Association of the Host Immune Response with Protection Using a Live Attenuated African Swine Fever Virus Model

Citation: Carlson, J.; O’Donnell, V.; Alfano, M.; Velazquez Salinas, L.; Holinka, L.G.; Krug, P.W.; Gladue, D.P.; Higgs, S.; Borca, M.V. Association of the Host Immune Response with Protection Using a Live Attenuated African Swine Fever Virus Model. Viruses 2016, 8, 291.African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal hemorrhagic disease of swine caused by a double-stranded DNA virus, ASF virus (ASFV). There is no vaccine to prevent the disease and current control measures are limited to culling and restricting animal movement. Swine infected with attenuated strains are protected against challenge with a homologous virulent virus, but there is limited knowledge of the host immune mechanisms generating that protection. Swine infected with Pretoriuskop/96/4 (Pret4) virus develop a fatal severe disease, while a derivative strain lacking virulence-associated gene 9GL (Pret4Δ9GL virus) is completely attenuated. Swine infected with Pret4Δ9GL virus and challenged with the virulent parental virus at 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days post infection (dpi) showed a progressive acquisition of protection (from 40% at 7 dpi to 80% at 21 and 28 dpi). This animal model was used to associate the presence of host immune response (ASFV-specific antibody and interferon (IFN)-γ responses, or specific cytokine profiles) and protection against challenge. With the exception of ASFV-specific antibodies in survivors challenged at 21 and 28 dpi, no association between the parameters assessed and protection could be established. These results, encompassing data from 65 immunized swine, underscore the complexity of the system under study, suggesting that protection relies on the concurrence of different host immune mechanisms

Diferentiation between infected and vaccinated animals with foot-and-mouth disease virus by serological methods

El virus de la Fiebre Afiosa (VFA), un Aftovirus de la familia Picornaviridae, es el agente causal de una enfermedad altamente contagiosa y de tremenda importancia económica, que afecta al ganado de pezuña hendida. La diferenciación entre animales infectados y vacunados así como la detección de animales portadores del virus o “carriers” es esencial para evaluar la efectividad de campañas de control y erradicación. La detección de anticuerpos (Ac) contra un antígeno (Ag) no estructural asociado con la replicación del virus, el Ag Asociado a la Infección Viral (Ag VIA), cuyo componente principal es la ARN polimerasa o proteína 3D, altamente conservada entre los diferentes serotipos, ha sido una herramienta útil para monitorear programas de control y erradicación, como un indicador indirecto para la evaluación de la actividad viral a nivel poblacional. Es conocido que vacunas inactivadas contra el VFA pueden inducir Ac contra el Ag VIA, si bien los niveles de estos Ac son muy bajos y su permanencia mas corta que en animales infectados. Esta respuesta transitoria y variable se atribuye a la presencia de restos de la polimerasa viral en el Ag vacunal, el cual sería antigénico y resultaría en la producción de Ac contra el Ag VIA. El método más ampliamente utilizado para medir Ac contra el Ag VIA es la Inmunodifusión en Agar Gel (IDAG). Este método es simple de realizar, pero su baja sensibilidad y el uso de un Ag parcialmente purificado derivado de cultivos infectados con el virus, llevó al desarrollo de otras metodologías. Con el objeto de sobrellevar estos inconvenientes, se desarrollaron ensayos inmunológicos capaces de detectar Ac contra proteínas no estructurales del VFA, para la identificación de animales infectados con el virus. Las proteínas no estructurales, 3D y 2C, se expresaron en Escherichia coli, como proteínas de fusión a glutation-S-transferasa (GST). Se desarrolló un método de ELISA en fase-líquida (ELISA-3D) capaz de detectar Ac específicos contra la proteína 3D o RNA polimerasa del VFA. El ELISA-3D, fue capaz de detectar Ac contra la proteína 3D en suero de bovinos luego de una infección natural o experimental, desde los 5 días postinfección (dpi) hasta los 565 dpi, mientras que sueros de bovinos provenientes de zona libre de Fiebre Aftosa, así como sueros de referencia de bovinos y porcinos infectados con diferentes virus ARN y ADN, fueron negativos, resultando en una especificidad del 100%. Los resultados de la comparación del ELISA-3D con la técnica de IDAG y con un ELISA-VIA descripto previamente (Alonso y col., 1990), los que utilizan el Ag VIA semipurificado, mostraron que el ELISA-3D es altamente sensible (95.2 %), específico (100%) y reproducíble (C.V. 2.75 %). Los ensayos en sueros de animales vacunados, mostraron una respuesta transitoria de Ac inducida por algunas vacunas. La evaluación del método de “Western blot” utilizando como Ag la proteína no estructural 2C, mostró una reacción positiva cuando se analizaron sueros de bovinos infectados, mientras que sueros de bovinos de zona libre no mostraron ninguna reactividad. El estudio de sueros de bovinos vacunados mostró 1/79 sueros con reactividad positiva para Ac contra 2C. Estos resultados indican que el método de ELISA-3D, es recomendable para ser utilizado como método complementario en estudios seroepidemiológicos para monitorear actividad viral. La respuesta de Ac contra 3D inducida por la vacunación en animales con una o dos vacunaciones es transitoria. El aumento en la frecuencia de reacciones positivas luego de la revacunación, indica que para el monitoreo de actividad viral en planes de control bajo vacunación, es necesario considerar los parámetros de reacción postvacunal contra 3D para una mejor interpretación de los resultados obtenidos por éstas técnicas. Finalmente, el uso de proteínas biosintéticas tiene ventajas en su estabilidad y pureza, evita el manejo de virus vivo y provee una fuente consistente de Ag. La detección de Ac contra otras proteínas no estructurales del VFA, como es el caso de 2C, proveería un mayor grado de confianza en la identificación de animales infectados con VFA.Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), an Aphtovirus of the Picomaviridae family, is the causal agent of a highly contagious and economically important disease of cloven-hooved animals. Differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals and the detection of carriers animals are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of control and eradication campaigns. Detection of antibodies against a non-structural antigen associated with the replication of the virus, the virus-infection-associated (VIA) antigen, the main component of which is the viral RNA polymerase or 3D protein, highly conserved among all serotypes, has been a useful tool in monitoring control and eradication programmes, as an indirect indicator of viral activity at the population level. It is well known that inactivated vaccines against FMDV can induce antibodies against the VIA antigen, although the levels of antibodies and their persistence are lower than in infected animals. This transitory and variable response is attribuited to the presence of traces of the viral polymerase in the vaccine antigen, which could be antigenic and result in the production of antibodies against the VIA antigen. The most widely used method for measuring antibody to the VIA antigen is the Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID). The method is simple to perform, but its low sensitivity and the use of partially purified antigen derived from infected cell cultures, made necesary the development of other methods. With the aim of overcome this difficulties, immunochemical assays were developed, able to detect antibodies against FIVHDV non-structural proteins for the identification of infected animals with the virus. Recombinant non-structural proteins, 3D and 2C, were expressed in Escherichia coli, as fusion proteins with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). A liquid-phase blocking sandwich ELISA assay (ELISA-3D) able to detect specific antibodies to the 3D protein or RNA polymerase of FMDV was developed. The ELISA-3D, was able to detect antibodies against the 3D protein in cattle sera after natural or experimental infection as early as 5 days postinfection (dpi) and at later stages, 565 dpi, whereas sera from naive cattle from the FMD free area as bovine and porcine reference sera raised against different RNA and DNA viruses were negative, resulting in a specificity of 100%. Comparison of the ELISA-3D with the AGID and the ELISA-VIA previously described (Alonso et al., 1990), which used the semipurified VIA antigen, shows that the ELISA-3D is highly sensitive (95.2%), specific (100%) and reproducible (C.V. 2.75%). Assays in vaccinated cattle sera, demostrated a transitory antibody response induced by some vaccines. The evaluation of the “Western blot”, using as antigen the non-structural 2C protein, shows a positive reaction with sera from infected cattle, whereas sera from naive cattle from FMDV free area did not react. One of 79 sera from vaccinated cattle shows a positive antibody reaction against 2C. The results obtained here indicate that the ELISA-3D method must be used as a complementary method for seroepidemiological studies for monitoring viral activity. Antibody response to 3D induce in vaccinated or revaccinated animals was transient. The increase in the frequency of positive reactions after revaccination, suggest that to monitor viral activity in control programmes under vaccination, it is necessary to take into account the parameters of the post-vaccination anti-3D response, to make a better evaluation of the results obtained. Finally, the use of bioengineered proteins has advantages such as stability and purity, it does not require handling infective virus and provied a consistent source of antigen. The detection of antibodies to other non-structural proteins, as 2C, provides confirmatory evidence for the identification of FMDV infected animals.Fil:O’Donnell, Vivian K.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Tweeting a pandemic: communicating #COVID19 across the globe

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an urgent need for public health departments to clearly communicate their prevention, testing, and treatment recommendations. Previous research supports that Twitter is an important platform that public health departments use to communicate crisis information to stakeholders. This study aimed to shed light on how international health departments shared relevant information about COVID-19 on Twitter in 2020. We conducted a quantitative content analysis of N = 1,200 tweets from twelve countries, across six continents. COVID-19 prevention behaviors were consistently referenced far more than testing or treatment recommendations across countries. Disease severity and susceptibility were referenced more than recommendation benefits, barriers, and efficacy. Results provide support for how public health departments can better communicate recommendations related to COVID-19 behaviors. Based on these results, implications for public health organizations and public relations practitioners worldwide are discussed, and hands-on action guidelines are provided

Intraoperative Radiotherapy in the Management of Locally Recurrent Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Purpose. To investigate the efficacy and morbidity of limb-sparing surgery with intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for patients with locally recurrent extremity soft tissue sarcoma (ESTS). Methods and Materials. Twenty-six consecutively treated patients were identified in a single institution retrospective analysis of patients with locally recurrent ESTS treated with IORT following salvage limb-sparing resection from May 2000 to July 2011. Fifteen (58%) patients received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) prior to recurrence (median dose 63 Gy), while 11 (42%) patients received EBRT following IORT (median dose 52 Gy). The Kaplan-Meier product limit method was used to estimate disease control and survival and subsets were compared using a log rank statistic, Cox’s regression model was used to determine independent predictors of disease outcome, and toxicity was reported according to CTCAE v4.0 guidelines. Results. With a median duration of follow-up from surgery and IORT of 34.9 months (range: 4 to 139 mos.), 10 patients developed a local recurrence with 4 subsequently undergoing amputation. The 5-year estimate for local control (LC) was 58% (95% CI: 36–75%), for amputation-free was 81% (95% CI: 57–93%), for metastasis-free control (MFC) was 56% (95% CI: 31–75%), for disease-free survival (DFS) was 35% (95% CI: 17–54%), and for overall survival (OS) was 50% (95% CI: 24–71%). Prior EBRT did not appear to influence disease control (LC, p=0.74; MFC, p=0.66) or survival (DFS, p=0.16; OS, p=0.58). Grade 3 or higher acute and late toxicities were reported for 6 (23%) and 8 (31%) patients, respectively. The frequency of both acute and late grade 3 or higher toxicities occurred equally between patients who received EBRT prior to or after IORT. Conclusions. IORT in combination with oncologic resection of recurrent ESTS yields good rates of local control and limb-salvage with acceptable morbidity. Within the limitations of small subsets, these data suggest that prior EBRT does not significantly influence disease control or toxicity

Role of Nonstructural Proteins 3A and 3B in Host Range and Pathogenicity of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus

The genome of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) differs from that of other picornaviruses in that it encodes a larger 3A protein (>50% longer than poliovirus 3A), as well as three copies of protein 3B (also known as VPg). Previous studies have shown that a deletion of amino acids 93 to 102 of the 153-codon 3A protein is associated with an inability of a Taiwanese strain of FMDV (O/TAW/97) to cause disease in bovines. Recently, an Asian virus with a second 3A deletion (amino acids 133 to 143) has also been detected (N. J. Knowles et al., J. Virol. 75:1551-1556, 2001). Genetically engineered viruses harboring the amino acids 93 to 102 or 133 to 143 grew well in porcine cells but replicated poorly in bovine cells, whereas a genetically engineered derivative of the O/TAW/97 virus expressing a full-length 3A (strain A12) grew well in both cell types. Interestingly, a virus with a deletion spanning amino acid 93 to 144 also grew well in porcine cells and caused disease in swine. Further, genetically engineered viruses containing only a single copy of VPg were readily recovered with the full-length 3A, the deleted 3A (amino acids 93 to 102), or the “super” deleted forms of 3A (missing amino acids 93 to 144). All of the single-VPg viruses were attenuated in porcine cells and replicated poorly in bovine cells. The single-VPg viruses produced a mild disease in swine, indicating that the VPg copy number is an important determinant of host range and virulence. The association of VPg copy number with increased virulence in vivo may help to explain why all naturally occurring FMDVs have retained three copies of VPg

Full genome sequence for the African swine fever virus outbreak in the Dominican Republic in 1980

Abstract African swine fever is a lethal disease of domestic pigs, geographically expanding as a pandemic, that is affecting countries across Eurasia and severely damaging their swine production industry. After more than 40 years of being absent in the Western hemisphere, in 2020 ASF reappeared in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The recent outbreak strain in the Dominican Republic has been identified as a genotype II ASFV a derivative of the ASF strain circulating in Asia and Europe. However, to date no full-length genome sequence from either the 1978–1980 Here we report the complete genome sequence of an African swine fever virus (ASFV) (DR-1980) that was previously isolated from blood collected in 1980 from the Dominican Republic at the end of the last outbreak, before culling of all swine on the island of Hispaniola and stored in the Plum Island Animal Disease Center ASFV repository. A contig representing the full-length genome (183,687 base pairs) was de novo assembled into a single contig using both Nanopore and Illumina sequences. DR-1980 was determined to belong to genotype I and, as determined by full genome comparison, a close relative to the sequenced Sardinia viruses that were causing outbreaks at this time

Postmortem results of FMDV detection in 21 FMDV persistently infected cattle.

<p>^a IDL: intradermolingual (direct inoculated)</p><p>^b CT: contact inoculated</p><p>^c V/C: Vaccinated and Challenged by Direct Contact</p><p>^d V/I: Vaccinated and Challenged by Intradermolingual Inoculation</p><p>^e DPI: Days Post Inoculation</p><p>^f rRT-PCR: real-time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction</p><p>^g VI: Viral Isolation; results obtained will fall into two categories, positive or negative</p><p>^h neg: Negative</p><p>ⁱ NE: Not Evaluated</p><p>^j log10 FMDV RNA copy numbers per mg of tissue</p><p>^k bold font indicates virus isolation positive samples.</p><p>^l LN: Lymph nodes</p><p>Postmortem results of FMDV detection in 21 FMDV persistently infected cattle.</p

Tissue-specific distribution of FMDV.

<p>Detection was performed by virus isolation or rRT-PCR in persistently infected steers inoculated by direct (intradermolingual route) or contact exposure inoculation. Only the epithelium of the Dorsal Nasopharynx (7) occupies the highest stratum of 80–100% indicating this tissue as the most consistent site of FMDV persistent infection. Prevalence values were calculated as number of animals in which a tissue was determined positive by one or both techniques/total number of animals.</p

Immunofluorescent detection of persistent FMDV in nasopharyngeal mucosa.

<p>Dorsal nasopharynx, steer #626, 37dpe, FMDV O1 Manisa. Immunomicroscopy, <b>A)</b> Low magnification (10X) view of an epithelial invagination with a focal cluster of FMDV-antigen-positive cells within superficial epithelial surface, scale bar 50 μm. <b>B-F)</b> Higher magnification (40X) views of region of interest identified in A (dashed box). Cells containing FMDV-VP1 are in the superficial epithelium and are cytokeratin-positive. Few MHC-II and CD11c positive cells are present within and below epithelium, but do not contain FMDV-VP1. Indirect fluorescence technique with differential interference contrast, antibody labels color-coded in bottom panel, asterisks indicate channels present in each panel, scale bar 25 μm.</p

Results of mean relative expression ratio and confidence intervals for each cytokine in all animals tested.

<p>For all cytokines examined, sample (carrier) group is not significantly different from control (baseline) group.</p><p>* P(H1)—Probability of alternate hypothesis that difference between sample and control groups is due only to chance.</p><p>Results of mean relative expression ratio and confidence intervals for each cytokine in all animals tested.</p