First external quality assessment of molecular and serological detection of rift valley fever in the western Mediterranean region

Pas de clé UTRift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis which affects humans and a wide range of domestic and wild ruminants. The large spread of RVF in Africa and its potential to emerge beyond its geographic range requires the development of surveillance strategies to promptly detect the disease outbreaks in order to implement efficient control measures, which could prevent the widespread of the virus to humans. The Animal Health Mediterranean Network (REMESA) linking some Northern African countries as Algeria, Egypt, Libya,Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia with Southern European ones as France, Italy, Portugal and Spain aims at improving the animal health in the Western Mediterranean Region since 2009. In this context, a first assessment of the diagnostic capacities of the laboratories involved in the RVF surveillance was performed. The first proficiency testing (external quality assessment— EQA) for the detection of the viral genome and antibodies of RVF virus (RVFV) was carried out from October 2013 to February 2014. Ten laboratories participated from 6 different countries (4 from North Africa and 2 from Europe). Six laboratories participated in the ring trial for both viral RNA and antibodies detection methods, while four laboratories participated exclusively in the antibodies detection ring trial. For the EQA targeting the viral RNA detection methods 5 out of 6 laboratories reported 100% of correct results. One laboratory misidentified 2 positive samples as negative and 3 positive samples as doubtful indicating a need for corrective actions. For the EQA targeting IgG and IgM antibodies methods 9 out of the 10 laboratories reported 100% of correct results, whilst one laboratory reported all correct results except one false-positive. These two ring trials provide evidence that most of the participating laboratories are capable to detect RVF antibodies and viral RNA thus recognizing RVF infection in affected ruminants with the diagnostic methods currently available

The whole genome sequence of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), reveals insights into the biology and adaptive evolution of a highly invasive pest species

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables. It exhibits a unique ability to invade and adapt to ecological niches throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, though medfly infestations have been prevented and controlled by the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of integrated pest management programs (IPMs). The genetic analysis and manipulation of medfly has been subject to intensive study in an effort to improve SIT efficacy and other aspects of IPM control

Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation (EU) No 2016/429): bluetongue

A specific concept of strain was developed in order to classify the BTV serotypes ever reported in Europe based on their properties of animal health impact: the genotype, morbidity, mortality, speed of spread, period and geographical area of occurrence were considered as classification parameters. According to this methodology the strain groups identified were (i) the BTV strains belonging to serotypes BTV-1–24, (ii) some strains of serotypes BTV-16 and (iii) small ruminant-adapted strains belonging to serotypes BTV-25, -27, -30. Those strain groups were assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7, Article 5 on the eligibility of bluetongue to be listed, Article 9 for the categorisation according to disease prevention and control rules as in Annex IV and Article 8 on the list of animal species related to bluetongue. The assessment has been performed following a methodology composed of information collection, expert judgement at individual and collective level. The output is composed of the categorical answer, and for the questions where no consensus was reached, the different supporting views are reported. The strain group BTV (1–24) can be considered eligible to be listed for Union intervention as laid down in Article 5(3) of the AHL, while the strain group BTV-25–30 and BTV-16 cannot. The strain group BTV-1–24 meets the criteria as in Sections 2 and 5 of Annex IV of the AHL, for the application of the disease prevention and control rules referred to in points (b) and (e) of Article 9(1) of the AHL. The animal species that can be considered to be listed for BTV-1–24 according to Article 8(3) are several species of Bovidae, Cervidae and Camelidae as susceptible species; domestic cattle, sheep and red deer as reservoir hosts, midges insect of genus Culicoides spp. as vector species

Blood culture: improvement project through training and feedback of results and quality criteria

Although blood culture is one of the most important tests in a microbiology laboratory, the need for its request is not always well understood by the clinician, and its execution is frequently wrong. In order to improve the quality of the application and enforcement of blood cultures, 15 training sessions for clinicians and nurses in groups of about 100 at a time with ECM were carried out.The protocol was published in the Intranet site of the CIO (Controllo Infezioni Ospedaliere). Blood cultures were subsequently performed for the departments that collected more than 50 samples/semester and provided a report every six months. This report contained the pertinent information, including the number of blood cultures that were collected from the peripheral vein, the artery or by catheter, the number of samples collected correctly (at least 2 during 48 hours) and incorrectly (single set in 48 hours), the rate of contamination and the percentage of positive cultures.When the indexes were inconsistent with the established quality criteria, a warning signal was issued. In the case of too large inconsistencies, the report was handed directly to the Head of the department, with whom the possible causes of inadequacy and how to correct them were discussed. In this work we propose this system aimed at improving the quality of blood cultures

Spread of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Hub and Spoke Connected Health-Care Networks: A Case Study from Italy

The study describes the spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in a regional healthcare network in Italy. The project included several stages: (1) Establishment of a laboratory-based regional surveillance network, including all the acute care hospitals of the Marches Region (n = 20). (2) Adoption of a shared protocol for the surveillance of Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs). Only the first CRKP isolate for each patient has been included in the surveillance in each hospital. The anonymous tracking of patients, and their subsequent microbial records within the hospital network, allowed detection of networks of inter-hospital exchange of CRKP and its comparison with transfer of patients within the hospital network. Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis has been used to study selected isolates belonging to different hospitals. 371,037 admitted patients have been included in the surveillance system. CRKP has shown an overall incidence rate of 41.0 per 100,000 days of stay (95% confidence interval, CI 38.5–43.5/100,000 DOS), a CRKP incidence rate of isolation in blood of 2.46/100,000 days of stay (95% CI 1.89–3.17/100,000 days of stay (DOS) has been registered; significant variability has been registered in facilities providing different levels of care. The network of CRKP patients’ exchange was correlated to that of the healthcare organization, with some inequalities and the identification of bridges in CRKP transfers. More than 73% of isolates were closely related. Patients’ exchange was an important route of spread of antimicrobial resistance, highlighting the pivotal role played by the hub, and selected institution to be used in prioritizing infection control efforts

Development of piperazine-tethered heterodimers as potent antimalarials against chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum strains. Synthesis and molecular modeling.

The design, synthesis, and antiplasmodial activity of antimalarial heterodimers based on the 1,4-bis(3-aminopropyl)piperazine linker is reported. In this series key structural elements derived from quinoline antimalarials were coupled to fragments capable of coordinating metal ions. Biological evaluation included determination of activity against chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains. Some of the novel compounds presented high activity in vitro against chloroquine-resistant strains, more potent than chloroquine and clotrimazole. Computational studies revealed that the activity is likely due to the ability of the compounds to assume a multisite iron coordinating geometry

Risk factors associated with the occurrence of undesired effects in sheep and goats after field vaccination with modified-live vaccine against bluetongue virus serotypes 2, 4 and 16

In the 2004, the Sardinian bluetongue (BT) vaccination campaign used the combination of monovalent BTV-2, BTV-4 and BTV-16 modified-live vaccines manufactured by the Onderstepoort Biological Products in South Africa. Following vaccination, some herds showed temperature, oedema, lameness, hyperaemia and decrease in milk production, and some others remained perfectly healthy. This study aimed to evaluate whether important factors present in the herd at the time of vaccination could be associated to the occurrence of undesired effects observed after immunisation with BTV modified-live vaccines. A sample of 17 sheep and 4 goat flocks, for a total of 670 animals, were included in the study and risk factors such as presence of most important parasitic, bacterial and viral diseases as well as anomalies of biochemical and haematological parameters were associated to the presence or absence of side effects. For each factor the relative risk and 95% confidence interval were calculated. Following vaccination, bluetongue-like symptoms were observed in 13 flocks. In these flocks, a higher (P < 0.05) proportion of animals had viraemia and showed higher titers to BTV-16 after immunisation. Positive association (RR = 2.50, 1.17–5.04) was also found between flocks in which undesired effect were observed and positive serology against Maedi–Visna virus. On the contrary, presence of BTV genome fractions in the blood of animals at the time of vaccination was found to be protective (RR = 0.7, 0.58–0.84) to the occurrence of undesired effect subsequent to BTV vaccination

Rational design of the first difluorostatone-based PfSUB1 inhibitors.

The etiological agent of the most dangerous form of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, has developed resistance or reduced sensitivity to the majority of the drugs available to treat this deadly disease. Innovative antimalarial therapies are therefore urgently required. P. falciparum serine protease subtilisin-like protease 1 (PfSUB1) has been identified as a key enzyme for merozoite egress from red blood cells and invasion. We present herein the rational design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel and potent difluorostatone-based inhibitors. Our bioinformatic-driven studies resulted in the identification of compounds 1a, b as potent and selective PfSUB1 inhibitors. The enzyme/inhibitor interaction pattern herein proposed will pave the way to the future optimization of this class of promising enzyme inhibitors

Quinolylhydrazones as novel inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum serine protease PfSUB1.

Plasmodium falciparum subtilisin-like protease 1 (PfSUB1) is a serine protease that plays key roles in the egress of the parasite from red blood cells and in preparing the released merozoites for the subsequent invasion of new erythrocytes. The development of potent and selective PfSUB1 inhibitors could pave the way to the discovery of potential antimalarial drugs endowed with an innovative mode of action and consequently able to overcome the current problems of resistance to established chemotherapies. Through the screening of a proprietary library of compounds against PfSUB1, we identified hydrazone 2 as a hit compound. Here we report a preliminary investigation of the structure-activity relationships for a class of PfSUB1 inhibitors related to our identified hit