in Argentina. All samples were screened for Anaplasmataceae DNA using a real-time PCR assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Evidence of Anaplasmataceae DNA was detected in three out of thirty-nine Am. calcaratum ticks. Phylogenetic analysis of a portion of 16S rRNA gene positioned one sample (Ehrlichia sp. strain Ac124) with Ehrlichia sequences and the other two samples with Anaplasma sequences; Anaplasma sp. strain Ac145 close to Anaplasma odocoilei and Anaplasma sp. strain Ac152 in an ancestral position to most Anaplasma species. The groEL sequence obtained showed that Ehrlichia sp. strain Ac124 was phylogenetically related to Ehrlichia sp. strain Iberá reported infecting Amblyomma tigrinum from Iberá wetlands in Argentina. Phylogenetic analysis using the rpoB sequence positioned Anaplasma sp. strain Ac145 close to the canine pathogen Anaplasma platys, while Anaplasma sp. strain Ac152 was positioned close to the bovine pathogen Anaplasma marginale.In this study, three Anaplasmataceae agents were detected in adults of Am. calcaratum associated with a T. tetradactyla. These results suggest that the number of Anaplasmataceae species, as well as their distribution, is largely unknown

Coinfections of Zika and Chikungunya Viruses in Bahia, Brazil, Identified by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of samples from 15 patients with documented Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in Bahia, Brazil, from April 2015 to January 2016 identified coinfections with chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in 2 of 15 ZIKV-positive cases by PCR (13.3%). While generally nonspecific, the clinical presentation corresponding to these two CHIKV/ZIKV coinfections reflected infection by the virus present at a higher titer. Aside from CHIKV and ZIKV, coinfections of other viral pathogens were not detected. The mNGS approach is promising for differential diagnosis of acute febrile illness and identification of coinfections, although targeted arbovirus screening may be sufficient in the current ZIKV outbreak setting

Neuronal Degeneration in Mice Induced by an Epidemic Strain of Saint Louis Encephalitis Virus Isolated in Argentina

Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) is a neglected flavivirus that causes severe neurological disorders. The epidemic strain of SLEV, CbaAr-4005, isolated during an outbreak in Córdoba city (Argentina), causes meningitis and encephalitis associated with neurological symptoms in a murine experimental model. Here, we identified the affected brain areas and the damage triggered by this neurotropic arbovirus. We performed a detailed analysis of brain neurodegeneration associated with CbaAr-4005 SLEV infection in mice. The motor cortex, corpus striatum and cerebellum were the most affected structures. Neurodegeneration was also found in the olfactory bulb, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and hindbrain. SLEV infection triggered brain cell apoptosis as well as somatodendritic and terminal degeneration. In addition, we observed massive excitotoxic-like degeneration in many cortical structures. Apoptosis was also detected in the neuroblastoma cell line N2a cultured with SLEV. The results evidenced that SLEV CbaAr-4005 infection induced severe degenerative alterations within the central nervous system of infected mice, providing new information about the targets of this flavivirus infection