Detection of SARS Coronavirus in Patients with Suspected SARS

Cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) were investigated for SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) through RNA tests, serologic response, and viral culture. Of 537 specimens from patients in whom SARS was clinically diagnosed, 332 (60%) had SARS-CoV RNA in one or more clinical specimens, compared with 1 (0.3%) of 332 samples from controls. Of 417 patients with clinical SARS from whom paired serum samples were available, 92% had an antibody response. Rates of viral RNA positivity increased progressively and peaked at day 11 after onset of illness. Although viral RNA remained detectable in respiratory secretions and stool and urine specimens for >30 days in some patients, virus could not be cultured after week 3 of illness. Nasopharyngeal aspirates, throat swabs, or sputum samples were the most useful clinical specimens in the first 5 days of illness, but later in the illness viral RNA could be detected more readily in stool specimens

Viral Loads in Clinical Specimens and SARS Manifestations

The number of anatomical sites with detectable viral loads by RT-qPCR appeared to correlate with death risk

Substitution at aspartic acid 1128 in the SARS coronavirus spike glycoprotein mediates escape from a S2 domain-targeting neutralizing monoclonal antibody

10.1371/journal.pone.0102415PLoS ONE97e10241

Three-dimensional reconstruction of a recombinant influenza virus ribonucleoprotein particle

5 pages, 3 figures.-- PMID: 11306552 [PubMed].-- PMCID: PMC1083860.-- Full text available Open Access via PubMed Central:http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11306552A three-dimensional structural model of an influenza virus ribonucleoprotein particle reconstituted in vivo from recombinant proteins and a model genomic vRNA has been generated by electron microscopy. It shows a circular shape and contains nine nucleoprotein monomers, two of which are connected with the polymerase complex. The nucleoprotein monomers show a curvature that may be responsible for the formation of helical structures in the full-size viral ribonucleoproteins. The monomers show distinct contact boundaries at the two sides of the particle, suggesting that the genomic RNA may be located in association with the nucleoprotein at the base of the ribonucleoprotein complex. Sections of the three-dimensional model show a trilobular morphology in the polymerase complex that is consistent with the presence of its three subunits.J. Ortega is a fellow of the Instituto de Estudios Turolenses. E.A. is a fellow of the Comunidad de Madrid. This work was supported by the Programa Sectorial de Promoción Central del Conocimiento (grants PB97-1160 and PB96-0818).Peer reviewe

Avian influenza H5N1 in viverrids: implications for wildlife health and conservation

The Asian countries chronically infected with avian influenza A H5N1 are ‘global hotspots’ for biodiversity conservation in terms of species diversity, endemism and levels of threat. Since 2003, avian influenza A H5N1 viruses have naturally infected and killed a range of wild bird species, four felid species and a mustelid. Here, we report fatal disseminated H5N1 infection in a globally threatened viverrid, the Owston's civet, in Vietnam, highlighting the risk that avian influenza H5N1 poses to mammalian and avian biodiversity across its expanding geographic range

Prevalence and genetic diversity of coronaviruses in bats from China

10.1128/JVI.00697-06Journal of Virology80157481-749

The species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: classifying 2019-nCoV and naming it SARS-CoV-2

Versión preprint diponible en BioRxiv (doi: 10.1101/2020.02.07.937862) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/212994The present outbreak of a coronavirus-associated acute respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is the third documented spillover of an animal coronavirus to humans in only two decades that has resulted in a major epidemic. The Coronaviridae Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which is responsible for developing the classification of viruses and taxon nomenclature of the family Coronaviridae, has assessed the placement of the human pathogen, tentatively named 2019-nCoV, within the Coronaviridae. Based on phylogeny, taxonomy and established practice, the CSG recognizes this virus as forming a sister clade to the prototype human and bat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoVs) of the species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, and designates it as SARS-CoV-2. In order to facilitate communication, the CSG proposes to use the following naming convention for individual isolates: SARS-CoV-2/host/location/isolate/date. While the full spectrum of clinical manifestations associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans remains to be determined, the independent zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 highlights the need for studying viruses at the species level to complement research focused on individual pathogenic viruses of immediate significance. This will improve our understanding of virus–host interactions in an ever-changing environment and enhance our preparedness for future outbreaks.Work on DEmARC advancement and coronavirus and nidovirus taxonomies was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 EVAg 653316 project and the LUMC MoBiLe program (to A.E.G.), and on coronavirus and nidovirus taxonomies by a Mercator Fellowship by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (to A.E.G.) in the context of the SFB1021 (A01 to J.Z.).Peer reviewe