Factors Associated With Within-Herd Transmission of Serotype A Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Cattle, During the 2001 Outbreak in Argentina: A Protective Effect of Vaccination

Argentina suffered an extensive foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic between July 2000 and January 2002, 3months after obtaining the official FMD-free without vaccination status conferred by the World Organization for Animal Health. This is one of the largest FMD epidemics controlled by implementation of a systematic mass vaccination campaign in an FMD-free country. In 2000, 124 herds were reported as FMD positive, 2394 herds in 2001 and one in January 2002; the total number of cattle herds in the country at that time was approximately 230000. Estimates of FMD transmission are important to understand the dynamics of disease spread and for estimating the value for the parameterization of disease transmission models, with the ultimate goals of predicting its spread, assessing and designing control strategies, conducting economic analyses and supporting the decision-making process. In this study, the within-herd coefficient of transmission, β, was computed for herds affected in the 2001 FMD epidemic and categorized as low or high based on the median value of β. A logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors significantly associated with high values of β. Results suggested that the odds of having a high within-herd transmission were significantly associated with time from initial herd infection to disease detection, date of report, vaccination, and time from initial herd infection to herd vaccination. Results presented in this study demonstrate, in quantifiable terms, the protective impact of vaccination in reducing FMD transmission in infected herds. These results will be useful for the parameterization of epidemiological models aimed at quantifying the impact of vaccination and for the design and implementation of FMD emergency vaccination strategies in face of an epidemic.Fil: Brito, B. P.. University of California at Davis; Estados Unidos. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Andres Maximiliano. University of California at Davis; Estados Unidos. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cosentino, B.. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Alimento. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, L. L.. No especifíca;Fil: König, Guido Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Biotecnología; Argentin

Genetic and antigenic variation of foot-and-mouth disease virus during persistent infection in naturally infected cattle and Asian buffalo in India

Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The role of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) persistently infected ruminants in initiating new outbreaks remains controversial, and the perceived threat posed by such animals hinders international trade in FMD-endemic countries. In this study we report longitudinal analyses of genetic and antigenic variations of FMDV serotype O/ME-SA/Ind2001d sublineage during naturally occurring, persistent infection in cattle and buffalo at an organised dairy farm in India. The proportion of animals from which FMDV RNA was recovered was not significantly different between convalescent (post-clinical) and sub-clinically infected animals or between cattle and buffalo across the sampling period. However, infectious virus was isolated from a higher proportion of buffalo samples and for a longer duration compared to cattle. Analysis of the P1 sequences from recovered viruses indicated fixation of mutations at the rate of 1.816 x 10-2substitution/site/year (s/s/y) (95% CI 1.362–2.31 x 10−2 s/s/y). However, the majority of point mutations were transitional substitutions. Within individual animals, the mean dN/dS (ω) value for the P1 region varied from 0.076 to 0.357, suggesting the selection pressure acting on viral genomes differed substantially across individual animals. Statistical parsimony analysis indicated that all of the virus isolates from carrier animals originated from the outbreak virus. The antigenic relationship value as determined by 2D-VNT assay revealed fluctuation of antigenic variants within and between carrier animals during the carrier state which suggested that some carrier viruses had diverged substantially from the protection provided by the vaccine strain. This study contributes to understanding the extent of within-host and within-herd evolution that occurs during the carrier state of FMDV

Qualidade de silagens de híbridos de sorgo (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) de portes baixo, médio e alto com diferentes proporções de colmo+folhas/panicula. 2. Avaliação do valor nutritivo.

O objetivo deste experimento foi avaliar a qualidade nutricional de silagens de sorgo de portes alto, médio e baixo, com diferentes combinações de colmo+folhas/panícula (100:00, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80 e 00:100), por meio de análises laboratoriais. A planta inteira foi utilizada como controle. Os híbridos foram cultivados e ensilados aos 104 dias de idade em silos de laboratório de PVC, com 10 cm de diâmetro e 40 cm de comprimento (três repetições por tratamento). Os silos foram abertos aos 56 dias após a ensilagem. Os teores de proteína bruta e a digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca, dos fenóis totais e dos constituintes da parede celular pelo método seqüencial foram determinados. As diferenças foram verificadas por intermédio do teste SNK para fenóis totais, sendo realizada análise de regressão para os demais resultados. Os valores de carboidratos solúveis do material original foram baixos para a maioria dos tratamentos, porém isto não prejudicou a fermentação, pois houve utilização de carboidratos adicionais, como hemicelulose e celulose, durante a ensilagem, sendo a queda destes maior na panícula e em colmo+folhas, respectivamente. Os valores de fenóis totais aumentaram com a ensilagem, apesar de não ter ocorrido redução concomitante na DIVMS. A inclusão de panícula na planta reduziu os teores dos constituintes da parede celular e aumentou os valores de DIVM, indicando que uma planta de sorgo para produzir silagem de boa qualidade deve ter, no mínimo, 40% de panícula e baixos teores de lignina, fenóis totais e constituintes da fibra

Genome sequence of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype O lineage ind-2001d collected in vietnam in 2015

© 2017 Arzt et al. In 2015, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus lineage Ind-2001 was detected for the first time in Southeast Asia. This report contains the first nearcomplete genome sequence of a viral isolate from this lineage collected from an outbreak in Vietnam. This novel incursion has substantial implications for regional FMD control measures

Dynamical approach to the Casimir effect

Casimir forces can appear between intrusions placed in different media driven by several fluctuation mechanisms, either in equilibrium or out of it. Herein, we develop a general formalism to obtain such forces from the dynamical equations of the fluctuating medium, the statistical properties of the driving noise, and the boundary conditions of the intrusions (which simulate the interaction between the intrusions and the medium). As a result, an explicit formula for the Casimir force over the intrusions is derived. This formalism contains the thermal Casimir effect as a particular limit and generalizes the study of the Casimir effect to such systems through their dynamical equations, with no appeal to their Hamiltonian, if any exists. In particular, we study the Casimir force between two infinite parallel plates with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions, immersed in several media with finite correlation lengths (reaction--diffusion system, liquid crystals, and two coupled fields with non-Hermitian evolution equations). The driving Gaussian noises have vanishing or finite spatial or temporal correlation lengths; in the first case, equilibrium is reobtained and finite correlations produce nonequilibrium dynamics. The results obtained show that, generally, nonequilibrium dynamics leads to Casimir forces, whereas Casimir forces are obtained in equilibrium dynamics if the stress tensor is anisotropic.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Genome sequences of seven foot-andmouth disease virus isolates collected from serial samples from one persistently infected carrier cow in Vietnam

Several foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) carrier cattle were identified in Vietnam by the recovery of infectious virus from oropharyngeal fluid. This report contains the first near-complete genome sequences of seven viruses from sequential samples from one carrier animal collected over the course of 1 year. The characterization of within-host viral evolution has implications for FMDV control strategies

Stochastic Quantization and Casimir Forces

In this paper we show how the stochastic quantization method developed by Parisi and Wu can be used to obtain Casimir forces. Both quantum and thermal fluctuations are taken into account by a Langevin equation for the field. The method allows the Casimir force to be obtained directly, derived from the stress tensor instead of the free energy. It only requires the spectral decomposition of the Laplacian operator in the given geometry. The formalism provides also an expression for the fluctuations of the force. As an application we compute the Casimir force on the plates of a finite piston of arbitrary cross section. Fluctuations of the force are also directly obtained, and it is shown that, in the piston case, the variance of the force is twice the force squared.Comment: Submitted to EP

Phylodynamics of foot-and-mouth disease virus O/PanAsia in Vietnam 2010-2014

© 2017 The Author(s). Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is endemic in Vietnam, a country that plays an important role in livestock trade within Southeast Asia. The large populations of FMDV-susceptible species in Vietnam are important components of food production and of the national livelihood. In this study, we investigated the phylogeny of FMDV O/PanAsia in Vietnam, reconstructing the virus' ancestral host species (pig, cattle or buffalo), clinical stage (subclinical carrier or clinically affected) and geographical location. Phylogenetic divergence time estimation and character state reconstruction analyses suggest that movement of viruses between species differ. While inferred transmissions from cattle to buffalo and pigs and from pigs to cattle are well supported, transmission from buffalo to other species, and from pigs to buffalo may be less frequent. Geographical movements of FMDV O/PanAsia virus appears to occur in all directions within the country, with the South Central Coast and the Northeast regions playing a more important role in FMDV O/PanAsia spread. Genetic selection of variants with changes at specific sites within FMDV VP1 coding region was different depending on host groups analyzed. The overall ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous nucleotide changes was greater in pigs compared to cattle and buffalo, whereas a higher number of individual amino acid sites under positive selection were detected in persistently infected, subclinical animals compared to viruses collected from clinically diseased animals. These results provide novel insights to understand FMDV evolution and its association with viral spread within endemic countries. These findings may support animal health organizations in their endeavor to design animal disease control strategies in response to outbreaks

First Insights into the Viral Communities of the Deep-sea Anoxic Brines of the Red Sea

The deep-sea brines of the Red Sea include some of the most extreme and unique environments on Earth. They combine high salinities with increases in temperature, heavy metals, hydrostatic pressure, and anoxic conditions, creating unique settings for thriving populations of novel extremophiles. Despite a recent increase of studies focusing on these unusual biotopes, their viral communities remain unexplored. The current survey explores four metagenomic datasets obtained from different brine–seawater interface samples, focusing specifically on the diversity of their viral communities. Data analysis confirmed that the particle-attached viral communities present in the brine–seawater interfaces were diverse and generally dominated by Caudovirales, yet appearing distinct from sample to sample. With a level of caution, we report the unexpected finding of Phycodnaviridae, which infects algae and plants, and trace amounts of insect-infecting Iridoviridae. Results from Kebrit Deep revealed stratification in the viral communities present in the interface: the upper-interface was enriched with viruses associated with typical marine bacteria, while the lower-interface was enriched with haloviruses and halophages. These results provide first insights into the unexplored viral communities present in deep-sea brines of the Red Sea, representing one of the first steps for ongoing and future sampling efforts and studies