Uncommon and Neglected Venezuelan Viral Diseases: Etiologic Agents, Physiopathological, Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan C. Gabaldon-Figueira

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract (english Viral infectious diseases are common in Venezuela, influenza, dengue, yellow fever, HIV infection, viral Hepatitis, chikungunya fever and many others represent public health problems in the country and therefore, have been well documented. However, other rarer and even unique or lethal viral illnesses present in Venezuela are usually poorly understood or even unknown. This review described Venezuelan Hemorrhagic Fever, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Hantavirus Infections and Mayaro fever, named as neglected diseases, emphasizing the etiologic agents and their most relevant pathogenic mechanisms, clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Although there is not an official report about the re-emergence of these diseases, falling living standards and unsanitary conditions, together with limited accessibility to hygiene products and medical supplies, put us on alert about the re-emergence of these neglected diseases. Resumen (español Las enfermedades infecciosas virales son comunes en Venezuela, influenza, dengue, fiebre amarilla, infección por VIH, hepatitis viral, fiebre chikungunya y muchas otras representan problemas de salud pública en el país y por lo tanto, han sido bien documentadas. Sin embargo, otras enfermedades virales más raras e incluso únicas y letales presentes en Venezuela son generalmente poco estudiadas y hasta desconocidas. Esta revisión describe alguna de estas enfermedades olvidadas tales como la fiebre hemorrágica venezolana, la encefalitis equina venezolana, las infecciones por hantavirus y la fiebre de Mayaro, haciendo hincapié en los agentes etiológicos y en sus mecanismos patogénicos más relevantes, características clínicas y epidemiológicas. Aunque no hay informes oficiales sobre el resurgimiento de estas enfermedades, la caída de los niveles de vida y las condiciones insalubres, junto con el acceso limitado a los productos de higiene y suministros médicos, debe alertar sobre el

Emergence of viral hemorrhagic fevers: Is recent outbreak of crimean congo hemorrhagic fever in India an indication?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C Lahariya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The emerging and re-emerging diseases are posing a great health risk for the last few years. One such category of diseases is viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs, which have emerged in the new territories, worldwide. Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF cases, for the first time in India, were reported from Gujarat, in January 2011. The emergence of diseases not reported earlier, pose great economic and social challenge, burden health system, and create panic reaction. Nonetheless, with recent experience in control of epidemic diseases, and advances in basic scientific knowledge; the public health community is better prepared for these unexpected events. This review provides information to physicians on CCHF for managing outbreak, and identifies public health measures to prevent emergence and re-emergence of VHFs (including CCHF in future. The authors suggest that though, there are a few challenging and unanswered questions, the public health preparedness still remains the key to control emerging and re-emerging diseases. The countries where virus activities have been reported need to be prepared accordingly.

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Parhizgari, Najmeh; Gouya, Mohammad Mehdi; Mostafavi, Ehsan

2017-01-01

Despite development of preventive and controlling strategies regarding infectious diseases, they are still considered as one of the most significant leading causes of morbidity and mortality, worldwide. Changes in humans’ demographics and behaviors, microbial and ecological alterations, agricultural development, international travels and susceptibility to infectious diseases have resulted in increased reports of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and reemerging infectious diseases (RIDs) in various geographical areas. Because of the various types of geographic properties in Iran, substantial climatic variability, as well as unstable political situations and poor public health conditions in some of neighboring countries, EIDs and RIDs are serious public health problems; among them, zoonotic and drug resistant diseases are the most significant. Hence, this review provides an overview of the significant bacterial, viral and fungal EIDs and RIDs in Iran regarding their epidemiological aspects. PMID:29225752

Viral diseases of marine invertebrates

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, P. T.

1984-03-01

Approximately 40 viruses are known from marine sponges; turbellarian and monogenetic flatworms; cephalopod, bivalve, and gastropod mollusks; nereid polychaetes; and isopod and decapod crustaceans. Most of the viruses can be tentatively assigned to the Herpesviridae, Baculoviridae, Iridoviridae, Adenoviridae, Papovaviridae, Reoviridae, “Birnaviridae”, Bunyaviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and Picornaviridae. Viruslike particles found in oysters might be representatives of the Togaviridae and Retroviridae. Enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses from crustaceans have developmental and morphological characteristics intermediate between families, and some show evidence of relationships to the Paramyxoviridae as well as the Bunyaviridae or Rhabdoviridae. Certain small viruses of shrimp cannot be assigned, even tentatively, to a particular family. Some viruses cause disease in wild and captive hosts, others are associated with disease states but may not be primary instigators, and many occur in apparently normal animals. The frequency of viral disease in natural populations of marine invertebrates is unknown. Several viruses that cause disease in captive animals, with or without experimental intervention, have also been found in diseased wild hosts, including herpeslike viruses of crabs and oysters, iridovirus of octopus, and reolike and bunyalike viruses of crabs. Iridolike viruses have been implicated in massive mortalities of cultured oysters. Baculoviruses, and IHHN virus, which is of uncertain affinities, cause economically damaging diseases in cultured penaeid shrimp. Double or multiple viral infection is common in crabs. For example, a reolike virus and associated rhabdolike virus act synergistically to cause paralytic and fatal disease in Callinectes sapidus. Information on host range, most susceptible stage, and viral latency is available only for viruses of shrimp. One baculovirus attacks five species of New World penaeid shrimp. IHHN virus infects three species of

[Anthropocene and Emerging viral diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Chastel, C

2016-08-01

We propose to bring together the new geologic concept of Anthropocene and its consequences on our environment with the observed increasing emergence of new viruses - a pathogen for both humans and animals, mainly since the mid of the twentieth century.

Deciphering emerging Zika and dengue viral epidemics: Implications for global maternal–child health burden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernest Tambo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Summary: Since its discovery in 1947 in Uganda and control and eradication efforts have aimed at its vectors (Aedes mosquitoes in Latin America in the 1950s, an absolute neglect of Zika programs and interventions has been documented in Aedes endemic and epidemic-prone countries. The current unprecedented Zika viral epidemics and rapid spread in the Western hemisphere pose a substantial global threat, with associated anxiety and consequences. The lack of safe and effective drugs and vaccines against Zika or dengue epidemics further buttresses the realization from the West Africa Ebola outbreak that most emerging disease-prone countries are still poorly prepared for an emergency response. This paper examines knowledge gaps in both emerging and neglected arthropod-borne flavivirus infectious diseases associated with poverty and their implications for fostering local, national and regional emerging disease preparedness, effective and robust surveillance–response systems, sustained control and eventual elimination. Strengthening the regional and Global Health Flavivirus Surveillance-Response Network (GHFV-SRN with other models of socio-economic, climatic, environmental and ecological mitigation and adaptation strategies will be necessary to improve evidence-based national and global maternal–child health agenda and action plans. Keywords: Zika virus, Epidemics, Health, Preparedness, Surveillance, Maternal–child

Viral diseases of northern ungulates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Frölich

2000-03-01

Full Text Available This paper describes viral diseases reported in northern ungulates and those that are a potential threat to these species. The following diseases are discussed: bovine viral diarrhoea/mucosal disease (BVD/MD, alphaherpesvirus infections, malignant catarrhal fever (MCF, poxvirus infections, parainfluenza type 3 virus infection, Alvsborg disease, foot-and-mouth disease, epizootic haemorrhage disease of deer and bluetongue disease, rabies, respiratory syncytial virus infection, adenovirus infection, hog-cholera, Aujeszky's disease and equine herpesvirus infections. There are no significant differences in antibody prevalence to BVDV among deer in habitats with high, intermediate and low density of cattle. In addition, sequence analysis from the BVDV isolated from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus showed that this strain was unique within BVDV group I. Distinct BVDV strains might circulate in free-ranging roe deer populations in Germany and virus transmission may be independent of domestic livestock. Similar results have been obtained in a serological survey of alpha-herpesviruses in deer in Germany. Malignant catarrhal fever was studied in fallow deer (Cervus dama in Germany: the seroprevalence and positive PCR results detected in sheep originating from the same area as the antibody-positive deer might indicate that sheep are the main reservoir animals. Contagious ecthyma (CE is a common disease in domestic sheep and goats caused by the orf virus. CE has been diagnosed in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis, mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus, Dall sheep (Ovis dalli, chamois (Rupkapra rupi-capra, muskox {Ovibos moschatus and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus. Most parainfluenza type 3 virus infections are mild or clinically undetectable. Serological surveys in wildlife have been successfully conducted in many species. In 1985, a new disease was identified in Swedish moose (Alces alces, designated as Alvsborg disease. This wasting syndrome probably

Importance of viral diseases in irradiated persons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blaha, M.; Jebavy, L.; Merka, V.; Horacek, J.

1988-01-01

A preliminary study was performed aimed at establishing the incidence of some viral diseases in radiation syndrome patients and the significance of the diseases for prognosis. In the study, 77 patients with syndromologically identical acute hematological forms of radiation sickness, mainly leukemic patients suffering from severe blood formation suppression and/or hematoblastosis were examined for concurrent herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus infections. Active viruses were isolated in almost 30% of the patients; nearly 90% of the patients were serologically positive, shedding antibodies. The findings thus confirmed the view that viral disease, especially in immunocompromised patients, has a critical effect on the survival of radiation sickness sufferers. (L.O.). 12 refs

Diabetes mellitus and renal involvement in chronic viral liver disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Iovanescu, V F; Streba, C T; Ionescu, M; Constantinescu, A F; Vere, C C; Rogoveanu, I; Moța, E

2015-01-01

Chronic viral liver disease is often associated with other conditions. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is frequently reported in this context and may play a role in the progression of the liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Renal disease is also an important extrahepatic manifestation of hepatitis viral infection and its presence is associated with poor prognosis and management issues. Our study had multiple purposes: to determine the frequency of the association between chronic viral liver disease and diabetes mellitus, evaluate the potential of diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for HCC and assess an eventual renal involvement. We included in our study a number of 246 patients with chronic liver disease, from whom 136 were diagnosed with chronic viral hepatitis and 110 with viral liver cirrhosis. These patients were assessed by using a clinical examination and a series of tests, including serum transaminase levels, serum bilirubin, serum albumin, markers of cholestasis, fasting plasma glucose levels, serum creatinine, urea, albuminuria, Addis-Hamburger test, electrophoresis of urinary proteins, abdominal ultrasound and, in some cases, CT examination. We obtained the following results: diabetes mellitus is often associated with chronic liver disease of viral etiology, having been identified in 18.29% of the patients in our study. Age above 60 in patients with chronic hepatitis (p=0.013diabetes mellitus. Renal disease was present in 13.4% of the patients with chronic liver disease and it was especially associated with liver cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus. The most common form of renal injury was glomerulonephritis. Acute kidney injury was diagnosed only in cirrhotic patients as hepatorenal syndrome, occurring in 7.27% of the subjects, while chronic kidney disease was identified only in two cases of chronic viral hepatitis. Four patients in our study were diagnosed with HCC and none of them presented diabetes mellitus. Our study revealed that there is a

Distribution, incidence and severity of viral diseases of yam ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A survey was conducted in major yam cultivation zones in Côte d'Ivoire in 2009 to determine the incidence, severity of viral diseases, and viruses associated with the infected plants. Incidence and severity of the viral diseases were estimated based on symptoms. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and ...

NaVirCept - Nucleic Acid-Based Anti-Viral Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephen, E. R.; Wong, J.; Van Loon, D.

2007-01-01

Vaccines are generally considered to be the most effective countermeasures to bacterial and viral diseases, however, licensed vaccines against many disease agents are either not available or their efficacies have not been demonstrated. Vaccines are generally agent specific in terms of treatment spectrum and are subject to defeat through natural mutation or through directed efforts. With respect to viral therapeutics, one of the major limitations associated with antiviral drugs is acquired drug resistance caused by antigenic shift or drift. A number of next-generation prophylactic and/or therapeutic measures are on the horizon. Of these, nucleic acid-based drugs are showing great antiviral potential. These drugs elicit long-lasting, broad spectrum protective immune responses, especially to respiratory viral pathogens. The Nucleic Acid-Based Antiviral (NaVirCept) project provides the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of novel medical countermeasures against military-significant endemic and other viral threat agents. This project expands existing DRDC drug delivery capability development, in the form of proprietary liposome intellectual property, by coupling it with leading-edge nucleic acid-based technology to deliver effective medical countermeasures that will protect deployed personnel and the warfighter against a spectrum of viral disease agents. The technology pathway will offer a means to combat emerging viral diseases or modified threat agents such as the bird flu or reconstructed Spanish flu without going down the laborious, time-consuming and expensive paths to develop countermeasures for each new and/or emerging viral disease organism.(author)

Emerging Vector-Borne Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Huntington, Mark K; Allison, Jay; Nair, Dilip

2016-10-01

Several mosquito-borne viral infections have recently emerged in North America; West Nile virus is the most common in the United States. Although West Nile virus generally causes a self-limited, flulike febrile illness, a serious neuroinvasive form may occur. Dengue is the most common vector-borne viral disease worldwide, and it has been a significant public health threat in the United States since 2009. Known as breakbone fever for its severe myalgias and arthralgias, dengue may cause a hemorrhagic syndrome. Chikungunya also causes flulike febrile illness and disabling arthralgias. Although meningoencephalitis may occur with chikungunya, bleeding is uncommon. Symptoms of Zika virus infection are similar to those of dengue, but milder. Zika virus increases the risk of fetal brain abnormalities, including microcephaly, if a pregnant woman is infected. Zika virus is spread through Aedes albopictus mosquito bites, is transmitted sexually, and may rarely spread nonsexually from person to person. Diagnosis of these vectorborne infections is clinical and serologic, and treatment is supportive. Other, well-established vector-borne diseases are also important. Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne bacterial disease that presents as a nonspecific syndrome of fever, headache, malaise, and myalgias. It is diagnosed via blood smear testing, with confirmatory serology. Ehrlichiosis is treated with doxycycline. Rickettsial infections are transmitted by fleas, mites, and ticks, and severity ranges from mild to life threatening. Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the most significant rickettsial infection, is primarily a clinical diagnosis that presents as fever, headache, myalgias, petechial rash, and tick exposure. Doxycycline is effective for rickettsial infections if administered promptly. Vector avoidance strategies are critical to the prevention of all of these infections.

Viral diseases in honey bee queens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Francis, Roy Mathew

Honey bees are important insects for human welfare, due to pollination as well as honey production. Viral diseases strongly impact honey bee health, especially since the spread of varroa mites. This dissertation deals with the interactions between honey bees, viruses and varroa mites. A new tool...... was developed to diagnose three viruses in honey bees. Quantitative PCR was used to investigate the distribution of two popular viruses in five different tissues of 86 honey bee queens. Seasonal variation of viral infection in honey bee workers and varroa mites were determined by sampling 23 colonies under...

A Different Perspective for Management of Diabetes Mellitus: Controlling Viral Liver Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yingying; Xing, Huichun

2017-01-01

Knowing how to prevent and treat diabetes mellitus (DM) earlier is essential to improving outcomes. Through participating in synthesis and catabolism of glycogen, the liver helps to regulate glucose homeostasis. Viral related liver diseases are associated with glycometabolism disorders, which means effective management of viral liver diseases may be a therapeutic strategy for DM. The present article reviews the correlation between DM and liver diseases to give an update of the management of DM rooted by viral liver diseases.

ViralEpi v1.0: a high-throughput spectrum of viral epigenomic methylation profiles from diverse diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mohd Shoaib; Gupta, Amit Kumar; Kumar, Manoj

2016-01-01

To develop a computational resource for viral epigenomic methylation profiles from diverse diseases. Methylation patterns of Epstein-Barr virus and hepatitis B virus genomic regions are provided as web platform developed using open source Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP (LAMP) bundle: programming and scripting languages, that is, HTML, JavaScript and PERL. A comprehensive and integrated web resource ViralEpi v1.0 is developed providing well-organized compendium of methylation events and statistical analysis associated with several diseases. Additionally, it also facilitates 'Viral EpiGenome Browser' for user-affable browsing experience using JavaScript-based JBrowse. This web resource would be helpful for research community engaged in studying epigenetic biomarkers for appropriate prognosis and diagnosis of diseases and its various stages.

Treating viral hemorrhagic fever.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mairuhu, A.T.; Brandjes, D.P.; Gorp, E. van

2003-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic fevers are illnesses associated with a number of geographically restricted, mostly tropical areas. Over recent decades a number of new hemorrhagic fever viruses have emerged. Advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of these diseases have improved our initial supportive

Blue moon neurovirology: the merits of studying rare CNS diseases of viral origin.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Lauren A; Rall, Glenn F

2010-09-01

While measles virus (MV) continues to have a significant impact on human health, causing 150,000-200,000 deaths worldwide each year, the number of fatalities that can be attributed to MV-triggered central nervous system (CNS) diseases are on the order of a few hundred individuals annually (World Health Organization 2009). Despite this modest impact, substantial effort has been expended to understand the basis of measles-triggered neuropathogenesis. What can be gained by studying such a rare condition? Simply stated, the wealth of studies in this field have revealed core principles that are relevant to multiple neurotropic pathogens, and that inform the broader field of viral pathogenesis. In recent years, the emergence of powerful in vitro systems, novel animal models, and reverse genetics has enabled insights into the basis of MV persistence, the complexity of MV interactions with neurons and the immune system, and the role of immune and CNS development in virus-triggered disease. In this review, we highlight some key advances, link relevant measles-based studies to the broader disciplines of neurovirology and viral pathogenesis, and propose future areas of study for the field of measles-mediated neurological disease.

[Emerging noninfectious diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Consiglio, Ezequiel

2008-11-01

In recent years, emerging diseases were defined as being infectious, acquiring high incidence, often suddenly, or being a threat or an unexpected phenomenon. This study discusses the hallmarks of emerging diseases, describing the existence of noninfectious emerging diseases, and elaborating on the advantages of defining noninfectious diseases as emerging ones. From the discussion of various mental health disorders, nutritional deficiencies, external injuries and violence outcomes, work injuries and occupational health, and diseases due to environmental factors, the conclusion is drawn that a wide variety of noninfectious diseases can be defined as emergent. Noninfectious emerging diseases need to be identified in order to improve their control and management. A new definition of "emergent disease" is proposed, one that emphasizes the pathways of emergence and conceptual traits, rather than descriptive features.

Viral respiratory diseases: vaccines and antivirals.

Science.gov (United States)

Lennette, E H

1981-01-01

Acute respiratory diseases, most of which are generally attributed to viruses, account for about 6% of all deaths and for about 60% of the deaths associated with all respiratory disease. The huge cost attributable to viral respiratory infections as a result of absenteeism and the disruption of business and the burden of medical care makes control of these diseases an important objective. The viruses that infect the respiratory tract fall taxonomically into five viral families. Although immunoprophylaxis would appear to be the logical approach, the development of suitable vaccines has been confronted with numerous obstacles, including antigenic drift and shift in the influenzaviruses, the large number of antigenically distinct immunotypes among rhinoviruses, the occurrence after immunization of rare cases of a severe form of the disease following subsequent natural infection with respiratory syncytial virus, and the risk of oncogenicity of adenoviruses for man. Considerable expenditure on the development of new antiviral drugs has so far resulted in only three compounds that are at present officially approved and licensed for use in the USA. Efforts to improve the tools available for control should continue and imaginative and inventive approaches are called for. However, creativity and ingenuity must operate within the constraints imposed by economic, political, ethical, and legal considerations.

White spot viral disease in penaeid shrimp-a review

OpenAIRE

Sangamaheswaran, A.P.; Jeyaseelan, M.J.P.

2001-01-01

The white spot viral disease in penaeid shrimp affects the development of the global shrimp industry. This paper reviews the viruses that cause the disease, the transmission of the virus, diagnosis and preventive measures.

DMPD: Toll-like receptors regulation of viral infection and disease. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 18280610 Toll-like receptors regulation of viral infection and disease. Thompson JM...how Toll-like receptors regulation of viral infection and disease. PubmedID 18280610 Title Toll-like recepto...rs regulation of viral infection and disease. Authors Thompson JM, Iwasaki A. Pub

Vaccines for emerging infectious diseases: Lessons from MERS coronavirus and Zika virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslow, Joel N

2017-12-02

The past decade and a half has been characterized by numerous emerging infectious diseases. With each new threat, there has been a call for rapid vaccine development. Pathogens such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the Zika virus represent either new viral entities or viruses emergent in new geographic locales and characterized by novel complications. Both serve as paradigms for the global spread that can accompany new pathogens. In this paper, we review the epidemiology and pathogenesis of MERS-CoV and Zika virus with respect to vaccine development. The challenges in vaccine development and the approach to clinical trial design to test vaccine candidates for disease entities with a changing epidemiology are discussed.

Seroprevalence of viral and bacterial diseases among the bovines in Himachal Pradesh, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shailja Katoch

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: The study was designed to measure the seroprevalence of viral and bacterial diseases: Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhea, bovine leukemia, bovine parainfluenza, bovine respiratory syncytial disease, brucellosis, and paratuberculosis among bovine of Himachal Pradesh during the year 2013-2015. Materials and Methods: The serum samples were collected from seven districts of state, namely, Bilaspur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Lahul and Spiti, Mandi, Sirmour, and Solan. The samples were screened using indirect ELISA kits to measure the seroprevalence of viral and bacterial diseases. Results: The overall seroprevalence of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis was 24.24%, bovine viral diarrhea 1.52%, bovine leukemia 9.09%, bovine parainfluenza 57.58%, bovine respiratory syncytial disease 50%, brucellosis 19.69%, and paratuberculosis 9.09% in Himachal Pradesh. The seroprevalence of bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine leukemia, bovine parainfluenza, bovine respiratory syncytial disease, and paratuberculosis in the state varied significantly (p0.01. Multiple seropositivity has been observed in this study. Bovine parainfluenza virus 3 was observed commonly in mixed infection with almost all viruses and bacteria under study. Conclusion: The viral and bacterial diseases are prevalent in the seven districts of Himachal Pradesh investigated in the study. Therefore, appropriate management practices and routine vaccination programs should be adopted to reduce the prevalence of these diseases.

Viral phenotype, antiretroviral resistance and clinical evolution in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellado, M J; Cilleruelo, M J; Ortiz, M; Villota, J; García, M; Perez-Jurado, M L; Barreiro, G; Martín-Fontelos, P; Bernal, A

1997-11-01

The syncytium-inducing (SI) viral phenotype and the emergence of viral strains resistant to zidovudine have been described in persons infected with HIV, and in some cases they have been associated with poor prognosis. HIV isolates obtained from 37 HIV-infected children were analyzed to determine whether the SI viral phenotype and the mutation on the 215 position of the reverse transcriptase (M215) could be used as markers of disease progression. We performed peripheral blood coculture mononuclear cells, and we analyzed the induction of syncytia using the MT-2 cell line. The emergence of mutations on the 215 position was determined by PCR. We found a statistically significant association (P < 0.05) between SI viral phenotype and (1) recurrent serious bacterial infections, (2) absolute CD4+ cell counts <2 SD, (3) progression to AIDS and (4) death. Sixty percent of the children treated with zidovudine developed 215 mutant viral strains without statistically significant association with clinical or immunologic findings. The SI viral phenotype was statistically associated with the presence of the 215 mutation (P < 0.05). SI viral phenotype is a marker associated with a poor clinical and immunologic progression of the disease and it may facilitate the emergence of mutant strains in children treated with zidovudine.

Viral skin diseases of the rabbit.

Science.gov (United States)

Meredith, Anna L

2013-09-01

This article describes the viral skin diseases affecting the domestic rabbit, the most important being myxomatosis. Transmission and pathogenesis, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, and control are described and the article will be of interest to veterinary practitioners who treat rabbits. Shope fibroma virus, Shope papilloma virus, and rabbitpox are also discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Are we prepared for emerging and re-emerging diseases? Experience and lessons from epidemics that occurred in Tanzania during the last five decades.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimuribo, Esron D; Mboera, Leonard E G; Mbugi, Erasto; Simba, Azma; Kivaria, Fredrick M; Mmbuji, Peter; Rweyemamu, Mark M

2011-12-01

This paper reviews preparedness for containing and controlling emerging and re-emerging diseases drawing lessons from disease events that occurred in animal and human populations in the last five decades (1961-2011). A comprehensive analysis based on retrieval and analysis of grey and published literature as well as reported cases was carried out to document type and trend of occurrence of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in different parts of Tanzania. Overall, the majority of diseases reported in the country were viral in nature followed by bacterial diseases. The trend for the occurrence shows a number of new emerging diseases as well as re-occurrence of old diseases in both animal (domestic and wild) and human populations. In humans, the major disease epidemics reported in the last five decades include cholera, influenza A H1N1, plague and rubella. In animals, the major epidemic diseases reported were Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia, Peste des petits ruminants and Giraffe Ear and Skin Diseases. Some epidemics have been reported in both human and animal populations including Rift Valley fever and anthrax. The emergence of the 'fit-for purpose' approaches and technologies such as the discipline of One Health, use of participatory epidemiology and disease surveillance and mobile technologies offers opportunity for optimal use of limited resources to improve early detection, diagnosis and response to disease events and consequently reduced impact of such diseases in animal and human populations.

Emergence of Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus in the North American Great Lakes region is associated with low viral genetic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Tarin M; Batts, William N; Faisal, Mohamed; Bowser, Paul; Casey, James W; Phillips, Kenneth; Garver, Kyle A; Winton, James; Kurath, Gael

2011-08-29

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a fish rhabdovirus that causes disease in a broad range of marine and freshwater hosts. The known geographic range includes the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and recently it has invaded the Great Lakes region of North America. The goal of this work was to characterize genetic diversity of Great Lakes VHSV isolates at the early stage of this viral emergence by comparing a partial glycoprotein (G) gene sequence (669 nt) of 108 isolates collected from 2003 to 2009 from 31 species and at 37 sites. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all isolates fell into sub-lineage IVb within the major VHSV genetic group IV. Among these 108 isolates, genetic diversity was low, with a maximum of 1.05% within the 669 nt region. There were 11 unique sequences, designated vcG001 to vcG011. Two dominant sequence types, vcG001 and vcG002, accounted for 90% (97 of 108) of the isolates. The vcG001 isolates were most widespread. We saw no apparent association of sequence type with host or year of isolation, but we did note a spatial pattern, in which vcG002 isolates were more prevalent in the easternmost sub-regions, including inland New York state and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Different sequence types were found among isolates from single disease outbreaks, and mixtures of types were evident within 2 isolates from individual fish. Overall, the genetic diversity of VHSV in the Great Lakes region was found to be extremely low, consistent with an introduction of a new virus into a geographic region with previously naive host populations.

Emergence of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus in the North American Great Lakes region is associated with low viral genetic diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, T.M.; Batts, W.N.; Faisal, M.; Bowser, P.; Casey, J.W.; Phillips, K.; Garver, K.A.; Winton, J.; Kurath, G.

2011-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a fish rhabdovirus that causes disease in a broad range of marine and freshwater hosts. The known geographic range includes the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and recently it has invaded the Great Lakes region of North Ame­rica. The goal of this work was to characterize genetic diversity of Great Lakes VHSV isolates at the early stage of this viral emergence by comparing a partial glycoprotein (G) gene sequence (669 nt) of 108 isolates collected from 2003 to 2009 from 31 species and at 37 sites. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all isolates fell into sub-lineage IVb within the major VHSV genetic group IV. Among these 108 isolates, genetic diversity was low, with a maximum of 1.05% within the 669 nt region. There were 11 unique sequences, designated vcG001 to vcG011. Two dominant sequence types, vcG001 and vcG002, accounted for 90% (97 of 108) of the isolates. The vcG001 isolates were most widespread. We saw no apparent association of sequence type with host or year of isolation, but we did note a spatial pattern, in which vcG002 isolates were more prevalent in the easternmost sub-regions, including inland New York state and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Different sequence types were found among isolates from single disease outbreaks, and mixtures of types were evident within 2 isolates from ­individual fish. Overall, the genetic diversity of VHSV in the Great Lakes region was found to be extremely low, consistent with an introduction of a new virus into a geographic region with ­previously naïve host populations.

Shrimp viral diseases, import risk assessment and international trade.

Science.gov (United States)

Karunasagar, Iddya; Ababouch, Lahsen

2012-09-01

Shrimp is an important commodity in international trade accounting for 15 % in terms of value of internationally traded seafood products which reached $102.00 billion in 2008. Aquaculture contributes to over 50 % of global shrimp production. One of the major constraints faced by shrimp aquaculture is the loss due to viral diseases like white spot syndrome, yellow head disease, and Taura syndrome. There are several examples of global spread of shrimp diseases due to importation of live shrimp for aquaculture. Though millions of tonnes of frozen or processed shrimp have been traded internationally during the last two decades despite prevalence of viral diseases in shrimp producing areas in Asia and the Americas, there is no evidence of diseases having been transmitted through shrimp imported for human consumption. The guidelines developed by the World Animal Health Organisation for movement of live animals for aquaculture, frozen crustaceans for human consumption, and the regulations implemented by some shrimp importing regions in the world are reviewed.

Replicative homeostasis II: Influence of polymerase fidelity on RNA virus quasispecies biology: Implications for immune recognition, viral autoimmunity and other "virus receptor" diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sallie Richard

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Much of the worlds' population is in active or imminent danger from established infectious pathogens, while sporadic and pandemic infections by these and emerging agents threaten everyone. RNA polymerases (RNApol generate enormous genetic and consequent antigenic heterogeneity permitting both viruses and cellular pathogens to evade host defences. Thus, RNApol causes more morbidity and premature mortality than any other molecule. The extraordinary genetic heterogeneity defining viral quasispecies results from RNApol infidelity causing rapid cumulative genomic RNA mutation a process that, if uncontrolled, would cause catastrophic loss of sequence integrity and inexorable quasispecies extinction. Selective replication and replicative homeostasis, an epicyclical regulatory mechanism dynamically linking RNApol fidelity and processivity with quasispecies phenotypic diversity, modulating polymerase fidelity and, hence, controlling quasispecies behaviour, prevents this happening and also mediates immune escape. Perhaps more importantly, ineluctable generation of broad phenotypic diversity after viral RNA is translated to protein quasispecies suggests a mechanism of disease that specifically targets, and functionally disrupts, the host cell surface molecules – including hormone, lipid, cell signalling or neurotransmitter receptors – that viruses co-opt for cell entry. This mechanism – "Viral Receptor Disease (VRD" – may explain so-called "viral autoimmunity", some classical autoimmune disorders and other diseases, including type II diabetes mellitus, and some forms of obesity. Viral receptor disease is a unifying hypothesis that may also explain some diseases with well-established, but multi-factorial and apparently unrelated aetiologies – like coronary artery and other vascular diseases – in addition to diseases like schizophrenia that are poorly understood and lack plausible, coherent, pathogenic explanations.

Vaccines for emerging infectious diseases: Lessons from MERS coronavirus and Zika virus

Science.gov (United States)

Maslow, Joel N.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The past decade and a half has been characterized by numerous emerging infectious diseases. With each new threat, there has been a call for rapid vaccine development. Pathogens such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the Zika virus represent either new viral entities or viruses emergent in new geographic locales and characterized by novel complications. Both serve as paradigms for the global spread that can accompany new pathogens. In this paper, we review the epidemiology and pathogenesis of MERS-CoV and Zika virus with respect to vaccine development. The challenges in vaccine development and the approach to clinical trial design to test vaccine candidates for disease entities with a changing epidemiology are discussed. PMID:28846484

Defining an emerging disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Moutou, F; Pastoret, P-P

2015-04-01

Defining an emerging disease is not straightforward, as there are several different types of disease emergence. For example, there can be a 'real' emergence of a brand new disease, such as the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the 1980s, or a geographic emergence in an area not previously affected, such as the emergence of bluetongue in northern Europe in 2006. In addition, disease can emerge in species formerly not considered affected, e.g. the emergence of bovine tuberculosis in wildlife species since 2000 in France. There can also be an unexpected increase of disease incidence in a known area and a known species, or there may simply be an increase in our knowledge or awareness of a particular disease. What all these emerging diseases have in common is that human activity frequently has a role to play in their emergence. For example, bovine spongiform encephalopathy very probably emerged as a result of changes in the manufacturing of meat-and-bone meal, bluetongue was able to spread to cooler climes as a result of uncontrolled trade in animals, and a relaxation of screening and surveillance for bovine tuberculosis enabled the disease to re-emerge in areas that had been able to drastically reduce the number of cases. Globalisation and population growth will continue to affect the epidemiology of diseases in years to come and ecosystems will continue to evolve. Furthermore, new technologies such as metagenomics and high-throughput sequencing are identifying new microorganisms all the time. Change is the one constant, and diseases will continue to emerge, and we must consider the causes and different types of emergence as we deal with these diseases in the future.

Impact of viral infections on urea and creatinine levels in patients ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a world-wide public health problem with substantial morbidity and mortality. Chronic viral infection is associated with a higher risk of death in patients with CKD undergoing haemodialysis. Objective: To evaluate the impact of viral infections on urea and creatinine ...

Emerging therapies for Parkinson's disease: from bench to bedside.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarazi, F I; Sahli, Z T; Wolny, M; Mousa, S A

2014-11-01

The prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) increases with age and is projected to increase in parallel to the rising average age of the population. The disease can have significant health-related, social, and financial implications not only for the patient and the caregiver, but for the health care system as well. While the neuropathology of this neurodegenerative disorder is fairly well understood, its etiology remains a mystery, making it difficult to target therapy. The currently available drugs for treatment provide only symptomatic relief and do not control or prevent disease progression, and as a result patient compliance and satisfaction are low. Several emerging pharmacotherapies for PD are in different stages of clinical development. These therapies include adenosine A2A receptor antagonists, glutamate receptor antagonists, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, anti-apoptotic agents, and antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10, N-acetyl cysteine, and edaravone. Other emerging non-pharmacotherapies include viral vector gene therapy, microRNAs, transglutaminases, RTP801, stem cells and glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). In addition, surgical procedures including deep brain stimulation, pallidotomy, thalamotomy and gamma knife surgery have emerged as alternative interventions for advanced PD patients who have completely utilized standard treatments and still suffer from persistent motor fluctuations. While several of these therapies hold much promise in delaying the onset of the disease and slowing its progression, more pharmacotherapies and surgical interventions need to be investigated in different stages of PD. It is hoped that these emerging therapies and surgical procedures will strengthen our clinical armamentarium for improved treatment of PD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary Mechanisms Involved in Emergence of Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Virus (VHSV) into Cultured Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schönherz, Anna A.

virulence, causing extensive losses to the aquacultre industry. Cross-species transmission and subsequent adaptation to cultured raibow trout is observed occasionally. However, the biological background facilitationg VHSV emergense has yet to be identified. In the present PhD project potential mechanisms...... facilitation VHSV emergence into cultured raibow trout were explored. In vivo infection trials and in selico based molecular analysis were performed to independently investigate the first two steps of viral emergence, namely initial introduction to- and subsequent adaptation and establishment within the new...... of genetic variation, and that VHSV emergence into cultured rainbow torut was accompanied by rapid adaptive evolution within the viral glucoprotein...

Four emerging arboviral diseases in North America: Jamestown Canyon, Powassan, chikungunya, and Zika virus diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Pastula, Daniel M; Smith, Daniel E; Beckham, J David; Tyler, Kenneth L

2016-06-01

Arthropod-borne viruses, or arboviruses, are viruses that are transmitted through the bites of mosquitoes, ticks, or sandflies. There are numerous arboviruses throughout the world capable of causing human disease spanning different viral families and genera. Recently, Jamestown Canyon, Powassan, chikungunya, and Zika viruses have emerged as increasingly important arboviruses that can cause human disease in North America. Unfortunately, there are currently no proven disease-modifying therapies for these arboviral diseases, so treatment is largely supportive. Given there are also no commercially available vaccines for these four arboviral infections, prevention is the key. To prevent mosquito or tick bites that might result in one of these arboviral diseases, people should wear long-sleeved shirts and pants while outside if feasible, apply insect repellant when going outdoors, using window screens or air conditioning to keep mosquitoes outside, and perform tick checks after being in wooded or brushy outdoor areas.

Single-Domain Antibodies As Therapeutics against Human Viral Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanling Wu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In full-size formats, monoclonal antibodies have been highly successful as therapeutics against cancer and immune diseases. However, their large size leads to inaccessibility of some epitopes and relatively high production costs. As an alternative, single-domain antibodies (sdAbs offer special advantages compared to full-size antibodies, including smaller size, larger number of accessible epitopes, relatively low production costs and improved robustness. Currently, sdAbs are being developed against a number of viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1, influenza viruses, hepatitis C virus (HCV, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, and enteric viruses. Although sdAbs are very potent inhibitors of viral infections, no sdAbs have been approved for clinical use against virial infection or any other diseases. In this review, we discuss the current state of research on sdAbs against viruses and their potential as therapeutics against human viral diseases.

One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress?

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Cunningham, Andrew A; Daszak, Peter; Wood, James L N

2017-07-19

Infectious diseases affect people, domestic animals and wildlife alike, with many pathogens being able to infect multiple species. Fifty years ago, following the wide-scale manufacture and use of antibiotics and vaccines, it seemed that the battle against infections was being won for the human population. Since then, however, and in addition to increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens, there has been an increase in the emergence of, mostly viral, zoonotic diseases from wildlife, sometimes causing fatal outbreaks of epidemic proportions. Concurrently, infectious disease has been identified as an increasing threat to wildlife conservation. A synthesis published in 2000 showed common anthropogenic drivers of disease threats to biodiversity and human health, including encroachment and destruction of wildlife habitat and the human-assisted spread of pathogens. Almost two decades later, the situation has not changed and, despite improved knowledge of the underlying causes, little has been done at the policy level to address these threats. For the sake of public health and wellbeing, human-kind needs to work better to conserve nature and preserve the ecosystem services, including disease regulation, that biodiversity provides while also understanding and mitigating activities which lead to disease emergence. We consider that holistic, One Health approaches to the management and mitigation of the risks of emerging infectious diseases have the greatest chance of success.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

Possible Relevance of Receptor-Receptor Interactions between Viral- and Host-Coded Receptors for Viral-Induced Disease

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Luigi F. Agnati

2007-01-01

Full Text Available It has been demonstrated that some viruses, such as the cytomegalovirus, code for G-protein coupled receptors not only to elude the immune system, but also to redirect cellular signaling in the receptor networks of the host cells. In view of the existence of receptor-receptor interactions, the hypothesis is introduced that these viral-coded receptors not only operate as constitutively active monomers, but also can affect other receptor function by interacting with receptors of the host cell. Furthermore, it is suggested that viruses could also insert not single receptors (monomers, but clusters of receptors (receptor mosaics, altering the cell metabolism in a profound way. The prevention of viral receptor-induced changes in host receptor networks may give rise to novel antiviral drugs that counteract viral-induced disease.

Epstein-Barr viral load before a liver transplant in children with chronic liver disease.

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Shakibazad, Nader; Honar, Naser; Dehghani, Seyed Mohsen; Alborzi, Abdolvahab

2014-12-01

Many children with chronic liver disease require a liver transplant. These patients are prone to various infections, including Epstein-Barr virus infection. This study sought to measure the Epstein-Barr viral load by polymerase chain reaction before a liver transplant. This cross-sectional study was done at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, in 2011. All patients were aged younger than 18 years with chronic liver disease and were candidates for a liver transplant at the Shiraz Nemazee Hospital Organ Transplant Center. They had been investigated regarding their demographic characteristics, underlying disease, laboratory findings, and Epstein-Barr viral load by real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction. Ninety-eight patients were studied and the mean age was 6.5 ± 5.9 years. Cryptogenic cirrhosis was the most-prevalent reason for liver transplant, and the death rate before a transplant was 15%. Among the study subjects, 6 had measurable Epstein-Barr viral load by polymerase chain reaction before the transplant, and 4 of them had considerably higher Epstein-Barr viral loads (more than 1000 copies/mL). With respect to the close prevalence of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (6%) and the high Epstein-Barr viral load in the patients before a transplant (4%), high pretransplant Epstein-Barr viral load can be considered a risk factor for posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

Acute viral hemorrhage disease: A summary on new viruses

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Somsri Wiwanitkit

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Acute hemorrhagic disease is an important problem in medicine that can be seen in many countries, especially those in tropical world. There are many causes of acute hemorrhagic disease and the viral infection seems to be the common cause. The well-known infection is dengue, however, there are many new identified viruses that can cause acute hemorrhagic diseases. In this specific short review, the authors present and discuss on those new virus diseases that present as “acute hemorrhagic fever”.

Ebola Viral Hemorrhagic Disease Outbreak in West Africa- Lessons ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... to contain the Ebola epidemic. Key words: Ebola, viral hemorrhagic fever, West Africa, lessons, Uganda .... the corresponding surveillance systems for detecting priority diseases. ... A major outbreak of Yellow Fe- ver was reported in five ...

Emergence of a Novel Avian Pox Disease in British Tit Species

OpenAIRE

Lawson, Becki; Lachish, Shelly; Colvile, Katie M.; Durrant, Chris; Peck, Kirsi M.; Toms, Mike P.; Sheldon, Ben C.; Cunningham, Andrew A.

2012-01-01

Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Br...

Pest control through viral disease: mathematical modeling and analysis.

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Bhattacharyya, S; Bhattacharya, D K

2006-01-07

This paper deals with the mathematical modeling of pest management under viral infection (i.e. using viral pesticide) and analysis of its essential mathematical features. As the viral infection induces host lysis which releases more virus into the environment, on the average 'kappa' viruses per host, kappain(1,infinity), the 'virus replication parameter' is chosen as the main parameter on which the dynamics of the infection depends. We prove that there exists a threshold value kappa(0) beyond which the endemic equilibrium bifurcates from the free disease one. Still for increasing kappa values, the endemic equilibrium bifurcates towards a periodic solution. We further analyse the orbital stability of the periodic orbits arising from bifurcation by applying Poor's condition. A concluding discussion with numerical simulation of the model is then presented.

Viral-specific T-cell transfer from HSCT donor for the treatment of viral infections or diseases after HSCT.

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Qian, C; Wang, Y; Reppel, L; D'aveni, M; Campidelli, A; Decot, V; Bensoussan, D

2018-02-01

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative option for treatment of some malignant and non-malignant hematological diseases. However, post-HSCT patients are severely immunocompromised and susceptible to viral infections, which are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Although antiviral agents are now available for most types of viral infections, they are not devoid of side effects and their efficacy is limited when there is no concomitant antiviral immune reconstitution. In recent decades, adoptive transfer of viral-specific T cells (VSTs) became an alternative treatment for viral infection after HSCT. However, two major issues are concerned in VST transfer: the risk of GVHD and antiviral efficacy. We report an exhaustive review of the published studies that focus on prophylactic and/or curative therapy by donor VST transfer for post-HSCT common viral infections. A low incidence of GVHD and a good antiviral efficacy was observed after adoptive transfer of VSTs from HSCT donor. Viral-specific T-cell transfer is a promising approach for a broad clinical application. Nevertheless, a randomized controlled study in a large cohort of patients comparing antiviral treatment alone to antiviral treatment combined with VSTs is still needed to demonstrate efficacy and safety.

Applying phylogenetic analysis to viral livestock diseases: moving beyond molecular typing.

Science.gov (United States)

Olvera, Alex; Busquets, Núria; Cortey, Marti; de Deus, Nilsa; Ganges, Llilianne; Núñez, José Ignacio; Peralta, Bibiana; Toskano, Jennifer; Dolz, Roser

2010-05-01

Changes in livestock production systems in recent years have altered the presentation of many diseases resulting in the need for more sophisticated control measures. At the same time, new molecular assays have been developed to support the diagnosis of animal viral disease. Nucleotide sequences generated by these diagnostic techniques can be used in phylogenetic analysis to infer phenotypes by sequence homology and to perform molecular epidemiology studies. In this review, some key elements of phylogenetic analysis are highlighted, such as the selection of the appropriate neutral phylogenetic marker, the proper phylogenetic method and different techniques to test the reliability of the resulting tree. Examples are given of current and future applications of phylogenetic reconstructions in viral livestock diseases. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chikungunya fever. Rheumatic manifestations of an emerging disease in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Horcada, M Loreto; Díaz-Calderón, Carlos; Garrido, Laura

2015-01-01

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease caused by an alphavirus belonging to the Togaviridae family, transmitted by several species of Aedes mosquitoes: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (A. albopictus). It is endemic in Africa and Asia with recurrent outbreaks. It is an emerging disease and cases in Europe transmitted by A. albopictus have been established in Mediterranean areas. The first autochthonous cases detected on the Caribbean islands suppose a serious threat of spreading disease to America, which so far has been disease free. Clinical symptoms begin abruptly with fever, skin rash and polyarthritis. Although mortality is low, a high percentage of patients develop a chronic phase defined by persistent arthritis for months or even years. A severe immune response is responsible for joint inflammation. The absence of specific treatment and lack of vaccine requires detailed studies about its immunopathogenesis in order to determine the most appropriate target. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease Applications: Innovation towards Broad-Spectrum Treatment of Viral Infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackman, Joshua A; Lee, Jaywon; Cho, Nam-Joon

2016-03-02

Nanomedicine enables unique diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities to tackle problems in clinical medicine. As multifunctional agents with programmable properties, nanomedicines are poised to revolutionize treatment strategies. This promise is especially evident for infectious disease applications, for which the continual emergence, re-emergence, and evolution of pathogens has proven difficult to counter by conventional approaches. Herein, a conceptual framework is presented that envisions possible routes for the development of nanomedicines as superior broad-spectrum antiviral agents against enveloped viruses. With lipid membranes playing a critical role in the life cycle of medically important enveloped viruses including HIV, influenza, and Ebola, cellular and viral membrane interfaces are ideal elements to incorporate into broad-spectrum antiviral strategies. Examples are presented that demonstrate how nanomedicine strategies inspired by lipid membranes enable a wide range of targeting opportunities to gain control of critical stages in the virus life cycle through either direct or indirect approaches involving membrane interfaces. The capabilities can be realized by enabling new inhibitory functions or improving the function of existing drugs through nanotechnology-enabled solutions. With these exciting opportunities, due attention is also given to the clinical translation of nanomedicines for infectious disease applications, especially as pharmaceutical drug-discovery pipelines demand new routes of innovation. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Chikungunya: an emerging viral infection with varied clinical presentations in Bangladesh: Reports of seven cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahim, Muhammad Abdur; Uddin, Khwaja Nazim

2017-08-15

Chikungunya is an emerging and rapidly spreading viral infection in many parts of the world including Bangladesh. It shares many epidemiological and clinical characteristics with dengue. So, a sound knowledge is required for its detection and differentiation from dengue, specially in endemic regions. We present seven confirmed cases of chikungunya having different clinical presentations occurring among middle aged males and females from different socio-economic background in Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. All patients had fever and aches and pains. Less common features were rash, diarrhea, vomiting and altered liver biochemistry. Dengue was excluded in six patients. Paracetamol remained the mainstay of treatment during febrile periods, but over 50% of the patients had prolonged joint symptoms requiring non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In spite of being a self-limiting disease, chikungunya may have different presentations and a protracted clinical course. During the febrile episode, exclusion of dengue is equally important. Physicians should be aware of the condition and public health initiatives are necessary to break the disease transmission.

Vaginal microbiota and viral sexually transmitted diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Nardis, C; Mosca, L; Mastromarino, P

2013-01-01

Healthy vaginal microbiota is an important biological barrier to pathogenic microorganisms. When this predominantly Lactobacillus community is disrupted, decreased in abundance and replaced by different anaerobes, bacterial vaginosis (BV) may occur. BV is associated with prevalence and incidence of several sexually transmitted infections. This review provides background on BV, discusses the epidemiologic data to support a role of altered vaginal microbiota for acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases and analyzes mechanisms by which lactobacilli could counteract sexually transmitted viral infections.

Emergence of a novel avian pox disease in British tit species.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Becki; Lachish, Shelly; Colvile, Katie M; Durrant, Chris; Peck, Kirsi M; Toms, Mike P; Sheldon, Ben C; Cunningham, Andrew A

2012-01-01

Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006-2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.

Emergence of a novel avian pox disease in British tit species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Becki Lawson

Full Text Available Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006-2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents. The majority (90% of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3% than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%. Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.

Viral hepatitis as an occupational disease in Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilski, Bartosz

2011-07-01

In medical terms, occupational diseases are defined as health disorders specifically associated with the working environment of people and their occupational activity. From the medical and legal perspectives, the vast majority of European countries consider particular diseases to be of occupational origin if they are mentioned in the current list of occupational diseases and caused by exposure to factors in the working environment that are harmful to health. The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of cases of viral hepatitis certified as an occupational disease in Poland during 1979-2009. This article presents the medical, economic, and legal aspects of the epidemiology of hepatitis as an occupational disease in Poland. Publically available statistical data on certified occupational diseases in Poland and data contained in individual "occupational disease diagnosis cards" (based on data used in Poland statistical form), regarding certified cases of hepatitis among health care professionals, which were collected by the Department of Occupational Hygiene of the Polish Public Health Service, were analyzed in this study. In Poland, the highest number of cases of hepatitis certified as an occupational disease was observed in 1987. A gradual reduction in the number of cases of hepatitis as an occupational disease has been noted since then. Currently, hepatitis C as an occupational disease is certified more frequently than hepatitis B. In Poland, the number of women with hepatitis certified as an occupational disease is higher than that of men. However, among health care professionals, particularly nurses, this difference is insignificant because women outnumber the men. The existence of such a situation is due to the significant quantitative predominance of women over men among medical personnel, especially among nurses. Immunization of health care professionals against the hepatitis B virus (HBV), introduced in Poland in 1988, was an important factor

Emergency surgery for Crohn's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Smida, Malek; Miloudi, Nizar; Hefaiedh, Rania; Zaibi, Rabaa

2016-03-01

Surgery has played an essential role in the treatment of Crohn's disease. Emergency can reveal previously unknown complications whose treatment affects prognosis. Indicate the incidence of indications in emergent surgery for Crohn's disease. Specify the types of procedures performed in these cases and assess the Results of emergency surgery for Crohn's disease postoperatively,  in short , medium and long term. Retrospective analysis of collected data of 38 patients, who underwent surgical resection for Crohn's disease during a period of 19 years from 1992 to 2011 at the department of surgery in MONGI SLIM Hospital, and among them 17 patients underwent emergency surgery for Crohn's disease. In addition to socio-demographic characteristics and clinical presentations of our study population, we evaluated the indications, the type of intervention, duration of evolution preoperative and postoperative complications and overall prognosis of the disease. Of the 38 patients with Crohn's disease requiring surgical intervention, 17/38 patients underwent emergency surgery. Crohn's disease was inaugurated by the complications requiring emergency surgery in 11 patients. The mean duration of symptoms prior to surgery was 1.5 year. The most common indication for emergency surgery was acute intestinal obstruction (n=6) followed by perforation and peritonitis (n=5). A misdiagnosis of appendicitis was found in 4 patients and a complicated severe acute colitis for undiagnosed Crohn's disease was found in 2 cases. The open conventional surgery was performed for 15 patients. Ileocolic resection was the most used intervention. There was one perioperative mortality and 5 postoperative morbidities. The mean of postoperative hospital stay was 14 days (range 4-60 days). Six patients required a second operation during the follow-up period. The incidence of emergency surgery for Crohn's disease in our experience was high (17/38 patients), and is not as rare as the published estimates

[Emerging viral infections and hepatotropic virus].

Science.gov (United States)

Arsuaga, Marta; de la Calle-Prieto, Fernando; Negredo Antón, Ana; Vázquez González, Ana

2016-10-01

Environmental degradation, population movements and urban agglomerations have broken down the borders for infectious diseases. The expansion of microorganisms has entered an increasing area of transmission vectors. The lack of immunity of the population leads to an increased risk of spreading infectious diseases. Furthermore, the decline in vaccination rates in developed countries and socio-economic difficulties in large regions has meant that diseases in the process of eradication have re-emerged. That is why health care workers must be trained to avoid delaying in diagnosis and to accelerate the implementation of public health measures. A great deal of education and health prevention should fall under the responsibilities of travellers who move around different regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Role of pentraxin 3 in shaping arthritogenic alphaviral disease: from enhanced viral replication to immunomodulation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suan-Sin Foo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The rising prevalence of arthritogenic alphavirus infections, including chikungunya virus (CHIKV and Ross River virus (RRV, and the lack of antiviral treatments highlight the potential threat of a global alphavirus pandemic. The immune responses underlying alphavirus virulence remain enigmatic. We found that pentraxin 3 (PTX3 was highly expressed in CHIKV and RRV patients during acute disease. Overt expression of PTX3 in CHIKV patients was associated with increased viral load and disease severity. PTX3-deficient (PTX3(-/- mice acutely infected with RRV exhibited delayed disease progression and rapid recovery through diminished inflammatory responses and viral replication. Furthermore, binding of the N-terminal domain of PTX3 to RRV facilitated viral entry and replication. Thus, our study demonstrates the pivotal role of PTX3 in shaping alphavirus-triggered immunity and disease and provides new insights into alphavirus pathogenesis.

Viral pathogen discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Charles Y

2015-01-01

Viral pathogen discovery is of critical importance to clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, and public health. Genomic approaches for pathogen discovery, including consensus polymerase chain reaction (PCR), microarrays, and unbiased next-generation sequencing (NGS), have the capacity to comprehensively identify novel microbes present in clinical samples. Although numerous challenges remain to be addressed, including the bioinformatics analysis and interpretation of large datasets, these technologies have been successful in rapidly identifying emerging outbreak threats, screening vaccines and other biological products for microbial contamination, and discovering novel viruses associated with both acute and chronic illnesses. Downstream studies such as genome assembly, epidemiologic screening, and a culture system or animal model of infection are necessary to establish an association of a candidate pathogen with disease. PMID:23725672

Zoonotic Viral Deseases and Virus Discovery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sandra Cathrine Abel

Viruses are the most abundant organisms on earth and are ubiquitous in all environments where life is present. They are capable of infecting all cellular forms of life, sometimes causing disease in the infected host. This thesis is broadly divided into two main sections with three projects...... program of wildlife, and with the purpose of preventing the next disease emerging from these animals. Numerous viruses were detected of which many were novel variants, thus reaffirming the notion that attention should be focused at these animals. Near-complete viral genome sequencing was performed...

Non-communicable diseases in emergencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demaio, Alessandro; Jamieson, Jennifer; Horn, Rebecca

2013-01-01

emergencies; • Raised awareness through greater advocacy for the issue and challenges of noncommunicable diseases during and following emergencies; • Incorporation of noncommunicable diseases into existing emergency-related policies, standards, and resources; • Development of technical guidelines...

Viral Heart Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes - Often or Rare Coexistence?

Science.gov (United States)

Pawlak, Agnieszka; Wiligorska, Natalia; Wiligorska, Diana; Frontczak-Baniewicz, Malgorzata; Przybylski, Maciej; Krzyzewski, Rafal; Ziemba, Andrzej; Gil, Robert J

2018-01-01

Clinical presentation of viral myocarditis can mimic acute coronary syndrome and making diagnosis of viral heart disease (VHD) may be challenging. The presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) does not always exclude VHD and these entities can coexist. However, the incidence of co-occurrence of CAD and VHD is not precisely known. Moreover, inflammatory process caused by viruses may result in atherosclerotic plaque destabilization. The goal of this work is to summarize the current knowledge about co-occurrence of VHD and CAD. This article presents the importance of inflammatory process in both diseases and helps to understand pathophysiological mechanisms underlying their coexistence. It provides information about making differential diagnosis between these entities, including clinical presentation, noninvasive imaging features and findings in endomyocardial biopsy. Although currently there are no standard therapy strategies in coexistence of VHD and CAD, we present some remarkable aspects of treatment of patients, in whom VHD co-occurs with CAD. Viral heart disease may occur both in patients without and with atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries. Destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries can be facilitated by inflammatory process. Increased inflammatory infiltrates in the coronary lesions of patients with VHD can lead to plaques' instability and consequently trigger acute coronary syndrome. In this article we attempted to present that co-occurrence of VHD and CAD may have therapeutic implications and as specific antiviral treatment is currently available, proper diagnosis and treatment can improve patient's condition and prognosis. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

DMPD: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells: sensing nucleic acids in viral infection andautoimmune diseases. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 18641647 Plasmacytoid dendritic cells: sensing nucleic acids in viral infection andautoimmune dise... (.csml) Show Plasmacytoid dendritic cells: sensing nucleic acids in viral infection andautoimmune diseases....iral infection andautoimmune diseases. Authors Gilliet M, Cao W, Liu YJ. Publication Nat Rev Immunol. 2008 A

Vaccines for viral and parasitic diseases produced with baculovirus vectors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oers, van M.M.

2006-01-01

The baculovirus¿insect cell expression system is an approved system for the production of viral antigens with vaccine potential for humans and animals and has been used for production of subunit vaccines against parasitic diseases as well. Many candidate subunit vaccines have been expressed in this

Bile acids for viral hepatitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Weikeng; Liu, J; Gluud, C

2003-01-01

The viral hepatitides are common causes of liver diseases globally. Trials have assessed bile acids for patients with viral hepatitis, but no consensus was reached regarding their usefulness.......The viral hepatitides are common causes of liver diseases globally. Trials have assessed bile acids for patients with viral hepatitis, but no consensus was reached regarding their usefulness....

Enfermedades emergentes no infecciosas Emerging noninfectious diseases

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Ezequiel Consiglio

2008-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, emerging diseases were defined as being infectious, acquiring high incidence, often suddenly, or being a threat or an unexpected phenomenon. This study discusses the hallmarks of emerging diseases, describing the existence of noninfectious emerging diseases, and elaborating on the advantages of defining noninfectious diseases as emerging ones. From the discussion of various mental health disorders, nutritional deficiencies, external injuries and violence outcomes, work injuries and occupational health, and diseases due to environmental factors, the conclusion is drawn that a wide variety of noninfectious diseases can be defined as emergent. Noninfectious emerging diseases need to be identified in order to improve their control and management. A new definition of "emergent disease" is proposed, one that emphasizes the pathways of emergence and conceptual traits, rather than descriptive features.

Measles, One of the Re-emerging Diseases

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Zeynep Türe

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of the study is to stand out the measles which is a highly contagious re-emerging viral illness and may cause severe complications in susceptible population. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on patients who were diagnosed with measles in the department of Infectious Diseases, Erciyes University Hospital, between January 2013 and February 2014. The diagnosis of measles was confirmed by measles specific immunoglobulin M (IgM antibody positivity in serum samples. Results: Nine patients were included the study. Three patients had a co-morbid condition including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, pregnancy and diabetes mellitus. Four of the patients had hepatitis and one of them had pneumonia as a complication. Conclusion: Susceptible population, especially immunocompromised people are still at risk about measles. Adherence to universal vaccination programs is determinative in terms of breaking out of an outbreak. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2016;6(1: 19-22

Viral pneumonia in adults in sub-Saharan Africa – epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis and management

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Antonia Ho

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Community-acquired pneumonia causes substantial morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa with an estimated 131 million new cases each year. Viruses – such as influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus – are now recognised as important causes of respiratory disease in older children and adults in the developed world following the emergence of sensitive molecular diagnostic tests, recent severe viral epidemics, and the discovery of novel viruses. Few studies have comprehensively evaluated the viral aetiology of adult pneumonia in Africa, but it is likely to differ from Western settings due to varying seasonality and the high proportion of patients with immunosuppression and co-morbidities. Emerging data suggest a high prevalence of viral pathogens, as well as multiple viral and viral/bacterial infections in African adults with pneumonia. However, the interpretation of positive results from highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction tests can be challenging. Therapeutic and preventative options against viral respiratory infections are currently limited in the African setting. This review summarises the current state of the epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis and management of viral pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa.

Altered oral viral ecology in association with periodontal disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Ly, Melissa; Abeles, Shira R; Boehm, Tobias K; Robles-Sikisaka, Refugio; Naidu, Mayuri; Santiago-Rodriguez, Tasha; Pride, David T

2014-05-20

The human oral cavity is home to a large and diverse community of viruses that have yet to be characterized in patients with periodontal disease. We recruited and sampled saliva and oral biofilm from a cohort of humans either periodontally healthy or with mild or significant periodontal disease to discern whether there are differences in viral communities that reflect their oral health status. We found communities of viruses inhabiting saliva and the subgingival and supragingival biofilms of each subject that were composed largely of bacteriophage. While there were homologous viruses common to different subjects and biogeographic sites, for most of the subjects, virome compositions were significantly associated with the oral sites from which they were derived. The largest distinctions between virome compositions were found when comparing the subgingival and supragingival biofilms to those of planktonic saliva. Differences in virome composition were significantly associated with oral health status for both subgingival and supragingival biofilm viruses but not for salivary viruses. Among the differences identified in virome compositions was a significant expansion of myoviruses in subgingival biofilm, suggesting that periodontal disease favors lytic phage. We also characterized the bacterial communities in each subject at each biogeographic site by using the V3 hypervariable segment of the 16S rRNA and did not identify distinctions between oral health and disease similar to those found in viral communities. The significantly altered ecology of viruses of oral biofilm in subjects with periodontal disease compared to that of relatively periodontally healthy ones suggests that viruses may serve as useful indicators of oral health status. Little is known about the role or the constituents of viruses as members of the human microbiome. We investigated the composition of human oral viral communities in a group of relatively periodontally healthy subjects or significant

Multi-resistance strategy for viral diseases and short hairpin RNA verification method in pigs

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Jong-nam Oh

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Objective Foot and mouth disease (FMD and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS are major diseases that interrupt porcine production. Because they are viral diseases, vaccinations are of only limited effectiveness in preventing outbreaks. To establish an alternative multi-resistant strategy against FMD virus (FMDV and PRRS virus (PRRSV, the present study introduced two genetic modification techniques to porcine cells. Methods First, cluster of differentiation 163 (CD163, the PRRSV viral receptor, was edited with the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated protein 9 technique. The CD163 gene sequences of edited cells and control cells differed. Second, short hairpin RNA (shRNAs were integrated into the cells. The shRNAs, targeting the 3D gene of FMDV and the open reading frame 7 (ORF7 gene of PRRSV, were transferred into fibroblasts. We also developed an in vitro shRNA verification method with a target gene expression vector. Results shRNA activity was confirmed in vitro with vectors that expressed the 3D and ORF7 genes in the cells. Cells containing shRNAs showed lower transcript levels than cells with only the expression vectors. The shRNAs were integrated into CD163-edited cells to combine the two techniques, and the viral genes were suppressed in these cells. Conclusion We established a multi-resistant strategy against viral diseases and an in vitro shRNA verification method.

The Vietnam Initiative on Zoonotic Infections (VIZIONS): A Strategic Approach to Studying Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabaa, Maia A; Tue, Ngo Tri; Phuc, Tran My; Carrique-Mas, Juan; Saylors, Karen; Cotten, Matthew; Bryant, Juliet E; Nghia, Ho Dang Trung; Cuong, Nguyen Van; Pham, Hong Anh; Berto, Alessandra; Phat, Voong Vinh; Dung, Tran Thi Ngoc; Bao, Long Hoang; Hoa, Ngo Thi; Wertheim, Heiman; Nadjm, Behzad; Monagin, Corina; van Doorn, H Rogier; Rahman, Motiur; Tra, My Phan Vu; Campbell, James I; Boni, Maciej F; Tam, Pham Thi Thanh; van der Hoek, Lia; Simmonds, Peter; Rambaut, Andrew; Toan, Tran Khanh; Van Vinh Chau, Nguyen; Hien, Tran Tinh; Wolfe, Nathan; Farrar, Jeremy J; Thwaites, Guy; Kellam, Paul; Woolhouse, Mark E J; Baker, Stephen

2015-12-01

the surveillance of pathogens circulating in both human and animal populations and assess how frequently they are exchanged. This infrastructure will facilitate systematic investigations of pathogen ecology and evolution, enhance understanding of viral cross-species transmission events, and identify relevant risk factors and drivers of zoonotic disease emergence.

Recycling Endosomes and Viral Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Vale-Costa, Sílvia; Amorim, Maria João

2016-03-08

Many viruses exploit specific arms of the endomembrane system. The unique composition of each arm prompts the development of remarkably specific interactions between viruses and sub-organelles. This review focuses on the viral-host interactions occurring on the endocytic recycling compartment (ERC), and mediated by its regulatory Ras-related in brain (Rab) GTPase Rab11. This protein regulates trafficking from the ERC and the trans-Golgi network to the plasma membrane. Such transport comprises intricate networks of proteins/lipids operating sequentially from the membrane of origin up to the cell surface. Rab11 is also emerging as a critical factor in an increasing number of infections by major animal viruses, including pathogens that provoke human disease. Understanding the interplay between the ERC and viruses is a milestone in human health. Rab11 has been associated with several steps of the viral lifecycles by unclear processes that use sophisticated diversified host machinery. For this reason, we first explore the state-of-the-art on processes regulating membrane composition and trafficking. Subsequently, this review outlines viral interactions with the ERC, highlighting current knowledge on viral-host binding partners. Finally, using examples from the few mechanistic studies available we emphasize how ERC functions are adjusted during infection to remodel cytoskeleton dynamics, innate immunity and membrane composition.

MicroRNA-Related Polymorphisms in Infectious Diseases—Tiny Changes With a Huge Impact on Viral Infections and Potential Clinical Applications

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Joel Henrique Ellwanger

2018-06-01

Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs are single-stranded sequences of non-coding RNA with approximately 22 nucleotides that act posttranscriptionally on gene expression. miRNAs are important gene regulators in physiological contexts, but they also impact the pathogenesis of various diseases. The role of miRNAs in viral infections has been explored by different authors in both population-based as well as in functional studies. However, the effect of miRNA polymorphisms on the susceptibility to viral infections and on the clinical course of these diseases is still an emerging topic. Thus, this review will compile and organize the findings described in studies that evaluated the effects of genetic variations on miRNA genes and on their binding sites, in the context of human viral diseases. In addition to discussing the basic aspects of miRNAs biology, we will cover the studies that investigated miRNA polymorphisms in infections caused by hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, Epstein–Barr virus, and human papillomavirus. Finally, emerging topics concerning the importance of miRNA genetic variants will be presented, focusing on the context of viral infectious diseases.

Alcohol Consumption and Viral Hepatitis in Chronic Liver Disease in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Precise assessment of the risks and interactions of alcohol consumption and viral hepatitis in the aetiology of chronic liver disease [CLD] are not locally available. Methodology: 74 patients with CLD and 74 controls were evaluated for Hepatitis B and C infection [anti-HCV, HBsAg]. The type and amount of ...

Ecosystem simplification, biodiversity loss and plant virus emergence.

Science.gov (United States)

Roossinck, Marilyn J; García-Arenal, Fernando

2015-02-01

Plant viruses can emerge into crops from wild plant hosts, or conversely from domestic (crop) plants into wild hosts. Changes in ecosystems, including loss of biodiversity and increases in managed croplands, can impact the emergence of plant virus disease. Although data are limited, in general the loss of biodiversity is thought to contribute to disease emergence. More in-depth studies have been done for human viruses, but studies with plant viruses suggest similar patterns, and indicate that simplification of ecosystems through increased human management may increase the emergence of viral diseases in crops. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Viral hepatitis A - possible diagnostic and therapeutic problems].

Science.gov (United States)

Husa, Petr; Husa, Petr

Viral hepatitis A (VHA) is the disease which has an ancient history. Reports of epidemic jaundice were described by Hippocrates in Greece during the 5th century B.C. Incidence of VHA in developed countries is dropping in last decades. What was once common disease is now very rare, usually emerging in local epidemies. With decreasing incidence of hepatitis A clinicians losing practical experiences with disease. Authors present possible diagnostic and therapeutic problems based on their experience with large epidemic of hepatitis A, which occurred in 2016-2017 in Brno area.Key words: hepatitis A (VHA) - hepatitis A virus (HAV).

Methods of treating Parkinson's disease using viral vectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bankiewicz, Krystof; Cunningham, Janet

2016-11-15

Methods of delivering viral vectors, particularly recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) virions, to the central nervous system (CNS) using convection enhanced delivery (CED) are provided. The rAAV virions include a nucleic acid sequence encoding a therapeutic polypeptide. The methods can be used for treating CNS disorders such as for treating Parkinson's Disease.

Emerging vector-borne diseases in dromedaries in Tunisia: West Nile, bluetongue, epizootic haemorrhagic disease and Rift Valley fever

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Thameur B. Hassine

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A total of 118 sera were collected during 2016 from two groups of dromedaries from Kebili and Medenine governorates in the south of Tunisia. The aim of this study was to provide the first serological investigation of four emerging vector-borne diseases in two groups of dromedaries in Tunisia. Sera were tested by ELISA and serum neutralisation test to identify West Nile virus (WNV, bluetongue virus (BTV, epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV. In the first group, the seroprevalence for BTV was 4.6%, while in the second group, it was 25.8% for WNV and 9.7% for BTV. Only serotype 1 was detected for BTV in the two groups. No evidence for circulation of RVF and EHD viruses was revealed. Results indicated that dromedaries can be infected with BTV and WNV, suggesting that this species might play a significant role in the epizootiology of these viral diseases in Tunisia and neighbouring countries.

Emerging vector-borne diseases in dromedaries in Tunisia: West Nile, bluetongue, epizootic haemorrhagic disease and Rift Valley fever.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassine, Thameur B; Amdouni, Jihane; Monaco, Federica; Savini, Giovanni; Sghaier, Soufien; Selimen, Imed B; Chandoul, Walid; Hamida, Khaled B; Hammami, Salah

2017-03-31

A total of 118 sera were collected during 2016 from two groups of dromedaries from Kebili and Medenine governorates in the south of Tunisia. The aim of this study was to provide the first serological investigation of four emerging vector-borne diseases in two groups of dromedaries in Tunisia. Sera were tested by ELISA and serum neutralisation test to identify West Nile virus (WNV), bluetongue virus (BTV), epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). In the first group, the seroprevalence for BTV was 4.6%, while in the second group, it was 25.8% for WNV and 9.7% for BTV. Only serotype 1 was detected for BTV in the two groups. No evidence for circulation of RVF and EHD viruses was revealed. Results indicated that dromedaries can be infected with BTV and WNV, suggesting that this species might play a significant role in the epizootiology of these viral diseases in Tunisia and neighbouring countries.

Geography, ecology and emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, J D

2000-04-01

Emerging infectious diseases are the focus of increased attention and even alarm in the scholarly and popular literature. The emergence of new diseases and the resurgence of older and previously recognized infectious diseases both in developing and developed country poses challenges for understanding the ecological web of causation, including social, economic, environmental and biological components. This paper is a synthesis of the major characteristics of emerging diseases, in an interdisciplinary context. Political ecology is one framework for analysis that is promising in developing a modified ecology of disease.

Canine distemper virus: an emerging disease in wild endangered Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica).

Science.gov (United States)

Seimon, Tracie A; Miquelle, Dale G; Chang, Tylis Y; Newton, Alisa L; Korotkova, Irina; Ivanchuk, Galina; Lyubchenko, Elena; Tupikov, Andre; Slabe, Evgeny; McAloose, Denise

2013-08-13

Fewer than 500 Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) remain in the wild. Due to low numbers and their solitary and reclusive nature, tiger sightings across their range in the Russian Far East and China are rare; sightings of sick tigers are rarer still. Serious neurologic disease observed in several wild tigers since 2001 suggested disease emergence in this endangered species. To investigate this possibility, histology, immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH), and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) were performed on tissues from 5 affected tigers that died or were destroyed in 2001, 2004, or 2010. Our results reveal canine distemper virus (CDV) infection as the cause of neurologic disease in two tigers and definitively establish infection in a third. Nonsuppurative encephalitis with demyelination, eosinophilic nuclear viral inclusions, and positive immunolabeling for CDV by IHC and ISH were present in the two tigers with available brain tissue. CDV phosphoprotein (P) and hemagglutinin (H) gene products were obtained from brains of these two tigers by RT-PCR, and a short fragment of CDV P gene sequence was detected in lymph node tissue of a third tiger. Phylogenetically, Amur tiger CDV groups with an Arctic-like strain in Baikal seals (Phoca siberica). Our results, which include mapping the location of positive tigers and recognition of a cluster of cases in 2010, coupled with a lack of reported CDV antibodies in Amur tigers prior to 2000 suggest wide geographic distribution of CDV across the tiger range and recent emergence of CDV as a significant infectious disease threat to endangered Amur tigers in the Russian Far East. Recognition of disease emergence in wildlife is a rare occurrence. Here, for the first time, we identify and characterize a canine distemper virus (CDV), the second most common cause of infectious disease death in domestic dogs and a viral disease of global importance in common and endangered carnivores, as the etiology of

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DECOMPENSATION PATTERN IN ALCOHOLIC AND VIRAL LIVER DISEASE AND ANALYSIS OF DECOMPENSATION OF MORTALITY

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Susrutha C. Suresh

2017-11-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Cirrhosis is defined as the histological development of regenerative nodules surrounded by fibrous bands in response to chronic liver injury, which leads to portal hypertension and end-stage liver disease. The aim of the study is to compare various decompensation patterns in alcohol-related and hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus-related chronic liver disease and to analyse the mortality after decompensation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in a tertiary referral hospital between June 2014 - April 2016. It is a prospective observational study of the 385 patients who were diagnosed as suffering from chronic liver disease and managed for various decompensations both on an outpatient and as well on an inpatient basis. RESULTS During the study period, a total of 385 patients were diagnosed with chronic liver disease. Among the patients with the diagnosis of CLD, 152 (77.2% were diagnosed of alcoholic aetiology and 45 (22.8% of viral aetiology liver disease. The most common forms of decompensation in alcoholic chronic liver disease were found to be ascites (71.7%, jaundice (56.6% and oesophageal varices (32.2%. The most common forms of decompensations in viral-related chronic liver disease were jaundice (42.2%, ascites (35.6% and oesophageal varices (28.9%. Patients with viral-related CLD were diagnosed with higher incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma of (24.4% compared to only 5.3% of patients of alcoholic liver disease. Ascites was found to be the most common form of decompensation associated with mortality (76%. Jaundice (56%, hepatorenal syndrome (44% and hepatic encephalopathy (24% were the other common decompensations associated with mortality. CONCLUSION In this study, ascites was found to be most common form of decompensation patterns in alcoholic liver disease and jaundice in viral-related CLD. The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma was found to be higher in viral aetiology CLD. Ascites was found to be the most

Avances recientes en HIV/SIDA: Patogénesis, historia natural y carga viral

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Rafael E Campo

1996-10-01

Full Text Available Results of recent investigations have given us a new understanding of the pathogenesis of HIV infection. This findings provide us with a kinetic model of pathogenesis in which continuous, high-grade viral replication. This findings provide us with a kinetic model of pathogenesis in which continuous, high-grade viral replication is the principal force driving the destruction of CD4 lymphocytes. This knowledge will lead us to design better treatment strategies directed to curtail viral replication and prevent the emergence of viral resistance, and the use of combination antiretroviral therapy is a first example of these new strategies. The concept of viral load is introduced, and we discuss the usefulness of viral load in the clinical prognosis of this disease, and its use as an aid in the decision-making process when starling or mordifyng antiretroviral therapy in our patients. (Rev Med Hered 1996; 7: 182-188.

Graft-versus-host disease and sialodacryoadenitis viral infection in bone marrow transplanted rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossie, K.M.; Sheridan, J.F.; Barthold, S.W.; Tutschka, P.J.

1988-01-01

The effect of a localized viral infection on the occurrence of graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) was examined in allogeneic rat bone marrow chimeras (ACI/LEW). Animals without clinical evidence of GVHD, 62 days after bone marrow transplant, were infected in salivary and lacrimal glands with sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV), and sacrificed 8-25 days postinfection. Using established histologic criteria, GVHD was found more frequently in salivary and lacrimal glands of SDAV-infected chimeras than uninfected chimeras. Skin and oral mucosa, tissues not infected by the virus, showed no differences in occurrence of GVHD, suggesting that the viral infection induced only local and not systemic GVHD. GVHD and SDAV infection, which are histologically similar, were differentiated by examining tissues for SDAV antigen using immunoperoxidase technique. Histologic changes were present for at least 1 week longer than viral antigen, suggesting they represented GVHD rather than viral infection. GVHD and SDAV infection were also differentiated by looking for a histologic feature characteristic of GVHD and not found in SDAV infection (periductal lymphocytic infiltrate). This was found in SDAV-infected chimeras more frequently than uninfected chimeras, suggesting that the viral infection somehow induced GVHD. Results showed a localized increase in the occurrence of GVHD subsequent to localized viral infection

Rapid Detection and Characterization of Emerging Foreign Animal Disease Pathogens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaing, C. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-11-18

To best safeguard human and animal health requires early detection and characterization of disease events. This must include effective surveillance for emerging infectious diseases. Both deliberate and natural outbreaks have enormous economic and public health impacts, and can present serious threats to national security. In this project, we developed novel next generation detection technologies to protect the agricultural economy and biosecurity. The first technology is a multiplexed assay to simultaneously detection 10 swine viral and bacterial pathogens. The second one is the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA) which can detect more than 10,000 microbial species including 4219 viruses, 5367 bacteria, 265 fungi, 117 protozoa and 293 archaea. We analyzed a series of swine clinical samples from past disease events to demonstrate the utility of the assays for faster and cheaper detection of emerging and foreign animal disease pathogens, and their utility as s routine diagnosis and surveillance tool. A second goal of the study is to better understand mechanisms of African swine fever virus (ASFV) infection in pigs to aid the development of countermeasures and diagnostics. There is no vaccine available for ASF. ASF outbreak is on the rise on several European countries. Though ASF is not currently in the U.S., a potential outbreak in the U.S. would be detrimental to the swine industry and the US agricultural economy. We pursued a genome-wide approach to characterize the pig immune responses after ASFV infection. We used RNA sequencing and bioinformatics methods to identify genes and pathways that are affected during ASF infection. We have identified a list of most differentially expressed genes that are in the immune response pathways.

Emerging diseases in Chiroptera: why bats?

Science.gov (United States)

Wibbelt, Gudrun; Moore, Marianne S.; Schountz, Tony; Voigt, Christian C.

2010-01-01

A conference entitled ‘2nd International Berlin Bat Meeting: Bat Biology and Infectious Diseases’ was held between the 19 and 21 of February 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Researchers from two major disciplines, bat biologists and disease specialists, met for the first time in an interdisciplinary event to share their knowledge about bat-associated diseases. The focus of the meeting was to understand why in particular bats are the hosts of so many of the most virulent diseases globally. During several sessions, key note speakers and participants discussed infectious diseases associated with bats, including viral diseases caused by Henipa-, Filo-, Corona- and Lyssaviruses, the spread of white-nose syndrome in North American bats, bat immunology/immunogenetics, bat parasites, and finally, conservation and human health issues. PMID:20427329

Selected emerging infectious diseases of squamata.

Science.gov (United States)

Latney, La'toya V; Wellehan, James

2013-05-01

It is important that reptile clinicians have an appreciation for the epidemiology, clinical signs, pathology, diagnostic options, and prognostic parameters for novel and emerging infectious diseases in squamates. This article provides an update on emerging squamate diseases reported in the primary literature within the past decade. Updates on adenovirus, iridovirus, rhabdovirus, arenavirus, and paramyxovirus epidemiology, divergence, and host fidelity are presented. A new emerging bacterial disease of Uromastyx species, Devriesea agamarum, is reviewed. Chrysosporium ophiodiicola-associated mortality in North American snakes is discussed. Cryptosporidium and pentastomid infections in squamates are highlighted among emerging parasitic infections. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Phytotherapy of Acute Respiratory Viral Diseases

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I.B. Ershova

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Nowadays phytotherapy is increasingly being implemented into medical practice, especially for the prevention and treatment of many diseases. Acute respiratory viral infections are most common in childhood and in adults. Acute rhinitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, nasopharyngitis and acute laryngitis refer to diseases of the upper respiratory tract. The main reason for respiratory diseases in recurrent respiratory infection child is disorders of mucociliary and immune protection. The therapeutic value of medicinal plants is determined by their biologically active substances. The method of application of phytotherpy is an integral part of traditional medicine. Herbal medicine can be used at home and does not require special equipment. The main indications for the herbal medicine use in pediatrics are the initial stage of the disease as a primary method of treatment due to mild and low toxicity; as a supporting treatment for enhancing the protective forces of the child’s body during the disease deterioration. During the recovery period herbal medicine again occupies a leading position, especially in case of chronic diseases because it can be used for a long time and is well combined with synthetic drugs. The terms of appointment of herbs for children: prescription of medicinal plants for children must be individual according to indications, taking into account the child’s age; it is recommended to take into account the form and nature of the course of the main disease and comorbidities as well; at the initial stage of the treatment it is better to use some medicinal plants or species consisting of 2–3 plants and in the future a more complex composition; therapy with medicinal plants requires a long period to be used use, especially in chronic diseases; in the treatment of chronic diseases a good effect preventive courses of herbal medicine was revealed, which are appointed during seasonal exacerbations; in case of intolerance

Promising approaches for the treatment and prevention of viral respiratory illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G; Megremis, Spyridon; Kitsioulis, Nikolaos A; Vangelatou, Olympia; West, Peter; Xepapadaki, Paraskevi

2017-10-01

Viral respiratory tract infections are the most common human ailments, leading to enormous health and economic burden. Hundreds of viral species and subtypes have been associated with these conditions, with influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, and rhinoviruses being the most frequent and with the highest burden. When considering prevention or treatment of viral respiratory tract infections, potential targets include the causative pathogens themselves but also the immune response, disease transmission, or even just the symptoms. Strategies targeting all these aspects are developing concurrently, and several novel and promising approaches are emerging. In this perspective we overview the entire range of options and highlight some of the most promising approaches, including new antiviral agents, symptomatic or immunomodulatory drugs, the re-emergence of natural remedies, and vaccines and public health policies toward prevention. Wide-scale prevention through immunization appears to be within reach for respiratory syncytial virus and promising for influenza virus, whereas additional effort is needed in regard to rhinovirus, as well as other respiratory tract viruses. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia

Science.gov (United States)

Batts, William N.; Winton, James R.

2012-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) is one of the most important viral diseases of finfish worldwide. In the past, VHS was thought to affect mainly rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss reared at freshwater facilities in Western Europe where it was known by various names including Egtved disease and infectious kidney swelling and liver degeneration (Wolf 1988). Today, VHS is known as an important source of mortality for cultured and wild fish in freshwater and marine environments in several regions of the northern hemisphere (Dixon 1999; Gagné et al. 2007; Kim and Faisal 2011; Lumsden et al. 2007; Marty et al. 1998, 2003; Meyers and Winton 1995; Skall et al. 2005b; Smail 1999; Takano et al. 2001). Viral hemorrhagic septicemia is caused by the fish rhabdovirus, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), a member of the genus Novirhabdovirus of the family Rhabdoviridae

Are We Prepared in Case of a Possible Smallpox-Like Disease Emergence?

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Victoria A.; Shchelkunov, Sergei N.

2017-01-01

Smallpox was the first human disease to be eradicated, through a concerted vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organization. Since its eradication, routine vaccination against smallpox has ceased, leaving the world population susceptible to disease caused by orthopoxviruses. In recent decades, reports of human disease from zoonotic orthopoxviruses have increased. Furthermore, multiple reports of newly identified poxviruses capable of causing human disease have occurred. These facts raise concerns regarding both the opportunity for these zoonotic orthopoxviruses to evolve and become a more severe public health issue, as well as the risk of Variola virus (the causative agent of smallpox) to be utilized as a bioterrorist weapon. The eradication of smallpox occurred prior to the development of the majority of modern virological and molecular biological techniques. Therefore, there is a considerable amount that is not understood regarding how this solely human pathogen interacts with its host. This paper briefly recounts the history and current status of diagnostic tools, vaccines, and anti-viral therapeutics for treatment of smallpox disease. The authors discuss the importance of further research to prepare the global community should a smallpox-like virus emerge.

[Emerging infectious diseases: complex, unpredictable processes].

Science.gov (United States)

Guégan, Jean-François

2016-01-01

In the light of a double approach, at first empirical, later theoretical and comparative, illustrated by the example of the Buruli ulcer and its mycobacterial agent Mycobacterium ulcerans on which I focused my research activity these last ten years by studying determinants and factors of emerging infectious or parasitic diseases, the complexity of events explaining emerging diseases will be presented. The cascade of events occurring at various levels of spatiotemporal scales and organization of life, which lead to the numerous observed emergences, nowadays requires better taking into account the interactions between host(s), pathogen(s) and the environment by including the behavior of both individuals and the population. In numerous research studies on emerging infectious diseases, microbial hazard is described rather than infectious disease risk, the latter resulting from the confrontation between an association of threatening phenomena, or hazards, and a susceptible population. Beyond, the theme of emerging infectious diseases and its links with global environmental and societal changes leads to reconsider some well-established knowledge in infectiology and parasitology. © Société de Biologie, 2017.

Epstein-Barr virus: general factors, virus-related diseases and measurement of viral load after transplant

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Luciana Cristina Fagundes Gequelin

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The Epstein-Barr virus is responsible for infectious mononucleosis syndrome and is also closely associated to several types of cancer. The main complication involving Epstein-Barr virus infection, both in recipients of hematopoietic stem cells and solid organs, is post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease. The importance of this disease has increased interest in the development of laboratory tools to improve post-transplant monitoring and to detect the disease before clinical evolution. Viral load analysis for Epstein-Barr virus through real-time polymerase chain reaction is, at present, the best tool to measure viral load. However, there is not a consensus on which sample type is the best for the test and what is its predictive value for therapeutic interventions.

Modeling Viral Infectious Diseases and Development of Antiviral Therapies Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Systems.

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Trevisan, Marta; Sinigaglia, Alessandro; Desole, Giovanna; Berto, Alessandro; Pacenti, Monia; Palù, Giorgio; Barzon, Luisa

2015-07-13

The recent biotechnology breakthrough of cell reprogramming and generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which has revolutionized the approaches to study the mechanisms of human diseases and to test new drugs, can be exploited to generate patient-specific models for the investigation of host-pathogen interactions and to develop new antimicrobial and antiviral therapies. Applications of iPSC technology to the study of viral infections in humans have included in vitro modeling of viral infections of neural, liver, and cardiac cells; modeling of human genetic susceptibility to severe viral infectious diseases, such as encephalitis and severe influenza; genetic engineering and genome editing of patient-specific iPSC-derived cells to confer antiviral resistance.

Modeling Viral Infectious Diseases and Development of Antiviral Therapies Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Trevisan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The recent biotechnology breakthrough of cell reprogramming and generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs, which has revolutionized the approaches to study the mechanisms of human diseases and to test new drugs, can be exploited to generate patient-specific models for the investigation of host–pathogen interactions and to develop new antimicrobial and antiviral therapies. Applications of iPSC technology to the study of viral infections in humans have included in vitro modeling of viral infections of neural, liver, and cardiac cells; modeling of human genetic susceptibility to severe viral infectious diseases, such as encephalitis and severe influenza; genetic engineering and genome editing of patient-specific iPSC-derived cells to confer antiviral resistance.

[Control, elimination and eradication of viral immuno preventable diseases in Venezuela].

Science.gov (United States)

Valero, Nereida; Maldonado, Mery

2005-09-01

Vaccination has demonstrated the capacity for the drastic decrease of the prevalence and incidence of several diseases of viral etiology and it has allowed their eradication. Among these human immuno preventable diseases are included poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, hepatitis A and B, influenza A and yellow fever. In residents, travelers to endemic areas and personal at risk, the vaccines to Japanese and equine encephalitis, rabies and adenovirus can be applied. Venezuela has not escaped from the positive impact in the epidemiology of these illnesses as a consequence of the organization and implementation of big national vaccination campaigns; however, and in spite of these efforts, important outbreaks of measles, yellow fever, chicken pox and hepatitis have occurred in the last few years. The tools to eliminate the majority of these viral diseases exist in Venezuela as well as in other countries, and are readily available, effective and relatively not expensive, but require on the whole of an effort of authorities and communities. The implementation of these strategies should have the support of the World Health Organization and the Panamerican Health Organization. This is a priority for the next few years if our aim is the eradication of these illnesses from Venezuela, the continent and the world.

Cryptic etiopathological conditions of equine nervous system with special emphasis on viral diseases

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Rakesh Kumar

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The importance of horse (Equus caballus to equine practitioners and researchers cannot be ignored. An unevenly distributed population of equids harbors numerous diseases, which can affect horses of any age and breed. Among these, the affections of nervous system are potent reason for death and euthanasia in equids. Many episodes associated with the emergence of equine encephalitic conditions have also pose a threat to human population as well, which signifies their pathogenic zoonotic potential. Intensification of most of the arboviruses is associated with sophisticated interaction between vectors and hosts, which supports their transmission. The alphaviruses, bunyaviruses, and flaviviruses are the major implicated groups of viruses involved with equines/humans epizootic/epidemic. In recent years, many outbreaks of deadly zoonotic diseases such as Nipah virus, Hendra virus, and Japanese encephalitis in many parts of the globe addresses their alarming significance. The equine encephalitic viruses differ in their global distribution, transmission and main vector species involved, as discussed in this article. The current review summarizes the status, pathogenesis, pathology, and impact of equine neuro-invasive conditions of viral origin. A greater understanding of these aspects might be able to provide development of advances in neuro-protective strategies in equine population.

Emerging Capripoxvirus disease outbreaks in Himachal Pradesh, a northern state of India.

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Verma, S; Verma, L K; Gupta, V K; Katoch, V C; Dogra, V; Pal, B; Sharma, M

2011-02-01

Both sheep and goat pox are contagious viral diseases and affect small ruminants and are caused by sheep pox virus and goat pox virus respectively that belong to genus Capripoxvirus of Poxviridae family. Huge economic losses emanating from the disease outbreaks are the results of the wool and hide damage, subsequent production losses and also the morbidities and mortalities associated with the disease. This communication highlights clinico-epidemiological observations from the two sheep pox and one goat pox outbreaks. Grossly, multisystemic nodular lesions, mucopurulent nasal discharges and respiratory symptoms were observed in the affected animals. The morbidity, mortality and case fatality rates were 5.18%, 2.45% and 32.37%, respectively. Histopathological, haematological, molecular and serological techniques and also isolation of virus in embryonated chicken eggs were used for the diagnosis of the diseases. The spatial distribution of the disease signifies the role of common pasturelands used for grazing the animals while temporally all three outbreaks occurred in winters and were probably associated with cold stress and fodder scarcity. This is the first recorded report of Capripoxvirus infection in recent times and it highlights the disease as one of the emerging diseases in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh in India. © 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Major viral diseases affecting fish aquaculture in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, S I; Rodríguez, S

1997-06-01

The number of viruses isolated from fish has grown in the last few years as a reflection of the increasing interest in fish diseases, particularly those occurring in aquaculture facilities. Of all the described viruses, only a few are considered to be of serious concern and economic importance; they are described in this review, drawing special attention to the four families of viruses (Birnaviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Iridoviridae and Reoviridae) that have been reported in Spanish aquaculture. Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus, a member of the first family, is the most spread virus with a prevalence of 39%. Viral diseases are untreatable and because effective and safe vaccines for fish are not yet commercially available, a great care needs to be exercised when moving fish or eggs from one site or country to another. Some fish health control regulations have been legislated in Europe and USA.

Animal viral diseases and global change: bluetongue and West Nile fever as paradigms.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez-Clavero, Miguel Á

2012-01-01

Environmental changes have an undoubted influence on the appearance, distribution, and evolution of infectious diseases, and notably on those transmitted by vectors. Global change refers to environmental changes arising from human activities affecting the fundamental mechanisms operating in the biosphere. This paper discusses the changes observed in recent times with regard to some important arboviral (arthropod-borne viral) diseases of animals, and the role global change could have played in these variations. Two of the most important arboviral diseases of animals, bluetongue (BT) and West Nile fever/encephalitis (WNF), have been selected as models. In both cases, in the last 15 years an important leap forward has been observed, which has lead to considering them emerging diseases in different parts of the world. BT, affecting domestic ruminants, has recently afflicted livestock in Europe in an unprecedented epizootic, causing enormous economic losses. WNF affects wildlife (birds), domestic animals (equines), and humans, thus, beyond the economic consequences of its occurrence, as a zoonotic disease, it poses an important public health threat. West Nile virus (WNV) has expanded in the last 12 years worldwide, and particularly in the Americas, where it first occurred in 1999, extending throughout the Americas relentlessly since then, causing a severe epidemic of disastrous consequences for public health, wildlife, and livestock. In Europe, WNV is known long time ago, but it is since the last years of the twentieth century that its incidence has risen substantially. Circumstances such as global warming, changes in land use and water management, increase in travel, trade of animals, and others, can have an important influence in the observed changes in both diseases. The following question is raised: What is the contribution of global changes to the current increase of these diseases in the world?

Animal viral diseases and global change: Bluetongue and West Nile fever as paradigms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Angel eJimenez-Clavero

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Environmental changes have an undoubted influence on the appearance, distribution and evolution of infectious diseases, and notably on those transmitted by vectors. Global change refers to environmental changes arising from human activities affecting the fundamental mechanisms operating in the biosphere. This paper discusses the changes observed in recent times with regard to some important arboviral (arthropod-borne viral diseases of animals, and the role global change could have played in these variations. Two of the most important arboviral diseases of animals, bluetongue and West Nile fever/encephalitis, have been selected as models. In both cases, in the last 15 years an important leap forward has been observed, which has lead to considering them emerging diseases in different parts of the world. Bluetongue, affecting domestic ruminants, has recently afflicted livestock in Europe in an unprecedented epizootic, causing enormous economic losses. West Nile fever/encephalitis affects wildlife (birds, domestic animals (equines and humans, thus, beyond the economic consequences of its occurrence, as a zoonotic disease, it poses an important public health threat. West Nile virus has expanded in the last 12 years worldwide, and particularly in the Americas, where it first occurred in 1999, extending throughout the Americas relentlessly since then, causing a severe epidemic of disastrous consequences for public health, wildlife and livestock. In Europe, West Nile virus is known long time ago, but it is since the last years of the XXth century that its incidence has risen substantially. Circumstances such as global warming, changes in land use and water management, increase in travel, trade of animals, and others, can have an important influence in the observed changes in both diseases. The following question is raised: What is the contribution of global changes to the current increase of these diseases in the world?

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatic cirrhosis: Comparison with viral hepatitis-associated steatosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Haga, Yuki; Kanda, Tatsuo; Sasaki, Reina; Nakamura, Masato; Nakamoto, Shingo; Yokosuka, Osamu

2015-12-14

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is globally increasing and has become a world-wide health problem. Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with hepatic steatosis. Viral hepatitis-associated hepatic steatosis is often caused by metabolic syndrome including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or dyslipidemia. It has been reported that HCV genotype 3 exerts direct metabolic effects that lead to hepatic steatosis. In this review, the differences between NAFLD/NASH and viral hepatitis-associated steatosis are discussed.

Threats from emerging and re-emerging neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Tim K; Liang, Bryan A

2012-01-01

Neglected tropical diseases impact over 1 billion of the world's poorest populations and require special attention. However, within the NTDs recognized by the World Health Organization, some are also dually categorized as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases requiring more detailed examination on potential global health risks. We reviewed the 17 NTDs classified by the WHO to determine if those NTDs were also categorized by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (''EReNTDs''). We then identified common characteristics and risks associated with EReNTDs. Identified EReNTDs of dengue, rabies, Chagas Disease, and cysticercosis disproportionately impact resource-poor settings with poor social determinants of health, spread through globalization, are impacted by vector control, lack available treatments, and threaten global health security. This traditionally neglected subset of diseases requires urgent attention and unique incentive structures to encourage investment in innovation and coordination. Multi-sectorial efforts and targeted public-private partnerships would spur needed R&D for effective and accessible EReNTD treatments, improvement of social determinants of health, crucial low-income country development, and health system strengthening efforts. Utilization of One Health principles is essential for enhancing knowledge to efficaciously address public health aspects of these EReNTDs globally.

Emerging Infectious Disease Journal Cover Art

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2012-04-04

Polyxeni Potter discusses the art used on the covers of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.  Created: 4/4/2012 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 4/5/2012.

Hepatitis A through E (Viral Hepatitis)

Science.gov (United States)

... Treatment Eating, Diet, & Nutrition Clinical Trials Wilson Disease Hepatitis (Viral) View or Print All Sections What is Viral Hepatitis? Viral hepatitis is an infection that causes liver inflammation ...

[Prevalence and risk factors of respiratory viral infection in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Du, X B; Ma, X; Gao, Y; Wen, L F; Li, J; Wang, Z Z; Liu, S

2017-04-12

Objective: To study the prevalence of respiratory viral infection in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) exacerbations and to find the factors associated with susceptibility to viral infections. Methods: Eighty patients with exacerbations of COPD and 50 stable COPD patients were recruited. Nasopharyngeal swabs were tested for a range of 18 different respiratory viruses using PCR. Results: Among the COPD exacerbations, viral infection was detected in 18 episodes (22.5%) . The most common virus was rhinovirus (33.3%), followed by coronavirus(27.8%), parainfluenza(22.2%), metapneumovirus(11.1%) and influenza virus B(5.6%). The prevalence of viral infection was 8% in the stable COPD patients. In multivariate regression analysis fever was found to be significantly associated with viral infections in COPD exacerbations (Odds ratio 4.99, 95% CI 1.51-16.48, P =0.008). Conclusion: Viral respiratory pathogens were more often detected in respiratory specimens from hospitalized patients with AECOPD than those with stable COPD. Rhinovirus was the most common infecting agent identified. The symptom of fever was associated with viral detection.

World Health Organization Estimates of the Global and Regional Disease Burden of 22 Foodborne Bacterial, Protozoal, and Viral Diseases, 2010 : A Data Synthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kirk, Martyn D; Pires, Sara M; Black, Robert E; Caipo, Marisa; Crump, John A; Devleesschauwer, Brecht; Döpfer, Dörte; Fazil, Aamir; Fischer-Walker, Christa L; Hald, Tine; Hall, Aron J; Keddy, Karen H; Lake, Robin J; Lanata, Claudio F; Torgerson, Paul R; Havelaar, Arie H|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/072306122; Angulo, Frederick J

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Foodborne diseases are important worldwide, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality. To our knowledge, we present the first global and regional estimates of the disease burden of the most important foodborne bacterial, protozoal, and viral diseases. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We

Kinetics of viral shedding provide insights into the epidemiology of viral hemorrhagic septicemia in Pacific herring

Science.gov (United States)

Hershberger, Paul K.; Gregg, Jacob L.; Winton, James R.; Grady, Courtney; Collins, Rachael

2010-01-01

Losses from infectious diseases are an important component of natural mortality among marine fish species, but factors controlling the ecology of these diseases and their potential responses to anthropogenic changes are poorly understood. We used viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) and a laboratory stock of Pacific herring Clupea pallasii to investigate the kinetics of viral shedding and its effect on disease transmission and host mortality. Outbreaks of acute disease, accompanied by mortality and viral shedding, were initiated after waterborne exposure of herring to concentrations of VHSV as low as 101 plaque-forming units (pfu) ml–1. Shed virus in flow-through tanks was first detected 4 to 5 d post-exposure, peaked after 6 to 10 d, and was no longer detected after 16 d. Shedding rates, calculated from density, flow and waterborne virus titer reached 1.8 to 5.0 × 108 pfu fish–1 d–1. Onset of viral shedding was dose-dependent and preceded initial mortality by 2 d. At 21 d, cumulative mortality in treatment groups ranged from 81 to 100% and was dependent not on challenge dose, but on the kinetics and level of viral shedding by infected fish in the tank. Possible consequences of the viral shedding and disease kinetics are discussed in the context of epizootic initiation and perpetuation among populations of wild Pacific herring.

Threats from emerging and re-emerging neglected tropical diseases (NTDs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim K. Mackey

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Neglected tropical diseases impact over 1 billion of the world's poorest populations and require special attention. However, within the NTDs recognized by the World Health Organization, some are also dually categorized as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases requiring more detailed examination on potential global health risks. Methods: We reviewed the 17 NTDs classified by the WHO to determine if those NTDs were also categorized by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (‘‘EReNTDs’’. We then identified common characteristics and risks associated with EReNTDs. Results: Identified EReNTDs of dengue, rabies, Chagas Disease, and cysticercosis disproportionately impact resource-poor settings with poor social determinants of health, spread through globalization, are impacted by vector control, lack available treatments, and threaten global health security. This traditionally neglected subset of diseases requires urgent attention and unique incentive structures to encourage investment in innovation and coordination. Discussion: Multi-sectorial efforts and targeted public–private partnerships would spur needed R&D for effective and accessible EReNTD treatments, improvement of social determinants of health, crucial low-income country development, and health system strengthening efforts. Utilization of One Health principles is essential for enhancing knowledge to efficaciously address public health aspects of these EReNTDs globally.

World Health Organization Estimates of the Global and Regional Disease Burden of 22 Foodborne Bacterial, Protozoal, and Viral Diseases, 2010: A Data Synthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirk, Martyn D.; Pires, Sara Monteiro; Black, Robert E.

2015-01-01

Foodborne diseases are important worldwide, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality. To our knowledge, we present the first global and regional estimates of the disease burden of the most important foodborne bacterial, protozoal, and viral diseases. We synthesized data on the number of ...

Host Phylogeny Determines Viral Persistence and Replication in Novel Hosts

Science.gov (United States)

Longdon, Ben; Hadfield, Jarrod D.; Webster, Claire L.

2011-01-01

Pathogens switching to new hosts can result in the emergence of new infectious diseases, and determining which species are likely to be sources of such host shifts is essential to understanding disease threats to both humans and wildlife. However, the factors that determine whether a pathogen can infect a novel host are poorly understood. We have examined the ability of three host-specific RNA-viruses (Drosophila sigma viruses from the family Rhabdoviridae) to persist and replicate in 51 different species of Drosophilidae. Using a novel analytical approach we found that the host phylogeny could explain most of the variation in viral replication and persistence between different host species. This effect is partly driven by viruses reaching a higher titre in those novel hosts most closely related to the original host. However, there is also a strong effect of host phylogeny that is independent of the distance from the original host, with viral titres being similar in groups of related hosts. Most of this effect could be explained by variation in general susceptibility to all three sigma viruses, as there is a strong phylogenetic correlation in the titres of the three viruses. These results suggest that the source of new emerging diseases may often be predictable from the host phylogeny, but that the effect may be more complex than simply causing most host shifts to occur between closely related hosts. PMID:21966271

Non-Communicable Diseases in Emergencies: A Call to Action

Science.gov (United States)

Demaio, Alessandro; Jamieson, Jennifer; Horn, Rebecca; de Courten, Maximilian; Tellier, Siri

2013-01-01

Recent years have demonstrated the devastating health consequences of complex emergencies and natural disasters and thereby highlighted the importance of comprehensive and collaborative approaches to humanitarian responses and risk reduction. Simultaneously, noncommunicable diseases are now recognised as a real and growing threat to population health and development; a threat that is magnified by and during emergencies. Noncommunicable diseases, however, continue to receive little attention from humanitarian organisations in the acute phase of disaster and emergency response. This paper calls on all sectors to recognise and address the specific health challenges posed by noncommunicable diseases in emergencies and disaster situations. This publication aims to highlight the need for: • Increased research on morbidity and mortality patterns due to noncommunicable diseases during and following emergencies; • Raised awareness through greater advocacy for the issue and challenges of noncommunicable diseases during and following emergencies; • Incorporation of noncommunicable diseases into existing emergency-related policies, standards, and resources; • Development of technical guidelines on the clinical management of noncommunicable diseases in emergencies; • Greater integration and coordination in health service provision during and following emergencies; • Integrating noncommunicable diseases into practical and academic training of emergency workers and emergency-response coordinators. PMID:24056956

Emergency department treatment of viral gastritis using intravenous ondansetron or dexamethasone in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Stork, Christine M; Brown, Kathleen M; Reilly, Tracey H; Secreti, LaLaina; Brown, Lawrence H

2006-10-01

To compare the efficacy of intravenous ondansetron or dexamethasone compared with intravenous fluid therapy alone in children presenting to the emergency department with refractory vomiting from viral gastritis who had failed attempts at oral hydration. This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was performed in a tertiary care pediatric emergency department. Children aged 6 months to 12 years presenting with more than three episodes of vomiting in the past 24 hours, mild/moderate dehydration, and failed oral hydration were included. Patients with other medical causes were excluded. Subjects were randomized to dexamethasone 1 mg/kg (15 mg maximum), ondansetron 0.15 mg/kg, or placebo (normal saline [NS], 10 mL). All subjects also received intravenous NS at 10-20 mL/kg/hr. Oral fluid tolerance was evaluated at two and four hours. Those not tolerating oral fluids at four hours were admitted. Discharged patients were evaluated at 24 and 72 hours for vomiting and repeat health care visits. The primary study outcome was hospitalization rates between the groups. Data were analyzed using chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mantel-Haenszel test, and analysis of variance, with p hydration than NS-treated patients (29 [67.4%]; relative risk, 1.28; 95% confidence interval = 1.02 to 1.68). There were no differences in number of mean episodes of vomiting or repeat visits to health care at 24 and 72 hours in the ondansetron, dexamethasone, or NS groups. In children with dehydration secondary to vomiting from acute viral gastritis, ondansetron with intravenous rehydration improves tolerance of oral fluids after two hours and reduces the hospital admission rate when compared with intravenous rehydration with or without dexamethasone.

The re-emergency and persistence of vaccine preventable diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RODRIGO C.N. BORBA

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The introduction of vaccination worldwide dramatically reduced the incidence of pathogenic bacterial and viral diseases. Despite the highly successful vaccination strategies, the number of cases among vaccine preventable diseases has increased in the last decade and several of those diseases are still endemic in different countries. Here we discuss some epidemiological aspects and possible arguments that may explain why ancient diseases such as, measles, polio, pertussis, diphtheria and tuberculosis are still with us.

Infectious Bursal Disease Virus-Host Interactions: Multifunctional Viral Proteins that Perform Multiple and Differing Jobs

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Yao Qin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Infectious bursal disease (IBD is an acute, highly contagious and immunosuppressive poultry disease caused by IBD virus (IBDV. The consequent immunosuppression increases susceptibility to other infectious diseases and the risk of subsequent vaccination failure as well. Since the genome of IBDV is relatively small, it has a limited number of proteins inhibiting the cellular antiviral responses and acting as destroyers to the host defense system. Thus, these virulence factors must be multifunctional in order to complete the viral replication cycle in a host cell. Insights into the roles of these viral proteins along with their multiple cellular targets in different pathways will give rise to a rational design for safer and effective vaccines. Here we summarize the recent findings that focus on the virus–cell interactions during IBDV infection at the protein level.

Human Papillomavirus 16, 18, 31 and 45 viral load, integration and methylation status stratified by cervical disease stage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marongiu, Luigi; Godi, Anna; Parry, John V; Beddows, Simon

2014-01-01

Persistent infection with oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with the development of cervical cancer with each genotype differing in their relative contribution to the prevalence of cervical disease. HPV DNA testing offers improved sensitivity over cytology testing alone but is accompanied by a generally low specificity. Potential molecular markers of cervical disease include type-specific viral load (VL), integration of HPV DNA into the host genome and methylation of the HPV genome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between HPV type-specific viral load, integration and methylation status and cervical disease stage in samples harboring HPV16, HPV18, HPV31 or HPV45. Samples singly infected with HPV16 (n = 226), HPV18 (n = 32), HPV31 (n = 75) or HPV45 (n = 29) were selected from a cohort of 4,719 women attending cervical screening in England. Viral load and integration status were determined by real-time PCR while 3’L1-URR methylation status was determined by pyrosequencing or sequencing of multiple clones derived from each sample. Viral load could differentiate between normal and abnormal cytology with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 80% (odds ratio [OR] 12.4, 95% CI 6.2–26.1; p < 0.001) with some variation between genotypes. Viral integration was poorly associated with cervical disease. Few samples had fully integrated genomes and these could be found throughout the course of disease. Overall, integration status could distinguish between normal and abnormal cytology with a sensitivity of 72% and a specificity of 50% (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.0–6.8; p = 0.054). Methylation levels were able to differentiate normal and low grade cytology from high grade cytology with a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 82% (OR 8.2, 95% CI 3.8–18.0; p < 0.001). However, methylation varied widely between genotypes with HPV18 and HPV45 exhibiting a broader degree and higher magnitude of methylated CpG sites than HPV16 and HPV31. This

Hatchery Vaccination Against Poultry Viral Diseases: Potential Mechanisms and Limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul-Cader, Mohamed Sarjoon; Palomino-Tapia, Victor; Amarasinghe, Aruna; Ahmed-Hassan, Hanaa; De Silva Senapathi, Upasama; Abdul-Careem, Mohamed Faizal

Commercial broiler and layer chickens are heavily vaccinated against economically important viral diseases with a view of preventing morbidity, mortality, and production impacts encountered during short production cycles. Hatchery vaccination is performed through in ovo embryo vaccination prehatch or spray and subcutaneous vaccinations performed at the day of hatch before the day-old chickens are being placed in barns with potentially contaminated environments. Commercially, multiple vaccines (e.g., live, live attenuated, and viral vectored vaccines) are available to administer through these routes within a short period (embryo day 18 prehatch to day 1 posthatch). Although the ability to mount immune response, especially the adaptive immune response, is not optimal around the hatch, it is possible that the efficacy of these vaccines depends partly on innate host responses elicited in response to replicating vaccine viruses. This review focuses on the current knowledge of hatchery vaccination in poultry and potential mechanisms of hatchery vaccine-mediated protective responses and limitations.

Burden of emerging/re emerging diseases in India

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Burden of emerging/re emerging diseases in India. 1-2 million deaths for 1994 epidemic of plague. 20,565 deaths in 2004 due to rabies. 400 million chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus. More than 18 million carriers of hepatitis C virus. 'Mutant' measles virus infection in ...

Mechanism of action and application of virocids in health care-associated viral infections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babak Shahbaz

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Viruses are important causes of acute and chronic diseases in humans. Newer viruses are still being discovered. Apart from frequently causing infections in the general community, many types of viruses are significant nosocomial pathogens that with emerging viruses has become a real issue in medical field. There are specific treatments, vaccine and physical barrier to fight some of these infections. Health care-associated viral infections are an important source of patient’s morbidity and mortality. The method of sterilization or disinfection depends on the intended use of the medical devices (comprising critical, semicritical and noncritical items and failure to perform proper sterilization or disinfection of these items may leads to introduction of viruses, resulting in infection. Disinfection is an essential way in reducing or disruption of transmission of viruses by environmental surfaces, instruments and hands which achieves by chemical disinfectants and antiseptics, respectively. This review discusses about chemical agents with virocids properties (e.g. alcohols, chlorine compounds, formaldehyde, phenolic compounds, glutaraldehyde, ortho-phthaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, iodophor, ammonium compounds quaternary, bigunides and so on., mechanisms of action and their applications in health care-associated viral infection control. As well as, we described an overview for hierarchy of viruses in challenge with disinfantans, effective agents on viral inactivation, i.e.targect viruses, viral stability or survival duration time in enviromental surfaces and hands. We explained disinfection of surfaces, challenges in emerging viral pathogens inactivation, viral resistance to chemical disinfectants and antiseptics. Because, there are laboratory studies and clinical evidences for some viruses which viral resistance to biocide or failure to perform proper disinfection can lead to infection outbreaks. Also, we described virucidal

Viral infection and antiviral therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Barford, Galina; Rentz, Alison C; Faix, Roger G

2004-01-01

Viral diseases are leading causes of mortality and morbidity among infants requiring care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with ongoing discoveries of new viral pathology likely to add to the burdens posed. Many viral diseases in NICU infants are undiagnosed or appreciated only late in the course because of subtle or asymptomatic presentation, confusion with bacterial disease, and failure to consider viral disease. We present an overview of viral disease in NICU infants, with emphasis on pharmacologic agents currently employed for prophylaxis and treatment of such diseases. Advances in molecular biology and popular demand to develop antiviral agents for viral diseases (eg, human immunodeficiency virus) offer great promise for the future.

Viral Diseases of Public Health Importance in India: Current Priorities with Special Emphasis on Prevention

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Mageshbabu Ramamurthy

2017-10-01

Full Text Available India faces problems with both communicable and non communicable diseases. The major non communicable diseases are cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. This article focuses on communicable diseases (infectious diseases especially viral infections of public health importance. The infections include bacterial, parasitic and viruses. It could be said that fungal infections by the nature of the spread are not of public health concern. The viral infections are transmitted by the respiratory route, water and food borne route, vectors and blood and blood products, sexual route and are of major concern. Efforts are aimed at early detection, prevention by use of vaccines and sentinel surveillance. For the success of public health programmes sentinel surveillance of diseases is mandatory. India has got several programme initiatives addressing the problem. The programs include IDSP, VBDCP and NACO. The approximate cumulative annual prevalence of infectious disease in India ranges from 100 to 200 million individuals affected in one year. India should aim to improve case detection by strengthening laboratory services with manpower training and nationwide quality control scheme, sentinel surveillance activity and prevention by improving the efficiency and scope of UIP. Also, creation of a single portal of infectious disease data handling hub to collect information from different sources will help avoid overlap and duplication of reporting.

Characterization of foot-and-mouth disease virus's viral peptides with LC-ESI-MS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pzdemir, Z.O.; Bulut, E.K.; Mustafeva, Z.; Karahan, M.

2010-01-01

Peptides and proteins play a central role in numerous biological and physiological processes in living organisms. Viral capsid peptides are part of the viruses' outer shell of genetic materials. Viruses are recognized by immune system via capsid peptides. Depending on this property of capsid peptides, prototypes synthetic peptide-based vaccine can be developed. In this work, we synthesized three different viral peptide sequences of foot-and-mouth disease virus with microwave enhanced solid phase synthesis method. These peptides were characterized by using liquid chromatography electro spray interface mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) with electro spray ionization. We briefly describe the essential facts for peptide characterization. (author)

Art in Science: Selections from Emerging Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2014-02-12

Polyxeni Potter, retired managing editor of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, discusses the history of the journal and her new book, Art in Science: Selections from Emerging Infectious Diseases.  Created: 2/12/2014 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 2/13/2014.

Dengue viral RNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells are associated with disease severity and preexisting dengue immune status.

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Anon Srikiatkhachorn

Full Text Available Infection with dengue viruses (DENV causes a wide range of manifestations from asymptomatic infection to a febrile illness called dengue fever (DF, to dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF. The in vivo targets of DENV and the relation between the viral burden in these cells and disease severity are not known.The levels of positive and negative strand viral RNA in peripheral blood monocytes, T/NK cells, and B cells and in plasma of DF and DHF cases were measured by quantitative RT-PCR.Positive strand viral RNA was detected in monocytes, T/NK cells and B cells with the highest amounts found in B cells. Viral RNA levels in CD14+ cells and plasma were significantly higher in DHF compared to DF, and in cases with a secondary infection compared to those undergoing a primary infection. The distribution of viral RNA among cell subpopulations was similar in DF and DHF cases. Small amounts of negative strand RNA were found in a few cases only. The severity of plasma leakage correlated with viral RNA levels in plasma and in CD14+ cells.B cells were the principal cells containing DENV RNA in peripheral blood, but overall there was little active DENV RNA replication detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC. Secondary infection and DHF were associated with higher viral burden in PBMC populations, especially CD14+ monocytes, suggesting that viral infection of these cells may be involved in disease pathogenesis.

Viral infections in acute graft-versus-host disease: a review of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Lana X; Worswick, Scott D

2015-04-01

While immunosuppressive therapy for acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) advances, viral reactivation has been found to be an increasingly common complication in these patients. Dermatologists may often be consulted on inpatient services for evaluation. We investigated the literature for the role of viral infections in aGVHD and review the current evidence regarding management. Articles in the public domain regarding aGVHD, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, varicella zoster virus, hepatitis viruses, parvovirus B19, and respiratory viruses were included. Dermatologic findings vary between different viral antigens, and some infections may be a marker for the development of aGVHD or worsen prognosis. The heterogeneous cohorts of the studies reviewed often preclude direct comparison between results. The relationship between viral reactivation and aGVHD may be bidirectional and is worthy of further exploration. Additional studies are needed to determine appropriate prophylaxis and treatment. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein cannot differentiate bacterial or viral infection in COPD exacerbation requiring emergency department visits

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Chang CH

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Chih-Hao Chang,1 Kuo-Chien Tsao,2,3 Han-Chung Hu,1,4 Chung-Chi Huang,1,4 Kuo-Chin Kao,1,4 Ning-Hung Chen,1,4 Cheng-Ta Yang,1,4 Ying-Huang Tsai,4,5 Meng-Jer Hsieh4,51Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Linkou Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang-Gung Medical Foundation, Chang-Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Linkou Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang-Gung Medical Foundation; 3Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 4Department of Respiratory Therapy, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 5Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Chiayi Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang-Gung Medical Foundation, Puzi City, TaiwanBackground: Viral and bacterial infections are the most common causes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD exacerbations. Whether serum inflammatory markers can differentiate bacterial from virus infection in patients with COPD exacerbation requiring emergency department (ED visits remains controversial.Methods: Viral culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR were used to identify the viruses in the oropharynx of patients with COPD exacerbations. The bacteria were identified by the semiquantitative culture of the expectorated sputum. The peripheral blood white blood cell (WBC counts, serum C-reactive protein (CRP, procalcitonin (PCT, and clinical symptoms were compared among patients with different types of infections.Results: Viruses were isolated from 16 (22.2% of the 72 patients enrolled. The most commonly identified viruses were parainfluenza type 3, influenza A, and rhinovirus. A total of 30 (41.7% patients had positive bacterial cultures, with the most commonly found bacteria being Haemophilus influenzae and Haemophilus parainfluenzae. Five patients (6.9% had both positive sputum cultures and virus identification. The WBC, CRP, and PCT levels of the bacteria-positive and bacteria

[Investigation of RNA viral genome amplification by multiple displacement amplification technique].

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Zheng; Li, Jian-Dong; Li, Chuan; Liang, Mi-Fang; Li, De-Xin

2013-06-01

In order to facilitate the detection of newly emerging or rare viral infectious diseases, a negative-strand RNA virus-severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus, and a positive-strand RNA virus-dengue virus, were used to investigate RNA viral genome unspecific amplification by multiple displacement amplification technique from clinical samples. Series of 10-fold diluted purified viral RNA were utilized as analog samples with different pathogen loads, after a series of reactions were sequentially processed, single-strand cDNA, double-strand cDNA, double-strand cDNA treated with ligation without or with supplemental RNA were generated, then a Phi29 DNA polymerase depended isothermal amplification was employed, and finally the target gene copies were detected by real time PCR assays to evaluate the amplification efficiencies of various methods. The results showed that multiple displacement amplification effects of single-strand or double-strand cDNA templates were limited, while the fold increases of double-strand cDNA templates treated with ligation could be up to 6 X 10(3), even 2 X 10(5) when supplemental RNA existed, and better results were obtained when viral RNA loads were lower. A RNA viral genome amplification system using multiple displacement amplification technique was established in this study and effective amplification of RNA viral genome with low load was achieved, which could provide a tool to synthesize adequate viral genome for multiplex pathogens detection.

Emerging and Re-Emerging Zoonoses of Dogs and Cats

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Bruno B. Chomel

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Since the middle of the 20th century, pets are more frequently considered as “family members” within households. However, cats and dogs still can be a source of human infection by various zoonotic pathogens. Among emerging or re-emerging zoonoses, viral diseases, such as rabies (mainly from dog pet trade or travel abroad, but also feline cowpox and newly recognized noroviruses or rotaviruses or influenza viruses can sicken our pets and be transmitted to humans. Bacterial zoonoses include bacteria transmitted by bites or scratches, such as pasteurellosis or cat scratch disease, leading to severe clinical manifestations in people because of their age or immune status and also because of our closeness, not to say intimacy, with our pets. Cutaneous contamination with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Leptospira spp., and/or aerosolization of bacteria causing tuberculosis or kennel cough are also emerging/re-emerging pathogens that can be transmitted by our pets, as well as gastro-intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella or Campylobacter. Parasitic and fungal pathogens, such as echinococcosis, leishmaniasis, onchocercosis, or sporotrichosis, are also re-emerging or emerging pet related zoonoses. Common sense and good personal and pet hygiene are the key elements to prevent such a risk of zoonotic infection.

Host phylogeny determines viral persistence and replication in novel hosts.

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Ben Longdon

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Pathogens switching to new hosts can result in the emergence of new infectious diseases, and determining which species are likely to be sources of such host shifts is essential to understanding disease threats to both humans and wildlife. However, the factors that determine whether a pathogen can infect a novel host are poorly understood. We have examined the ability of three host-specific RNA-viruses (Drosophila sigma viruses from the family Rhabdoviridae to persist and replicate in 51 different species of Drosophilidae. Using a novel analytical approach we found that the host phylogeny could explain most of the variation in viral replication and persistence between different host species. This effect is partly driven by viruses reaching a higher titre in those novel hosts most closely related to the original host. However, there is also a strong effect of host phylogeny that is independent of the distance from the original host, with viral titres being similar in groups of related hosts. Most of this effect could be explained by variation in general susceptibility to all three sigma viruses, as there is a strong phylogenetic correlation in the titres of the three viruses. These results suggest that the source of new emerging diseases may often be predictable from the host phylogeny, but that the effect may be more complex than simply causing most host shifts to occur between closely related hosts.

Emerging Zika virus infection:What should we know?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Viroj Wiwanitkit

2016-01-01

Zika virus infection is a new emerging viral disease that becomes the present public health threat. At present, this infection can be seen in several countries. The clinical presentation of this infection is a dengue-like illness. Nevertheless, the new information shows that the disease can be sexually transmitted and transplacentally transmitted. In addition, the recent evidence from the recent epidemic in South America shows that the infection in pregnancy can cause neonatal neurological defect. In this short review, the author summarizes and presents interesting data on clinical features of this new emerging infection.

Raw Sewage Harbors Diverse Viral Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Cantalupo, Paul G.; Calgua, Byron; Zhao, Guoyan; Hundesa, Ayalkibet; Wier, Adam D.; Katz, Josh P.; Grabe, Michael; Hendrix, Roger W.; Girones, Rosina; Wang, David; Pipas, James M.

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT At this time, about 3,000 different viruses are recognized, but metagenomic studies suggest that these viruses are a small fraction of the viruses that exist in nature. We have explored viral diversity by deep sequencing nucleic acids obtained from virion populations enriched from raw sewage. We identified 234 known viruses, including 17 that infect humans. Plant, insect, and algal viruses as well as bacteriophages were also present. These viruses represented 26 taxonomic families and included viruses with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), positive-sense ssRNA [ssRNA(+)], and dsRNA genomes. Novel viruses that could be placed in specific taxa represented 51 different families, making untreated wastewater the most diverse viral metagenome (genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples) examined thus far. However, the vast majority of sequence reads bore little or no sequence relation to known viruses and thus could not be placed into specific taxa. These results show that the vast majority of the viruses on Earth have not yet been characterized. Untreated wastewater provides a rich matrix for identifying novel viruses and for studying virus diversity. Importance At this time, virology is focused on the study of a relatively small number of viral species. Specific viruses are studied either because they are easily propagated in the laboratory or because they are associated with disease. The lack of knowledge of the size and characteristics of the viral universe and the diversity of viral genomes is a roadblock to understanding important issues, such as the origin of emerging pathogens and the extent of gene exchange among viruses. Untreated wastewater is an ideal system for assessing viral diversity because virion populations from large numbers of individuals are deposited and because raw sewage itself provides a rich environment for the growth of diverse host species and thus their viruses. These studies suggest that

Control strategy for viral diseases of salmonid fish, flounders and shrimp at hatchery and seed production facility in Japan

OpenAIRE

Yoshimizu, Mamoru

2009-01-01

Salmonid fish are important species for hatchery reared and released fish. Flounders and shrimp are also important species for seed production and sea-farming in Japan. Viral disease is one of the limitations of successful propagation of these species. Methods currently used to control viral diseases are 1) hygiene and sanitation in facilities, 2) disinfection of rearing and waste water using U. V. irradiation, ozonization and electrolyzation, 3) selection of pathogen-free brood stock by cell...

DNA/MVA Vaccination of HIV-1 Infected Participants with Viral Suppression on Antiretroviral Therapy, followed by Treatment Interruption: Elicitation of Immune Responses without Control of Re-Emergent Virus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Thompson

Full Text Available GV-TH-01, a Phase 1 open-label trial of a DNA prime—Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA boost vaccine (GOVX-B11, was undertaken in HIV infected participants on antiretroviral treatment (ART to evaluate safety and vaccine-elicited T cell responses, and explore the ability of elicited CD8+ T cells to control viral rebound during analytical treatment interruption (TI. Nine men who began antiretroviral therapy (ART within 18 months of seroconversion and had sustained plasma HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL for at least 6 months were enrolled. Median age was 38 years, median pre-ART HIV-1 RNA was 140,000 copies/ml and mean baseline CD4 count was 755/μl. Two DNA, followed by 2 MVA, inoculations were given 8 weeks apart. Eight subjects completed all vaccinations and TI. Clinical and laboratory adverse events were generally mild, with no serious or grade 4 events. Only reactogenicity events were considered related to study drug. No treatment emergent viral resistance was seen. The vaccinations did not reduce viral reservoirs and virus re-emerged in all participants during TI, with a median time to re-emergence of 4 weeks. Eight of 9 participants had CD8+ T cells that could be stimulated by vaccine-matched Gag peptides prior to vaccination. Vaccinations boosted these responses as well as eliciting previously undetected CD8+ responses. Elicited T cells did not display signs of exhaustion. During TI, temporal patterns of viral re-emergence and Gag-specific CD8+ T cell expansion suggested that vaccine-specific CD8+ T cells had been stimulated by re-emergent virus in only 2 of 8 participants. In these 2, transient decreases in viremia were associated with Gag selection in known CD8+ T cell epitopes. We hypothesize that escape mutations, already archived in the viral reservoir, plus a poor ability of CD8+ T cells to traffic to and control virus at sites of re-emergence, limited the therapeutic efficacy of the DNA/MVA vaccine.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01378156.

DNA/MVA Vaccination of HIV-1 Infected Participants with Viral Suppression on Antiretroviral Therapy, followed by Treatment Interruption: Elicitation of Immune Responses without Control of Re-Emergent Virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Melanie; Heath, Sonya L; Sweeton, Bentley; Williams, Kathy; Cunningham, Pamela; Keele, Brandon F; Sen, Sharon; Palmer, Brent E; Chomont, Nicolas; Xu, Yongxian; Basu, Rahul; Hellerstein, Michael S; Kwa, Suefen; Robinson, Harriet L

2016-01-01

GV-TH-01, a Phase 1 open-label trial of a DNA prime—Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) boost vaccine (GOVX-B11), was undertaken in HIV infected participants on antiretroviral treatment (ART) to evaluate safety and vaccine-elicited T cell responses, and explore the ability of elicited CD8+ T cells to control viral rebound during analytical treatment interruption (TI). Nine men who began antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 18 months of seroconversion and had sustained plasma HIV-1 RNA HIV-1 RNA was 140,000 copies/ml and mean baseline CD4 count was 755/μl. Two DNA, followed by 2 MVA, inoculations were given 8 weeks apart. Eight subjects completed all vaccinations and TI. Clinical and laboratory adverse events were generally mild, with no serious or grade 4 events. Only reactogenicity events were considered related to study drug. No treatment emergent viral resistance was seen. The vaccinations did not reduce viral reservoirs and virus re-emerged in all participants during TI, with a median time to re-emergence of 4 weeks. Eight of 9 participants had CD8+ T cells that could be stimulated by vaccine-matched Gag peptides prior to vaccination. Vaccinations boosted these responses as well as eliciting previously undetected CD8+ responses. Elicited T cells did not display signs of exhaustion. During TI, temporal patterns of viral re-emergence and Gag-specific CD8+ T cell expansion suggested that vaccine-specific CD8+ T cells had been stimulated by re-emergent virus in only 2 of 8 participants. In these 2, transient decreases in viremia were associated with Gag selection in known CD8+ T cell epitopes. We hypothesize that escape mutations, already archived in the viral reservoir, plus a poor ability of CD8+ T cells to traffic to and control virus at sites of re-emergence, limited the therapeutic efficacy of the DNA/MVA vaccine. clinicaltrials.gov NCT01378156.

Viral Etiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations during the A/H1N1pdm09 Pandemic and Postpandemic Period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Sanz

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Viral infections are one of the main causes of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD. Emergence of A/H1N1pdm influenza virus in the 2009 pandemic changed the viral etiology of exacerbations that were reported before the pandemic. The aim of this study was to describe the etiology of respiratory viruses in 195 Spanish patients affected by AE-COPD from the pandemic until the 2011-12 influenza epidemic. During the study period (2009–2012, respiratory viruses were identified in 48.7% of samples, and the proportion of viral detections in AE-COPD was higher in patients aged 30–64 years than ≥65 years. Influenza A viruses were the pathogens most often detected during the pandemic and the following two influenza epidemics in contradistinction to human rhino/enteroviruses that were the main viruses causing AE-COPD before the pandemic. The probability of influenza virus detection was 2.78-fold higher in patients who are 30–64 years old than those ≥65. Most respiratory samples were obtained during the pandemic, but the influenza detection rate was higher during the 2011-12 epidemic. There is a need for more accurate AE-COPD diagnosis, emphasizing the role of respiratory viruses. Furthermore, diagnosis requires increased attention to patient age and the characteristics of each influenza epidemic.

Protection against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease with recombinant myxoma viruses expressing rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus capsid protein

OpenAIRE

Bertagnoli, Stéphane; Gelfi, Jacqueline; Le Gall, Ghislaine; Boilletot, Eric; Vautherot, Jean-François; Rasschaert, Denis; Laurent, Sylvie; Petit, Frédérique; Boucraut-Baralon, Corine; Milon, Alain

1996-01-01

Two myxoma virus-rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) recombinant viruses were constructed with the SG33 strain of myxoma virus to protect rabbits against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease. These recombinant viruses expressed the RHDV capsid protein (VP60). The recombinant protein, which is 60 kDa in size, was antigenic, as revealed by its reaction in immunoprecipitation with antibodies raised against RHDV. Both recombinant viruses induced high levels of RHDV- and myxoma vir...

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michel, A.L.; Rutten, V.P.M.G.; Helden van, P.D.

2013-01-01

This supplement to Transboundary and Emerging Diseases is a compilation of selected papers presented at the International Wildlife Tuberculosis Conference, held from 9 to 12 September 2012 in Skukuza, South Africa.

Current status of viral diseases in Indian shrimp aquaculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Tandel, G M; John, K Riji; Rosalind George, M; Prince Jeyaseelan, M J

The intensification of aquaculture has been unique in showing the overwhelming changes in global food production in the last 100 years. Presently, it is playing a vital role in the economies of several countries. Conversely, it is also to be noted that the progression of aquaculture has been the foundation of anthropogenic alteration of a gigantic hierarchy and hence not astonishingly, it resulted in spread and emergence of an increasing group of new unknown diseases. In India, Penaeus monodon, black tiger shrimp was previously the foremost-cultivated shrimp species. Subsequently in 2008, the American white leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei has effectively replaced it. The change in dominant species has affected disease concerns in India as well as in world shrimp aquaculture. White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the most deleterious for both species. Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV), Monodon baculovirus (MBV) and Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) are the other significant infectious agents of P. monodon and L. vannamei. An emerging disease of loose shell syndrome (LSS) was already reported from India during late 1998. A more recent disease of L. vannamei in India is monodon slow growth syndrome (MSGS), a component of which seems to be Laem-Singh virus (LSNV). Thus, most of the information in this review relates to new emerging pathogens that threaten the cultivation shrimp industry in India.

[Comparison of various noninvasive serum markers of liver fibrosis in chronic viral liver disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sun Min; Sohn, Joo Hyun; Kim, Tae Yeob; Roh, Young Wook; Eun, Chang Soo; Jeon, Yong Cheol; Han, Dong Soo; Oh, Young Ha

2009-12-01

The aim of this study was to determine the clinical performances of noninvasive serum markers for the prediction of liver fibrosis in chronic viral liver diseases. We analyzed a total of 225 patients with chronic viral liver diseases (180 with hepatitis B virus, 43 with hepatitis C virus, and 2 with hepatitis B+C virus) who underwent a liver biopsy procedure at the Hanyang University Guri Hospital between March 2002 and February 2007. Serum was also obtained at the time of liver biopsy. Liver fibrosis was staged according to the scoring system proposed by the Korean Study Group for the Pathology of Digestive Diseases. Various noninvasive serum markers were evaluated, including the aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR), age-platelet (AP) index, AST/platelet ratio index (APRI), cirrhosis discriminant score (CDS), platelet count, hyaluronic acid (HA), and type IV collagen. There were 17, 40, 61, 74, and 33 patients at stages F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4, respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracies of each marker, as determined by the area under receiver operating characteristics curves, were APRI=0.822, CDS=0.776, platelet count=0.773, AP index=0.756, HA=0.749, type IV collagen=0.718, and AAR=0.642 for predicting significant fibrosis (> or =F2); and CDS=0.835, platelet count=0.795, AP index=0.794, HA=0.766, AAR=0.711, type IV collagen=0.697, and APRI=0.691 for predicting extensive fibrosis (> or =F3). All noninvasive serum markers evaluated in this study were useful for predicting significant or extensive liver fibrosis in chronic viral liver diseases. In particular, APRI was most useful for the prediction of significant fibrosis, and CDS was most useful for the prediction of extensive fibrosis.

Disease emergence and resurgence—the wildlife-human connection

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Milton; Hurley, James W.; Nol, Pauline; Wesenberg, Katherine

2006-01-01

In 2000, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) was organized as a global disease watchdog group to coordinate disease outbreak information and health crisis response. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the headquarters for this network. Understandably, the primary focus for WHO is human health. However, diseases such as the H5N1 avian influenza epizootic in Asian bird populations demonstrate the need for integrating knowledge about disease emergence in animals and in humans.Aside from human disease concerns, H5N1 avian influenza has major economic consequences for the poultry industry worldwide. Many other emerging diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), monkeypox, Ebola fever, and West Nile fever, also have an important wildlife component. Despite these wildlife associations, the true integration of the wildlife component in approaches towards disease emergence remains elusive. This separation between wildlife and other species’ interests is counterproductive because the emergence of zoonotic viruses and other pathogens maintained by wildlife reservoir hosts is poorly understood.This book is about the wildlife component of emerging diseases. It is intended to enhance the reader’s awareness of the role of wildlife in disease emergence. By doing so, perhaps a more holistic approach to disease prevention and control will emerge for the benefit of human, domestic animal, and free-ranging wildlife populations alike. The perspectives offered are influenced by more than four decades of my experiences as a wildlife disease practitioner. Although wildlife are victims to many of the same disease agents affecting humans and domestic animals, many aspects of disease in free-ranging wildlife require different approaches than those commonly applied to address disease in humans or domestic animals. Nevertheless, the broader community of disease investigators and health care professionals has largely pursued a separatist approach for

International network for capacity building for the control of emerging viral vector-borne zoonotic diseases: ARBO-ZOONET.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, J; Bouloy, M; Ergonul, O; Fooks, Ar; Paweska, J; Chevalier, V; Drosten, C; Moormann, R; Tordo, N; Vatansever, Z; Calistri, P; Estrada-Pena, A; Mirazimi, A; Unger, H; Yin, H; Seitzer, U

2009-03-26

Arboviruses are arthropod-borne viruses, which include West Nile fever virus (WNFV), a mosquito-borne virus, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), a mosquito-borne virus, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), a tick-borne virus. These arthropod-borne viruses can cause disease in different domestic and wild animals and in humans, posing a threat to public health because of their epidemic and zoonotic potential. In recent decades, the geographical distribution of these diseases has expanded. Outbreaks of WNF have already occurred in Europe, especially in the Mediterranean basin. Moreover, CCHF is endemic in many European countries and serious outbreaks have occurred, particularly in the Balkans, Turkey and Southern Federal Districts of Russia. In 2000, RVF was reported for the first time outside the African continent, with cases being confirmed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. This spread was probably caused by ruminant trade and highlights that there is a threat of expansion of the virus into other parts of Asia and Europe. In the light of global warming and globalisation of trade and travel, public interest in emerging zoonotic diseases has increased. This is especially evident regarding the geographical spread of vector-borne diseases. A multi-disciplinary approach is now imperative, and groups need to collaborate in an integrated manner that includes vector control, vaccination programmes, improved therapy strategies, diagnostic tools and surveillance, public awareness, capacity building and improvement of infrastructure in endemic regions.

ViralORFeome: an integrated database to generate a versatile collection of viral ORFs.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellet, J; Tafforeau, L; Lucas-Hourani, M; Navratil, V; Meyniel, L; Achaz, G; Guironnet-Paquet, A; Aublin-Gex, A; Caignard, G; Cassonnet, P; Chaboud, A; Chantier, T; Deloire, A; Demeret, C; Le Breton, M; Neveu, G; Jacotot, L; Vaglio, P; Delmotte, S; Gautier, C; Combet, C; Deleage, G; Favre, M; Tangy, F; Jacob, Y; Andre, P; Lotteau, V; Rabourdin-Combe, C; Vidalain, P O

2010-01-01

Large collections of protein-encoding open reading frames (ORFs) established in a versatile recombination-based cloning system have been instrumental to study protein functions in high-throughput assays. Such 'ORFeome' resources have been developed for several organisms but in virology, plasmid collections covering a significant fraction of the virosphere are still needed. In this perspective, we present ViralORFeome 1.0 (http://www.viralorfeome.com), an open-access database and management system that provides an integrated set of bioinformatic tools to clone viral ORFs in the Gateway(R) system. ViralORFeome provides a convenient interface to navigate through virus genome sequences, to design ORF-specific cloning primers, to validate the sequence of generated constructs and to browse established collections of virus ORFs. Most importantly, ViralORFeome has been designed to manage all possible variants or mutants of a given ORF so that the cloning procedure can be applied to any emerging virus strain. A subset of plasmid constructs generated with ViralORFeome platform has been tested with success for heterologous protein expression in different expression systems at proteome scale. ViralORFeome should provide our community with a framework to establish a large collection of virus ORF clones, an instrumental resource to determine functions, activities and binding partners of viral proteins.

Association between feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) plasma viral RNA load, concentration of acute phase proteins and disease severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kann, Rebecca K C; Seddon, Jennifer M; Kyaw-Tanner, Myat T; Henning, Joerg; Meers, Joanne

2014-08-01

Veterinarians have few tools to predict the rate of disease progression in FIV-infected cats. In contrast, in HIV infection, plasma viral RNA load and acute phase protein concentrations are commonly used as predictors of disease progression. This study evaluated these predictors in cats naturally infected with FIV. In older cats (>5 years), log10 FIV RNA load was higher in the terminal stages of disease compared to the asymptomatic stage. There was a significant association between log10 FIV RNA load and both log10 serum amyloid A concentration and age in unwell FIV-infected cats. This study suggests that viral RNA load and serum amyloid A warrant further investigation as predictors of disease status and prognosis in FIV-infected cats. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Viral and vector zoonotic exploitation of a homo-sociome memetic complex.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupprecht, C E; Burgess, G W

2015-05-01

As most newly characterized emerging infectious diseases are considered to be zoonotic, a modern pre-eminence ascribed within this classification lies clearly within the viral taxonomic realm. In particular, RNA viruses deserve special concern given their documented impact on conservation biology, veterinary medicine and public health, with an unprecedented ability to promote an evolutionary host-pathogen arms race from the ultimate infection and immunity perspective. However, besides the requisite molecular/gross anatomical and physiological bases for infectious diseases to transmit from one host to another, both viral pathogens and their reservoirs/vectors exploit a complex anthropological, cultural, historical, psychological and social suite that specifically defines the phylodynamics within Homo sapiens, unlike any other species. Some of these variables include the ecological benefits of living in groups, decisions on hunting and foraging behaviours and dietary preferences, myths and religious doctrines, health economics, travel destinations, population planning, political decisions on agricultural product bans and many others, in a homo-sociome memetic complex. Taken to an extreme, such complexities elucidate the underpinnings of explanations as to why certain viral zoonoses reside in neglected people, places and things, whereas others are chosen selectively and prioritized for active mitigation. Canine-transmitted rabies serves as one prime example of how a neglected viral zoonosis may transition to greater attention on the basis of renewed advocacy, social media, local champions and vested international community engagement. In contrast, certain bat-associated and arboviral diseases suffer from basic ignorance and perpetuated misunderstanding of fundamental reservoir and vector ecology tenets, translated into failed control policies that only exacerbate the underlying environmental conditions of concern. Beyond applied biomedical knowledge, epidemiological

Viral Hepatitis: A through E and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

... National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse What is viral hepatitis? Viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver caused by ... and serious. Drugs are available to treat chronic hepatitis. 4 Viral Hepatitis: A through E and Beyond What else ...

Viral capsid assembly as a model for protein aggregation diseases: Active processes catalyzed by cellular assembly machines comprising novel drug targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Marreiros, Rita; Müller-Schiffmann, Andreas; Bader, Verian; Selvarajah, Suganya; Dey, Debendranath; Lingappa, Vishwanath R; Korth, Carsten

2015-09-02

Viruses can be conceptualized as self-replicating multiprotein assemblies, containing coding nucleic acids. Viruses have evolved to exploit host cellular components including enzymes to ensure their replicative life cycle. New findings indicate that also viral capsid proteins recruit host factors to accelerate their assembly. These assembly machines are RNA-containing multiprotein complexes whose composition is governed by allosteric sites. In the event of viral infection, the assembly machines are recruited to support the virus over the host and are modified to achieve that goal. Stress granules and processing bodies may represent collections of such assembly machines, readily visible by microscopy but biochemically labile and difficult to isolate by fractionation. We hypothesize that the assembly of protein multimers such as encountered in neurodegenerative or other protein conformational diseases, is also catalyzed by assembly machines. In the case of viral infection, the assembly machines have been modified by the virus to meet the virus' need for rapid capsid assembly rather than host homeostasis. In the case of the neurodegenerative diseases, it is the monomers and/or low n oligomers of the so-called aggregated proteins that are substrates of assembly machines. Examples for substrates are amyloid β peptide (Aβ) and tau in Alzheimer's disease, α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, prions in the prion diseases, Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) in subsets of chronic mental illnesses, and others. A likely continuum between virus capsid assembly and cell-to-cell transmissibility of aggregated proteins is remarkable. Protein aggregation diseases may represent dysfunction and dysregulation of these assembly machines analogous to the aberrations induced by viral infection in which cellular homeostasis is pathologically reprogrammed. In this view, as for viral infection, reset of assembly machines to normal homeostasis should be the goal of protein aggregation

The Ins and Outs of Viral Infection: Keystone Meeting Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara W. Bird

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Newly observed mechanisms for viral entry, assembly, and exit are challenging our current understanding of the replication cycle of different viruses. To address and better understand these mechanisms, a Keystone Symposium was organized in the snowy mountains of Colorado (“The Ins and Outs of Viral Infection: Entry, Assembly, Exit, and Spread”; 30 March–4 April 2014, Beaver Run Resort, Breckenridge, Colorado, organized by Karla Kirkegaard, Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, and Eric O. Freed. The meeting served to bring together cell biologists, structural biologists, geneticists, and scientists expert in viral pathogenesis to discuss emerging mechanisms of viral ins and outs. The conference was organized around different phases of the viral replication cycle, including cell entry, viral assembly and post-assembly maturation, virus structure, cell exit, and virus spread. This review aims to highlight important topics and themes that emerged during the conference.

Art in Science: Selections from Emerging Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

Polyxeni Potter, retired managing editor of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, discusses the history of the journal and her new book, Art in Science: Selections from Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Threats and Re-emergence of Chickungunya Fever in Indian Sub-continent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahajan S

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Zoonoses are among the most frequent and dreaded risk to which mankind is exposed today, human health is inextricably linked to animal health and production. Over the past 6 years, a number of zoonotic and vector borne viral diseases were recorded in South-east Asia and the Western Pacific and there was sudden upsurge in the number of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases in Indian Sub-continent and Chikungunya fever is one of them. The precise reasons for the re-emergence of Chikungunya in the Indian subcontinent as well as the other small countries in the southern Indian Ocean are an enigma. Although, it is well recognized that re-emergence of viral infections are due to a variety of social, environmental, behavioural and biological changes, which of these contributed to the re-emergence of Chikungunya virus would be interesting to unravel. Chikungunya is generally spread through bites of infected mosquitoes; mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a animal infected with CHIK virus. Monkey and possibly other wild animals may serve as reservoirs of infection. [Vet. World 2009; 2(1.000: 40-42

Emerging and Neglected Infectious Diseases: Insights, Advances, and Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Nii-Trebi, Nicholas Israel

2017-01-01

Infectious diseases are a significant burden on public health and economic stability of societies all over the world. They have for centuries been among the leading causes of death and disability and presented growing challenges to health security and human progress. The threat posed by infectious diseases is further deepened by the continued emergence of new, unrecognized, and old infectious disease epidemics of global impact. Over the past three and half decades at least 30 new infectious agents affecting humans have emerged, most of which are zoonotic and their origins have been shown to correlate significantly with socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological factors. As these factors continue to increase, putting people in increased contact with the disease causing pathogens, there is concern that infectious diseases may continue to present a formidable challenge. Constant awareness and pursuance of effective strategies for controlling infectious diseases and disease emergence thus remain crucial. This review presents current updates on emerging and neglected infectious diseases and highlights the scope, dynamics, and advances in infectious disease management with particular focus on WHO top priority emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and neglected tropical infectious diseases.

1st International Symposium on Stress-Associated RNA Granules in Human Disease and Viral Infection

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Bruce W. Banfield

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In recent years, important linkages have been made between RNA granules and human disease processes. On June 8-10 of this year, we hosted a new symposium, dubbed the 1st International Symposium on Stress-Associated RNA Granules in Human Disease and Viral Infection. This symposium brought together experts from diverse research disciplines ranging from cancer and neuroscience to infectious disease. This report summarizes speaker presentations and highlights current challenges in the field.

Self-disseminating vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Aisling A; Redwood, Alec J; Jarvis, Michael A

2016-01-01

Modern human activity fueled by economic development is profoundly altering our relationship with microorganisms. This altered interaction with microbes is believed to be the major driving force behind the increased rate of emerging infectious diseases from animals. The spate of recent infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola virus disease and Middle East respiratory syndrome, emphasize the need for development of new innovative tools to manage these emerging diseases. Disseminating vaccines are one such novel approach to potentially interrupt animal to human (zoonotic) transmission of these pathogens.

Tropical diseases on insurgence: Clinician's perspective

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Partha Chatterjee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Many known and unknown factors play a synergistic role in the emergence or re-emergence of some infections in a particular area or country. In recent years, India has seen a significant increase in the prevalence of many viral or bacterial diseases. Many are vector borne and are zoonotic disease while others have different source and mode of transmission. These diseases are often associated with high morbidity and mortality. Five important diseases such as leptospirosis, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, and leishmaniasis have been discussed in this article.

SURVEY OF VIRAL DISEASES OF PACIFIC WHITE SHRIMP, Litopenaeus vannamei IN INDONESIA

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Taukhid Taukhid

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Penaeid shrimp culture is a major contributor to foreign exchange earning in Indonesia. It has significant impact on economic development of fisheries sector, and leads to be one of prime mover to improve social prosperity. However, shrimp industry particularly black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon has been facing unpredictable situation due to disease problem. The main constrain in correlation to the development of shrimp industry is disease outbreak, especially caused by viral agents. White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV occurred in 1994, causing mass mortality of black tiger shrimp almost in all of the middle and western part of Indonesia. Due to the disease problem, it is estimated that in year 2000, more than 50% of shrimp pond were idle. Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei or “udang vanamei” was introduced to Indonesia at the end of 1999, and released officially in July, 2001. Response of shrimp farmers to the shrimp rapidly accepted and distributed to many provinces in the country. At the end of 2006, distribution of white shrimp culture was encountered in more than 15 provinces. The seeds are mainly produced from hatcheries located in East Java and Lampung. The information of TSV in Indonesia was reported firstly from East Java at the end of 2002, without a clear history. Since then, survey of TSV distribution was conducted intensively in white shrimp production areas. Beside TSV, population of white shrimp coming to Indonesia also susceptible to White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV and Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV infection. A survey with the aim to know significant viral diseases of white shrimp is needed to set up an alternative strategy to control them. The survey was conducted, firstly in the main production centers of white shrimp; and planned to be continued throughout the country. Samples collection, diagnostic method and data compiled in this study were collected from both

INFLUENZA AND ACUTE VIRAL RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS IN THE PRACTICE OF THE EMERGENCY CREWS OF MOSCOW

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N. F. Plavunov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Influenza and acute viral respiratory infections have a great social significance during epidemic rise of morbidity and demand differential diagnosis of pneumonia with bacterial etiology and consultation with an infectious disease doctor in case of seeing patients in non-core hospitals. This article highlights the problem of influenza and acute respiratory viral infections’ early diagnosis. Clinical manifestations of influenza and other respiratory extremely similar. The differential diagnosis must take into account the presence of mixed infection in the same patient. According to the results of consultative infectious ambulance teams in 2014-2016, quality of diagnostics of this infectious pathology was examined. Observed deaths in persons later seeking medical treatment, not receiving timely antiviral therapy and related to high-risk groups: patients with obesity, chronic alcohol intoxication, diabetes, pregnant women. Influenza and acute viral respiratory infections, more complicated by pneumonia, people in the older age group, indicating the need for timely medical evacuation of patients older than 60 years. In some cases, in the diagnosis of influenza was helped by the results of laboratory studies (especially the trend to leukopenia and a positive rapid test. It should be noted that a negative rapid test for influenza was not a reason for exclusion of the diagnosis “influenza”.

Emerging Zika virus infection: What should we know?

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Viroj Wiwanitkit

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Zika virus infection is a new emerging viral disease that becomes the present public health threat. At present, this infection can be seen in several countries. The clinical presentation of this infection is a dengue-like illness. Nevertheless, the new information shows that the disease can be sexually transmitted and transplacentally transmitted. In addition, the recent evidence from the recent epidemic in South America shows that the infection in pregnancy can cause neonatal neurological defect. In this short review, the author summarizes and presents interesting data on clinical features of this new emerging infection.

Redefining disease emergence to improve prioritization and macro-ecological analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, Samantha R; Ostfeld, Richard S; McGarvey, Stephen T; Lurie, Mark N; Smith, Katherine F

2015-12-01

Microbial infections are as old as the hosts they sicken, but interest in the emergence of pathogens and the diseases they cause has been accelerating rapidly. The term 'emerging infectious disease' was coined in the mid-1900s to describe changes in disease dynamics in the modern era. Both the term and the phenomena it is meant to characterize have evolved and diversified over time, leading to inconsistencies and confusion. Here, we review the evolution of the term 'emerging infectious disease' (EID) in the literature as applied to human hosts. We examine the pathways (e.g., speciation or strain differentiation in the causative agent vs. rapid geographic expansion of an existing pathogen) by which diseases emerge. We propose a new framework for disease and pathogen emergence to improve prioritization. And we illustrate how the operational definition of an EID affects conclusions concerning the pathways by which diseases emerge and the ecological and socioeconomic drivers that elicit emergence. As EIDs appear to be increasing globally, and resources for science level off or decline, the research community is pushed to prioritize its focus on the most threatening diseases, riskiest potential pathogens, and the places they occur. The working definition of emerging infectious diseases and pathogens plays a crucial role in prioritization, but we argue that the current definitions may be impeding these efforts. We propose a new framework for classifying pathogens and diseases as "emerging" that distinguishes EIDs from emerging pathogens and novel potential pathogens. We suggest prioritization of: 1) EIDs for adaptation and mitigation, 2) emerging pathogens for preventive measures, and 3) novel potential pathogens for intensive surveillance.

Construction of a recombinant viral vector containing part of the nucleocapsid protein gene of newcastle disease virus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bader, D.E.

1995-09-01

This report describes the procedures used to clone a 673 base pair gene fragment of the major nucleocapsid protein gene of Newcastle disease virus into a viral vector molecule for the purpose of maintaining a stable, long-term, renewable source of this target sequence for gene probe studies. The gene fragment was prepared by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction of Newcastle disease virus RNA and was cloned into the viral DNA vector Ml3mp18 RF to produce a recombinant DNA molecule. The cloned fragment was shown to be present in the recombinant clones based on (i) clonal selection on indicator plates; (ii) restriction enzyme analysis; (iii) gene probe analysis and (iv) nested PCR amplification.

Emerging Vector-Borne Diseases - Incidence through Vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Savić, Sara; Vidić, Branka; Grgić, Zivoslav; Potkonjak, Aleksandar; Spasojevic, Ljubica

2014-01-01

Vector-borne diseases use to be a major public health concern only in tropical and subtropical areas, but today they are an emerging threat for the continental and developed countries also. Nowadays, in intercontinental countries, there is a struggle with emerging diseases, which have found their way to appear through vectors. Vector-borne zoonotic diseases occur when vectors, animal hosts, climate conditions, pathogens, and susceptible human population exist at the same time, at the same place. Global climate change is predicted to lead to an increase in vector-borne infectious diseases and disease outbreaks. It could affect the range and population of pathogens, host and vectors, transmission season, etc. Reliable surveillance for diseases that are most likely to emerge is required. Canine vector-borne diseases represent a complex group of diseases including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, bartonellosis, borreliosis, dirofilariosis, ehrlichiosis, and leishmaniosis. Some of these diseases cause serious clinical symptoms in dogs and some of them have a zoonotic potential with an effect to public health. It is expected from veterinarians in coordination with medical doctors to play a fundamental role at primarily prevention and then treatment of vector-borne diseases in dogs. The One Health concept has to be integrated into the struggle against emerging diseases. During a 4-year period, from 2009 to 2013, a total number of 551 dog samples were analyzed for vector-borne diseases (borreliosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, dirofilariosis, and leishmaniasis) in routine laboratory work. The analysis was done by serological tests - ELISA for borreliosis, dirofilariosis, and leishmaniasis, modified Knott test for dirofilariosis, and blood smear for babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis. This number of samples represented 75% of total number of samples that were sent for analysis for different diseases in dogs. Annually, on average more then half of the samples

[Summary of the practice guideline 'Viral hepatitis and other liver diseases' (second revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners].

Science.gov (United States)

Bouma, M; van Geldrop, W J; Numans, M E; Wiersma, Tj; Goudswaard, A N

2008-12-06

The revised Dutch College of General Practitioners' practice guideline 'Viral hepatitis and other liver diseases' offers advice in the diagnosis and management of viral hepatitis A, B and C and other liver diseases. The guideline is important for general practitioners as well as specialists in internal medicine and gastroenterology. The emphasis is on the management of chronic hepatitis B en C, because the prevalence of these diseases has increased in the Netherlands and, in addition, the treatment options for chronic hepatitis have improved. Consequently, timely recognition and adequate referral of patients with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C have become more important. However, many patients with a chronic liver disease have no symptoms. Therefore, the general practitioner should be aware that a patient visiting the practice with fatigue and malaise could have a liver disease if he or she belongs to a high-risk group or has had high-risk contacts. If the general practitioner repeatedly finds increased liver transaminase values during routine examination of asymptomatic patients, additional diagnostic tests should be performed. Further tests should focus on viral hepatitis as well as on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or, depending on the history-taking, liver damage due to excessive alcohol, medication or drug use.

TLR3 signaling is either protective or pathogenic for the development of Theiler's virus-induced demyelinating disease depending on the time of viral infection

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Jin Young-Hee

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We have previously shown that toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3-mediated signaling plays an important role in the induction of innate cytokine responses to Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV infection. In addition, cytokine levels produced after TMEV infection are significantly higher in the glial cells of susceptible SJL mice compared to those of resistant C57BL/6 mice. However, it is not known whether TLR3-mediated signaling plays a protective or pathogenic role in the development of demyelinating disease. Methods SJL/J and B6;129S-Tlr3tm1Flv/J (TLR3KO-B6 mice, and TLR3KO-SJL mice that TLR3KO-B6 mice were backcrossed to SJL/J mice for 6 generations were infected with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (2 × 105 PFU with or without treatment with 50 μg of poly IC. Cytokine production and immune responses in the CNS and periphery of infected mice were analyzed. Results We investigated the role of TLR3-mediated signaling in the protection and pathogenesis of TMEV-induced demyelinating disease. TLR3KO-B6 mice did not develop demyelinating disease although they displayed elevated viral loads in the CNS. However, TLR3KO-SJL mice displayed increased viral loads and cellular infiltration in the CNS, accompanied by exacerbated development of demyelinating disease, compared to the normal littermate mice. Late, but not early, anti-viral CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in the CNS were compromised in TLR3KO-SJL mice. However, activation of TLR3 with poly IC prior to viral infection also exacerbated disease development, whereas such activation after viral infection restrained disease development. Activation of TLR3 signaling prior to viral infection hindered the induction of protective IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cell populations. In contrast, activation of these signals after viral infection improved the induction of IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. In addition, poly IC-pretreated mice displayed elevated PDL-1 and

Emerging infectious diseases: a guide to diseases, causative agents, and surveillance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Beltz, Lisa A

2011-01-01

"This important resource offers a comprehensive introduction to emerging and reemerging infectious disease, including the underlying mechanisms of microbial emergence, the technology used to detect...

Diagnosing norovirus-associated infectious intestinal disease using viral load

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Tam Clarence C

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR is the main method for laboratory diagnosis of norovirus-associated infectious intestinal disease (IID. However, up to 16% of healthy individuals in the community, with no recent history of IID, may be RT-PCR positive; so it is unclear whether norovirus is actually the cause of illness in an IID case when they are RT-PCR positive. It is important to identify the pathogen causing illness in sporadic IID cases, for clinical management and for community based incidence studies. The aim of this study was to investigate how faecal viral load can be used to determine when norovirus is the most likely cause of illness in an IID case. Methods Real-time RT-PCR was used to determine the viral load in faecal specimens collected from 589 IID cases and 159 healthy controls, who were infected with genogroup II noroviruses. Cycle threshold (Ct values from the real-time RT-PCR were used as a proxy measure of viral load. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC analysis was used to identify a cut-off in viral load for attributing illness to norovirus in IID cases. Results One hundred and sixty-nine IID cases and 159 controls met the inclusion criteria for the ROC analysis. The optimal Ct value cut-off for attributing IID to norovirus was 31. The same cut-off was selected when using healthy controls, or IID cases who were positive by culture for bacterial pathogens, as the reference negative group. This alternative reference negative group can be identified amongst specimens routinely received in clinical virology laboratories. Conclusion We demonstrated that ROC analysis can be used to select a cut-off for a norovirus real time RT-PCR assay, to aid clinical interpretation and diagnose when norovirus is the cause of IID. Specimens routinely received for diagnosis in clinical virology laboratories can be used to select an appropriate cut-off. Individual laboratories can use this method to

Characterization of Viral Communities of Biting Midges and Identification of Novel Thogotovirus Species and Rhabdovirus Genus

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Sarah Temmam

2016-03-01

Full Text Available More than two thirds of emerging viruses are of zoonotic origin, and among them RNA viruses represent the majority. Ceratopogonidae (genus Culicoides are well-known vectors of several viruses responsible for epizooties (bluetongue, epizootic haemorrhagic disease, etc.. They are also vectors of the only known virus infecting humans: the Oropouche virus. Female midges usually feed on a variety of hosts, leading to possible transmission of emerging viruses from animals to humans. In this context, we report here the analysis of RNA viral communities of Senegalese biting midges using next-generation sequencing techniques as a preliminary step toward the identification of potential viral biohazards. Sequencing of the RNA virome of three pools of Culicoides revealed the presence of a significant diversity of viruses infecting plants, insects and mammals. Several novel viruses were detected, including a novel Thogotovirus species, related but genetically distant from previously described tick-borne thogotoviruses. Novel rhabdoviruses were also detected, possibly constituting a novel Rhabdoviridae genus, and putatively restricted to insects. Sequences related to the major viruses transmitted by Culicoides, i.e., African horse sickness, bluetongue and epizootic haemorrhagic disease viruses were also detected. This study highlights the interest in monitoring the emergence and circulation of zoonoses and epizooties using their arthropod vectors.

Characterization of Viral Communities of Biting Midges and Identification of Novel Thogotovirus Species and Rhabdovirus Genus

Science.gov (United States)

Temmam, Sarah; Monteil-Bouchard, Sonia; Robert, Catherine; Baudoin, Jean-Pierre; Sambou, Masse; Aubadie-Ladrix, Maxence; Labas, Noémie; Raoult, Didier; Mediannikov, Oleg; Desnues, Christelle

2016-01-01

More than two thirds of emerging viruses are of zoonotic origin, and among them RNA viruses represent the majority. Ceratopogonidae (genus Culicoides) are well-known vectors of several viruses responsible for epizooties (bluetongue, epizootic haemorrhagic disease, etc.). They are also vectors of the only known virus infecting humans: the Oropouche virus. Female midges usually feed on a variety of hosts, leading to possible transmission of emerging viruses from animals to humans. In this context, we report here the analysis of RNA viral communities of Senegalese biting midges using next-generation sequencing techniques as a preliminary step toward the identification of potential viral biohazards. Sequencing of the RNA virome of three pools of Culicoides revealed the presence of a significant diversity of viruses infecting plants, insects and mammals. Several novel viruses were detected, including a novel Thogotovirus species, related but genetically distant from previously described tick-borne thogotoviruses. Novel rhabdoviruses were also detected, possibly constituting a novel Rhabdoviridae genus, and putatively restricted to insects. Sequences related to the major viruses transmitted by Culicoides, i.e., African horse sickness, bluetongue and epizootic haemorrhagic disease viruses were also detected. This study highlights the interest in monitoring the emergence and circulation of zoonoses and epizooties using their arthropod vectors. PMID:26978389

Protection against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease with recombinant myxoma viruses expressing rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus capsid protein.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertagnoli, S; Gelfi, J; Le Gall, G; Boilletot, E; Vautherot, J F; Rasschaert, D; Laurent, S; Petit, F; Boucraut-Baralon, C; Milon, A

1996-08-01

Two myxoma virus-rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) recombinant viruses were constructed with the SG33 strain of myxoma virus to protect rabbits against myxomatosis and rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease. These recombinant viruses expressed the RHDV capsid protein (VP60). The recombinant protein, which is 60 kDa in size, was antigenic, as revealed by its reaction in immunoprecipitation with antibodies raised against RHDV. Both recombinant viruses induced high levels of RHDV- and myxoma virus-specific antibodies in rabbits after immunization. Inoculations by the intradermal route protected animals against virulent RHDV and myxoma virus challenges.

Viral gastroenteritis in daily pediatric practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kracmarova, R.; Plisek, S.

2011-01-01

Diarrhoeal disease is one of the most common causes of an acute examination and hospitalisation of a child. Portion of a viral etiology of intestinal diseases is increasing in connection with an improvement of social and economical conditions. The most common viral agents are rotaviruses, caliciviruses, adenoviruses and astroviruses, but also other viruses cause an intestinal disease. The most severe clinical course is expected from the rotaviral and noroviral infection. The dehydratation, which could be less or more severe, often complicated the infection. The treatment is symptomatic. The most important role for the prevention of rotavirus disease is played by the vaccination. (author)

Multi-taxa integrated landscape genetics for zoonotic infectious diseases: deciphering variables influencing disease emergence.

Science.gov (United States)

Leo, Sarah S T; Gonzalez, Andrew; Millien, Virginie

2016-05-01

Zoonotic disease transmission systems involve sets of species interacting with each other and their environment. This complexity impedes development of disease monitoring and control programs that require reliable identification of spatial and biotic variables and mechanisms facilitating disease emergence. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a framework that simultaneously examines all species involved in disease emergence by integrating concepts and methods from population genetics, landscape ecology, and spatial statistics. Multi-taxa integrated landscape genetics (MTILG) can reveal how interspecific interactions and landscape variables influence disease emergence patterns. We test the potential of our MTILG-based framework by modelling the emergence of a disease system across multiple species dispersal, interspecific interaction, and landscape scenarios. Our simulations showed that both interspecific-dependent dispersal patterns and landscape characteristics significantly influenced disease spread. Using our framework, we were able to detect statistically similar inter-population genetic differences and highly correlated spatial genetic patterns that imply species-dependent dispersal. Additionally, species that were assigned coupled-dispersal patterns were affected to the same degree by similar landscape variables. This study underlines the importance of an integrated approach to investigating emergence of disease systems. MTILG is a robust approach for such studies and can identify potential avenues for targeted disease management strategies.

A History of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2015-03-17

EID Editor-in-Chief, Dr. D. Peter Drotman and Dr. James Hughes discuss the history of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.  Created: 3/17/2015 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 3/17/2015.

Viral hepatitis vaccination during pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yueyuan; Jin, Hui; Zhang, Xuefeng; Wang, Bei; Liu, Pei

2016-04-02

Viral hepatitis is a serious global public health problem. It is also a common cause of jaundice and gestational complications in pregnant women. Moreover, infected mothers can transmit the virus to their fetus or neonate, which may increase disease burden and decrease quality of life. To date, commercial vaccines have been developed for hepatitis A, B, and E and are available to the general population. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices currently accepts emergency vaccination against hepatitis A and B during pregnancy due to benefits that overweight the potential risks. While there are limited data from trials with limited numbers of samples that suggest the efficacy or safety of hepatitis B and E vaccines in pregnant women, additional data are necessary to provide evidence of vaccination during pregnancy.

Emerging arboviral human diseases in Southern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Papa, Anna

2017-08-01

Southern Europe is characterized by unique landscape and climate which attract tourists, but also arthropod vectors, some of them carrying pathogens. Among several arboviral diseases that emerged in the region during the last decade, West Nile fever accounted for high number of human cases and fatalities, while Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever expanded its geographic distribution, and is considered as a real threat for Europe. Viruses evolve rapidly and acquire mutations making themselves stronger and naive populations more vulnerable. In an effort to tackle efficiently the emerging arboviral diseases, preparedness and strategic surveillance are needed for the early detection of the pathogen and containment and mitigation of probable outbreaks. In this review, the main human arboviral diseases that emerged in Southern Europe are described. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Redefining disease emergence to improve prioritization and macro-ecological analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samantha R. Rosenthal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Microbial infections are as old as the hosts they sicken, but interest in the emergence of pathogens and the diseases they cause has been accelerating rapidly. The term ‘emerging infectious disease’ was coined in the mid-1900s to describe changes in disease dynamics in the modern era. Both the term and the phenomena it is meant to characterize have evolved and diversified over time, leading to inconsistencies and confusion. Here, we review the evolution of the term ‘emerging infectious disease’ (EID in the literature as applied to human hosts. We examine the pathways (e.g., speciation or strain differentiation in the causative agent vs. rapid geographic expansion of an existing pathogen by which diseases emerge. We propose a new framework for disease and pathogen emergence to improve prioritization. And we illustrate how the operational definition of an EID affects conclusions concerning the pathways by which diseases emerge and the ecological and socioeconomic drivers that elicit emergence. As EIDs appear to be increasing globally, and resources for science level off or decline, the research community is pushed to prioritize its focus on the most threatening diseases, riskiest potential pathogens, and the places they occur. The working definition of emerging infectious diseases and pathogens plays a crucial role in prioritization, but we argue that the current definitions may be impeding these efforts. We propose a new framework for classifying pathogens and diseases as “emerging” that distinguishes EIDs from emerging pathogens and novel potential pathogens. We suggest prioritization of: 1 EIDs for adaptation and mitigation, 2 emerging pathogens for preventive measures, and 3 novel potential pathogens for intensive surveillance.

Viral marketing as epidemiological model

OpenAIRE

Rodrigues, Helena Sofia; Fonseca, Manuel

2015-01-01

In epidemiology, an epidemic is defined as the spread of an infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time. In the marketing context, a message is viral when it is broadly sent and received by the target market through person-to-person transmission. This specific marketing communication strategy is commonly referred as viral marketing. Due to this similarity between an epidemic and the viral marketing process and because the understanding of...

Disease elimination and re-emergence in differential-equation models.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenhalgh, Scott; Galvani, Alison P; Medlock, Jan

2015-12-21

Traditional differential equation models of disease transmission are often used to predict disease trajectories and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies. However, such models cannot account explicitly for probabilistic events, such as those that dominate dynamics when disease prevalence is low during the elimination and re-emergence phases of an outbreak. To account for the dynamics at low prevalence, i.e. the elimination and risk of disease re-emergence, without the added analytical and computational complexity of a stochastic model, we develop a novel application of control theory. We apply our approach to analyze historical data of measles elimination and re-emergence in Iceland from 1923 to 1938, predicting the temporal trajectory of local measles elimination and re-emerge as a result of disease migration from Copenhagen, Denmark. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

COMPARATIVE RESULTS OF LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH VIRAL CIRRHOSIS AND AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASES AT A SINGLE CENTER

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O.A Gerasimova

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Russian Scientist Centre for Radiology and Surgical Technology has sufficient experience of orthotopic liver transplantation (100 OLT, which allowed comparing the outcomes of the terminal stages of liver disease in the two most numerous groups of patients: viral cirrhosis (VH and autoimmune liver diseases (AILD. Despite the fact that patients with VH indicator of urgency performing OLT (MELD lower, rate of deaths on the waiting list higher than AILD, due to more favorable course of immune disease. After OLT significant differences during the early and last posttransplant periods were not found, although the recurrences of viral hepatitis are recorded much more frequently than AILD. One-year and a three-year survival rates were comparable. To prevent reinfection of the hepatitis B successfully used nucleoside analogues (telbivudine, which allowed minimizing recurrence of the disease. Prevention and treatment of hepatitis C after the OLT is a relevant problem, despite the low efficiency of antiviral therapy. Relapses AILD not represent a real threat to the life of the patients, because the modification of immunosuppressive therapy can limit the progression of the disease. 

Multiplex diagnosis of viral infectious diseases (AIDS, hepatitis C, and hepatitis A) based on point of care lateral flow assay using engineered proteinticles.

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Lee, Jong-Hwan; Seo, Hyuk Seong; Kwon, Jung-Hyuk; Kim, Hee-Tae; Kwon, Koo Chul; Sim, Sang Jun; Cha, Young Joo; Lee, Jeewon

2015-07-15

Lateral flow assay (LFA) is an attractive method for rapid, simple, and cost-effective point of care diagnosis. For LFA-based multiplex diagnosis of three viral intractable diseases (acquired immune deficiency syndrome and hepatitis C and A), here we developed proteinticle-based 7 different 3D probes that display different viral antigens on their surface, which were synthesized in Escherichia coli by self-assembly of human ferritin heavy chain that was already engineered by genetically linking viral antigens to its C-terminus. Each of the three test lines on LFA strip contains the proteinticle probes to detect disease-specific anti-viral antibodies. Compared to peptide probes, the proteinticle probes were evidently more sensitive, and the proteinticle probe-based LFA successfully diagnosed all the 20 patient sera per each disease without a false negative signal, whereas the diagnostic sensitivities in the peptide probe-based LFAs were 65-90%. Duplex and triplex assays performed with randomly mixed patient sera gave only true positive signals for all the 20 serum mixtures without any false positive signals, indicating 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. It seems that on the proteinticle surface the antigenic peptides have homogeneous orientation and conformation without inter-peptide clustering and hence lead to the enhanced diagnostic performance with solving the problems of traditional diagnostic probes. Although the multiplex diagnosis of three viral diseases above was demonstrated as proof-of-concept here, the proposed LFA system can be applied to multiplex point of care diagnosis of other intractable diseases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recombination between poliovirus and coxsackie A viruses of species C: a model of viral genetic plasticity and emergence.

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Combelas, Nicolas; Holmblat, Barbara; Joffret, Marie-Line; Colbère-Garapin, Florence; Delpeyroux, Francis

2011-08-01

Genetic recombination in RNA viruses was discovered many years ago for poliovirus (PV), an enterovirus of the Picornaviridae family, and studied using PV or other picornaviruses as models. Recently, recombination was shown to be a general phenomenon between different types of enteroviruses of the same species. In particular, the interest for this mechanism of genetic plasticity was renewed with the emergence of pathogenic recombinant circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs), which were implicated in poliomyelitis outbreaks in several regions of the world with insufficient vaccination coverage. Most of these cVDPVs had mosaic genomes constituted of mutated poliovaccine capsid sequences and part or all of the non-structural sequences from other human enteroviruses of species C (HEV-C), in particular coxsackie A viruses. A study in Madagascar showed that recombinant cVDPVs had been co-circulating in a small population of children with many different HEV-C types. This viral ecosystem showed a surprising and extensive biodiversity associated to several types and recombinant genotypes, indicating that intertypic genetic recombination was not only a mechanism of evolution for HEV-C, but an usual mode of genetic plasticity shaping viral diversity. Results suggested that recombination may be, in conjunction with mutations, implicated in the phenotypic diversity of enterovirus strains and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains. Nevertheless, little is known about the rules and mechanisms which govern genetic exchanges between HEV-C types, as well as about the importance of intertypic recombination in generating phenotypic variation. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the mechanisms of evolution of PV, in particular recombination events leading to the emergence of recombinant cVDPVs.

Recombination between Poliovirus and Coxsackie A Viruses of Species C: A Model of Viral Genetic Plasticity and Emergence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francis Delpeyroux

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Genetic recombination in RNA viruses was discovered many years ago for poliovirus (PV, an enterovirus of the Picornaviridae family, and studied using PV or other picornaviruses as models. Recently, recombination was shown to be a general phenomenon between different types of enteroviruses of the same species. In particular, the interest for this mechanism of genetic plasticity was renewed with the emergence of pathogenic recombinant circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs, which were implicated in poliomyelitis outbreaks in several regions of the world with insufficient vaccination coverage. Most of these cVDPVs had mosaic genomes constituted of mutated poliovaccine capsid sequences and part or all of the non-structural sequences from other human enteroviruses of species C (HEV-C, in particular coxsackie A viruses. A study in Madagascar showed that recombinant cVDPVs had been co-circulating in a small population of children with many different HEV-C types. This viral ecosystem showed a surprising and extensive biodiversity associated to several types and recombinant genotypes, indicating that intertypic genetic recombination was not only a mechanism of evolution for HEV-C, but an usual mode of genetic plasticity shaping viral diversity. Results suggested that recombination may be, in conjunction with mutations, implicated in the phenotypic diversity of enterovirus strains and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains. Nevertheless, little is known about the rules and mechanisms which govern genetic exchanges between HEV-C types, as well as about the importance of intertypic recombination in generating phenotypic variation. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the mechanisms of evolution of PV, in particular recombination events leading to the emergence of recombinant cVDPVs.

Emerging Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy.

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Beigi, Richard H

2017-05-01

It has been recognized for centuries that pregnant women have unique susceptibilities to many infectious diseases that predispose them to untoward outcomes compared with the general adult population. It is thought a combination of adaptive alterations in immunity to allow for the fetal allograft combined with changes in anatomy and physiology accompanying pregnancy underlie these susceptibilities. Emerging infectious diseases are defined as those whose incidence in humans has increased in the past two decades or threaten to increase in the near future. The past decade alone has witnessed many such outbreaks, each with its own unique implications for pregnant women and their unborn fetuses as well as lessons for the health care community regarding response and mitigation. Examples of such outbreaks include, but are not limited to, severe acute respiratory syndrome, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza, Ebola virus, and, most recently, the Zika virus. Although each emerging pathogen has unique features requiring specific considerations, there are many underlying principles that are shared in the recognition, communication, and mitigation of such infectious outbreaks. Some of these key principles include disease-specific delineation of transmission dynamics, understanding of pathogen-specific effects on both mothers and fetuses, and advance planning and contemporaneous management that prioritize communication among public health experts, clinicians, and patients. The productive and effective working collaboration among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine has been a key partnership in the successful communication and management of such outbreaks for women's health care providers and patients alike. Going forward, the knowledge gained over the past decade will undoubtedly continue to inform future responses and will serve to optimize the education and care given

A Brief Review of Viral and Bacterial Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Colorectal Practice

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Nabi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Context Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs are a common source of presentation to colorectal surgeons. Clinicians need to remain mindful of the possibility of STDs when faced with atypical clinical presentations. This article aims to provide surgeons with a synopsis of common pathogens, their clinical presentations, diagnostic investigations and treatment regimens. Evidence Acquisition The most common bacterial pathogens include Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea with synchronous infections at presentation occurring frequently. Patients often present with proctitis. Gonorrhea patients can also experience bloody purulent perianal discharge. Less common bacterial pathogens include syphilis, chancroid and donovanosis. The commonest STD worldwide remains human papillomavirus. Given its vast array of subtypes its manifestations include benign hyperproliferative lesions like perianal warts and extend to anal intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cell carcinoma. Other important viral infections of the anorectum include human immunodeficiency virus and subsequent acquired immune deficiency disease as well as herpes simplex virus and molluscum contangiosum. Results Debate exists whether the increasing incidence of STDs affecting the anorectum reported in western literature represents a real increase or a reflection of greater patient and clinician recognition and reporting. Conclusions Regardless, a broad understanding of common bacterial and viral pathogens remains important part of modern colorectal practice. Remaining mindful of the manifestations of these common pathogens, options for diagnosis and management are important in disease control to limit the impact of these pathogens across the wider community.

The Role of Interferon Antagonist, Non-Structural Proteins in the Pathogenesis and Emergence of Arboviruses

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Samantha S. Soldan

2011-06-01

Full Text Available A myriad of factors favor the emergence and re-emergence of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses, including migration, climate change, intensified livestock production, an increasing volume of international trade and transportation, and changes to ecosystems (e.g., deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Consequently, arboviruses are distributed worldwide and represent over 30% of all emerging infectious diseases identified in the past decade. Although some arboviral infections go undetected or are associated with mild, flu-like symptoms, many are important human and veterinary pathogens causing serious illnesses such as arthritis, gastroenteritis, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever and devastating economic loss as a consequence of lost productivity and high mortality rates among livestock. One of the most consistent molecular features of emerging arboviruses, in addition to their near exclusive use of RNA genomes, is the inclusion of viral, non-structural proteins that act as interferon antagonists. In this review, we describe these interferon antagonists and common strategies that arboviruses use to counter the host innate immune response. In addition, we discuss the complex interplay between host factors and viral determinants that are associated with virus emergence and re-emergence, and identify potential targets for vaccine and anti-viral therapies.

Both cis and trans Activities of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus 3D Polymerase Are Essential for Viral RNA Replication.

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Herod, Morgan R; Ferrer-Orta, Cristina; Loundras, Eleni-Anna; Ward, Joseph C; Verdaguer, Nuria; Rowlands, David J; Stonehouse, Nicola J

2016-08-01

The Picornaviridae is a large family of positive-sense RNA viruses that contains numerous human and animal pathogens, including foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The picornavirus replication complex comprises a coordinated network of protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions involving multiple viral and host-cellular factors. Many of the proteins within the complex possess multiple roles in viral RNA replication, some of which can be provided in trans (i.e., via expression from a separate RNA molecule), while others are required in cis (i.e., expressed from the template RNA molecule). In vitro studies have suggested that multiple copies of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) 3D are involved in the viral replication complex. However, it is not clear whether all these molecules are catalytically active or what other function(s) they provide. In this study, we aimed to distinguish between catalytically active 3D molecules and those that build a replication complex. We report a novel nonenzymatic cis-acting function of 3D that is essential for viral-genome replication. Using an FMDV replicon in complementation experiments, our data demonstrate that this cis-acting role of 3D is distinct from the catalytic activity, which is predominantly trans acting. Immunofluorescence studies suggest that both cis- and trans-acting 3D molecules localize to the same cellular compartment. However, our genetic and structural data suggest that 3D interacts in cis with RNA stem-loops that are essential for viral RNA replication. This study identifies a previously undescribed aspect of picornavirus replication complex structure-function and an important methodology for probing such interactions further. Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an important animal pathogen responsible for foot-and-mouth disease. The disease is endemic in many parts of the world with outbreaks within livestock resulting in major economic losses. Propagation of the viral genome occurs within

Emergence and resurgence of the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (Novirhabdovirus, Rhabdoviridae, Mononegavirales

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Robert Kim

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV is one of the most serious pathogens of finfish worldwide in terms of its wide host-range, pathogenicity, disease course, and mortality rates. The disease was first documented in the 1930s in Europe in association with heavy losses in rainbow. Data collected over 50 years show that VHSV is a virus of marine origin: its ability to alternate between marine and freshwater environments remains an enigma which requires further investigation. In 2003, VHSV invaded the Laurentian Great Lakes basin causing devastating losses. VHSV is believed to have negative impacts on a number of important Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes fish species. Phylogenetic analysis has offered clues into the geographic and host range of the virus, but sporadic outbreaks of the disease in uncommon locations have imparted unforeseen challenges in delineating the virus’ regional distribution. The virus’ ability to gain access to aquaculture farms has also positioned it as a disease of utmost priority once detected in these settings. Current diagnostic methods, while greatly improved, are hampered by the variability of disease course among susceptible species. In general, VHSV causes severe degeneration in the hematopoietic tissues of affected fish. Based on historical and current data, it is feared that VHSV will continue to mutate, expand to other geographic areas, and infect new host species. As a result, immediate international attention and coordination of efforts are needed. The objective of this review article is to provide an updated synopsis on the current status of VHSV epizootiology and pathogenicity.

The future of emerging disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debell, R. M.

2009-01-01

A recent study has demonstrated that the numbers of emerging infectious diseases has risen dramatically since 1940. Two processes are responsible: microbial adaptation that results in human infection and human exposure to newly adapted microbes that occurs for several reasons including increased human intrusion into tropical forests, lack of access to health care, population growth and changes in demographics, inadequate and deteriorating public health infrastructure, misuse of antimicrobial drugs, urbanization and crowding, modern travel, and increased trade and expanded markets for imported foods. For more than 40 years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been almost impossible to treat. In a recent worldwide study, 54.3 percent of emerging bacterial infections resulted from drug adaptation resistance. Serious diarrheal infections caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 have become frequent in the U.S. From May 27th to July 1st, 2008, 49 infections occurred in the U.S., and 27 were hospitalized. From its inception in 2003, SARS has resulted in more than 8000 cases and 774 deaths. In 1999, West Nile virus appeared initially in New York City. By 2004 this virus was found in birds and mosquitoes in 48 states and by 2007 in the U.S., there were 3,630 cases including 124 deaths. Before December 1st, 1981, no one ever heard of HIV. It is estimated that 25 million people have died of AIDS. Each emergent disease has its own history of recognition, spread, and severity. Through this review, the future of emergent disease is characterized as highly dependent upon the convergence of human exposures in a modern world and microbial adaptation.(author)

Monitoring emerging diseases of fish and shellfish using electronic sources.

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Thrush, M A; Dunn, P L; Peeler, E J

2012-10-01

New and emerging fish and shellfish diseases represent an important constraint to the growth and sustainability of many aquaculture sectors and have also caused substantial economic and environmental impacts in wild stocks. This paper details the results of 8 years of a monitoring programme for emerging aquatic animal diseases reported around the world. The objectives were to track global occurrences and, more specifically, to identify and provide advanced warning of disease threats that may affect wild and farmed fish stocks in the UK. A range of electronic information sources, including Internet newsletters, alerting services and news agency releases, was systematically searched for reports of new diseases, new presentations of known pathogens and known diseases occurring in new geographic locations or new host species. A database was established to log the details of key findings, and 250 emerging disease events in 52 countries were recorded during the period of study. These included 14 new diseases and a further 16 known diseases in new species. Viruses and parasites accounted for the majority of reports (55% and 24%, respectively), and known diseases occurring in new locations were the most important emerging disease category (in which viruses were dominant). Emerging diseases were reported disproportionally in salmonid species (33%), in farmed populations (62%) and in Europe and North America (80%). The lack of reports from some regions with significant aquaculture or fishery production may indicate that emerging diseases are not being recognized in these areas owing to insufficient surveillance or testing or that these events are being under-reported. The results are discussed in relation to processes underpinning disease emergence in the aquatic environment. © 2011 Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science.

Emerging and re-emerging bacterial diseases in India

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

PRAKASH KUMAR

et al (2003) have discussed the epidemiology of V. cholerae and Aeromonas in a five year prospective study in Mumbai. 3.3 Listeria monocytogenes. Listerosis is an emerging zoonotic disease. It is estimated that L. monocytogenes is responsible for 28% deaths due to foodborne illnesses in the United States. The organism.

Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife: a critical perspective.

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Tompkins, Daniel M; Carver, Scott; Jones, Menna E; Krkošek, Martin; Skerratt, Lee F

2015-04-01

We review the literature to distinguish reports of vertebrate wildlife disease emergence with sufficient evidence, enabling a robust assessment of emergence drivers. For potentially emerging agents that cannot be confirmed, sufficient data on prior absence (or a prior difference in disease dynamics) are frequently lacking. Improved surveillance, particularly for neglected host taxa, geographical regions and infectious agents, would enable more effective management should emergence occur. Exposure to domestic sources of infection and human-assisted exposure to wild sources were identified as the two main drivers of emergence across host taxa; the domestic source was primary for fish while the wild source was primary for other taxa. There was generally insufficient evidence for major roles of other hypothesized drivers of emergence. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emerging vector borne diseases – incidence through vectors

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Sara eSavic

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Vector borne diseases use to be a major public health concern only in tropical and subtropical areas, but today they are an emerging threat for the continental and developed countries also. Nowdays, in intercontinetal countries, there is a struggle with emerging diseases which have found their way to appear through vectors. Vector borne zoonotic diseases occur when vectors, animal hosts, climate conditions, pathogens and susceptible human population exist at the same time, at the same place. Global climate change is predicted to lead to an increase in vector borne infectious diseases and disease outbreaks. It could affect the range and popultion of pathogens, host and vectors, transmission season, etc. Reliable surveilance for diseases that are most likely to emerge is required. Canine vector borne diseases represent a complex group of diseases including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, bartonellosis, borreliosis, dirofilariosis, erlichiosis, leishmaniosis. Some of these diseases cause serious clinical symptoms in dogs and some of them have a zoonotic potential with an effect to public health. It is expected from veterinarians in coordination with medical doctors to play a fudamental role at primeraly prevention and then treatment of vector borne diseases in dogs. The One Health concept has to be integrated into the struggle against emerging diseases.During a four year period, from 2009-2013, a total number of 551 dog samples were analysed for vector borne diseases (borreliosis, babesiosis, erlichiosis, anaplasmosis, dirofilariosis and leishmaniasis in routine laboratory work. The analysis were done by serological tests – ELISA for borreliosis, dirofilariosis and leishmaniasis, modified Knott test for dirofilariosis and blood smear for babesiosis, erlichiosis and anaplasmosis. This number of samples represented 75% of total number of samples that were sent for analysis for different diseases in dogs. Annually, on avarege more then half of the samples

The global burden of viral hepatitis from 1990 to 2013: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

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Stanaway, Jeffrey D; Flaxman, Abraham D; Naghavi, Mohsen; Fitzmaurice, Christina; Vos, Theo; Abubakar, Ibrahim; Abu-Raddad, Laith J; Assadi, Reza; Bhala, Neeraj; Cowie, Benjamin; Forouzanfour, Mohammad H; Groeger, Justina; Hanafiah, Khayriyyah Mohd; Jacobsen, Kathryn H; James, Spencer L; MacLachlan, Jennifer; Malekzadeh, Reza; Martin, Natasha K; Mokdad, Ali A; Mokdad, Ali H; Murray, Christopher J L; Plass, Dietrich; Rana, Saleem; Rein, David B; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Sanabria, Juan; Saylan, Mete; Shahraz, Saeid; So, Samuel; Vlassov, Vasiliy V; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Wiersma, Steven T; Younis, Mustafa; Yu, Chuanhua; Zaki, Maysaa El Sayed; Cooke, Graham S

2016-01-01

Summary Background With recent improvements in vaccines and treatments against viral hepatitis, an improved understanding of the burden of viral hepatitis is needed to inform global intervention strategies. We used data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study to estimate morbidity and mortality for acute viral hepatitis, and for cirrhosis and liver cancer caused by viral hepatitis, by age, sex, and country from 1990 to 2013. Methods We estimated mortality using natural history models for acute hepatitis infections and GBD’s cause-of-death ensemble model for cirrhosis and liver cancer. We used meta-regression to estimate total cirrhosis and total liver cancer prevalence, as well as the proportion of cirrhosis and liver cancer attributable to each cause. We then estimated cause-specific prevalence as the product of the total prevalence and the proportion attributable to a specific cause. Disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were calculated as the sum of years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs). Findings Between 1990 and 2013, global viral hepatitis deaths increased from 0·89 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·86–0·94) to 1·45 million (1·38–1·54); YLLs from 31·0 million (29·6–32·6) to 41·6 million (39·1–44·7); YLDs from 0·65 million (0·45–0·89) to 0·87 million (0·61–1·18); and DALYs from 31·7 million (30·2–33·3) to 42·5 million (39·9–45·6). In 2013, viral hepatitis was the seventh (95% UI seventh to eighth) leading cause of death worldwide, compared with tenth (tenth to 12th) in 1990. Interpretation Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Unlike most communicable diseases, the absolute burden and relative rank of viral hepatitis increased between 1990 and 2013. The enormous health loss attributable to viral hepatitis, and the availability of effective vaccines and treatments, suggests an important opportunity to improve public health. Funding Bill & Melinda

p53 Activation following Rift Valley fever virus infection contributes to cell death and viral production.

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Dana Austin

Full Text Available Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV is an emerging viral zoonosis that is responsible for devastating outbreaks among livestock and is capable of causing potentially fatal disease in humans. Studies have shown that upon infection, certain viruses have the capability of utilizing particular cellular signaling pathways to propagate viral infection. Activation of p53 is important for the DNA damage signaling cascade, initiation of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and transcriptional regulation of multiple genes. The current study focuses on the role of p53 signaling in RVFV infection and viral replication. These results show an up-regulation of p53 phosphorylation at several serine sites after RVFV MP-12 infection that is highly dependent on the viral protein NSs. qRT-PCR data showed a transcriptional up-regulation of several p53 targeted genes involved in cell cycle and apoptosis regulation following RVFV infection. Cell viability assays demonstrate that loss of p53 results in less RVFV induced cell death. Furthermore, decreased viral titers in p53 null cells indicate that RVFV utilizes p53 to enhance viral production. Collectively, these experiments indicate that the p53 signaling pathway is utilized during RVFV infection to induce cell death and increase viral production.

Modeling viral coevolution: HIV multi-clonal persistence and competition dynamics

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Bagnoli, F.; Liò, P.; Sguanci, L.

2006-07-01

The coexistence of different viral strains (quasispecies) within the same host are nowadays observed for a growing number of viruses, most notably HIV, Marburg and Ebola, but the conditions for the formation and survival of new strains have not yet been understood. We present a model of HIV quasispecies competition, which describes the conditions of viral quasispecies coexistence under different immune system conditions. Our model incorporates both T and B cells responses, and we show that the role of B cells is important and additive to that of T cells. Simulations of coinfection (simultaneous infection) and superinfection (delayed secondary infection) scenarios in the early stages (days) and in the late stages of the infection (years) are in agreement with emerging molecular biology findings. The immune response induces a competition among similar phenotypes, leading to differentiation (quasispeciation), escape dynamics and complex oscillations of viral strain abundance. We found that the quasispecies dynamics after superinfection or coinfection has time scales of several months and becomes even slower when the immune system response is weak. Our model represents a general framework to study the speed and distribution of HIV quasispecies during disease progression, vaccination and therapy.

Host and viral ecology determine bat rabies seasonality and maintenance

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George, D.B.; Webb, C.T.; Farnsworth, Matthew L.; O'Shea, T.J.; Bowen, R.A.; Smith, D.L.; Stanley, T.R.; Ellison, L.E.; Rupprecht, C.E.

2011-01-01

Rabies is an acute viral infection that is typically fatal. Most rabies modeling has focused on disease dynamics and control within terrestrial mammals (e.g., raccoons and foxes). As such, rabies in bats has been largely neglected until recently. Because bats have been implicated as natural reservoirs for several emerging zoonotic viruses, including SARS-like corona viruses, henipaviruses, and lyssaviruses, understanding how pathogens are maintained within a population becomes vital. Unfortunately, little is known about maintenance mechanisms for any pathogen in bat populations. We present a mathematical model parameterized with unique data from an extensive study of rabies in a Colorado population of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to elucidate general maintenance mechanisms. We propose that life history patterns of many species of temperate-zone bats, coupled with sufficiently long incubation periods, allows for rabies virus maintenance. Seasonal variability in bat mortality rates, specifically low mortality during hibernation, allows long-term bat population viability. Within viable bat populations, sufficiently long incubation periods allow enough infected individuals to enter hibernation and survive until the following year, and hence avoid an epizootic fadeout of rabies virus. We hypothesize that the slowing effects of hibernation on metabolic and viral activity maintains infected individuals and their pathogens until susceptibles from the annual birth pulse become infected and continue the cycle. This research provides a context to explore similar host ecology and viral dynamics that may explain seasonal patterns and maintenance of other bat-borne diseases.

Internet-based surveillance systems for monitoring emerging infectious diseases.

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Milinovich, Gabriel J; Williams, Gail M; Clements, Archie C A; Hu, Wenbiao

2014-02-01

Emerging infectious diseases present a complex challenge to public health officials and governments; these challenges have been compounded by rapidly shifting patterns of human behaviour and globalisation. The increase in emerging infectious diseases has led to calls for new technologies and approaches for detection, tracking, reporting, and response. Internet-based surveillance systems offer a novel and developing means of monitoring conditions of public health concern, including emerging infectious diseases. We review studies that have exploited internet use and search trends to monitor two such diseases: influenza and dengue. Internet-based surveillance systems have good congruence with traditional surveillance approaches. Additionally, internet-based approaches are logistically and economically appealing. However, they do not have the capacity to replace traditional surveillance systems; they should not be viewed as an alternative, but rather an extension. Future research should focus on using data generated through internet-based surveillance and response systems to bolster the capacity of traditional surveillance systems for emerging infectious diseases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the synonymous codon usage bias in recently emerged enterovirus D68 strains.

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Karniychuk, Uladzimir U

2016-09-02

Understanding the codon usage pattern of a pathogen and relationship between pathogen and host's codon usage patterns has fundamental and applied interests. Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is an emerging pathogen with a potentially high public health significance. In the present study, the synonymous codon usage bias of 27 recently emerged, and historical EV-D68 strains was analyzed. In contrast to previously studied enteroviruses (enterovirus 71 and poliovirus), EV-D68 and human host have a high discrepancy between favored codons. Analysis of viral synonymous codon usage bias metrics, viral nucleotide/dinucleotide compositional parameters, and viral protein properties showed that mutational pressure is more involved in shaping the synonymous codon usage bias of EV-D68 than translation selection. Computation of codon adaptation indices allowed to estimate expression potential of the EV-D68 genome in several commonly used laboratory animals. This approach requires experimental validation and may provide an auxiliary tool for the rational selection of laboratory animals to model emerging viral diseases. Enterovirus D68 genome compositional and codon usage data can be useful for further pathogenesis, animal model, and vaccine design studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a Phylogenetic Marker Based on Genomic Segment B of Infectious Bursal Disease Virus: Facilitating a Feasible Incorporation of this Segment to the Molecular Epidemiology Studies for this Viral Agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfonso-Morales, Abdulahi; Rios, Liliam; Martínez-Pérez, Orlando; Dolz, Roser; Valle, Rosa; Perera, Carmen L; Bertran, Kateri; Frías, Maria T; Ganges, Llilianne; Díaz de Arce, Heidy; Majó, Natàlia; Núñez, José I; Pérez, Lester J

2015-01-01

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is a highly contagious and acute viral disease, which has caused high mortality rates in birds and considerable economic losses in different parts of the world for more than two decades and it still represents a considerable threat to poultry. The current study was designed to rigorously measure the reliability of a phylogenetic marker included into segment B. This marker can facilitate molecular epidemiology studies, incorporating this segment of the viral genome, to better explain the links between emergence, spreading and maintenance of the very virulent IBD virus (vvIBDV) strains worldwide. Sequences of the segment B gene from IBDV strains isolated from diverse geographic locations were obtained from the GenBank Database; Cuban sequences were obtained in the current work. A phylogenetic marker named B-marker was assessed by different phylogenetic principles such as saturation of substitution, phylogenetic noise and high consistency. This last parameter is based on the ability of B-marker to reconstruct the same topology as the complete segment B of the viral genome. From the results obtained from B-marker, demographic history for both main lineages of IBDV regarding segment B was performed by Bayesian skyline plot analysis. Phylogenetic analysis for both segments of IBDV genome was also performed, revealing the presence of a natural reassortant strain with segment A from vvIBDV strains and segment B from non-vvIBDV strains within Cuban IBDV population. This study contributes to a better understanding of the emergence of vvIBDV strains, describing molecular epidemiology of IBDV using the state-of-the-art methodology concerning phylogenetic reconstruction. This study also revealed the presence of a novel natural reassorted strain as possible manifest of change in the genetic structure and stability of the vvIBDV strains. Therefore, it highlights the need to obtain information about both genome segments of IBDV for molecular

[Establishment of response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Chun-Li, C; Le-Ping, S; Qing-Biao, H; Bian-Li, X U; Bo, Z; Jian-Bing, L; Dan-Dan, L; Shi-Zhu, L I; Oning, X; Xiao-Nong, Z

2017-08-14

China's prevention and control of parasitic diseases has made remarkable achievements. However, the prevalence and transmission of parasitic diseases is impacted by the complicated natural and social factors of environment, natural disasters, population movements, and so on. Therefore, there are still the risks of the outbreak of emergency parasitic diseases affairs, which may affect the control effectiveness of parasitic diseases and endanger the social stability seriously. In this article, we aim at the analysis of typical cases of emergency parasitic disease affairs and their impacts on public health security in China in recently years, and we also elaborate the disposal characteristics of emergency parasitic disease affairs, and propose the establishment of response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs in China, including the organizational structure and response flow path, and in addition, point out that, in the future, we should strengthen the system construction and measures of the response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs, so as to control the risk and harm of parasitic disease spread as much as possible and to realize the early intervention and proper disposal of emergency parasitic disease affairs.

The contribution of viral hepatitis to the burden of chronic liver disease in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Henry W; Utuama, Ovie A; Klevens, Monina; Teshale, Eyasu; Hughes, Elizabeth; Jiles, Ruth

2014-03-01

Chronic liver disease (CLD) is increasingly recognized as a major public health problem. However, in the United States, there are few nationally representative data on the contribution of viral hepatitis as an etiology of CLD. We applied a previously used International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification-based definition of CLD cases to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey databases for 2006-2010. We estimated the mean number of CLD visits per year, prevalence ratio of visits by patient characteristics, and the percentage of CLD visits attributed to viral hepatitis and other selected etiologies. An estimated 6.0 billion ambulatory care visits occurred in the United States from 2006 to 2010, of which an estimated 25.8 million (0.43%) were CLD-related. Among adults aged 45-64 years, Medicaid and Medicare recipients were 3.9 (prevalence ratio (PR)=3.9, 95% confidence limit (CL; 2.8, 5.4)) and 2.3 (PR=2.3, 95% CL (1.6, 3.4)) times more likely to have a CLD-related ambulatory visit than those with private insurance, respectively. In the United States, from 2006 to 2010, an estimated 49.6% of all CLD-related ambulatory visits were attributed solely to viral hepatitis B and C diagnoses. In this unique application of health-care utilization data, we confirm that viral hepatitis is an important etiology of CLD in the United States, with hepatitis B and C contributing approximately one-half of the CLD burden. CLD ambulatory visits in the United States disproportionately occur among adults, aged 45-64 years, who are primarily minorities, men, and Medicare or Medicaid recipients.

Emerging Infectious Diseases Cover Art

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2017-07-26

Byron Breedlove, managing editor of the EID Journal, discusses his approach to cover art.  Created: 7/26/2017 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 7/26/2017.

Serum hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B e antigen titers: disease phase influences correlation with viral load and intrahepatic hepatitis B virus markers.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Alexander J V; Nguyen, Tin; Iser, David; Ayres, Anna; Jackson, Kathy; Littlejohn, Margaret; Slavin, John; Bowden, Scott; Gane, Edward J; Abbott, William; Lau, George K K; Lewin, Sharon R; Visvanathan, Kumar; Desmond, Paul V; Locarnini, Stephen A

2010-06-01

Although threshold levels for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) titers have recently been proposed to guide therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB), their relationship to circulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and intrahepatic HBV replicative intermediates, and the significance of emerging viral variants, remains unclear. We therefore tested the hypothesis that HBsAg and HBeAg titers may vary independently of viral replication in vivo. In all, 149 treatment-naïve CHB patients were recruited (HBeAg-positive, n = 71; HBeAg-negative, n = 78). Quantification of HBeAg and HBsAg was performed by enzyme immunoassay. Virological characterization included serum HBV DNA load, HBV genotype, basal core promoter (BCP)/precore (PC) sequence, and, in a subset (n = 44), measurement of intrahepatic covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and total HBV DNA, as well as quantitative immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for HBsAg. In HBeAg-positive CHB, HBsAg was positively correlated with serum HBV DNA and intrahepatic cccDNA and total HBV DNA (r = 0.69, 0.71, 0.76, P < 0.01). HBeAg correlated with serum HBV DNA (r = 0.60, P < 0.0001), although emerging BCP/PC variants reduced HBeAg titer independent of viral replication. In HBeAg-negative CHB, HBsAg correlated poorly with serum HBV DNA (r = 0.28, P = 0.01) and did not correlate with intrahepatic cccDNA nor total HBV DNA. Quantitative IHC for hepatocyte HBsAg confirmed a relationship with viral replication only in HBeAg-positive patients. The correlation between quantitative HBsAg titer and serum and intrahepatic markers of HBV replication differs between patients with HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB. HBeAg titers may fall independent of viral replication as HBeAg-defective variants emerge prior to HBeAg seroconversion. These findings provide new insights into viral pathogenesis and have practical implications for the use of quantitative serology as a clinical biomarker.

Influence of maintained hemodialysis on viral load in patients with end-stage renal disease with HBV infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Huifang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In the patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD with hepatitis B virus (HBV infection who underwent hemodialysis, the viral load of HBV DNA is relatively low and stable. For this phenomenon, some studies suggest that hemodialysis can reduce the HBV DNA load. The mechanism, which remains unclear, may be as follows: when HBV DNA enters the dialysate through the dialysis membrane, it was adsorbed onto the dialysis membrane; some virus particles were destroyed, and antiviral substances were produced in the course of hemodialysis. At present, there is no consensus on the mechanism responsible for the influence of maintained hemodialysis on the viral load of HBV DNA. This article reviews the factors involved in the influence of maintained hemodialysis on the viral load in ESRD patients with HBV infection and the recent progress.

VIRAL HEPATITIS A TO E IN SOUTH MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanaa M. Kamal

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Viral hepatitis represents an important health problem in the South Mediterranean countries, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.  Emerging natural history and epidemiological information reveal differences in the overall epidemiology, risk factors and modes of transmission of viral hepatitis A, B, C, D, E infections in the South Mediterranean region. The differences in the in incidence and prevalence of viral hepatitis across North African countries is attributed to variations in health care  and sanitation standards, risk factors and immunization strategies. The active continuous population movement through travel, tourism and migration from and to the South Mediterranean countries contribute to the spread of infections due to hepatitis viruses across borders leading to outbreaks and emergence of new patterns of infection or introduction of uncommon genotypes in other countries, particularly in Europe.

Evaluation of disease and viral biomarkers as triggers for therapeutic intervention in respiratory mousepox - an animal model of smallpox.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Scott; Chen, Nanhai G; Foster, Scott; Hartzler, Hollyce; Hembrador, Ed; Hruby, Dennis; Jordan, Robert; Lanier, Randall; Painter, George; Painter, Wesley; Sagartz, John E; Schriewer, Jill; Mark Buller, R

2012-04-01

The human population is currently faced with the potential use of natural or recombinant variola and monkeypox viruses as biological weapons. Furthermore, the emergence of human monkeypox in Africa and its expanding environs poses a significant natural threat. Such occurrences would require therapeutic and prophylactic intervention with antivirals to minimize morbidity and mortality of exposed populations. Two orally-bioavailable antivirals are currently in clinical trials; namely CMX001, an ether-lipid analog of cidofovir with activity at the DNA replication stage and ST-246, a novel viral egress inhibitor. Both of these drugs have previously been evaluated in the ectromelia/mousepox system; however, the trigger for intervention was not linked to a disease biomarker or a specific marker of virus replication. In this study we used lethal, intranasal, ectromelia virus infections of C57BL/6 and hairless SKH1 mice to model human disease and evaluate exanthematous rash (rash) as an indicator to initiate antiviral treatment. We show that significant protection can be provided to C57BL/6 mice by CMX001 or ST-246 when therapy is initiated on day 6 post infection or earlier. We also show that significant protection can be provided to SKH1 mice treated with CMX001 at day 3 post infection or earlier, but this is four or more days before detection of rash (ST-246 not tested). Although in this model rash could not be used as a treatment trigger, viral DNA was detected in blood by day 4 post infection and in the oropharyngeal secretions (saliva) by day 2-3 post infection - thus providing robust and specific markers of virus replication for therapy initiation. These findings are discussed in the context of current respiratory challenge animal models in use for the evaluation of poxvirus antivirals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Emerging Amphibian Fungal Disease, Chytridiomycosis: A Key Example of the Global Phenomenon of Wildlife Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolby, Jonathan E; Daszak, Peter

2016-06-01

The spread of amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, is associated with the emerging infectious wildlife disease chytridiomycosis. This fungus poses an overwhelming threat to global amphibian biodiversity and is contributing toward population declines and extinctions worldwide. Extremely low host-species specificity potentially threatens thousands of the 7,000+ amphibian species with infection, and hosts in additional classes of organisms have now also been identified, including crayfish and nematode worms.Soon after the discovery of B. dendrobatidis in 1999, it became apparent that this pathogen was already pandemic; dozens of countries and hundreds of amphibian species had already been exposed. The timeline of B. dendrobatidis's global emergence still remains a mystery, as does its point of origin. The reason why B. dendrobatidis seems to have only recently increased in virulence to catalyze this global disease event remains unknown, and despite 15 years of investigation, this wildlife pandemic continues primarily uncontrolled. Some disease treatments are effective on animals held in captivity, but there is currently no proven method to eradicate B. dendrobatidis from an affected habitat, nor have we been able to protect new regions from exposure despite knowledge of an approaching "wave" of B. dendrobatidis and ensuing disease.International spread of B. dendrobatidis is largely facilitated by the commercial trade in live amphibians. Chytridiomycosis was recently listed as a globally notifiable disease by the World Organization for Animal Health, but few countries, if any, have formally adopted recommended measures to control its spread. Wildlife diseases continue to emerge as a consequence of globalization, and greater effort is urgently needed to protect global health.

[The incidence of viral hepatitis A in the Hradec Králové Region in the Czech Republic in the last decade].

Science.gov (United States)

Šošovičková, R; Smetana, J; Beranová, E; Kučerová, K; Chlíbek, R

Viral hepatitis A continues to occur in the Czech Republic due to the high susceptibility of the population and existing opportunities for the transmission of the disease. The aim was to describe and analyse the incidence of viral hepatitis A in the Hradec Králové Region in the Czech Republic in 2005-2014, including the study of two outbreaks that required a different approach of field epidemiologists. In 2015, a retrospective analysis was carried out of the data on the incidence of viral hepatitis A in Hradec Králové Region in 2005-2014. The EPIDAT system where cases of infectious diseases and data from epidemiological investigations are reported was used as a data source for the purposes of the present analysis. In addition, two final reports on epidemic outbreaks of viral hepatitis A from 2014 were assessed. The incidence of viral hepatitis A at the regional level follows, to a certain extent, the pattern of the incidence of this disease at the national level. The highest number of cases was reported in 2010 due to a country-wide epidemic. The most affected age groups were children, adolescents, and young adults. The incidence of viral hepatitis A in individual years has a significant effect on the emergence of local outbreaks. The incidence of viral hepatitis A in the Czech Republic has a fluctuating trend, at both the national and regional levels. The highest incidence of viral hepatitis A was observed in the younger and middle-age categories. The high susceptibility of these population groups suggests the importance of vaccination against viral hepatitis A that confers specific personal protection.Key words: viral hepatitis A - incidence - outbreak - Czech Republic.

An emerging role for p21-activated kinases (Paks) in viral infections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van den Broeke, Celine; Radu, Maria; Chernoff, Jonathan

2010-01-01

and motility, and abnormal Pak function is associated with a number of human diseases. Here, we discuss emerging evidence that these enzymes also play a major role in the entry, replication and spread of many important pathogenic human viruses, including HIV. Careful assessment of the potential role of Paks...

Impact of viral hepatitis co-infection on response to antiretroviral therapy and HIV disease progression in the HIV-NAT cohort

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Law, W. Phillip; Duncombe, Chris J.; Mahanontharit, Apicha; Boyd, Mark A.; Ruxrungtham, Kiat; Lange, Joep M. A.; Phanuphak, Praphan; Cooper, David A.; Dore, Gregory J.

2004-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of viral hepatitis co-infection on HIV disease outcomes following commencement of combination antiretroviral therapy in a developing country setting. METHODS: HIV RNA suppression, CD4 cell count recovery, and HIV disease progression were examined within a cohort of

Disease emergence in birds: Challenges for the twenty-first century

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Milton; McLean, R.G.; Dein, F.J.

2001-01-01

The paper by Hartup et al. (2001) on House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) conjunctivitis is an example of the rapid geographic spread that can result from disease emergence in naïve populations. That event was neither novel nor transient relative to its occurrence or effects. Disease emergence and reemergence are hallmarks of the latter part of the twentieth century (Center for Disease Control 1994, Levins et al. 1994, DaSilva and Laccarino 1999, Gratz 1999). Current examples involving domestic animals include the problems in Europe with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”) (Brown 2001) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) (Kitching 1999). Human health has been affected by diseases caused by an array of viruses (Morse 1993, Nichol et al. 1993, Murphy and Nathanson 1994), bacteria (Dennis 1998, DaSilva and Laccarino 1999), rickettsia (Walker and Dumier 1996, Azad et al. 1997), protozoans (Tuerrant 1997, Saini et al. 2000), and metazoan parasites (Hildreth et al. 1991, Gubler 1998), as well as other causes. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has received the most notoriety of those diseases (Hahn et al. 2000, Schwartlander et al. 2000). A similar pattern exists on a global scale for free-ranging wildlife populations (Table 1) (Friend 1994, 1995; Epstein et al. 1998, Daszak et al. 2000). However, in comparison to disease emergence affecting humans and domestic animals, response to emerging diseases of wildlife is generally superficial. We present concepts and data to support our contention that failure to adequately address disease emergence in free-ranging wildlife is resulting in a diminished capability to achieve and sustain desired geographic distributions and population abundance for species of wild birds, including some threatened and endangered avifauna.For clarity, we define disease and disease emergence in the context of our use of those terms because they are the focus of our comments. Disease is any departure from health

The Impact of Viral Marketing Through Social Media on BCD's Consumer Brand Knowledge

OpenAIRE

Kusumadjaja, Levina

2014-01-01

Due to the continous increase in viral marketing's popularity phenomenon that causes viral marketing to later become a strategic requirement for marketers worldwide, a necessity to assess the effectiveness of viral marketing in achieveing its objectives in leveraging brand and products has emerged. This research was accomplished to study the impact of viral marketing through social media on consumer brand knowledge of a franchised Taiwanese bubble tea company, BCD. The company utilizes viral...

Viral evasion of intracellular DNA and RNA sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Ying Kai; Gack, Michaela U.

2016-01-01

The co-evolution of viruses with their hosts has led to the emergence of viral pathogens that are adept at evading or actively suppressing host immunity. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are key components of antiviral immunity that detect conserved molecular features of viral pathogens and initiate signalling that results in the expression of antiviral genes. In this Review, we discuss the strategies that viruses use to escape immune surveillance by key intracellular sensors of viral RNA or DNA, with a focus on RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), cyclic GMP–AMP synthase (cGAS) and interferon-γ (IFNγ)-inducible protein 16 (IFI16). Such viral strategies include the sequestration or modification of viral nucleic acids, interference with specific post-translational modifications of PRRs or their adaptor proteins, the degradation or cleavage of PRRs or their adaptors, and the sequestration or relocalization of PRRs. An understanding of viral immune-evasion mechanisms at the molecular level may guide the development of vaccines and antivirals. PMID:27174148

Molecular identification of a yellow perch viral disease associated with exposure to oil sands process affected waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hogan, N.; Van den Heuvel, M.; Phalen, L.

2010-01-01

Large volumes of tailings and process affected water are generated as a result of oil sand mining processes. This presentation discussed the safe incorporation of these wastes into the terrestrial and aquatic landscape. A study was conducted in which yellow perch were stocked into experimental ponds, namely Demonstration Pond and South Bison Pond, during the periods of 1995-1997 and 2008-2010. Demonstration Pond was comprised of mature fine tailings capped with natural surface water, while South Bison Pond was formed at a site surrounded by overburden or lean oil sands. Disease surveys were conducted at these experimental ponds and also at Mildred, Sucker, and Kimowin Lakes. External white nodular lesions, characteristic of lymphocystis disease were observed on perch at all sites except Kimowin Lake. The identity of the virus was confirmed by DNA extraction and PCR with genotype generic major capsid protein gene primers. The presence of lymphocystis disease virus in perch was confirmed through sequencing of PCR results. The viral genotype appeared to be different from any previously isolated viral genotype. During the course of the study, there was an increasing incidence of the disease at Demonstration Pond and a decreasing incidence at the South Bison Pond. The intensity of the disease was found to be proportional to the incidence, which was positively correlated with changes in naphthenic acid concentration.

Emerging Ranaviral Infectious Diseases and Amphibian Decline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Robert

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Infectious diseases caused by ranaviruses (RV, family Iridoviridae not only affect wild amphibian populations but also agriculture and international animal trade. Although, the prevalence of RV infections and die offs has markedly increased over the last decade, it is still unclear whether these viruses are direct causal agents of extinction or rather are the resulting (secondary consequences of weakened health of amphibian populations leading to increased susceptibility to viral pathogens. In either case, it is important to understand the critical role of host immune defense in controlling RV infections, pathogenicity, and transmission; this is the focus of this review.

Malignancies and infection due to the human immunodeficiency virus. Are these emerging diseases?

Science.gov (United States)

Valencia Ortega, M E

2018-04-01

Since the start of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, tumour disease among patients has been significant. The collection of malignancies can be divided primarily into 2 groups: those associated with HIV (all of which are related to viral diseases) and those not associated with HIV (only some of which are associated with viral diseases). The origin of these malignancies is multifactorial, and the main causes that have led to an increase in tumour disease are immunosuppression, coinfection with oncogenic viruses and life prolongation secondary to the use of antiretroviral therapy. Establishing the general characteristics of the undiagnosed AIDS tumours is difficult, mainly because they are a highly heterogeneous group formed by malignancies of a diverse nature. The treatments do not differ from those used in the general population, although the management can be more difficult due to the late diagnosis, drug interactions and associated comorbidities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.

Induction of resistance to viral infections in the domestic cat by stimulation of the immune system

OpenAIRE

Robert-Tissot, C

2011-01-01

Broadening the understanding of mechanisms linked to innate immunity is of primordial importance in a time of continuous emergence of rapidly spreading viral diseases. The domestic cat represents an ideal model for the study of host-virus interactions, as it is an outbred species naturally susceptible to many viruses sharing biological properties with those affecting humans. Additionally, due to their acquisition of infallible transmission strategies, rapid propagation of ...

Epidemiological monitoring for emerging infectious diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Marjorie

2010-04-01

The Homeland Security News Wire has been reporting on new ways to fight epidemics using digital tools such as iPhone, social networks, Wikipedia, and other Internet sites. Instant two-way communication now gives consumers the ability to complement official reports on emerging infectious diseases from health authorities. However, there is increasing concern that these communications networks could open the door to mass panic from unreliable or false reports. There is thus an urgent need to ensure that epidemiological monitoring for emerging infectious diseases gives health authorities the capability to identify, analyze, and report disease outbreaks in as timely and efficient a manner as possible. One of the dilemmas in the global dissemination of information on infectious diseases is the possibility that information overload will create inefficiencies as the volume of Internet-based surveillance information increases. What is needed is a filtering mechanism that will retrieve relevant information for further analysis by epidemiologists, laboratories, and other health organizations so they are not overwhelmed with irrelevant information and will be able to respond quickly. This paper introduces a self-organizing ontology that could be used as a filtering mechanism to increase relevance and allow rapid analysis of disease outbreaks as they evolve in real time.

Cooler temperatures destabilize RNA interference and increase susceptibility of disease vector mosquitoes to viral infection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zach N Adelman

Full Text Available The impact of global climate change on the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases is the subject of extensive debate. The transmission of mosquito-borne viral diseases is particularly complex, with climatic variables directly affecting many parameters associated with the prevalence of disease vectors. While evidence shows that warmer temperatures often decrease the extrinsic incubation period of an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus, exposure to cooler temperatures often predisposes disease vector mosquitoes to higher infection rates. RNA interference (RNAi pathways are essential to antiviral immunity in the mosquito; however, few experiments have explored the effects of temperature on the RNAi machinery.We utilized transgenic "sensor" strains of Aedes aegypti to examine the role of temperature on RNA silencing. These "sensor" strains express EGFP only when RNAi is inhibited; for example, after knockdown of the effector proteins Dicer-2 (DCR-2 or Argonaute-2 (AGO-2. We observed an increase in EGFP expression in transgenic sensor mosquitoes reared at 18°C as compared with 28°C. Changes in expression were dependent on the presence of an inverted repeat with homology to a portion of the EGFP sequence, as transgenic strains lacking this sequence, the double stranded RNA (dsRNA trigger for RNAi, showed no change in EGFP expression when reared at 18°C. Sequencing small RNAs in sensor mosquitoes reared at low temperature revealed normal processing of dsRNA substrates, suggesting the observed deficiency in RNAi occurs downstream of DCR-2. Rearing at cooler temperatures also predisposed mosquitoes to higher levels of infection with both chikungunya and yellow fever viruses.This data suggest that microclimates, such as those present in mosquito breeding sites, as well as more general climactic variables may influence the dynamics of mosquito-borne viral diseases by affecting the antiviral immunity of disease vectors.

Epitope specificity is critical for high and moderate avidity cytotoxic T lymphocytes associated with control of viral load and clinical disease in horses with equine infectious anemia virus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mealey, Robert H.; Zhang Baoshan; Leib, Steven R.; Littke, Matt H.; McGuire, Travis C.

2003-01-01

Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is a lentivirus that causes persistent infections in horses. We hypothesized that high-avidity CTL specific for nonvariable epitopes might be associated with low viral load and minimal disease in EIAV-infected horses. To test this hypothesis, memory CTL (CTLm) responses were analyzed in two infected horses with high plasma viral loads and recurrent disease (progressors), and in two infected horses with low-to-undetectable viral loads and mild disease (nonprogressors). High-avidity CTLm in one progressor recognized an envelope gp90 epitope, and the data documented for the first time in EIAV that viral variation led to CTL escape. Each of the nonprogressors had high-to-moderate avidity CTLm directed against epitopes within Rev, including the nuclear export and nuclear localization domains. These results suggested that the epitope specificity of high- and moderate-avidity CTLm was an important determinant for disease outcome in the EIAV-infected horses examined

78 FR 11651 - Board of Scientific Counselors, Office of Infectious Diseases (BSC, OID)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-19

... Scientific Counselors, Office of Infectious Diseases (BSC, OID) In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the... for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis... infectious disease laboratory working group under the BSC, OID. The agenda and any supplemental material will...

78 FR 17411 - Board of Scientific Counselors, Office of Infectious Diseases (BSC, OID)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-21

... Scientific Counselors, Office of Infectious Diseases (BSC, OID) In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the... for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis... infectious disease laboratory working group under the BSC, OID. The agenda and any supplemental material will...

Quantifying trends in disease impact to produce a consistent and reproducible definition of an emerging infectious disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Funk, Sebastian; Bogich, Tiffany L; Jones, Kate E; Kilpatrick, A Marm; Daszak, Peter

2013-01-01

The proper allocation of public health resources for research and control requires quantification of both a disease's current burden and the trend in its impact. Infectious diseases that have been labeled as "emerging infectious diseases" (EIDs) have received heightened scientific and public attention and resources. However, the label 'emerging' is rarely backed by quantitative analysis and is often used subjectively. This can lead to over-allocation of resources to diseases that are incorrectly labelled "emerging," and insufficient allocation of resources to diseases for which evidence of an increasing or high sustained impact is strong. We suggest a simple quantitative approach, segmented regression, to characterize the trends and emergence of diseases. Segmented regression identifies one or more trends in a time series and determines the most statistically parsimonious split(s) (or joinpoints) in the time series. These joinpoints in the time series indicate time points when a change in trend occurred and may identify periods in which drivers of disease impact change. We illustrate the method by analyzing temporal patterns in incidence data for twelve diseases. This approach provides a way to classify a disease as currently emerging, re-emerging, receding, or stable based on temporal trends, as well as to pinpoint the time when the change in these trends happened. We argue that quantitative approaches to defining emergence based on the trend in impact of a disease can, with appropriate context, be used to prioritize resources for research and control. Implementing this more rigorous definition of an EID will require buy-in and enforcement from scientists, policy makers, peer reviewers and journal editors, but has the potential to improve resource allocation for global health.

Melioidosis: An emerging infectious disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raja N

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Infectious diseases account for a third of all the deaths in the developing world. Achievements in understanding the basic microbiology, pathogenesis, host defenses and expanded epidemiology of infectious diseases have resulted in better management and reduced mortality. However, an emerging infectious disease, melioidosis, is becoming endemic in the tropical regions of the world and is spreading to non-endemic areas. This article highlights the current understanding of melioidosis including advances in diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Better understanding of melioidosis is essential, as it is life-threatening and if untreated, patients can succumb to it. Our sources include a literature review, information from international consensus meetings on melioidosis and ongoing discussions within the medical and scientific community.

Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases. Grades 9-12. NIH Curriculum Supplement Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Colorado Springs.

This curriculum supplement guide brings the latest medical discoveries to classrooms. This module focuses on the objectives of introducing students to major concepts related to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and developing an understanding of the relationship between biomedical research and personal and public health. This module…

Emerging and potentially emerging viruses in water environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppina La Rosa

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Among microorganisms, viruses are best fit to become emerging pathogens since they are able to adapt not only by mutation but also through recombination and reassortment and can thus become able to infect new hosts and to adjust to new environments. Enteric viruses are among the commonest and most hazardous waterborne pathogens, causing both sporadic and outbreak-related illness. The main health effect associated with enteric viruses is gastrointestinal illness, but they can also cause respiratory symptoms, conjunctivitis, hepatitis, central nervous system infections, and chronic diseases. Non-enteric viruses, such as respiratory and epitheliotrophic viruses are not considered waterborne, as they are not readily transmitted to water sources from infected individuals. The present review will focus on viral pathogens shown to be transmitted through water. It will also provide an overview of viruses that had not been a concern for waterborne transmission in the past, but that may represent potentially emerging waterborne pathogens due to their occurrence and persistence in water environments.

Land-Use Change and Emerging Infectious Disease on an Island Continent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosemary A. McFarlane

2013-06-01

Full Text Available A more rigorous and nuanced understanding of land-use change (LUC as a driver of emerging infectious disease (EID is required. Here we examine post hunter-gatherer LUC as a driver of infectious disease in one biogeographical region with a compressed and documented history—continental Australia. We do this by examining land-use and native vegetation change (LUCC associations with infectious disease emergence identified through a systematic (1973–2010 and historical (1788–1973 review of infectious disease literature of humans and animals. We find that 22% (20 of the systematically reviewed EIDs are associated with LUCC, most frequently where natural landscapes have been removed or replaced with agriculture, plantations, livestock or urban development. Historical clustering of vector-borne, zoonotic and environmental disease emergence also follows major periods of extensive land clearing. These advanced stages of LUCC are accompanied by changes in the distribution and density of hosts and vectors, at varying scales and chronology. This review of infectious disease emergence in one continent provides valuable insight into the association between accelerated global LUC and concurrent accelerated infectious disease emergence.

Bats, emerging infectious diseases, and the rabies paradigm revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzmin, Ivan V.; Bozick, Brooke; Guagliardo, Sarah A.; Kunkel, Rebekah; Shak, Joshua R.; Tong, Suxiang; Rupprecht, Charles E

2011-01-01

The significance of bats as sources of emerging infectious diseases has been increasingly appreciated, and new data have been accumulated rapidly during recent years. For some emerging pathogens the bat origin has been confirmed (such as lyssaviruses, henipaviruses, coronaviruses), for other it has been suggested (filoviruses). Several recently identified viruses remain to be ‘orphan’ but have a potential for further emergence (such as Tioman, Menangle, and Pulau viruses). In the present review we summarize information on major bat-associated emerging infections and discuss specific characteristics of bats as carriers of pathogens (from evolutionary, ecological, and immunological positions). We also discuss drivers and forces of an infectious disease emergence and describe various existing and potential approaches for control and prevention of such infections at individual, populational, and societal levels. PMID:24149032

Bats, emerging infectious diseases, and the rabies paradigm revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzmin, Ivan V; Bozick, Brooke; Guagliardo, Sarah A; Kunkel, Rebekah; Shak, Joshua R; Tong, Suxiang; Rupprecht, Charles E

2011-06-20

The significance of bats as sources of emerging infectious diseases has been increasingly appreciated, and new data have been accumulated rapidly during recent years. For some emerging pathogens the bat origin has been confirmed (such as lyssaviruses, henipaviruses, coronaviruses), for other it has been suggested (filoviruses). Several recently identified viruses remain to be 'orphan' but have a potential for further emergence (such as Tioman, Menangle, and Pulau viruses). In the present review we summarize information on major bat-associated emerging infections and discuss specific characteristics of bats as carriers of pathogens (from evolutionary, ecological, and immunological positions). We also discuss drivers and forces of an infectious disease emergence and describe various existing and potential approaches for control and prevention of such infections at individual, populational, and societal levels.

Lyme Disease: Emergency Department Considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Applegren, Nathan D; Kraus, Chadd K

2017-06-01

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne illness in North America. Reported cases of LD have increased from approximately 10,000 cases annually in 1991 to >25,000 cases in 2014. Greater recognition, enhanced surveillance, and public education have contributed to the increased prevalence, as have geographic expansion and the number of infected ticks. Cases are reported primarily in the Northeastern United States, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, with children having the highest incidence of LD among all age groups. The increased incidence and prevalence of LD in the United States makes it increasingly more common for patients to present to the emergency department (ED) for tick bites and LD-related chief complaints, such as the characteristic erythema migrans skin manifestation. We sought to review the etiology of LD, describe its clinical presentations and sequela, and provide a practical classification and approach to ED management of patients with LD-related presentations. In this review, ED considerations for LD are presented and clinical presentations and management of the disease at different stages is discussed. Delayed sequelae that have significant morbidity, including Lyme carditis and Lyme neuroborreliosis, are discussed. Diagnostic tests and management are described in detail. The increasing prevalence and growing geographic reach of Lyme disease makes it critically important for emergency physicians to consider the diagnosis in patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of LD and to initiate appropriate treatment to minimize the potential of delayed sequelae. Special consideration should be made for the epidemiology of LD and a high clinical suspicion should be present for patients in endemic areas or with known exposures to ticks. Emergency physicians can play a critical role in the recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of LD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ebola Viral Disease in West Africa: A Threat to Global Health, Economy and Political Stability

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, Ibrahim; Saidu, Yauba

2016-01-01

The West African sub-continent is currently experiencing its first, and ironically, the largest and longest Ebola viral diseases (EVD) outbreak ever documented in modern medical history. The current outbreak is significant in several ways, including longevity, magnitude of morbidity and mortality, occurrence outside the traditional niches, rapid spread and potential of becoming a global health tragedy. The authors provided explicit insights into the current and historical background, drivers of the epidemic, societal impacts, status of vaccines and drugs development and proffered recommendations to halt and prevent future occurrences. The authors reviewed mainly five databases and a hand search of key relevant literature. We reviewed 51 articles that were relevant up until the 18th of August 2014. The authors supplemented the search with reference list of relevant articles and grey literature as well as relevant Internet websites. Article searches were limited to those published either in English or French. There are strong indications that the EVD may have been triggered by increased human activities and encroachment into the forest ecosystem spurred by increasing population and poverty-driven forest-dependent local economy. Containment efforts are being hampered by weak and fragile health systems, including public health surveillance and weak governance, certain socio-anthropological factors, fast travels (improved transport systems) and globalization. The societal impacts of the EBV outbreak are grave, including economic shutdown, weakening of socio-political systems, psychological distress, and unprecedented consumption of scarce health resources. The research and development (R&D) pipeline for product against EBV seems grossly insufficient. The outbreak of Ebola and the seeming difficulty to contain the epidemic is simply a reflection of the weak health system, poor surveillance and emergency preparedness/response, poverty and disconnect between the government

Ebola viral disease in West Africa: a threat to global health, economy and political stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Semeeh Akinwale Omoleke

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The West African sub-continent is currently experiencing its first, and ironically, the largest and longest Ebola viral diseases (EVD outbreak ever documented in modern medical history. The current outbreak is significant in several ways, including longevity, magnitude of morbidity and mortality, occurrence outside the traditional niches, rapid spread and potential of becoming a global health tragedy. The authors provided explicit insights into the current and historical background, drivers of the epidemic, societal impacts, status of vaccines and drugs development and proffered recommendations to halt and prevent future occurrences. The authors reviewed mainly five databases and a hand search of key relevant literature. We reviewed 51 articles that were relevant up until the 18th of August 2014. The authors supplemented the search with reference list of relevant articles and grey literature as well as relevant Internet websites. Article searches were limited to those published either in English or French. There are strong indications that the EVD may have been triggered by increased human activities and encroachment into the forest ecosystem spurred by increasing population and povertydriven forest-dependent local economy. Containment efforts are being hampered by weak and fragile health systems, including public health surveillance and weak governance, certain socio-anthropological factors, fast travels (improved transport systems and globalization. The societal impacts of the EBV outbreak are grave, including economic shutdown, weakening of socio-political systems, psychological distress, and unprecedented consumption of scarce health resources. The research and development (R&D pipeline for product against EBV seems grossly insufficient. The outbreak of Ebola and the seeming difficulty to contain the epidemic is simply a reflection of the weak health system, poor surveillance and emergency preparedness/ response, poverty and disconnect

Ebola Viral Disease in West Africa: A Threat to Global Health, Economy and Political Stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Omoleke, Semeeh Akinwale; Mohammed, Ibrahim; Saidu, Yauba

2016-08-17

The West African sub-continent is currently experiencing its first, and ironically, the largest and longest Ebola viral diseases (EVD) outbreak ever documented in modern medical history. The current outbreak is significant in several ways, including longevity, magnitude of morbidity and mortality, occurrence outside the traditional niches, rapid spread and potential of becoming a global health tragedy. The authors provided explicit insights into the current and historical background, drivers of the epidemic, societal impacts, status of vaccines and drugs development and proffered recommendations to halt and prevent future occurrences. The authors reviewed mainly five databases and a hand search of key relevant literature. We reviewed 51 articles that were relevant up until the 18 th of August 2014. The authors supplemented the search with reference list of relevant articles and grey literature as well as relevant Internet websites. Article searches were limited to those published either in English or French. There are strong indications that the EVD may have been triggered by increased human activities and encroachment into the forest ecosystem spurred by increasing population and poverty-driven forest-dependent local economy. Containment efforts are being hampered by weak and fragile health systems, including public health surveillance and weak governance, certain socio-anthropological factors, fast travels (improved transport systems) and globalization. The societal impacts of the EBV outbreak are grave, including economic shutdown, weakening of socio-political systems, psychological distress, and unprecedented consumption of scarce health resources. The research and development (R&D) pipeline for product against EBV seems grossly insufficient. The outbreak of Ebola and the seeming difficulty to contain the epidemic is simply a reflection of the weak health system, poor surveillance and emergency preparedness/response, poverty and disconnect between the

[Viral hepatitis in travellers].

Science.gov (United States)

Abreu, Cândida

2007-01-01

Considering the geographical asymmetric distribution of viral hepatitis A, B and E, having a much higher prevalence in the less developed world, travellers from developed countries are exposed to a considerable and often underestimated risk of hepatitis infection. In fact a significant percentage of viral hepatitis occurring in developed countries is travel related. This results from globalization and increased mobility from tourism, international work, humanitarian and religious missions or other travel related activities. Several studies published in Europe and North America shown that more than 50% of reported cases of hepatitis A are travel related. On the other hand frequent outbreaks of hepatitis A and E in specific geographic areas raise the risk of infection in these restricted zones and that should be clearly identified. Selected aspects related with the distribution of hepatitis A, B and E are reviewed, particularly the situation in Portugal according to the published studies, as well as relevant clinical manifestations and differential diagnosis of viral hepatitis. Basic prevention rules considering enteric transmitted hepatitis (hepatitis A and hepatitis E) and parenteral transmitted (hepatitis B) are reviewed as well as hepatitis A and B immunoprophylaxis. Common clinical situations and daily practice "pre travel" advice issues are discussed according to WHO/CDC recommendations and the Portuguese National Vaccination Program. Implications from near future availability of a hepatitis E vaccine, a currently in phase 2 trial, are highlighted. Potential indications for travellers to endemic countries like India, Nepal and some regions of China, where up to 30% of sporadic cases of acute viral hepatitis are caused by hepatitis E virus, are considered. Continued epidemiological surveillance for viral hepatitis is essential to recognize and control possible outbreaks, but also to identify new viral hepatitis agents that may emerge as important global health

Evaluation of a Phylogenetic Marker Based on Genomic Segment B of Infectious Bursal Disease Virus: Facilitating a Feasible Incorporation of this Segment to the Molecular Epidemiology Studies for this Viral Agent.

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Abdulahi Alfonso-Morales

Full Text Available Infectious bursal disease (IBD is a highly contagious and acute viral disease, which has caused high mortality rates in birds and considerable economic losses in different parts of the world for more than two decades and it still represents a considerable threat to poultry. The current study was designed to rigorously measure the reliability of a phylogenetic marker included into segment B. This marker can facilitate molecular epidemiology studies, incorporating this segment of the viral genome, to better explain the links between emergence, spreading and maintenance of the very virulent IBD virus (vvIBDV strains worldwide.Sequences of the segment B gene from IBDV strains isolated from diverse geographic locations were obtained from the GenBank Database; Cuban sequences were obtained in the current work. A phylogenetic marker named B-marker was assessed by different phylogenetic principles such as saturation of substitution, phylogenetic noise and high consistency. This last parameter is based on the ability of B-marker to reconstruct the same topology as the complete segment B of the viral genome. From the results obtained from B-marker, demographic history for both main lineages of IBDV regarding segment B was performed by Bayesian skyline plot analysis. Phylogenetic analysis for both segments of IBDV genome was also performed, revealing the presence of a natural reassortant strain with segment A from vvIBDV strains and segment B from non-vvIBDV strains within Cuban IBDV population.This study contributes to a better understanding of the emergence of vvIBDV strains, describing molecular epidemiology of IBDV using the state-of-the-art methodology concerning phylogenetic reconstruction. This study also revealed the presence of a novel natural reassorted strain as possible manifest of change in the genetic structure and stability of the vvIBDV strains. Therefore, it highlights the need to obtain information about both genome segments of IBDV for

Molecular diagnosis for the silk worm Bombyx Mori L. Viral and bacterial diseases in the irradiated and non-irradiated individuals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abulyazid, I.; Elshafei, A.; El-Said, E.; Mousa, S.; Taha, R.

2007-01-01

Genetic maps for the Bombyx Mori infectious flacherrie virus (BmlFV) causing flacherrie (Fl) disease and nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) causing grasserie (Gr) disease were built up in an attempt to diagnose diseases early in young larval stages. For the non-irradiated and irradiated viral RNA of IFV, no amplification was obtained by using RT-PCR and RAPD-PCR techniques. HcoRI, EcoRV, BamHI, Hind III and BamHI restriction enzymes were used to digest the non-irradiated and irradiated viral DNA of BmNPV. It was found that, the two viral DNA samples were genetically different; the similarity indexes were 0.14, 0, 0, 0.18 and 0.15, respectively. At the biochemical level, native protein electrophoresis showed 4 and 3 new proteins in non-irradiated and irradiated Fl diseased larvae, respectively, while Gr diseased larvae showed 1 and 3 new protein types. The similarity index (S.I) between all the tested samples was not exceeded 44%. For lipoprotein pattern, 2 and 3 new lipoprotein types were appeared due to Fl disease in the non-irradiated and irradiated haemolymph samples, respectively, while Gr disease showed 3 new lipoproteins in the non-irradiated samples only. The highest S.I recorded was 56%. Glycoprotein pattern revealed 3 and 5 new glycoprotein types appeared due to Fl disease while Gr disease showed 4 and 6 new types in the non-irradiated and irradiated samples, respectively. The highest S.I was 77%. Fractionated protein with SDS revealed 2 common bands shared between the tested samples with R f values 0.28 and 0.71. Fl disease increased the number of protein bands with the appearance of 5 and 4 new proteins types. Gr disease reduced the total number of proteins with the appearance of 2 and 3 new types. The highest S.I was 59%. Both diseases and irradiation may be mutagenic through the epigenetic level in silkworm larvae leading to death. Thus, the results of the biochemical and genetic characterization of IFV and BmNPV enable us to conclude that the

Using decision analysis to support proactive management of emerging infectious wildlife diseases

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Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Muths, Erin L.; Katz, Rachel A.; Canessa, Stefano; Adams, Michael J.; Ballard, Jennifer R.; Berger, Lee; Briggs, Cheryl J.; Coleman, Jeremy; Gray, Matthew J.; Harris, M. Camille; Harris, Reid N.; Hossack, Blake R.; Huyvaert, Kathryn P.; Kolby, Jonathan E.; Lips, Karen R.; Lovich, Robert E.; McCallum, Hamish I.; Mendelson, Joseph R.; Nanjappa, Priya; Olson, Deanna H.; Powers, Jenny G.; Richgels, Katherine L. D.; Russell, Robin E.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Annemarieke; Watry, Mary Kay; Woodhams, Douglas C.; White, C. LeAnn

2017-01-01

Despite calls for improved responses to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, management is seldom considered until a disease has been detected in affected populations. Reactive approaches may limit the potential for control and increase total response costs. An alternative, proactive management framework can identify immediate actions that reduce future impacts even before a disease is detected, and plan subsequent actions that are conditional on disease emergence. We identify four main obstacles to developing proactive management strategies for the newly discovered salamander pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Given that uncertainty is a hallmark of wildlife disease management and that associated decisions are often complicated by multiple competing objectives, we advocate using decision analysis to create and evaluate trade-offs between proactive (pre-emergence) and reactive (post-emergence) management options. Policy makers and natural resource agency personnel can apply principles from decision analysis to improve strategies for countering emerging infectious diseases.

Viral-Associated GN: Hepatitis C and HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Kupin, Warren L

2017-08-07

Viruses are capable of inducing a wide spectrum of glomerular disorders that can be categorized on the basis of the duration of active viremia: acute, subacute, or chronic. The variable responses of the adaptive immune system to each time period of viral infection results mechanistically in different histologic forms of glomerular injury. The unique presence of a chronic viremic carrier state with either hepatitis C (HCV) or HIV has led to the opportunity to study in detail various pathogenic mechanisms of viral-induced glomerular injury, including direct viral infection of renal tissue and the development of circulating immune complexes composed of viral antigens that deposit along the glomerular basement membrane. Epidemiologic data show that approximately 25%-30% of all HIV patients are coinfected with HCV and 5%-10% of all HCV patients are coinfected with HIV. This situation can often lead to a challenging differential diagnosis when glomerular disease occurs in this dual-infected population and requires the clinician to be familiar with the clinical presentation, laboratory workup, and pathophysiology behind the development of renal disease for both HCV and HIV. Both of these viruses can be categorized under the new classification of infection-associated GN as opposed to being listed as causes of postinfectious GN as has previously been applied to them. Neither of these viruses lead to renal injury after a latent period of controlled and inactive viremia. The geneses of HCV- and HIV-associated glomerular diseases share a total dependence on the presence of active viral replication to sustain renal injury so the renal disease cannot be listed under "postinfectious" GN. With the new availability of direct-acting antivirals for HCV and more effective combined antiretroviral therapy for HIV, successful remission and even regression of glomerular lesions can be achieved if initiated at an early stage. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Ecohealth Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiative (EcoEID)

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Southeast Asia is the current hotspot of disease emergence due to high population and animal densities, on the one hand, ... Centre for Malaria Control of the Government of Cambodia ... Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Emerging arthropod-borne diseases of companion animals in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Beugnet, Frederic; Marié, Jean-Lou

2009-08-26

Vector-borne diseases are caused by parasites, bacteria or viruses transmitted by the bite of hematophagous arthropods (mainly ticks and mosquitoes). The past few years have seen the emergence of new diseases, or re-emergence of existing ones, usually with changes in their epidemiology (i.e. geographical distribution, prevalence, and pathogenicity). The frequency of some vector-borne diseases of pets is increasing in Europe, i.e. canine babesiosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, thrombocytic anaplasmosis, and leishmaniosis. Except for the last, these diseases are transmitted by ticks. Both the distribution and abundance of the three main tick species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes ricinus are changing. The conditions for such changes involve primarily human factors, such as travel with pets, changes in human habitats, social and leisure activities, but climate changes also have a direct impact on arthropod vectors (abundance, geographical distribution, and vectorial capacity). Besides the most known diseases, attention should be kept on tick-borne encephalitis, which seems to be increasing in western Europe, as well as flea-borne diseases like the flea-transmitted rickettsiosis. Here, after consideration of the main reasons for changes in tick vector ecology, an overview of each "emerging" vector-borne diseases of pets is presented.

The Emerging Role of MicroRNA-155 in Cardiovascular Diseases

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Richard Y. Cao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to be involved in human diseases, including cardiovascular diseases. Growing evidences suggest that microRNA-155, a typical multifunctional microRNA, plays a crucial role in hematopoietic lineage differentiation, immunity, inflammation, viral infections, and vascular remodeling, which is linked to cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, heart failure, and diabetic heart disease. The effects of microRNA-155 in different cell types through different target genes result in different mechanisms in diseases. MicroRNA-155 has been intensively studied in atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. Contradictory results of microRNA-155 either promoting or preventing the pathophysiological process of atherosclerosis illustrate the complexity of this pleiotropic molecule. Therefore, more comprehensive studies of the underlying mechanisms of microRNA-155 involvement in cardiovascular diseases are required. Furthermore, a recent clinical trial of Miravirsen targeting microRNA-122 sheds light on exploiting microRNA-155 as a novel target to develop effective therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases in the near future.

Hantaviruses in the Americas and Their Role as Emerging Pathogens

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Fernando Torres-Pérez

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The continued emergence and re-emergence of pathogens represent an ongoing, sometimes major, threat to populations. Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae and their associated human diseases were considered to be confined to Eurasia, but the occurrence of an outbreak in 1993–94 in the southwestern United States led to a great increase in their study among virologists worldwide. Well over 40 hantaviral genotypes have been described, the large majority since 1993, and nearly half of them pathogenic for humans. Hantaviruses cause persistent infections in their reservoir hosts, and in the Americas, human disease is manifest as a cardiopulmonary compromise, hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS, with case-fatality ratios, for the most common viral serotypes, between 30% and 40%. Habitat disturbance and larger-scale ecological disturbances, perhaps including climate change, are among the factors that may have increased the human caseload of HCPS between 1993 and the present. We consider here the features that influence the structure of host population dynamics that may lead to viral outbreaks, as well as the macromolecular determinants of hantaviruses that have been regarded as having potential contribution to pathogenicity.

Multi-micronucleus cells related with viral diseases, detected in the study of children affected by the Chernobyl accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia L, O.; Lamadrid, A.I.; Manzano, J.

1996-01-01

Cells with multiple chromosome aberrations have been observed in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Different explanation have proposed, included hot particle induction in persons related to the Chernobyl accident. The frequency of chromosome aberration and micronuclei were established in 14 Ukrainian children with different hematological disorders. They arrived in Cuba thanks to the program by means of which medical attention is offered to children from areas affected by the Chernobyl accident. At least 500 metaphases and bi-nucleate cells were analyzed in each case. The detection of 4 cells with 7-11 micronuclei in a 14 year old boy with cat scratch disease was the most significant cytogenetical finding. The viral origin of the cat scratch disease has been reported, this suggested a viral etiology of the cells with multiple micronuclei. No rogue cells were detected. Cells with multiple micronuclei or rogue cells were not found in other patients from this group. (authors). 7 refs., 3 tabs

Human cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infection in inflammatory bowel disease: need for mucosal viral load measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciccocioppo, Rachele; Racca, Francesca; Paolucci, Stefania; Campanini, Giulia; Pozzi, Lodovica; Betti, Elena; Riboni, Roberta; Vanoli, Alessandro; Baldanti, Fausto; Corazza, Gino Roberto

2015-02-14

To evaluate the best diagnostic technique and risk factors of the human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A cohort of 40 IBD patients (17 refractory) and 40 controls underwent peripheral blood and endoscopic colonic mucosal sample harvest. Viral infection was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, and correlations with clinical and endoscopic indexes of activity, and risk factors were investigated. All refractory patients carried detectable levels of HCMV and/or EBV mucosal load as compared to 13/23 (56.5%) non-refractory and 13/40 (32.5%) controls. The median DNA value was significantly higher in refractory (HCMV 286 and EBV 5.440 copies/10(5) cells) than in non-refractory (HCMV 0 and EBV 6 copies/10(5) cells; P diseased mucosa in comparison to non-diseased mucosa (P < 0.0121 for HCMV and < 0.0004 for EBV), while non-refractory patients and controls invariably displayed levels below this threshold, thus allowing us to differentiate viral colitis from mucosal infection. Moreover, the mucosal load positively correlated with the values found in the peripheral blood, whilst no correlation with the number of positive cells at immunohistochemistry was found. Steroid use was identified as a significant risk factor for both HCMV (P = 0.018) and EBV (P = 0.002) colitis. Finally, a course of specific antiviral therapy with ganciclovir was successful in all refractory patients with HCMV colitis, whilst refractory patients with EBV colitis did not show any improvement despite steroid tapering and discontinuation of the other medications. Viral colitis appeared to contribute to mucosal lesions in refractory IBD, and its correct diagnosis and management require quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay of mucosal specimens.

CD4 decline is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death in virally suppressed patients with HIV.

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Helleberg, Marie; Kronborg, Gitte; Larsen, Carsten S; Pedersen, Gitte; Pedersen, Court; Obel, Niels; Gerstoft, Jan

2013-07-01

The clinical implications of a considerable CD4 decline despite antiretroviral treatment and viral suppression are unknown. We aimed to test the hypothesis that a major CD4 decline could be a marker of cardiovascular disease or undiagnosed cancer. Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were followed in the Danish nationwide, population-based cohort study in the period 1995-2010 with quarterly CD4 measurements. Associations between a CD4 decline of ≥30% and cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death were analyzed using Poisson regression with date of CD4 decline as a time-updated variable. We followed 2584 virally suppressed HIV patients for 13 369 person-years (PY; median observation time, 4.7 years). Fifty-six patients developed CD4 decline (incidence rate, 4.2/1000 PY [95% confidence interval {CI}, 3.2-5.4]). CD4 counts dropped from a median of 492 cells/µL to 240 cells/µL. CD8, CD3, and total lymphocyte counts dropped concomitantly. No HIV-related factors, apart from treatment with didanosine, were associated with CD4 decline. The risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death increased markedly ≤6 months after CD4 decline (incidence rate ratio, 11.7 [95% CI, 3.6-37.4] and 13.7 [95% CI, 4.3-43.6], respectively, and mortality rate ratio 4.3 [95% CI, 1.1-17.6]). A major decline in CD4 count is associated with a marked increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death among virally suppressed HIV patients.

Major emerging vector-borne zoonotic diseases of public health importance in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulkarni, Manisha A; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Buck, Peter A; Drebot, Michael A; Lindsay, L Robbin; Ogden, Nicholas H

2015-06-10

In Canada, the emergence of vector-borne diseases may occur via international movement and subsequent establishment of vectors and pathogens, or via northward spread from endemic areas in the USA. Re-emergence of endemic vector-borne diseases may occur due to climate-driven changes to their geographic range and ecology. Lyme disease, West Nile virus (WNV), and other vector-borne diseases were identified as priority emerging non-enteric zoonoses in Canada in a prioritization exercise conducted by public health stakeholders in 2013. We review and present the state of knowledge on the public health importance of these high priority emerging vector-borne diseases in Canada. Lyme disease is emerging in Canada due to range expansion of the tick vector, which also signals concern for the emergence of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan virus. WNV has been established in Canada since 2001, with epidemics of varying intensity in following years linked to climatic drivers. Eastern equine encephalitis virus, Jamestown Canyon virus, snowshoe hare virus, and Cache Valley virus are other mosquito-borne viruses endemic to Canada with the potential for human health impact. Increased surveillance for emerging pathogens and vectors and coordinated efforts among sectors and jurisdictions will aid in early detection and timely public health response.

Phaeohyphomycoses, Emerging Opportunistic Diseases in Animals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seyedmousavi, S.; Guillot, J.; de Hoog, G.S.

2013-01-01

Emerging fungal diseases due to black yeasts and relatives in domestic or wild animals and in invertebrates or cold- and warm-blooded vertebrates are continually being reported, either as novel pathogens or as familiar pathogens affecting new species of hosts. Different epidemiological situations

Phaeohyphomycoses, emerging opportunistic diseases in animals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seyedmousavi, S.; Guillot, J.; de Hoog, G.S.

2013-01-01

Emerging fungal diseases due to black yeasts and relatives in domestic or wild animals and in invertebrates or cold- and warm-blooded vertebrates are continually being reported, either as novel pathogens or as familiar pathogens affecting new species of hosts. Different epidemiological situations

Diagnostic values for the viral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic active Epstein-Barr virus disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Yoshinori; Suzuki, Michio; Kawada, Jun-ichi; Kimura, Hiroshi

2016-04-01

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus disease (CAEBV) is a distinct EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease with a poor prognosis. Although the viral load in blood samples has been widely used for diagnosing CAEBV, well-defined viral load thresholds to guide clinicians are currently lacking. The aim of the present study was to determine standardized diagnostic values for EBV load in blood samples of CAEBV patients using the World Health Organization international standard for reporting. Levels of EBV DNA in 103 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and 95 plasma/serum samples from 107 cases with CAEBV were quantified and expressed in international units. Receiver operating characteristic curves were analyzed to assess the most appropriate cut-off values for levels of EBV DNA to distinguish CAEBV from EBV-associated infectious mononucleosis (IM) and controls with past EBV infection. Levels of EBV DNA in PBMCs were significantly higher in the CAEBV group (median, 10(4.2) IU/μgDNA) compared to the IM (median, 10(2.1) IU/μgDNA) and control groups. An inconsistent qualitative result was seen in 13 of 86 CAEBV patients; in these, EBV-DNA was positive in PBMCs, but negative in plasma. Diagnostic cut-off values for viral load in PBMCs from CAEBV patients, as compared to those of healthy controls and IM patients, were 10(2.0) IU/μgDNA and 10(3.2) IU/μgDNA, respectively. For diagnostic purposes, the viral load of PBMCs was better than of plasma/serum. A diagnostic cut-off EBV load for CAEBV may be useful for the management of CAEBV patients. Copyright © 2015 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drivers for the emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne protozoal and bacterial diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrus, S; Baneth, G

2005-10-01

In recent years, vector-borne parasitic and bacterial diseases have emerged or re-emerged in many geographical regions causing global health and economic problems that involve humans, livestock, companion animals and wild life. The ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne diseases are affected by the interrelations between three major factors comprising the pathogen, the host (human, animal or vector) and the environment. Important drivers for the emergence and spread of vector-borne parasites include habitat changes, alterations in water storage and irrigation habits, atmospheric and climate changes, immunosuppression by HIV, pollution, development of insecticide and drug resistance, globalization and the significant increase in international trade, tourism and travel. War and civil unrest, and governmental or global management failure are also major contributors to the spread of infectious diseases. The improvement of epidemic understanding and planning together with the development of new diagnostic molecular techniques in the last few decades have allowed researchers to better diagnose and trace pathogens, their origin and routes of infection, and to develop preventive public health and intervention programs. Health care workers, physicians, veterinarians and biosecurity officers should play a key role in future prevention of vector-borne diseases. A coordinated global approach for the prevention of vector-borne diseases should be implemented by international organizations and governmental agencies in collaboration with research institutions.

Differences in viral load among human respiratory syncytial virus genotypes in hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infections in the Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadji, Francois Marie Ngako; Okamoto, Michiko; Furuse, Yuki; Tamaki, Raita; Suzuki, Akira; Lirio, Irene; Dapat, Clyde; Malasao, Rungnapa; Saito, Mariko; Pedrera-Rico, Gay Anne Granada; Tallo, Veronica; Lupisan, Socorro; Saito, Mayuko; Oshitani, Hitoshi

2016-06-27

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a leading viral etiologic agent of pediatric lower respiratory infections, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Two antigenic subgroups, HRSV-A and B, each contain several genotypes. While viral load may vary among HRSV genotypes and affect the clinical course of disease, data are scarce regarding the actual differences among genotypes. Therefore, this study estimated and compared viral load among NA1 and ON1 genotypes of HRSV-A and BA9 of HRSV-B. ON1 is a newly emerged genotype with a 72-nucleotide duplication in the G gene as observed previously with BA genotypes in HRSV-B. Children <5 years of age with an initial diagnosis of severe or very severe pneumonia at a hospital in the Philippines from September 2012 to December 2013 were enrolled. HRSV genotypes were determined and the viral load measured from nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS). The viral load of HRSV genotype NA1 were significantly higher than those of ON1 and BA9. Regression analysis showed that both genotype NA1 and younger age were significantly associated with high HRSV viral load. The viral load of NA1 was higher than that of ON1 and BA9 in NPS samples. HRSV genotypes may be associated with HRSV viral load. The reasons and clinical impacts of these differences in viral load among HRSV genotypes require further evaluation.

Exploring fish microbial communities to mitigate emerging diseases in aquaculture.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruijn, Irene; Liu, Yiying; Wiegertjes, Geert F; Raaijmakers, Jos M

2018-01-01

Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal food sector worldwide and expected to further increase to feed the growing human population. However, existing and (re-)emerging diseases are hampering fish and shellfish cultivation and yield. For many diseases, vaccination protocols are not in place and the excessive use of antibiotics and other chemicals is of substantial concern. A more sustainable disease control strategy to protect fish and shellfish from (re-)emerging diseases could be achieved by introduction or augmentation of beneficial microbes. To establish and maintain a 'healthy' fish microbiome, a fundamental understanding of the diversity and temporal-spatial dynamics of fish-associated microbial communities and their impact on growth and health of their aquatic hosts is required. This review describes insights in the diversity and functions of the fish bacterial communities elucidated with next-generation sequencing and discusses the potential of the microbes to mitigate (re-)emerging diseases in aquaculture. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Immunological features underlying viral hemorrhagic fevers.

Science.gov (United States)

Messaoudi, Ilhem; Basler, Christopher F

2015-10-01

Several enveloped RNA viruses of the arenavirus, bunyavirus, filovirus and flavivirus families are associated with a syndrome known as viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). VHF is characterized by fever, vascular leakage, coagulation defects and multi organ system failure. VHF is currently viewed as a disease precipitated by viral suppression of innate immunity, which promotes systemic virus replication and excessive proinflammatory cytokine responses that trigger the manifestations of severe disease. However, the mechanisms by which immune dysregulation contributes to disease remain poorly understood. Infection of nonhuman primates closely recapitulates human VHF, notably Ebola and yellow fever, thereby providing excellent models to better define the immunological basis for this syndrome. Here we review the current state of our knowledge and suggest future directions that will better define the immunological mechanisms underlying VHF. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forecasting infectious disease emergence subject to seasonal forcing.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Paige B; O'Dea, Eamon B; Rohani, Pejman; Drake, John M

2017-09-06

Despite high vaccination coverage, many childhood infections pose a growing threat to human populations. Accurate disease forecasting would be of tremendous value to public health. Forecasting disease emergence using early warning signals (EWS) is possible in non-seasonal models of infectious diseases. Here, we assessed whether EWS also anticipate disease emergence in seasonal models. We simulated the dynamics of an immunizing infectious pathogen approaching the tipping point to disease endemicity. To explore the effect of seasonality on the reliability of early warning statistics, we varied the amplitude of fluctuations around the average transmission. We proposed and analyzed two new early warning signals based on the wavelet spectrum. We measured the reliability of the early warning signals depending on the strength of their trend preceding the tipping point and then calculated the Area Under the Curve (AUC) statistic. Early warning signals were reliable when disease transmission was subject to seasonal forcing. Wavelet-based early warning signals were as reliable as other conventional early warning signals. We found that removing seasonal trends, prior to analysis, did not improve early warning statistics uniformly. Early warning signals anticipate the onset of critical transitions for infectious diseases which are subject to seasonal forcing. Wavelet-based early warning statistics can also be used to forecast infectious disease.

A Survey of Texas HIV, Sexually Transmitted Disease, Tuberculosis, and Viral Hepatitis Providers' Billing and Reimbursement Capabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Matthew B; Atwood, Robin; Greenberg, Jennifer B; Ray, Tara; Harris, Karol Kaye

2015-11-01

The Affordable Care Act presents financial challenges and opportunities for publicly funded service providers. We assessed billing practices and anticipated barriers to third-party billing among organizations in Texas that provide publicly funded HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis services. One third to one half of the organizations did not bill for medical services. The most common barrier to third-party billing was lack of staff knowledge about billing and coding. Future research must evaluate options for organizations and communities to maintain access to infectious disease services for vulnerable populations.

A Survey of Texas HIV, Sexually Transmitted Disease, Tuberculosis, and Viral Hepatitis Providers’ Billing and Reimbursement Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Atwood, Robin; Greenberg, Jennifer B.; Ray, Tara; Harris, Karol Kaye

2015-01-01

The Affordable Care Act presents financial challenges and opportunities for publicly funded service providers. We assessed billing practices and anticipated barriers to third-party billing among organizations in Texas that provide publicly funded HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis services. One third to one half of the organizations did not bill for medical services. The most common barrier to third-party billing was lack of staff knowledge about billing and coding. Future research must evaluate options for organizations and communities to maintain access to infectious disease services for vulnerable populations. PMID:26447911

Mechanisms of innate immune evasion in re-emerging RNA viruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Daphne Y; Suthar, Mehul S

2015-06-01

Recent outbreaks of Ebola, West Nile, Chikungunya, Middle Eastern Respiratory and other emerging/re-emerging RNA viruses continue to highlight the need to further understand the virus-host interactions that govern disease severity and infection outcome. As part of the early host antiviral defense, the innate immune system mediates pathogen recognition and initiation of potent antiviral programs that serve to limit virus replication, limit virus spread and activate adaptive immune responses. Concordantly, viral pathogens have evolved several strategies to counteract pathogen recognition and cell-intrinsic antiviral responses. In this review, we highlight the major mechanisms of innate immune evasion by emerging and re-emerging RNA viruses, focusing on pathogens that pose significant risk to public health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viral infections in transplant recipients.

Science.gov (United States)

Razonable, R R; Eid, A J

2009-12-01

Solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients are uniquely predisposed to develop clinical illness, often with increased severity, due to a variety of common and opportunistic viruses. Patients may acquire viral infections from the donor (donor-derived infections), from reactivation of endogenous latent virus, or from the community. Herpes viruses, most notably cytomegalovirus and Epstein Barr virus, are the most common among opportunistic viral pathogens that cause infection after solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The polyoma BK virus causes opportunistic clinical syndromes predominantly in kidney and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. The agents of viral hepatitis B and C present unique challenges particularly among liver transplant recipients. Respiratory viral illnesses due to influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and parainfluenza virus may affect all types of transplant recipients, although severe clinical disease is observed more commonly among lung and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Less common viral infections affecting transplant recipients include those caused by adenoviruses, parvovirus B19, and West Nile virus. Treatment for viruses with proven effective antiviral drug therapies should be complemented by reduction in the degree of immunosuppression. For others with no proven antiviral drugs for therapy, reduction in the degree of immunosuppression remains as the sole effective strategy for management. Prevention of viral infections is therefore of utmost importance, and this may be accomplished through vaccination, antiviral strategies, and aggressive infection control measures.

A Framework for Modeling Emerging Diseases to Inform Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Robin E; Katz, Rachel A; Richgels, Katherine L D; Walsh, Daniel P; Grant, Evan H C

2017-01-01

The rapid emergence and reemergence of zoonotic diseases requires the ability to rapidly evaluate and implement optimal management decisions. Actions to control or mitigate the effects of emerging pathogens are commonly delayed because of uncertainty in the estimates and the predicted outcomes of the control tactics. The development of models that describe the best-known information regarding the disease system at the early stages of disease emergence is an essential step for optimal decision-making. Models can predict the potential effects of the pathogen, provide guidance for assessing the likelihood of success of different proposed management actions, quantify the uncertainty surrounding the choice of the optimal decision, and highlight critical areas for immediate research. We demonstrate how to develop models that can be used as a part of a decision-making framework to determine the likelihood of success of different management actions given current knowledge.

Genetic diversification of an emerging pathogen: A decade of mutation by the fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv) is an RNA rhabdovirus, which causes one of the world's most serious fish diseases, infecting >80 freshwater and marine species across the Northern Hemisphere. A new, novel, and especially virulent substrain - VHSv-IVb - first appeared in the Laurentian Gre...

Emerging and reemerging diseases of avian wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Pello, Susan J.; Olsen, Glenn H.

2013-01-01

Of the many important avian wildlife diseases, aspergillosis, West Nile virus, avipoxvirus, Wellfleet Bay virus, avian influenza, and inclusion body disease of cranes are covered in this article. Wellfleet Bay virus, first identified in 2010, is considered an emerging disease. Avian influenza and West Nile virus have recently been in the public eye because of their zoonotic potential and links to wildlife. Several diseases labeled as reemerging are included because of recent outbreaks or, more importantly, recent research in areas such as genomics, which shed light on the mechanisms whereby these adaptable, persistent pathogens continue to spread and thrive.

[Global management of patients with ebola viral disease, experience of the Healthcare workers Treatment of Conakry, Guinea].

Science.gov (United States)

Savini, H; Maugey, N; Aletti, M; Facon, A; Koulibaly, F; Cotte, J; Janvier, F; Cordier, P Y; Dampierre, H; Ramade, S; Foissaud, V; Granier, H; Sagui, E; Carmoi, T

2016-10-01

The Healthcare Workers Treatment Center of Conakry, Guinea, was inaugurated in january 2015. It is dedicated to the diagnosis and the treatment of healthcare workers with probable or confirmed Ebola viral disease. It is staffed by the french army medical service. The french military team may reconcile their medical practice and the ethno-cultural imperatives to optimise the patient adherence during his hospitalization.

Mast cells in viral infections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Witczak

2012-04-01

Full Text Available  There are some premises suggesting that mast cells are involved in the mechanisms of anti-virus defense and in viral disease pathomechanisms. Mast cells are particularly numerous at the portals of infections and thus may have immediate and easy contact with the external environment and invading pathogens. These cells express receptors responsible for recognition of virus-derived PAMP molecules, mainly Toll-like receptors (TLR3, TLR7/8 and TLR9, but also RIG-I-like and NOD-like molecules. Furthermore, mast cells generate various mediators, cytokines and chemokines which modulate the intensity of inflammation and regulate the course of innate and adaptive anti-viral immunity. Indirect evidence for the role of mast cells in viral infections is also provided by clinical observations and results of animal studies. Currently, more and more data indicate that mast cells can be infected by some viruses (dengue virus, adenoviruses, hantaviruses, cytomegaloviruses, reoviruses, HIV-1 virus. It is also demonstrated that mast cells can release pre formed mediators as well as synthesize de novo eicosanoids in response to stimulation by viruses. Several data indicate that virus-stimulated mast cells secrete cytokines and chemokines, including interferons as well as chemokines with a key role in NK and Tc lymphocyte influx. Moreover, some information indicates that mast cell stimulation via TLR3, TLR7/8 and TLR9 can affect their adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins and chemotaxis, and influence expression of some membrane molecules. Critical analysis of current data leads to the conclusion that it is not yet possible to make definitive statements about the role of mast cells in innate and acquired defense mechanisms developing in the course of viral infection and/or pathomechanisms of viral diseases.

CT and MR imaging of gynecological emergency disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Shinya; Kinoshita, Toshibumi; Tahara, Takatoshi; Matsusue, Eiji; Ogawa, Toshihide

2004-01-01

We describe the CT and MRI findings of gynecologic emergency diseases: pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, ovarian hemorrhage, ovarian torsion, rupture of ovarian tumor, eclampsia, and HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome. Diagnostic keys to these diseases are presented in this review. CT and MRI play a complementary role to sonography in accurately diagnosing these diseases. In situations that require an exact, immediate diagnosis, radiologists should be familiar with the key imaging findings. (author)

Deciphering the bat virome catalog to better understand the ecological diversity of bat viruses and the bat origin of emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhiqiang; Yang, Li; Ren, Xianwen; He, Guimei; Zhang, Junpeng; Yang, Jian; Qian, Zhaohui; Dong, Jie; Sun, Lilian; Zhu, Yafang; Du, Jiang; Yang, Fan; Zhang, Shuyi; Jin, Qi

2016-03-01

Studies have demonstrated that ~60%-80% of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in humans originated from wild life. Bats are natural reservoirs of a large variety of viruses, including many important zoonotic viruses that cause severe diseases in humans and domestic animals. However, the understanding of the viral population and the ecological diversity residing in bat populations is unclear, which complicates the determination of the origins of certain EIDs. Here, using bats as a typical wildlife reservoir model, virome analysis was conducted based on pharyngeal and anal swab samples of 4440 bat individuals of 40 major bat species throughout China. The purpose of this study was to survey the ecological and biological diversities of viruses residing in these bat species, to investigate the presence of potential bat-borne zoonotic viruses and to evaluate the impacts of these viruses on public health. The data obtained in this study revealed an overview of the viral community present in these bat samples. Many novel bat viruses were reported for the first time and some bat viruses closely related to known human or animal pathogens were identified. This genetic evidence provides new clues in the search for the origin or evolution pattern of certain viruses, such as coronaviruses and noroviruses. These data offer meaningful ecological information for predicting and tracing wildlife-originated EIDs.

Tissue viral load variability in chronic hepatitis C.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Fanning, L

2012-02-03

OBJECTIVE: Liver biopsy is regarded as the gold standard for assessing disease activity in chronic hepatitis C, but sampling error is a potential limitation. Whether sampling variability applies equally to viral load assessment as it does to histology is uncertain. To examine this, we compared viral load between right- and left-lobe biopsy specimens from patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS: Bilobe biopsies were taken from 16 patients who were serum positive for HCV RNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Genotype was identified by reverse line probe hybridization. There was an absence of competing risk factors for infectious and other liver diseases in this patient group. Histology and hepatic viral load were assessed blindly. None of the patients had received antiviral therapy at the time of study. RESULTS: Detection of HCV in right and left lobes was concordant with serum positivity in all cases. The viral load between lobes was highly correlated (p = 0.0003, r = 0.79). In contrast, the histological activity indices of inflammation and fibrosis\\/cirrhosis were poorly correlated between lobes (p = 0.038, r = 0.60, and p = 0.098, r = 0.50, respectively). CONCLUSION: Hepatic viral load variability does not suffer from the same degree of heterogeneity of sampling variability as does histology.

Landscape of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in China: impact of ecology, climate, and behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qiyong; Xu, Wenbo; Lu, Shan; Jiang, Jiafu; Zhou, Jieping; Shao, Zhujun; Liu, Xiaobo; Xu, Lei; Xiong, Yanwen; Zheng, Han; Jin, Sun; Jiang, Hai; Cao, Wuchun; Xu, Jianguo

2018-02-01

For the past several decades, the infectious disease profile in China has been shifting with rapid developments in social and economic aspects, environment, quality of food, water, housing, and public health infrastructure. Notably, 5 notifiable infectious diseases have been almost eradicated, and the incidence of 18 additional notifiable infectious diseases has been significantly reduced. Unexpectedly, the incidence of over 10 notifiable infectious diseases, including HIV, brucellosis, syphilis, and dengue fever, has been increasing. Nevertheless, frequent infectious disease outbreaks/events have been reported almost every year, and imported infectious diseases have increased since 2015. New pathogens and over 100 new genotypes or serotypes of known pathogens have been identified. Some infectious diseases seem to be exacerbated by various factors, including rapid urbanization, large numbers of migrant workers, changes in climate, ecology, and policies, such as returning farmland to forests. This review summarizes the current experiences and lessons from China in managing emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, especially the effects of ecology, climate, and behavior, which should have merits in helping other countries to control and prevent infectious diseases.

Development of Recombinant Vaccine Using Herpesvirus of Turkey (Hvt as Vector for Several Viral Diseases in Poultry Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Risza Hartawan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Herpesvirus of turkey (HVT has been utilised as live vaccine against Marek’s disease in poultry industry world-wide for many years. However, the potency of HVT is not limited on the Marek’s disease only. Along with rapid development of recombinant technique, the potency of HVT can be broaden for other diseases. As naturally apathogenic virus, HVT is a suitable candidate as vector vaccine to express important antigens of viral pathogens. Several researches have been dedicated to design HVT recombinant vaccine by inserting gene of important virus, such as Marek’s disease virus (MDV, immuno bursal disease virus (IBDV, Newcastle disease virus (NDV and Avian Influenza virus (AIV. Therefore, the future recombinant of HVT has been expected to be better in performance along with the improvement of recombinant technique.

Context-dependent conservation responses to emerging wildlife diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Kate E Langwig; Jamie Voyles; Mark Q Wilber; Winifred F Frick; Kris A Murray; Benjamin M Bolker; James P Collins; Tina L Cheng; Matthew C Fisher; Joseph R Hoyt; Daniel L Lindner; Hamish I McCallum; Robert Puschendorf; Erica Bree Rosenblum; Mary Toothman; Craig KR Willis; Cheryl J Briggs; A Marm Kilpatrick

2015-01-01

Emerging infectious diseases pose an important threat to wildlife. While established protocols exist for combating outbreaks of human and agricultural pathogens, appropriate management actions before, during, and after the invasion of wildlife pathogens have not been developed. We describe stage-specific goals and management actions that minimize disease impacts on...

DNA-AuNP networks on cell membranes as a protective barrier to inhibit viral attachment, entry and budding.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chun Mei; Zheng, Lin Ling; Yang, Xiao Xi; Wan, Xiao Yan; Wu, Wen Bi; Zhen, Shu Jun; Li, Yuan Fang; Luo, Ling Fei; Huang, Cheng Zhi

2016-01-01

Viral infections have caused numerous diseases and deaths worldwide. Due to the emergence of new viruses and frequent virus variation, conventional antiviral strategies that directly target viral or cellular proteins are limited because of the specificity, drug resistance and rapid clearance from the human body. Therefore, developing safe and potent antiviral agents with activity against viral infection at multiple points in the viral life cycle remains a major challenge. In this report, we propose a new modality to inhibit viral infection by fabricating DNA conjugated gold nanoparticle (DNA-AuNP) networks on cell membranes as a protective barrier. The DNA-AuNPs networks were found, via a plaque formation assay and viral titers, to have potent antiviral ability and protect host cells from human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Confocal immunofluorescence image analysis showed 80 ± 3.8% of viral attachment, 91.1 ± 0.9% of viral entry and 87.9 ± 2.8% of viral budding were inhibited by the DNA-AuNP networks, which were further confirmed by real-time fluorescence imaging of the RSV infection process. The antiviral activity of the networks may be attributed to steric effects, the disruption of membrane glycoproteins and limited fusion of cell membrane bilayers, all of which play important roles in viral infection. Therefore, our results suggest that the DNA-AuNP networks have not only prophylactic effects to inhibit virus attachment and entry, but also therapeutic effects to inhibit viral budding and cell-to-cell spread. More importantly, this proof-of-principle study provides a pathway for the development of a universal, broad-spectrum antiviral therapy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emerging Therapeutic Approaches to Mitochondrial Diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Wenz, Tina; Williams, Sion L.; Bacman, Sandra R.; Moraes, Carlos T.

2010-01-01

Mitochondrial diseases are very heterogeneous and can affect different tissues and organs. Moreover, they can be caused by genetic defects in either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA as well as by environmental factors. All of these factors have made the development of therapies difficult. In this review article, we will discuss emerging approaches to…

Emerging and reemerging diseases of avian wildlife.

Science.gov (United States)

Pello, Susan J; Olsen, Glenn H

2013-05-01

Of the many important avian wildlife diseases, aspergillosis, West Nile virus, avipoxvirus, Wellfleet Bay virus, avian influenza, and inclusion body disease of cranes are covered in this article. Wellfleet Bay virus, first identified in 2010, is considered an emerging disease. Avian influenza and West Nile virus have recently been in the public eye because of their zoonotic potential and links to wildlife. Several diseases labeled as reemerging are included because of recent outbreaks or, more importantly, recent research in areas such as genomics, which shed light on the mechanisms whereby these adaptable, persistent pathogens continue to spread and thrive. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Beyond viral suppression of HIV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lazarus, Jeffrey V.; Safreed-Harmon, Kelly; Barton, Simon E

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a new Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV for 2016-2021. It establishes 15 ambitious targets, including the '90-90-90' target calling on health systems to reduce under-diagnosis of HIV, treat a greater number of those diagnosed......, and ensure that those being treated achieve viral suppression. DISCUSSION: The WHO strategy calls for person-centered chronic care for people living with HIV (PLHIV), implicitly acknowledging that viral suppression is not the ultimate goal of treatment. However, it stops short of providing an explicit target...... for health-related quality of life. It thus fails to take into account the needs of PLHIV who have achieved viral suppression but still must contend with other intense challenges such as serious non-communicable diseases, depression, anxiety, financial stress, and experiences of or apprehension about HIV...

454-Pyrosequencing: A Molecular Battiscope for Freshwater Viral Ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J. Rooks

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Viruses, the most abundant biological entities on the planet, are capable of infecting organisms from all three branches of life, although the majority infect bacteria where the greatest degree of cellular diversity lies. However, the characterization and assessment of viral diversity in natural environments is only beginning to become a possibility. Through the development of a novel technique for the harvest of viral DNA and the application of 454 pyrosequencing, a snapshot of the diversity of the DNA viruses harvested from a standing pond on a cattle farm has been obtained. A high abundance of viral genotypes (785 were present within the virome. The absolute numbers of lambdoid and Shiga toxin (Stx encoding phages detected suggested that the depth of sequencing had enabled recovery of only ca. 8% of the total virus population, numbers that agreed within less than an order of magnitude with predictions made by rarefaction analysis. The most abundant viral genotypes in the pond were bacteriophages (93.7%. The predominant viral genotypes infecting higher life forms found in association with the farm were pathogens that cause disease in cattle and humans, e.g. members of the Herpesviridae. The techniques and analysis described here provide a fresh approach to the monitoring of viral populations in the aquatic environment, with the potential to become integral to the development of risk analysis tools for monitoring the dissemination of viral agents of animal, plant and human diseases.

Synaptogyrin-2 Promotes Replication of a Novel Tick-borne Bunyavirus through Interacting with Viral Nonstructural Protein NSs*

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Qiyu; Qi, Xian; Zhang, Yan; Wu, Xiaodong; Liang, Mifang; Li, Chuan; Li, Dexin; Cardona, Carol J.; Xing, Zheng

2016-01-01

Synaptogyrin-2 is a non-neuronal member of the synaptogyrin family involved in synaptic vesicle biogenesis and trafficking. Little is known about the function of synaptogyrin-2. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease characterized by high fever, thrombocytopenia, and leukocytopenia with high mortality, caused by a novel tick-borne phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. Our previous studies have shown that the viral nonstructural protein NSs forms inclusion bodies (IBs) that are involved in viral immune evasion, as well as viral RNA replication. In this study, we sought to elucidate the mechanism by which NSs formed the IBs, a lipid droplet-based structure confirmed by NSs co-localization with perilipin A and adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP). Through a high throughput screening, we identified synaptogyrin-2 to be highly up-regulated in response to SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV) infection and to be a promoter of viral replication. We demonstrated that synaptogyrin-2 interacted with NSs and was translocated into the IBs, which were reconstructed from lipid droplets into large structures in infection. Viral RNA replication decreased, and infectious virus titers were lowered significantly when synaptogyrin-2 was silenced in specific shRNA-expressing cells, which correlated with the reduced number of the large IBs restructured from regular lipid droplets. We hypothesize that synaptogyrin-2 is essential to promoting the formation of the IBs to become virus factories for viral RNA replication through its interaction with NSs. These findings unveil the function of synaptogyrin-2 as an enhancer in viral infection. PMID:27226560

Experts' Perceptions on China's Capacity to Manage Emerging and Re-emerging Zoonotic Diseases in an Era of Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, A; Xiang, J; Liu, Q; Tong, M X; Sun, Y; Liu, X; Chen, K; Cameron, S; Hanson-Easey, S; Han, G-S; Weinstein, P; Williams, C; Bi, P

2017-11-01

Zoonotic diseases transmitted by arthropods and rodents are a major public health concern in China. However, interventions in recent decades have helped lower the incidence of several diseases despite the country's large, frequently mobile population and socio-economic challenges. Increasing globalization, rapid urbanization and a warming climate now add to the complexity of disease control and prevention and could challenge China's capacity to respond to threats of emerging and re-emerging zoonoses. To investigate this notion, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 30 infectious disease experts in four cities in China. The case study diseases under discussion were malaria, dengue fever and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, all of which may be influenced by changing meteorological conditions. Data were analysed using standard qualitative techniques. The study participants viewed the current disease prevention and control system favourably and were optimistic about China's capacity to manage climate-sensitive diseases in the future. Several recommendations emerged from the data including the need to improve health literacy in the population regarding the transmission of infectious diseases and raising awareness of the health impacts of climate change amongst policymakers and health professionals. Participants thought that research capacity could be strengthened and human resources issues for front-line staff should be addressed. It was considered important that authorities are well prepared in advance for outbreaks such as dengue fever in populous subtropical areas, and a prompt and coordinated response is required when outbreaks occur. Furthermore, health professionals need to remain skilled in the identification of diseases for which incidence is declining, so that re-emerging or emerging trends can be rapidly identified. Recommendations such as these may be useful in formulating adaptation plans and capacity building for the future control and

A world wide public health problem: the principal re-emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

De Luca D'Alessandro, E; Giraldi, G

2011-01-01

The extraordinary progress in the knowledge of infectious disease, the discovery of antibiotics and effective vaccines are among the great achievement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These achievement have led to a dramatic reduction in the levels of mortality from these diseases. According to the World Health Organization, the term "re-emerging infectious diseases" refers to infectious diseases, which although well known, have not been of recent public health importance. However, climate change, migration, changes in health services, antibiotic resistance, population increase, international travel, the increase in the number of immune-depressed patients ,etc have lead to the re-emergence of these diseases. The climate changes are exposing sectors of the population to inadequate fresh air, water, food and resources for survival which, in consequence, provoke increases in both internal and international migration. In this particular period in which we find ourselves, characterized by globalization, the international community has become aware that the re-emergence of these diseases poses an important risk for public health underlines the necessity to adopt appropriate strategies for their prevention and control. The re-emerging diseases of the twenty-first century are a serious problem for public health and even though there has been enormous progress in medical science and in the battle against infectious diseases, they are still a long way from being really brought under control. A well organized monitoring system would enable the epidemiological characteristics of the infectious diseases to be analyzed and the success or otherwise of preventive interventions to be precisely evaluated. For this reason, the World Health Organization and the European Union have discussed the formation of a collaborative network for the monitoring and control of re-emerging diseases and has initiated special programmes. The battle between humanity and infectious disease

NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) - 2016. In this Table, provisional* cases of selected† notifiable diseases (≥1,000 cases reported during the preceding...

Comparison of tissue sample processing methods for harvesting the viral metagenome and a snapshot of the RNA viral community in a turkey gut.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Jigna D; Baller, Joshua; Zhang, Ying; Silverstein, Kevin; Xing, Zheng; Cardona, Carol J

2014-12-01

RNA viruses have been associated with enteritis in poultry and have been isolated from diseased birds. The same viral agents have also been detected in healthy flocks bringing into question their role in health and disease. In order to understand better eukaryotic viruses in the gut, this project focused on evaluating alternative methods to purify and concentrate viral particles, which do not involve the use of density gradients, for generating viral metagenome data. In this study, the sequence outcomes of three tissue processing methods have been evaluated and a data analysis pipeline has been established for RNA viruses from the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, with the use of the best method and increased sequencing depth, a glimpse of the RNA viral community in the gastrointestinal tract of a clinically normal 5-week old turkey is presented. The viruses from the Reoviridae and Astroviridae families together accounted for 76.3% of total viruses identified. The rarefaction curve at the species level further indicated that majority of the species diversity was included with the increased sequencing depth, implying that viruses from other viral families were present in very low abundance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viral tropism and pathology associated with viral hemorrhagic septicemia in larval and juvenile Pacific herring

Science.gov (United States)

Lovy, Jan; Lewis, N.L.; Hershberger, P.K.; Bennett, W.; Meyers, T.R.; Garver, K.A.

2012-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) genotype IVa causes mass mortality in wild Pacific herring, a species of economic value, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Young of the year herring are particularly susceptible and can be carriers of the virus. To understand its pathogenesis, tissue and cellular tropisms of VHSV in larval and juvenile Pacific herring were investigated with immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy, and viral tissue titer. In larval herring, early viral tropism for epithelial tissues (6d post-exposure) was indicated by foci of epidermal thickening that contained heavy concentrations of virus. This was followed by a cellular tropism for fibroblasts within the fin bases and the dermis, but expanded to cells of the kidney, liver, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and meninges in the brain. Among wild juvenile herring that underwent a VHS epizootic in the laboratory, the disease was characterized by acute and chronic phases of death. Fish that died during the acute phase had systemic infections in tissues including the submucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, spleen, kidney, liver, and meninges. The disease then transitioned into a chronic phase that was characterized by the appearance of neurological signs including erratic and corkscrew swimming and darkening of the dorsal skin. During the chronic phase viral persistence occurred in nervous tissues including meninges and brain parenchymal cells and in one case in peripheral nerves, while virus was mostly cleared from the other tissues. The results demonstrate the varying VHSV tropisms dependent on the timing of infection and the importance of neural tissues for the persistence and perpetuation of chronic infections in Pacific herring.

75 FR 22817 - Emerging Infectious Diseases: Evaluation to Implementation for Transfusion and Transplantation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-30

...] Emerging Infectious Diseases: Evaluation to Implementation for Transfusion and Transplantation Safety and... public workshops entitled ``Emerging Infectious Diseases: Evaluation to Implementation for Transfusion... Office of Science and Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of...

Recurrence and emergence of infectious diseases in Djibouti city.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodier, G. R.; Parra, J. P.; Kamil, M.; Chakib, S. O.; Cope, S. E.

1995-01-01

Public health authorities are now increasingly concerned by changes in the epidemiology of infectious diseases which may have an adverse impact on their budget plans and control strategies. Rapid increases in population and urban migration, various ecological changes, increasing poverty, and a rise in international travel have contributed to the worldwide vulnerability of human populations to the emergence, recurrence or spread of infectious diseases. In the rapidly growing city of Djibouti in East Africa, public health priorities have been altered during the last 10 years by diseases which were unknown or under control until the early 1980s. These diseases, including malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, dengue fever and cholera, are consuming considerable resources. This article on Djibouti illustrates the epidemiological changes in the region. Besides the specific ecological and behavioural changes, which accompany rapid population growth, poverty seems to be a major cause for the emergence and recurrence of infectious diseases. PMID:8907768

Snake fungal disease: an emerging threat to wild snakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorch, Jeffrey M; Knowles, Susan; Lankton, Julia S; Michell, Kathy; Edwards, Jaime L; Kapfer, Joshua M; Staffen, Richard A; Wild, Erik R; Schmidt, Katie Z; Ballmann, Anne E; Blodgett, Doug; Farrell, Terence M; Glorioso, Brad M; Last, Lisa A; Price, Steven J; Schuler, Krysten L; Smith, Christopher E; Wellehan, James F X; Blehert, David S

2016-12-05

Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus recently split from a complex of fungi long referred to as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). Here we review the current state of knowledge about O. ophiodiicola and SFD. In addition, we provide original findings which demonstrate that O. ophiodiicola is widely distributed in eastern North America, has a broad host range, is the predominant cause of fungal skin infections in wild snakes and often causes mild infections in snakes emerging from hibernation. This new information, together with what is already available in the scientific literature, advances our knowledge of the cause, pathogenesis and ecology of SFD. However, additional research is necessary to elucidate the factors driving the emergence of this disease and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Immigration and viral hepatitis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Sharma (Suraj); M. Carballo (Manuel); J.J. Feld (Jordan J.); H.L.A. Janssen (Harry)

2015-01-01

textabstractWHO estimates reveal that the global prevalence of viral hepatitis may be as high as 500 million, with an annual mortality rate of up to 1.3 million individuals. The majority of this global burden of disease is borne by nations of the developing world with high rates of vertical and

NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) - 2015.In this Table, provisional cases of selected notifiable diseases (≥1,000 cases reported during the preceding year),...

MODERN APPROACHES TO THE THERAPY OF VIRAL PAPILLOMA SKIN INFECTION IN INFANCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.K. Aslamazian

2006-01-01

Full Text Available To improve the methods of prevention and treatment of viral papilloma infection, the researchers examined 80 children, suffering from skin forms of a disease. They examined peculiarities of a disease and interferon status of all the children. The data of clinic and laboratory research allowed them to assume that viral papilloma infection grows along with the reduction of immune mechanisms and it grows among the children, suffering from the genetic burden to viral diseases. All the patients, suffering from the disorder of interferon status, have undergone the complex therapy, which included medications of recombinant interferon (Viferon in suppositories and extrinsic. For the first time, the researchers removed the skin papillomas by a combination method: cryofreezing and photovaporization. The analysis of treatment and observation within a year and a half showed that in a group of children, who received a combination treatment, including Viferon therapy and removal of verrucas by 2 surgical methods. No backset of a disease detected. In general, the findings of the research pointed out the high efficiency of topical and systemic Viferon medications, as well as combination method of verruca removal in complex treatment of viral papilloma skin infection among the children.Key words: interferon status of children, interferon al'fa 2b, verrucas, viral papilloma infection.

Inter-Species Transmission of Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Virus Between Turbot (Scophthalmus Maximus) and Rainbow Trout (Onchorhynchus Mykiss)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schönherz, A. A.; Lorenzen, Niels; Einer-Jensen, Katja

2012-01-01

Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia is a serious viral disease of teleost fish with high economic impact on the aquaculture industry. The disease is caused by the viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV), an RNA virus belonging to the family Rhabdoviridae. Compared to other rhabdoviruses infecting...

Perspectives on emerging zoonotic disease research and capacity building in Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen, Craig; Artsob, Harvey; Bowie, William R; Drebot, Michael; Fraser, Erin; Leighton, Ted; Morshed, Muhammad; Ong, Corinne; Patrick, David

2004-01-01

Zoonoses are fundamental determinants of community health. Preventing, identifying and managing these infections must be a central public health focus. Most current zoonoses research focuses on the interface of the pathogen and the clinically ill person, emphasizing microbial detection, mechanisms of pathogenicity and clinical intervention strategies, rather than examining the causes of emergence, persistence and spread of new zoonoses. There are gaps in the understanding of the animal determinants of emergence and the capacity to train highly qualified individuals; these are major obstacles to preventing new disease threats. The ability to predict the emergence of zoonoses and their resulting public health and societal impacts are hindered when insufficient effort is devoted to understanding zoonotic disease epidemiology, and when zoonoses are not examined in a manner that yields fundamental insight into their origin and spread. Emerging infectious disease research should rest on four pillars: enhanced communications across disciplinary and agency boundaries; the assessment and development of surveillance and disease detection tools; the examination of linkages between animal health determinants of human health outcomes; and finally, cross-disciplinary training and research. A national strategy to predict, prevent and manage emerging diseases must have a prominent and explicit role for veterinary and biological researchers. An integrated health approach would provide decision makers with a firmer foundation from which to build evidence-based disease prevention and control plans that involve complex human/animal/environmental systems, and would serve as the foundation to train and support the new cadre of individuals ultimately needed to maintain and apply research capacity in this area. PMID:18159512

Incidence of pests and viral disease on pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ok-Kyung; Ishikawa, Tadashi; Yamada, Yoshihiro; Sato, Takuma; Shinohara, Hirosuke; Takahata, Ken

2017-01-01

The solanaceous fruit crop pepino ( Solanum muricatum Ait.), originating in the Andes, is grown commercially in South American countries and New Zealand. In these areas, pests and diseases of pepino have been identified well; however, to date, these have seldom been investigated in detail in Japan. Herein, we attempt to reconstruct an agricultural production system for commercial pepino crops in Japan, and evaluate the incidence of pests and viral diseases on pepino. The findings of this study will facilitate in developing a better crop system for the commercial cultivation of healthy pepino fruits. A total of 11 species, comprising nine insects and two mites, were recognized as pests of pepino plants in our experimental fields in Kanagawa Prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. Of these pest species, the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch, 1836 and the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover, 1877, were remarkably abundant than the other pest species. Eventually, 13 species, including two previously recorded, are currently recognized as the pests of pepino in Japan. With regard to viruses, we tested two species Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), as well as three genera Carlavirus , Potexvirus , and Potyvirus . No virus was detected in symptomatic pepino leaves collected in our experimental fields. This is a first report on the identification of pests on pepino plants in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan and elucidates the relationship between currently occurring pests of pepino plants and potential viral pathogens that they can transmit.

Five diseases, one vaccine - a boost for emerging livestock farmers

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

12 of the 16 most devastating animal diseases ... good use of livestock vaccines, emerging ... T Chetty, S Goga & A Mather (graphic design by C Lombard) .... Emerging farmers discussing an information pamphlet developed within the project.

ASTHMA AND VIRAL INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Sh. Macharadze

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Viruses are the most common pathogens of acute respiratory diseases — most often causing mild symptoms of common cold: cough, runny nose, temperature increases. At the same time, 1/3 of children have the following symptoms of lower respiratory tract disorders: shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, respiratory failure. Virus-induced wheezing are risk factors for development of asthma in childhood. Recent clinical and scientific data suggest: the more difficult are viral respiratory infections in young children, the higher their risk of asthma later on. Another feature is that children with allergic diseases are much more likely to have viral respiratory infections(and with longer clinical course, compared with children without atopy. The use of ibuprofen is safe for children over 3 months, including suffering from bronchial asthma.

In vitro neutralization against HoBi-like viruses by antiobodies in serum of cattle immunized with inactivated or modified live vaccines of bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 and 2

Science.gov (United States)

HoBi-like viruses are an emerging species of pestiviruses with genetic and antigenic similarities to bovine viral diarrhea viruses 1 and 2 (BVDV1 and BVDV2). These viruses have been detected associated with respiratory and/or reproductive disease in cattle in Italy and Brazil. Vaccines for HoBi-like...

Dual function of the nuclear export signal of the Borna disease virus nucleoprotein in nuclear export activity and binding to viral phosphoprotein.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanai, Mako; Sakai, Madoka; Makino, Akiko; Tomonaga, Keizo

2017-07-11

Borna disease virus (BoDV), which has a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome, causes persistent infection in the cell nucleus. The nuclear export signal (NES) of the viral nucleoprotein (N) consisting of leucine at positions 128 and 131 and isoleucine at positions 133 and 136 overlaps with one of two predicted binding sites for the viral phosphoprotein (P). A previous study demonstrated that higher expression of BoDV-P inhibits nuclear export of N; however, the function of N NES in the interaction with P remains unclear. We examined the subcellular localization, viral polymerase activity, and P-binding ability of BoDV-N NES mutants. We also characterized a recombinant BoDV (rBoDV) harboring an NES mutation of N. BoDV-N with four alanine-substitutions in the leucine and isoleucine residues of the NES impaired its cytoplasmic localization and abolished polymerase activity and P-binding ability. Although an alanine-substitution at position 131 markedly enhanced viral polymerase activity as determined by a minigenome assay, rBoDV harboring this mutation showed expression of viral RNAs and proteins relative to that of wild-type rBoDV. Our results demonstrate that BoDV-N NES has a dual function in BoDV replication, i.e., nuclear export of N and an interaction with P, affecting viral polymerase activity in the nucleus.

New technologies in predicting, preventing and controlling emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Christaki, Eirini

2015-01-01

Surveillance of emerging infectious diseases is vital for the early identification of public health threats. Emergence of novel infections is linked to human factors such as population density, travel and trade and ecological factors like climate change and agricultural practices. A wealth of new technologies is becoming increasingly available for the rapid molecular identification of pathogens but also for the more accurate monitoring of infectious disease activity. Web-based surveillance tools and epidemic intelligence methods, used by all major public health institutions, are intended to facilitate risk assessment and timely outbreak detection. In this review, we present new methods for regional and global infectious disease surveillance and advances in epidemic modeling aimed to predict and prevent future infectious diseases threats.

Experience of Using Mineral Water in the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis C with Concomitant Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.V. Dragomyretska

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The paper proved the feasibility of a course of mineral water intake (in double dosing regimen in combination treatment of patients with chronic viral hepatitis C and concomitant non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in order to improve the clinical course of the underlying disease and comorbidity, to restore the functional state of the liver, to reduce insulin resistance.

Effect of Medicaid disease management programs on emergency admissions and inpatient costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Conti, Matthew S

2013-08-01

To determine the impact of state Medicaid diabetes disease management programs on emergency admissions and inpatient costs. National InPatient Sample sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Project for the years from 2000 to 2008 using 18 states. A difference-in-difference methodology compares costs and number of emergency admissions for Washington, Texas, and Georgia, which implemented disease management programs between 2000 and 2008, to states that did not undergo the transition to managed care (N = 103). Costs and emergency admissions were extracted for diabetic Medicaid enrollees diagnosed in the reform and non-reform states and collapsed into state and year cells. In the three treatment states, the implementation of disease management programs did not have statistically significant impacts on the outcome variables when compared to the control states. States that implemented disease management programs did not achieve improvements in costs or the number of emergency of admissions; thus, these programs do not appear to be an effective way to reduce the burden of this chronic disease. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Dysplastic hepatocytes develop nuclear inclusions in a mouse model of viral hepatitis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priyanka Thakur

Full Text Available Viral hepatitis resulting in chronic liver disease is an important clinical challenge and insight into the cellular processes that drive pathogenesis will be critical in order to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic options. Nuclear inclusions in viral and non-viral hepatitis are well documented and have diagnostic significance in some disease contexts. However, the origins and functional consequences of these nuclear inclusions remain elusive. To date the clinical observation of nuclear inclusions in viral and non-viral hepatitis has not been explored at depth in murine models of liver disease. Herein, we report that in a transgenic model of hepatitis B surface antigen mediated hepatitis, murine hepatocytes exhibit nuclear inclusions. Cells bearing nuclear inclusions were more likely to express markers of cell proliferation. We also established a correlation between these inclusions and oxidative stress. N-acetyl cysteine treatment effectively reduced oxidative stress levels, relieved endoplasmic reticulum (ER stress, and the number of nuclear inclusions we observed in the transgenic mice. Our results suggest that the presence of nuclear inclusions in hepatocytes correlates with oxidative stress and cellular proliferation in a model of antigen mediated hepatitis.

Biodiversity loss, emerging infectious diseases and impact on human and crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinwari, Z.K.; Gilani, S.A.; Khan, A.L.

2012-01-01

We are losing biodiversity through several factors ranging from global warming, climatic change, unsustainable use of natural resources, human settlements, demand for food, medicine etc. Consequently, the biodiversity losses are causing emergence of infectious diseases (EIDs) which are making them more virulent than the past. Both biodiversity loss and emergence of diseases significantly impact the human derived benefits in-terms of economy and food. Ecological stability, productivity and food-web interactions are indirectly correlated with biodiversity and any change in these will cause losses in biodiversity that would certainly influence the human derived benefits and crops. The current article reviews the biodiversity losses and emerging infectious diseases at various levels reported by recent literature which will help in current status of EIDs and future recommendations. (author)

Nosocomial infection control in healthcare settings: Protection against emerging infectious diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Chuanxi; Wang, Shengyong

2016-04-12

The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Korea in 2015 may be attributable to poor nosocomial infection control procedures implemented. Strict infection control measures were taken in the hospital where an imported case with MERS was treated in southern China and 53 health care workers were confirmed to be MERS-CoV negative. Infection control in healthcare settings, in which patients with emerging infectious diseases such as MERS, Ebola virus disease, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are diagnosed and treated, are often imperfect. When it comes to emerging or unknown infectious diseases, before the imported case was finally identified or community transmission was reported, cases have often occurred in clusters in healthcare settings. Nosocomial infection control measures should be further strengthened among the workers and inpatients in designated healthcare settings that accommodate suspected cases suffering from emerging or unknown infectious diseases.

Chronic liver disease in the Hispanic population of the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrion, Andres F; Ghanta, Ravi; Carrasquillo, Olveen; Martin, Paul

2011-10-01

Chronic liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among Hispanic people living in the United States. Environmental, genetic, and behavioral factors, as well as socioeconomic and health care disparities among this ethnic group have emerged as important public health concerns. We review the epidemiology, natural history, and response to therapy of chronic liver disease in Hispanic patients. The review covers nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis B and C, coinfection of viral hepatitis with human immunodeficiency virus, alcoholic cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, autoimmune hepatitis, and primary biliary cirrhosis. For most of these disorders, the Hispanic population has a higher incidence and more aggressive pattern of disease and overall worse treatment outcomes than in the non-Hispanic white population. Clinicians should be aware of these differences in caring for Hispanic patients with chronic liver disease. Copyright © 2011 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pelvic inflammatory disease: diagnosis and treatment in the emergency department [digest].

Science.gov (United States)

Bugg, Charles Walter; Taira, Taku; Zaurova, Milana

2016-12-22

Pelvic inflammatory disease is a common disease that is associated with significant complications including infertility, chronic pelvic pain, ruptured tubo-ovarian abscess, and ectopic pregnancy. The diagnosis may be delayed when the presentation has nonspecific signs and symptoms. Even when it is properly identified, pelvic inflammatory disease is often treated suboptimally. This review provides evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, disposition, and follow-up of patients with pelvic inflammatory disease. Arranging follow-up of patients within 48 to 72 hours and providing clear patient education are fundamental to ensuring good patient outcomes. Emerging issues, including new pathogens and evolving resistance patterns among pelvic inflammatory disease pathogens are reviewed. [Points & Pearls is a digest of Emergency Medicine Practice].

Brain transcriptomes of harbor seals demonstrate gene expression patterns of animals undergoing a metabolic disease and a viral infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie M. Rosales

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Diseases of marine mammals can be difficult to diagnose because of their life history and protected status. Stranded marine mammals have been a particularly useful resource to discover and comprehend the diseases that plague these top predators. Additionally, advancements in high-throughput sequencing (HTS has contributed to the discovery of novel pathogens in marine mammals. In this study, we use a combination of HTS and stranded harbor seals (Phoca vitulina to better understand a known and unknown brain disease. To do this, we used transcriptomics to evaluate brain tissues from seven neonatal harbor seals that expired from an unknown cause of death (UCD and compared them to four neonatal harbor seals that had confirmed phocine herpesvirus (PhV-1 infections in the brain. Comparing the two disease states we found that UCD animals showed a significant abundance of fatty acid metabolic transcripts in their brain tissue, thus we speculate that a fatty acid metabolic dysregulation contributed to the death of these animals. Furthermore, we were able to describe the response of four young harbor seals with PhV-1 infections in the brain. PhV-1 infected animals showed a significant ability to mount an innate and adaptive immune response, especially to combat viral infections. Our data also suggests that PhV-1 can hijack host pathways for DNA packaging and exocytosis. This is the first study to use transcriptomics in marine mammals to understand host and viral interactions and assess the death of stranded marine mammals with an unknown disease. Furthermore, we show the value of applying transcriptomics on stranded marine mammals for disease characterization.

Human tularemia in Italy. Is it a re-emerging disease?

Science.gov (United States)

D'Alessandro, D; Napoli, C; Nusca, A; Bella, A; Funari, E

2015-07-01

Tularemia is a contagious infectious disease due to Francisiella tularensis that can cause serious clinical manifestations and significant mortality if untreated. Although the frequency and significance of the disease has diminished over the last decades in Central Europe, over the past few years, there is new evidence suggesting that tularemia has re-emerged worldwide. To know the real epidemiology of the disease is at the root of correct control measures. In order to evaluate whether tularemia is re-emerging in Italy, data on mortality and morbidity (obtained by the National Institute of Statistics; ISTAT), Italian cases described in the scientific literature and data concerning hospitalizations for tularemia (obtained by the National Hospital Discharge Database) were analysed. From 1979 to 2010, ISTAT reported 474 cases and no deaths. The overall number of cases obtained from the literature review was at least 31% higher than that reported by ISTAT. Moreover, the number of cases reported by ISTAT was 3·5 times smaller than hospitalized cases. In Italy tularemia is sporadic, rarely endemic and self-limiting; but, although the trend of reported tularemia does not support the hypothesis of a re-emerging disease, the study demonstrates a wide underreporting of the disease. The real frequency of the disease should be carefully investigated and taken into account in order to implement specific prevention measures.

Synaptogyrin-2 Promotes Replication of a Novel Tick-borne Bunyavirus through Interacting with Viral Nonstructural Protein NSs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Qiyu; Qi, Xian; Zhang, Yan; Wu, Xiaodong; Liang, Mifang; Li, Chuan; Li, Dexin; Cardona, Carol J; Xing, Zheng

2016-07-29

Synaptogyrin-2 is a non-neuronal member of the synaptogyrin family involved in synaptic vesicle biogenesis and trafficking. Little is known about the function of synaptogyrin-2. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease characterized by high fever, thrombocytopenia, and leukocytopenia with high mortality, caused by a novel tick-borne phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. Our previous studies have shown that the viral nonstructural protein NSs forms inclusion bodies (IBs) that are involved in viral immune evasion, as well as viral RNA replication. In this study, we sought to elucidate the mechanism by which NSs formed the IBs, a lipid droplet-based structure confirmed by NSs co-localization with perilipin A and adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP). Through a high throughput screening, we identified synaptogyrin-2 to be highly up-regulated in response to SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV) infection and to be a promoter of viral replication. We demonstrated that synaptogyrin-2 interacted with NSs and was translocated into the IBs, which were reconstructed from lipid droplets into large structures in infection. Viral RNA replication decreased, and infectious virus titers were lowered significantly when synaptogyrin-2 was silenced in specific shRNA-expressing cells, which correlated with the reduced number of the large IBs restructured from regular lipid droplets. We hypothesize that synaptogyrin-2 is essential to promoting the formation of the IBs to become virus factories for viral RNA replication through its interaction with NSs. These findings unveil the function of synaptogyrin-2 as an enhancer in viral infection. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Endocrine‑related diseases in the emergency unit of a Tertiary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Non‑communicable diseases are emerging as an important component of the burden of diseases in developing countries. Knowledge on admission and mortality patterns of endocrine‑related diseases will give insight into the magnitude of these conditions and provide effective tools for planning, delivery, and ...

Viral persistence, liver disease and host response in Hepatitis C-like virus rat model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trivedi, Sheetal; Murthy, Satyapramod; Sharma, Himanshu

2018-01-01

The lack of a relevant, tractable, and immunocompetent animal model for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has severely impeded investigations of viral persistence, immunity and pathogenesis. In the absence of immunocompetent models with robust HCV infection, homolog hepaciviruses in their natural host could...... potentially provide useful surrogate models. We isolated a rodent hepacivirus (RHV) from wild rats (Rattus norvegicus), RHV-rn1, acquired the complete viral genome sequence and developed an infectious reverse genetics system. RHV-rn1 resembles HCV in genomic features including the pattern of polyprotein...... cleavage sites and secondary structures in the viral 5' and 3' UTRs. We used site-directed and random mutagenesis to determine that only the first of the two miR-122 seed sites in viral 5'UTR is required for viral replication and persistence in rats. Next, we used the clone derived virus progeny to infect...

The emerging disease occurrence of pet animals in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umma Habiba

2016-12-01

Results: Among the most general pet animals in Bangladesh (dog, cat, rabbit, the mostly occured diseases were scabies (23.07%, feline ascariasis (37.14% and rabbit mange (34.61%, while the less frequent diseases were canine parvovirus enteritis (2.19%, cat scratch disease (5.71% and overgrown teeth (7.69%. Conclusion: The study provides basic information about the current status and the percentage (% of disease occurrence considering the emerging diseases of pet animals in Bangladesh. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2016; 3(4.000: 413-419

Emerging complexities of APOBEC3G action on immunity and viral fitness during HIV infection and treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monajemi Mahdis

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The enzyme APOBEC3G (A3G mutates the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV genome by converting deoxycytidine (dC to deoxyuridine (dU on minus strand viral DNA during reverse transcription. A3G restricts viral propagation by degrading or incapacitating the coding ability of the HIV genome. Thus, this enzyme has been perceived as an innate immune barrier to viral replication whilst adaptive immunity responses escalate to effective levels. The discovery of A3G less than a decade ago led to the promise of new anti-viral therapies based on manipulation of its cellular expression and/or activity. The rationale for therapeutic approaches has been solidified by demonstration of the effectiveness of A3G in diminishing viral replication in cell culture systems of HIV infection, reports of its mutational footprint in virions from patients, and recognition of its unusually robust enzymatic potential in biochemical studies in vitro. Despite its effectiveness in various experimental systems, numerous recent studies have shown that the ability of A3G to combat HIV in the physiological setting is severely limited. In fact, it has become apparent that its mutational activity may actually enhance viral fitness by accelerating HIV evolution towards the evasion of both anti-viral drugs and the immune system. This body of work suggests that the role of A3G in HIV infection is more complex than heretofore appreciated and supports the hypothesis that HIV has evolved to exploit the action of this host factor. Here we present an overview of recent data that bring to light historical overestimation of A3G’s standing as a strictly anti-viral agent. We discuss the limitations of experimental systems used to assess its activities as well as caveats in data interpretation.

Snake fungal disease: An emerging threat to wild snakes

Science.gov (United States)

Lorch, Jeffrey M.; Knowles, Susan N.; Lankton, Julia S.; Michell, Kathy; Edwards, Jaime L.; Kapfer, Joshua M.; Staffen, Richard A.; Wild, Erik R.; Schmidt, Katie Z.; Ballmann, Anne; Blodgett, Doug; Farrell, Terence M.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Last, Lisa A.; Price, Steven J.; Schuler, Krysten L.; Smith, Christopher; Wellehan, James F. X.; Blehert, David S.

2016-01-01

Since 2006, there has been a marked increase in the number of reports of severe and often fatal fungal skin infections in wild snakes in the eastern USA. The emerging condition, referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD), was initially documented in rattlesnakes, where the infections were believed to pose a risk to the viability of affected populations. The disease is caused byOphidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus recently split from a complex of fungi long referred to as the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV). Here we review the current state of knowledge about O. ophiodiicola and SFD. In addition, we provide original findings which demonstrate that O. ophiodiicola is widely distributed in eastern North America, has a broad host range, is the predominant cause of fungal skin infections in wild snakes and often causes mild infections in snakes emerging from hibernation. This new information, together with what is already available in the scientific literature, advances our knowledge of the cause, pathogenesis and ecology of SFD. However, additional research is necessary to elucidate the factors driving the emergence of this disease and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts.

Pediatric Viral Exanthema: A Review Article

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Jafar Saffar

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Context Many diseases caused by viral agents are associated with fever and cutaneous manifestations. Viral exanthema is a widespread nonspecific skin rash, commonly characterized by generalized eruption of erythematous macules and papular lesions. Although these rashes are mostly benign and self-limited, some may be serious and life-threatening. Differentiation between severe and benign types is clinically important and life-saving. Evidence Acquisition In this narrative review, electronic databases, including Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed (including Medline, Web of Science, Scientific Information Database, and Scopus, were searched. We conducted a narrative review of papers published on pediatric viral exanthema during 2000 - 2016. The used keywords included “viral exanthema”, “fever”, and “skin rash”. Articles on skin rash, caused by drug reactions or nonviral exanthema, were excluded. Results Different viral agents can cause different types of skin reactions. Cutaneous manifestations and skin rashes can be categorized, based on the form of the rash (macular, papular, vesicular, blistery, petechial, and purpuric or the general term, which denotes illnesses such as measles-like morbilliform rash, rubella or rubelliform rash, and scarlatiniform rash, a scarlet-fever like infection. Conclusions Based on the findings, a systematic approach relying on accurate history-taking and analysis of epidemiological cues and rash characteristics is of great significance.

Rituximab-related viral infections in lymphoma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Aksoy, Sercan; Harputluoglu, Hakan; Kilickap, Saadettin; Dede, Didem Sener; Dizdar, Omer; Altundag, Kadri; Barista, Ibrahim

2007-07-01

Recently, a human/mouse chimeric monoclonal antibody, rituximab, has been successfully used to treat cases of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and some autoimmune diseases. However, several viral infections related to rituximab have been reported in the literature, but were not well characterized. To further investigate this topic, relevant English language studies were identified through Medline. There were 64 previously reported cases of serious viral infection after rituximab treatment. The median age of the cases was 61 years (range: 21 - 79). The median time period from the start of rituximab treatment to viral infection diagnosis was 5.0 months (range: 1 - 20). The most frequently experienced viral infections were hepatitis B virus (HBV) (39.1%, n = 25), cytomegalovirus infection (CMV) (23.4%, n = 15), varicella-zoster virus (VZV) (9.4%, n = 6), and others (28.1%, n = 18). Of the patients with HBV infections, 13 (52.0%) died due to hepatic failure. Among the 39 cases that had viral infections other than HBV, 13 died due to these specific infections. In this study, about 50% of the rituximab-related HBV infections resulted in death, whereas this was the case in only 33% of the cases with other infections. Close monitoring for viral infection, particularly HBV and CMV, in patients treated with rituximab should be recommended.

Nucleocapsid-Independent Specific Viral RNA Packaging via Viral Envelope Protein and Viral RNA Signal

OpenAIRE

Narayanan, Krishna; Chen, Chun-Jen; Maeda, Junko; Makino, Shinji

2003-01-01

For any of the enveloped RNA viruses studied to date, recognition of a specific RNA packaging signal by the virus's nucleocapsid (N) protein is the first step described in the process of viral RNA packaging. In the murine coronavirus a selective interaction between the viral transmembrane envelope protein M and the viral ribonucleoprotein complex, composed of N protein and viral RNA containing a short cis-acting RNA element, the packaging signal, determines the selective RNA packaging into vi...

Leflunomide/teriflunomide inhibit Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)- induced lymphoproliferative disease and lytic viral replication.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilger, Andrea; Plowshay, Julie; Ma, Shidong; Nawandar, Dhananjay; Barlow, Elizabeth A; Romero-Masters, James C; Bristol, Jillian A; Li, Zhe; Tsai, Ming-Han; Delecluse, Henri-Jacques; Kenney, Shannon C

2017-07-04

EBV infection causes mononucleosis and is associated with specific subsets of B cell lymphomas. Immunosuppressed patients such as organ transplant recipients are particularly susceptible to EBV-induced lymphoproliferative disease (LPD), which can be fatal. Leflunomide (a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis) and its active metabolite teriflunomide (used to treat multiple sclerosis) inhibit de novo pyrimidine synthesis by targeting the cellular dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, thereby decreasing T cell proliferation. Leflunomide also inhibits the replication of cytomegalovirus and BK virus via both "on target" and "off target" mechanisms and is increasingly used to treat these viruses in organ transplant recipients. However, whether leflunomide/teriflunomide block EBV replication or inhibit EBV-mediated B cell transformation is currently unknown. We show that teriflunomide inhibits cellular proliferation, and promotes apoptosis, in EBV-transformed B cells in vitro at a clinically relevant dose. In addition, teriflunomide prevents the development of EBV-induced lymphomas in both a humanized mouse model and a xenograft model. Furthermore, teriflunomide inhibits lytic EBV infection in vitro both by preventing the initial steps of lytic viral reactivation, and by blocking lytic viral DNA replication. Leflunomide/teriflunomide might therefore be clinically useful for preventing EBV-induced LPD in patients who have high EBV loads yet require continued immunosuppression.

Viroses confundíveis com febre aftosa Viral diseases to be differentiated from foot-and-mouth disease

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Franklin Riet-Correa

1996-08-01

Full Text Available Revisam-se as doenças que devem ser consideradas no diagnóstico diferencial de febre aftosa. Dentre as doenças vesiculares ou erosivas, descrevem-se os principais aspectos relacionados ao diagnóstico da estomatite vesicular, diarréia viral bovina, febre catarral maligna, infecções por herpesvírus bovino 1 e 5, e uma estomatite ulcerativa associada a parvovírus bovino, que ocorreu no Rio Grande do Sul; língua azul, para a qual tem sido detectados anticorpos em bovinos e ovinos do Rio Grande do Sul; mamilite herpética que ocorre em outros Estados do País;peste bovina, que foi diagnosticada e erradicada no Estado de São Paulo em 1921; estomatite popular; e duas doenças exóticas:exantema vesicular e doença vesicular do suíno.Diseases to be considered in the differential diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease are reviewed. The main aspects relating to the diagnosis of vesicular stomatitis, bovine virus diarrhea, malignant catarrhal fever, bovine herpesvirus 1 and 5, andem ulcerative stomatitis associated with bovine parvovirus are described. Bluetongue, that probably occurs in Rio Grande do Sul because antibodies to the virus have been detected in cattle and sheep; is refered. Bovine ulcerative mammilitis, reported in other Brazilian States, rinderpest, reported and eradicated in the State of São Paulo in 1921, and popular stomatitis are also cited, and so are two exotic diseases: vesicular exanthema and swine vesicular disease.

An update on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Ching-Sheng; Kao, Jia-Horng

2017-08-01

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most overwhelming liver disease in Asia. In consideration of its increasing medical and economic impact on Asian people, it is time for us to review the update data in Asian countries and formulate strategies to cope with this emerging health problem in Asia. Moreover, growing data indicates that NAFLD may be a systemic disease, not just confined to liver-specific morbidity and mortality, but also associated with several extra-hepatic manifestations, such as cardiovascular diseases, chronic renal diseases, and malignancy. As the co-occurrence of NAFLD and viral hepatitis is common in Asia, issues related to the impact of NAFLD on the clinical outcomes and management of viral hepatitis remain to be elucidated. Areas covered: In this article, a narrative review was conducted, searching for literature from PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Library database till August 2016. Studies relevant to the emerging data of NAFLD in Asia, including the diagnosis, risk factors, the assessment and management of Asian NAFLD patients were examined and discussed. Expert commentary: Collaboration in Asian countries to develop an effective and practical measurement to assess the severity of NAFLD is urgently required.

[A method for genetic transformation of maize for resistance to viral diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez, Marta; Madriz, Kenneth; Ramírez, Pilar

2004-09-01

A system for the genetic transformation of maize was developed for two Costa Rican varieties: CR-7 and Diamantes 8843, that can allow the subsequent transfer of viral-derived genes in order to confer resistance to the disease caused by maize rayado fino virus (MRFV). The method is based on particle bombardment of organogenic calli derived from shoot tips. On the other hand, the molecular construction pRFcp-bar, containing the coat protein gene of MRFV and the marker gene bar, was elaborated. For the visual selection of the transformed material was used also the plasmid pDM803 that contains the reporter gene uidA (GUS). The results indicate that devices evaluated: the PIG ("Particle Inflow Gun") and the Bio-Rad are both enough efficient to transfer foreign genes to the genome of the maize.

Equine viral arteritis

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Kosec Marjan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Equine viral arteritis (EVA is a contagious disease of equids caused by equine artheritis virus (EAV, widespread in most countries in the world, where patients are diagnosed. The infection usually starts asymptomatic. Clinical signs indicate respiratory infection of different intensity and also abortions are present at different stages of gestation. Large prevalence of this disease in the world has become a growing economic problem. The disease is specific to a particular kind of animals, and it affects only equids (horses, donkeys, mules, mule and zebras. In countries where the infection has been confirmed, the percentage of positive animals differ. Likewise, there is difference in percentage among certain animal kinds. The highest percentage of positive animals has been found in totters and the lowest in cold-blooded.

Meta-analysis on the efficacy of foot-and-mouth disease emergency vaccination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hisham Beshara Halasa, Tariq; Boklund, Anette; Cox, Sarah

2011-01-01

the results. Peer-reviewed, symposium, and unpublished studies were considered in the analysis. Clinical protection and virological protection against foot and mouth disease were used as parameters to assess the efficacy of emergency vaccination. The clinical protection was estimated based on the appearance...... publication bias tests. In total, 31 studies were included in the analyses, of which 26 were peer-reviewed studies, 1 was a symposium study and 4 were unpublished studies. Cattle, swine and sheep were well protected against clinical disease and foot and mouth disease infection following the use of emergency...... vaccine. Fortunately, no significant bias that would alter the conclusions was encountered in the analysis. Meta-analysis can be a useful tool to summarize literature results from a systematic review of the efficacy of foot and mouth disease emergency vaccination....

Emerging Viral Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Developing Nervous System: A Mini Review.

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Kakooza-Mwesige, Angelina; Mohammed, Abdul H; Kristensson, Krister; Juliano, Sharon L; Lutwama, Julius J

2018-01-01

The global public health concern is heightened over the increasing number of emerging viruses, i.e., newly discovered or previously known that have expanded into new geographical zones. These viruses challenge the health-care systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from which several of them have originated and been transmitted by insects worldwide. Some of these viruses are neuroinvasive, but have been relatively neglected by neuroscientists. They may provide experiments by nature to give a time window for exposure to a new virus within sizeable, previously non-infected human populations, which, for instance, enables studies on potential long-term or late-onset effects on the developing nervous system. Here, we briefly summarize studies on the developing brain by West Nile, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses, which are mosquito-borne and have spread worldwide out of SSA. They can all be neuroinvasive, but their effects vary from malformations caused by prenatal infections to cognitive disturbances following perinatal or later infections. We also highlight Ebola virus, which can leave surviving children with psychiatric disturbances and cause persistent infections in the non-human primate brain. Greater awareness within the neuroscience community is needed to emphasize the menace evoked by these emerging viruses to the developing brain. In particular, frontline neuroscience research should include neuropediatric follow-up studies in the field on long-term or late-onset cognitive and behavior disturbances or neuropsychiatric disorders. Studies on pathogenetic mechanisms for viral-induced perturbations of brain maturation should be extended to the vulnerable periods when neurocircuit formations are at peaks during infancy and early childhood.

Viral gene products and replication of the human immunodeficiency type 1 virus.

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Morrow, C D; Park, J; Wakefield, J K

1994-05-01

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic represents a modern-day plague that has not only resulted in a tragic loss of people from a wide spectrum of society but has reshaped our viewpoints regarding health care, the treatment of infectious diseases, and social issues regarding sexual behavior. There is little doubt now that the cause of the disease AIDS is a virus known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The HIV virus is a member of a large family of viruses termed retroviruses, which have as a hallmark the capacity to convert their RNA genome into a DNA form that then undergoes a process of integration into the host cell chromosome, followed by the expression of the viral genome and translation of viral proteins in the infected cell. This review describes the organization of the HIV-1 viral genome, the expression of viral proteins, as well as the functions of the accessory viral proteins in HIV replication. The replication of the viral genome is divided into two phases, the early phase and the late phase. The early phase consists of the interaction of the virus with the cell surface receptor (CD4 molecule in most cases), the uncoating and conversion of the viral RNA genome into a DNA form, and the integration into the host cell chromosome. The late phase consists of the expression of the viral proteins from the integrated viral genome, the translation of viral proteins, and the assembly and release of the virus. Points in the HIV-1 life cycle that are targets for therapeutic intervention are also discussed.

Viral pneumonias: Typical and atypical findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westhoff-Bleck, M.; Bleck, J.S.; Schirg, E.

1987-01-01

The clinical and radiological features of viral pneumonias are summarized and discussed. Although viral infections of the lung belong to atypical pneumonias they demonstrate not always the radiographic pattern of an interstitial pneumonia. Characteristic radiographic findings are quite rare. In most cases the microbial etiology cannot be predicted from chest radiographs. The appearance varies depending on the virulence of the organism and the resistence of the host. In this regard knowledge of epidemiological data as well as patients condition and underlying disease is of utmost importance. Differentiation between community- and hospital-acquired infection may be very helpful. (orig.) [de

Bat distribution size or shape as determinant of viral richness in african bats.

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Gaël D Maganga

Full Text Available The rising incidence of emerging infectious diseases (EID is mostly linked to biodiversity loss, changes in habitat use and increasing habitat fragmentation. Bats are linked to a growing number of EID but few studies have explored the factors of viral richness in bats. These may have implications for role of bats as potential reservoirs. We investigated the determinants of viral richness in 15 species of African bats (8 Pteropodidae and 7 microchiroptera in Central and West Africa for which we provide new information on virus infection and bat phylogeny. We performed the first comparative analysis testing the correlation of the fragmented geographical distribution (defined as the perimeter to area ratio with viral richness in bats. Because of their potential effect, sampling effort, host body weight, ecological and behavioural traits such as roosting behaviour, migration and geographical range, were included into the analysis as variables. The results showed that the geographical distribution size, shape and host body weight have significant effects on viral richness in bats. Viral richness was higher in large-bodied bats which had larger and more fragmented distribution areas. Accumulation of viruses may be related to the historical expansion and contraction of bat species distribution range, with potentially strong effects of distribution edges on virus transmission. Two potential explanations may explain these results. A positive distribution edge effect on the abundance or distribution of some bat species could have facilitated host switches. Alternatively, parasitism could play a direct role in shaping the distribution range of hosts through host local extinction by virulent parasites. This study highlights the importance of considering the fragmentation of bat species geographical distribution in order to understand their role in the circulation of viruses in Africa.

A Learner-led, Discussion-based Elective on Emerging Infectious Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathias, Clinton

2015-08-25

Objective. To implement a learner-led, discussion-based course aimed at exposing second-year pharmacy learners to the study of emerging infectious diseases from a global health perspective and to assess the role and importance of pharmacists in the management of disease outbreaks. Design. Learners examined literature pertinent to an emerging infectious disease in a 3-credit, discussion-based course and participated in peer discussion led by a designated learner. Instructional materials included journal articles, audio-visual presentations, documentaries, book chapters, movies, newspaper/magazine articles, and other materials. Learning outcomes were measured based on the ability of learners to perform critical thinking and analysis, communicate with their peers, and participate in class discussions. Assessment. The course was offered to 2 consecutive cohorts consisting of 14 and 16 learners, respectively. Overall, every learner in the first cohort achieved a final grade of A for the course. In the second cohort, the overall grade distribution consisted of grades of A, B, and C for the course. Learner evaluations indicated that the active-learning, discussion-based environment significantly enhanced interest in the topic and overall performance in the course. Conclusion. The elective course on emerging infectious diseases provided in-depth exposure to disease topics normally not encountered in the pharmacy curriculum. Learners found the material and format valuable, and the course enhanced their appreciation of infectious diseases, research methodology, critical thinking and analysis, and their roles as pharmacists.

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses: a review of viral genomes, viral induced host immune responses, genotypic distributions and worldwide epidemiology

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Umar Saeed

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HCV are frequently propagating blood borne pathogens in global community. Viral hepatitis is primarily associated with severe health complications, such as liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic fibrosis and steatosis. A literature review was conducted on hepatitis B virus (HBV, HBV genome, genotypic distribution and global epidemiology of HBV, HCV, HCV genome, HCV and host immune responses, HCV genotypic distribution and global epidemiology. The valued information was subjected for review. HBV has strict tissue tropism to liver. The virus infecting hepatocytes produces large amount of hepatitis B surface antigen particles which lack the DNA. It has capability to integrate into host genome. It has been found that genotype C is most emerging genotype associated with more severe liver diseases (cirrhosis. The approximate prevalence rate of genotype C is 27.7% which represents a major threat to future generations. Approximately 8% of population is chronic carrier of HBV in developing countries. The chronic carrier rate of HBV is 2%-7% in Middle East, Eastern and Southern Europe, South America and Japan. Among HCV infected individuals, 15% usually have natural tendency to overcome acute viral infection, where as 85% of individuals were unable to control HCV infection. The internal ribosomal entry site contains highly conserved structures important for binding and appropriate positioning of viral genome inside the host cell. HCV infects only in 1%-10% of hepatocytes, but production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (from CD8+ cells and interferon-gamma cause destruction of both infected cells and non-infected surrounding cells. Almost 11 genotypes and above 100 subtypes of HCV exists worldwide with different geographical distribution. Many efforts are still needed to minimize global burden of these infections. For the complete eradication of HBV (just like small pox and polio via vaccination strategies

Susceptibility to viral infection is enhanced by stable expression of 3A or 3AB proteins from foot-and-mouth disease virus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosas, Maria F.; Vieira, Yuri A.; Postigo, Raul; Martin-Acebes, Miguel A.; Armas-Portela, Rosario; Martinez-Salas, Encarnacion; Sobrino, Francisco

2008-01-01

The foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) 3A protein is involved in virulence and host range. A distinguishing feature of FMDV 3B among picornaviruses is that three non-identical copies are encoded in the viral RNA and required for optimal replication in cell culture. Here, we have studied the involvement of the 3AB region on viral infection using constitutive and transient expression systems. BHK-21 stably transformed clones expressed low levels of FMDV 3A or 3A(B) proteins in the cell cytoplasm. Transformed cells stably expressing these proteins did not exhibit inner cellular rearrangements detectable by electron microscope analysis. Upon FMDV infection, clones expressing either 3A alone or 3A(B) proteins showed a significant increase in the percentage of infected cells, the number of plaque forming units and the virus yield. The 3A-enhancing effect was specific for FMDV as no increase in viral multiplication was observed in transformed clones infected with another picornavirus, encephalomyocarditis virus, or the negative-strand RNA virus vesicular stomatitis virus. A potential role of 3A protein in viral RNA translation was discarded by the lack of effect on FMDV IRES-dependent translation. Increased viral susceptibility was not caused by a released factor; neither the supernatant of transformed clones nor the addition of purified 3A protein to the infection medium was responsible for this effect. Unlike stable expression, high levels of 3A or 3A(B) protein transient expression led to unspecific inhibition of viral infection. Therefore, the effect observed on viral yield, which inversely correlated with the intracellular levels of 3A protein, suggests a transacting role operating on the FMDV multiplication cycle

NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) C

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) C - 2017. In this Table, provisional cases of selected notifiable diseases (≥1,000 cases reported during the preceding...

Viral-toxin interactions and Parkinson’s disease: poly(I:C priming enhanced the neurodegenerative effects of paraquat

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Bobyn Jessica

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD has been linked with exposure to a variety of environmental and immunological insults (for example, infectious pathogens in which inflammatory and oxidative processes seem to be involved. In particular, epidemiological studies have found that pesticide exposure and infections may be linked with the incidence of PD. The present study sought to determine whether exposure to a viral mimic prior to exposure to pesticides would exacerbate PD-like pathology. Methods Mice received a supra-nigral infusion of 5 μg of the double-stranded RNA viral analog, polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C, followed 2, 7 or 14 days later by administration of the pesticide, paraquat (nine 10 mg/kg injections over three weeks. Results As hypothesized, poly(I:C pre-treatment enhanced dopamine (DA neuron loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta elicited by subsequent paraquat treatment. The augmented neuronal loss was accompanied by robust signs of microglial activation, and by increased expression of the catalytic subunit (gp91 of the NADPH oxidase oxidative stress enzyme. However, the paraquat and poly(I:C treatments did not appreciably affect home-cage activity, striatal DA terminals, or subventricular neurogenesis. Conclusions These findings suggest that viral agents can sensitize microglial-dependent inflammatory responses, thereby rendering nigral DA neurons vulnerable to further environmental toxin exposure.

MicroRNA Roles in the NF-κB Signaling Pathway during Viral Infections

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Zeqian Gao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available NF-κB signaling network is a crucial component of innate immunity. miRNAs are a subtype of small noncoding RNAs, involved in regulation of gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Increasing evidence has emerged that miRNAs play an important role in regulation of NF-κB signaling pathway during viral infections. Both host and viral miRNAs are attributed to modulation of NF-κB activity, thus affecting viral infection and clearance. Understandings of the mechanisms of these miRNAs will open a direction for development of novel antivirus drugs.

Th2 Regulation of Viral Myocarditis in Mice: Different Roles for TLR3 versus TRIF in Progression to Chronic Disease

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Eric D. Abston

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Viral infections are able to induce autoimmune inflammation in the heart. Here, we investigated the role of virus-activated Toll-like receptor (TLR3 and its adaptor TRIF on the development of autoimmune coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3 myocarditis in mice. Although TLR3- or TRIF-deficient mice developed similarly worse acute CVB3 myocarditis and viral replication compared to control mice, disease was significantly worse in TRIF compared to TLR3-deficient mice. Interestingly, TLR3-deficient mice developed an interleukin (IL-4-dominant T helper (Th2 response during acute CVB3 myocarditis with elevated markers of alternative activation, while TRIF-deficient mice elevated the Th2-associated cytokine IL-33. Treatment of TLR3-deficient mice with recombinant IL-33 improved heart function indicating that elevated IL-33 in the context of a classic Th2-driven response protects against autoimmune heart disease. We show for the first time that TLR3 versus TRIF deficiency results in different Th2 responses that uniquely influence the progression to chronic myocarditis.

MicroRNAs in the host response to viral infections of veterinary importance

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Mohamed Samir Ahmed

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The discovery of small regulatory non-coding RNAs has been an exciting advance in the field of genomics. MicroRNAs (miRNAs are endogenous RNA molecules, approximately 22 nucleotides in length that regulate gene expression, mostly at the post-transcriptional level. MiRNA profiling technologies have made it possible to identify and quantify novel miRNAs and to study their regulation and potential roles in disease pathogenesis. Although miRNAs have been extensively investigated in viral infections of humans, their implications in viral diseases affecting animals of veterinary importance are much less understood. The number of annotated miRNAs in different animal species is growing continuously, and novel roles in regulating host-pathogen interactions are being discovered, for instance miRNA-mediated augmentation of viral transcription and replication. In this review, we present an overview of synthesis and function of miRNAs and an update on the current state of research on host-encoded miRNAs in the genesis of viral infectious diseases in their natural animal host as well as in selected in vivo and in vitro laboratory models.

Microneedle-mediated delivery of viral vectored vaccines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaric, Marija; Ibarzo Yus, Bárbara; Kalcheva, Petya Petrova; Klavinskis, Linda Sylvia

2017-10-01

Microneedle array platforms are a promising technology for vaccine delivery, due to their ease of administration with no sharp waste generated, small size, possibility of targeted delivery to the specified skin depth and efficacious delivery of different vaccine formulations, including viral vectors. Areas covered: Attributes and challenges of the most promising viral vector candidates that have advanced to the clinic and that have been leveraged for skin delivery by microneedles; The importance of understanding the immunobiology of antigen-presenting cells in the skin, in particular dendritic cells, in order to generate further improved skin vaccination strategies; recent studies where viral vectors expressing various antigens have been coupled with microneedle technology to examine their potential for improved vaccination. Expert opinion: Simple, economic and efficacious vaccine delivery methods are needed to improve health outcomes and manage possible outbreaks of new emerging viruses. Understanding what innate/inflammatory signals are required to induce both immediate and long-term responses remains a major hurdle in the development of the effective vaccines. One approach to meet these needs is microneedle-mediated viral vector vaccination. In order for this technology to fulfil this potential the industry must invest significantly to further develop its design, production, biosafety, delivery and large-scale manufacturing.

Respiratory diseases among U.S. military personnel: countering emerging threats.

OpenAIRE

Gray, G. C.; Callahan, J. D.; Hawksworth, A. W.; Fisher, C. A.; Gaydos, J. C.

1999-01-01

Emerging respiratory disease agents, increased antibiotic resistance, and the loss of effective vaccines threaten to increase the incidence of respiratory disease in military personnel. We examine six respiratory pathogens (adenoviruses, influenza viruses, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Bordetella pertussis) and review the impact of the diseases they cause, past efforts to control these diseases in U.S. military personnel, as well as current treat...

Public health challenges and emerging diseases: the case of São Paulo

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Silva Luiz Jacintho da

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The author discusses the challenges posed by emerging infectious diseases in 100 years of public health in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. With an advanced and organized public health system, São Paulo responded to the emergence of infectious diseases by creating research institutions and control programs. The late 19th century witnessed the first modern research institution in microbiology, in response to the bubonic plague. A changing economy led to constant changes in ecosystems. The late 20th century presents a wide array of both emerging and rapidly changing infectious diseases. The present situation calls for creative solutions. Ecosystem analysis and more agile epidemiological surveillance are seen as the best alternatives.

Emerging infectious diseases of plants: pathogen pollution, climate change and agrotechnology drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Pamela K; Cunningham, Andrew A; Patel, Nikkita G; Morales, Francisco J; Epstein, Paul R; Daszak, Peter

2004-10-01

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose threats to conservation and public health. Here, we apply the definition of EIDs used in the medical and veterinary fields to botany and highlight a series of emerging plant diseases. We include EIDs of cultivated and wild plants, some of which are of significant conservation concern. The underlying cause of most plant EIDs is the anthropogenic introduction of parasites, although severe weather events are also important drivers of disease emergence. Much is known about crop plant EIDs, but there is little information about wild-plant EIDs, suggesting that their impact on conservation is underestimated. We conclude with recommendations for improving strategies for the surveillance and control of plant EIDs.

Viral Hepatitis

Science.gov (United States)

... Home A-Z Health Topics Viral hepatitis Viral hepatitis > A-Z Health Topics Viral hepatitis (PDF, 90 ... liver. Source: National Cancer Institute Learn more about hepatitis Watch a video. Learn who is at risk ...

Translational Implication of Galectin-9 in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Viral Infection

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Jenn-Haung Lai

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The interaction between galectin-9 and its receptor, Tim-3, triggers a series of signaling events that regulate immune responses. The expression of galectin-9 has been shown to be increased in a variety of target cells of many different viruses, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV, hepatitis B virus (HBV, herpes simplex virus (HSV, influenza virus, dengue virus (DENV, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV. This enhanced expression of galectin-9 following viral infection promotes significant changes in the behaviors of the virus-infected cells, and the resulting events tightly correlate with the immunopathogenesis of the viral disease. Because the human immune response to different viral infections can vary, and the lack of appropriate treatment can have potentially fatal consequences, understanding the implications of galectin-9 is crucial for developing better methods for monitoring and treating viral infections. This review seeks to address how we can apply the current understanding of galectin-9 function to better understand the pathogenesis of viral infection and better treat viral diseases.

Human viral pathogens are pervasive in wastewater treatment center aerosols.

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Brisebois, Evelyne; Veillette, Marc; Dion-Dupont, Vanessa; Lavoie, Jacques; Corbeil, Jacques; Culley, Alexander; Duchaine, Caroline

2018-05-01

Wastewater treatment center (WTC) workers may be vulnerable to diseases caused by viruses, such as the common cold, influenza and gastro-intestinal infections. Although there is a substantial body of literature characterizing the microbial community found in wastewater, only a few studies have characterized the viral component of WTC aerosols, despite the fact that most diseases affecting WTC workers are of viral origin and that some of these viruses are transmitted through the air. In this study, we evaluated in four WTCs the presence of 11 viral pathogens of particular concern in this milieu and used a metagenomic approach to characterize the total viral community in the air of one of those WTCs. The presence of viruses in aerosols in different locations of individual WTCs was evaluated and the results obtained with four commonly used air samplers were compared. We detected four of the eleven viruses tested, including human adenovirus (hAdV), rotavirus, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Herpes Simplex virus type 1 (HSV1). The results of the metagenomic assay uncovered very few viral RNA sequences in WTC aerosols, however sequences from human DNA viruses were in much greater relative abundance. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Characteristics of cyprinid herpesvirus 3 in different phases of infection: implications for disease transmission and control.

Science.gov (United States)

Sunarto, Agus; McColl, Kenneth A; Crane, Mark St J; Schat, Karel A; Slobedman, Barry; Barnes, Andrew C; Walker, Peter J

2014-08-08

Koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD) is an emerging and highly contagious viral disease of koi and common carp (Cyprinus carpio), causing mass mortalities and huge economic losses to the carp aquaculture industry. The disease has spread rapidly to 28 countries worldwide. However, mechanisms of koi herpesvirus (species Cyprinid herpesvirus 3; CyHV-3) transmission remain unclear. A potential experimental model of CyHV-3 infection in carp was used to characterise CyHV-3 in different phases of infection and to demonstrate that CyHV-3 persists in survivor fish and has the capacity to reactivate and transmit the disease to healthy fish. During acute infection, which occurred when fish were maintained at 22°C, viral genes were abundantly expressed and infectious virus was produced in association with tissue damage, clinical disease and mortality. In fish maintained at a lower temperature (11°C), viral DNA was present but viral gene expression was absent or greatly restricted, infectious virus was not recovered and there was no evidence of disease. Productive replication was re-initiated following an increase in water temperature to 22°C, resulting in 45% mortality. Shedding of reactivated virus killed 75% of cohabitating naïve fish, suggesting a potential risk for disease transmission. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The new on-line marketing medium: viral marketing. Analysis of the field through two case studies

OpenAIRE

Sasigain Salvador, Miren

2014-01-01

Purpose: This paper synthesizes the emerging literature on viral marketing through the analysis of two case studies and identifies and evaluates important factors that need to be considered when organizing a viral marketing campaign nowadays; the elements used the implemented strategy, the impact and results. The companies to be studied have been successful developing viral marketing strategies even they differ in size, sector and product offered. Literature Review: Definition of tradition...

Prospects of Understanding the Molecular Biology of Disease Resistance in Rice

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Pankaj Kumar Singh

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Rice is one of the important crops grown worldwide and is considered as an important crop for global food security. Rice is being affected by various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases resulting in huge yield losses every year. Deployment of resistance genes in various crops is one of the important methods of disease management. However, identification, cloning and characterization of disease resistance genes is a very tedious effort. To increase the life span of resistant cultivars, it is important to understand the molecular basis of plant host–pathogen interaction. With the advancement in rice genetics and genomics, several rice varieties resistant to fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens have been developed. However, resistance response of these varieties break down very frequently because of the emergence of more virulent races of the pathogen in nature. To increase the durability of resistance genes under field conditions, understanding the mechanismof resistance response and its molecular basis should be well understood. Some emerging concepts like interspecies transfer of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs and transgenerational plant immunitycan be employed to develop sustainable broad spectrum resistant varieties of rice.

Emerging infectious diseases – 1970s

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Robert Ferguson

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Forty years ago is not ancient history in the medical field. However, being an eye witness to the emergence of three new infectious diseases in the northeastern United States in the 1970s left a deep impression on this author. I will relate a small portion of the amazing events that caught the attention of the medical establishment and the general public in a roughly 5-year period of medical discovery.

Vaccines against viral hemorrhagic fevers: non-human primate models.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrion, Ricardo; Patterson, Jean L

2011-06-01

Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a group of disease syndromes caused by infection with certain RNA viruses. The disease is marked by a febrile response, malaise, coagulopathy and vascular permeability culminating in death. Case fatality rates can reach 90% depending on the etiologic agent. Currently, there is no approved antiviral treatment. Because of the high case fatality, risk of importation and the potential to use these agents as biological weapons, development of countermeasures to these agents is a high priority. The sporadic nature of disease outbreaks and the ethical issues associated with conducting a human trial for such diseases make human studies impractical; therefore, development of countermeasures must occur in relevant animal models. Non-human primates are superior models to study infectious disease because their immune system is similar to humans and they are good predictors of efficacy in vaccine development and other intervention strategies. This review article summarizes viral hemorrhagic fever non-human primate models.

Re-Emergent Tremor of Parkinson's Disease Masquerading as Essential Tremor

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Sarah Morgan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: The re-emergent tremor of Parkinson’s disease (PD is generally recognized as a postural tremor. Phenomenology Shown: A PD patient with a re-emergent tremor occurring during a task (spiral drawing, which on the surface produced a tremor that resembled that of essential tremor (ET. Educational Value: Researchers and clinicians should be aware of features of this re-emergent tremor to help distinguish it from that of ET.

Evaluation of early recognition of viral infections in man. [using specific gravity of lymphocytes

Science.gov (United States)

Kelton, A. A.; Lawton, M. B.

1975-01-01

The potential of Lymphocyte Specific Gravity Distribution (LSGD) as a non-specific procedure for early diagnosis of viral disease in astronauts is considered. Results of experiments and a literature search show that several virus diseases result in distinctive changes in the specific gravity distribution of peripheral blood lymphocytes as a result of disease process and associated immune response. A tentative model is proposed which relates the shape of LSGD to the identity of subpopulations of peripheral lymphocytes in a preclinical viral disease situation.

The butterfly effect: parasite diversity, environment, and emerging disease in aquatic wildlife.

Science.gov (United States)

Adlard, Robert D; Miller, Terrence L; Smit, Nico J

2015-04-01

Aquatic wildlife is increasingly subjected to emerging diseases often due to perturbations of the existing dynamic balance between hosts and their parasites. Accelerating changes in environmental factors, together with anthropogenic translocation of hosts and parasites, act synergistically to produce hard-to-predict disease outcomes in freshwater and marine systems. These outcomes are further complicated by the intimate links between diseases in wildlife and diseases in humans and domestic animals. Here, we explore the interactions of parasites in aquatic wildlife in terms of their biodiversity, their response to environmental change, their emerging diseases, and the contribution of humans and domestic animals to parasitic disease outcomes. This work highlights the clear need for interdisciplinary approaches to ameliorate disease impacts in aquatic wildlife systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Viral-bacterial associations in acute apical abscesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Dennis C; Rôças, Isabela N; Paiva, Simone S M; Carmo, Flávia L; Cavalcante, Fernanda S; Rosado, Alexandre S; Santos, Kátia R N; Siqueira, José F

2011-08-01

Viral-bacterial and bacterial synergism have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of several human diseases. This study sought to investigate the possible associations between 9 candidate endodontic bacterial pathogens and 9 human viruses in samples from acute apical abscesses. DNA extracts from purulent exudate aspirates of 33 cases of acute apical abscess were surveyed for the presence of 9 selected bacterial species using a 16S ribosomal RNA gene-based nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. Single or nested PCR assays were used for detection of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpesviruses types 1 to 8. Two-thirds of the abscess samples were positive for at least one of the target viruses. Specifically, the most frequently detected viruses were HHV-8 (54.5%); HPV (9%); and varicella zoster virus (VZV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and HHV-6 (6%). Bacterial DNA was present in all cases and the most prevalent bacterial species were Treponema denticola (70%), Tannerella forsythia (67%), Porphyromonas endodontalis (67%), Dialister invisus (61%), and Dialister pneumosintes (57.5%). HHV-8 was positively associated with 7 of the target bacterial species and HPV with 4, but all these associations were weak. Several bacterial pairs showed a moderate positive association. Viral coinfection was found in 6 abscess cases, but no significant viral association could be determined. Findings demonstrated that bacterial and viral DNA occurred concomitantly in two-thirds of the samples from endodontic abscesses. Although this may suggest a role for viruses in the etiology of apical abscesses, the possibility also exists that the presence of viruses in abscess samples is merely a consequence of the bacterially induced disease process. Further studies are necessary to clarify the role of these viral-bacterial interactions, if any, in the pathogenesis of acute apical abscesses. Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecohealth Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiative (EcoEID)

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

This project aims to understand the relationship between emerging infectious diseases of potentially pandemic proportions, and the agricultural, land utilization and ecosystem management practices that give rise to .... Disability weight of Clonorchis sinensis infection : captured from community study and model simulation ...

Exploring fish microbial communities to mitigate emerging diseases in aquaculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruijn, de Irene; Liu, Yiying; Wiegertjes, Geert F.; Raaijmakers, Jos M.

2018-01-01

Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal food sector worldwide and expected to further increase to feed the growing human population. However, existing and (re-)emerging diseases are hampering fish and shellfish cultivation and yield. For many diseases, vaccination protocols are not in place and

Dengue viral infections

OpenAIRE

Malavige, G; Fernando, S; Fernando, D; Seneviratne, S

2004-01-01

Dengue viral infections are one of the most important mosquito borne diseases in the world. They may be asymptomatic or may give rise to undifferentiated fever, dengue fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), or dengue shock syndrome. Annually, 100 million cases of dengue fever and half a million cases of DHF occur worldwide. Ninety percent of DHF subjects are children less than 15 years of age. At present, dengue is endemic in 112 countries in the world. No vaccine is available for preventing...

Seroprevalence of some bovine viral respiratory diseases among non vaccinated cattle in Saudi Arabia

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Mohamed Abd El Fatah Mahmoud

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Aim: Four viral pathogens, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV, and bovine herpes virus type 1 (BHV-1, bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus (PI-3V, bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV are mainly associated with bovine respiratory diseases that cause major economic losses in the dairy cattle industry. This study aimed to document exposure of cattle in Saudi Arabia to infectious BVDV, BHV-1, PI-3V and BRSV viruses in non vaccinated cattle in order to obtain epidemiological and immunological information. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 460 random serum samples obtained from non vaccinated cattle in five districts (Riyadh, Eastern Province, Jizan, Najran, Asir of Saudi Arabia between January to March 2011. These samples were tested for presence of antibodies against BVDV, BHV-1, BRSV and PIV-3 by commercial indirect ELISA kits. Results: Our findings displayed that Seropositivity rates were 26 % for BVD, 17.4 % for BHV-1, 69.1 % for PI-3V and 75.6 % for BRSV in the sampled population. In addition, coinfections with more than one virus were considerably common among non-vaccinated dairy cattle. Conclusion: These results indicate that exposure to these agents is common within the study areas. Preventive and control measures against these infectious agents should therefore be adopted. [Vet World 2013; 6(1.000: 1-4

Emerging infectious diseases in free-ranging wildlife-Australian zoo based wildlife hospitals contribute to national surveillance.

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Keren Cox-Witton

Full Text Available Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly originating from wildlife. Many of these diseases have significant impacts on human health, domestic animal health, and biodiversity. Surveillance is the key to early detection of emerging diseases. A zoo based wildlife disease surveillance program developed in Australia incorporates disease information from free-ranging wildlife into the existing national wildlife health information system. This program uses a collaborative approach and provides a strong model for a disease surveillance program for free-ranging wildlife that enhances the national capacity for early detection of emerging diseases.

Variations in cerebrospinal fluid viral loads among enterovirus genotypes in patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed meningitis due to enterovirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Volle, Romain; Bailly, Jean-Luc; Mirand, Audrey; Pereira, Bruno; Marque-Juillet, Stéphanie; Chambon, Martine; Regagnon, Christel; Brebion, Amélie; Henquell, Cécile; Peigue-Lafeuille, Hélène; Archimbaud, Christine

2014-08-15

Acute enterovirus (EV) meningitis is a major cause of hospitalization among adults and children. It is caused by multiple EV genotypes assigned to 4 species (EV-A, EV-B, EV-C, and EV-D). We determined viral loads in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 156 patients of all ages with EV meningitis during a 5-year observational prospective study. The virus strains were genotyped, and their time origin was determined with Bayesian phylogenetic methods. The CSF viral loads ranged between 3.4 and 7.5 log10 copies/mL (median, 4.9 log10 copies/mL). They were higher in neonates than in infants and children (P = .02) but were comparable in adults. Viral loads were associated with EV genotypes (P < .001). The EV strains were identified in 152 of 156 patients and assigned to 23 genotypes within the EV-A and EV-B species. The most frequent genotypes, echoviruses 6 and 30, were associated with different viral loads (P < .001). The highest viral loads were in meningitis cases caused by coxsackievirus A9, B4, and B5 genotypes. Most patients infected by a same genotype were infected by a major virus variant of recent emergence. The variations in CSF viral loads in patients at the onset of EV meningitis are related to genotypic differences in the virus strains involved. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A review of hepatitis viral infections in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosan, A.; Qureshi, H.; Bile, K.M.; Ahmad, I.; Hafiz, R.

2010-01-01

A review of published literature on viral hepatitis infections in Pakistan is presented. A total of 220 abstracts available in the Pakmedinet and Medline have been searched. All relevant articles were reviewed to determine the prevalence of hepatitis viral infections in Pakistan. Two hundred and three (203) relevant articles/abstracts including twenty nine supporting references are included in this review. Of the articles on prevalence of hepatitis infection, seven were related to Hepatitis A, fifteen to Hepatitis E while the remaining articles were on frequency of hepatitis B and C in different disease and healthy population groups. These included eight studies on healthy children, three on vertical transmission, nineteen on pregnant women, fifteen on healthy individuals, six on army recruits, thirty one on blood donors, thirteen on health care workers, five on unsafe injections, seventeen on high risk groups, five on patients with provisional diagnosis of hepatitis, thirty three on patients with chronic liver disease, four on genotypes of HBV and five on genotypes of HCV. This review highlights the lack of community-based epidemiological work as the number of subjects studied were predominantly patients, high risk groups and healthy blood donors. High level of Hepatitis A seroconversion was found in children and this viral infection accounts for almost 50%- 60% of all cases of acute viral hepatitis in children in Pakistan. Hepatitis E is endemic in the country affecting mostly the adult population and epidemic situations have been reported from many parts of the country. The mean results of HBsAg and Anti-HCV prevalence on the basis of data aggregated from several studies was calculated which shows 2.3% and 2.5% prevalence of HBsAg and Anti-HCV in children, 2.5% and 5.2% among pregnant women, 2.6% and 5.3% in general population, 3.5% and 3.1% in army recruits, 2.4% and 3.6% in blood donors, 6.0% and 5.4% in health care workers, 13.0% and 10.3% in high risk groups

A Strong Case for Viral Genetic Factors in HIV Virulence

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Joshua T. Herbeck

2011-03-01

Full Text Available HIV infections show great variation in the rate of progression to disease, and the role of viral genetic factors in this variation had remained poorly characterized until recently. Now a series of four studies [1–4] published within a year has filled this important gap and has demonstrated a robust effect of the viral genotype on HIV virulence.

Global perspectives of emerging occupational and environmental lung diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Moitra, Subhabrata; Puri, Rajan; Paul, Devon; Huang, Yuh-Chin T

2015-03-01

New technologies continue to be introduced into the workplace and the environment. These novel technologies also bring in new hazards leading to evolving patterns of established occupational and environmental diseases, as well as novel conditions never before encountered. Many of these emerging conditions have appeared in media outlets or in the literature as case reports. These sentinel cases often serve as a warning sign for subsequent outbreaks. This review will discuss environmental and occupational lung diseases and exposures from a global perspective. These diseases and exposures include environmental exposure to asbestos and lung diseases, accelerated silicosis in sandblasting jean workers, coal worker's pneumoconiosis in surface coal miners, health effects of indoor air pollution from burning of biomass fuels and exposures to heavy metals and potential health effects from hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Other emerging conditions are also discussed, including smog in developing countries, sand storms in Asia and the Middle East and respiratory illnesses from nanoparticles and man-made fibres. Clinicians must remain vigilant for potential occupational and environmental exposures, especially when evaluating patients with unusual and unique presentation, so that occupational and environmental risk factors may be identified, and monitoring and preventive measures can be implemented early.

De novo assembly of highly diverse viral populations

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Yang Xiao

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Extensive genetic diversity in viral populations within infected hosts and the divergence of variants from existing reference genomes impede the analysis of deep viral sequencing data. A de novo population consensus assembly is valuable both as a single linear representation of the population and as a backbone on which intra-host variants can be accurately mapped. The availability of consensus assemblies and robustly mapped variants are crucial to the genetic study of viral disease progression, transmission dynamics, and viral evolution. Existing de novo assembly techniques fail to robustly assemble ultra-deep sequence data from genetically heterogeneous populations such as viruses into full-length genomes due to the presence of extensive genetic variability, contaminants, and variable sequence coverage. Results We present VICUNA, a de novo assembly algorithm suitable for generating consensus assemblies from genetically heterogeneous populations. We demonstrate its effectiveness on Dengue, Human Immunodeficiency and West Nile viral populations, representing a range of intra-host diversity. Compared to state-of-the-art assemblers designed for haploid or diploid systems, VICUNA recovers full-length consensus and captures insertion/deletion polymorphisms in diverse samples. Final assemblies maintain a high base calling accuracy. VICUNA program is publicly available at: http://www.broadinstitute.org/scientific-community/science/projects/viral-genomics/ viral-genomics-analysis-software. Conclusions We developed VICUNA, a publicly available software tool, that enables consensus assembly of ultra-deep sequence derived from diverse viral populations. While VICUNA was developed for the analysis of viral populations, its application to other heterogeneous sequence data sets such as metagenomic or tumor cell population samples may prove beneficial in these fields of research.

Nonreplicative RNA Recombination of an Animal Plus-Strand RNA Virus in the Absence of Efficient Translation of Viral Proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Kleine Büning, Maximiliane; Meyer, Denise; Austermann-Busch, Sophia; Roman-Sosa, Gleyder; Rümenapf, Tillmann

2017-01-01

RNA recombination is a major driving force for the evolution of RNA viruses and is significantly implicated in the adaptation of viruses to new hosts, changes of virulence, as well as in the emergence of new viruses including drug-resistant and escape mutants. However, the molecular details of recombination in animal RNA viruses are only poorly understood. In order to determine whether viral RNA recombination depends on translation of viral proteins, a nonreplicative recombination system was established which is based on cotransfection of cells with synthetic bovine viral diarrhea virus (family Flaviviridae) RNA genome fragments either lacking the internal ribosome entry site required for cap-independent translation or lacking almost the complete polyprotein coding region. The emergence of a number of recombinant viruses demonstrated that IRES-mediated translation of viral proteins is dispensable for efficient recombination and suggests that RNA recombination can occur in the absence of viral proteins. Analyses of 58 independently emerged viruses led to the detection of recombinant genomes with duplications, deletions and insertions in the 5′ terminal region of the open reading frame, leading to enlarged core fusion proteins detectable by Western blot analysis. This demonstrates a remarkable flexibility of the pestivirus core protein. Further experiments with capped and uncapped genome fragments containing a luciferase gene for monitoring the level of protein translation revealed that even a ∼1,000-fold enhancement of translation of viral proteins did not increase the frequency of RNA recombination. Taken together, this study highlights that nonreplicative RNA recombination does not require translation of viral proteins. PMID:28338950

Sensitive detection of viral transcripts in human tumor transcriptomes.

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Sven-Eric Schelhorn

Full Text Available In excess of 12% of human cancer incidents have a viral cofactor. Epidemiological studies of idiopathic human cancers indicate that additional tumor viruses remain to be discovered. Recent advances in sequencing technology have enabled systematic screenings of human tumor transcriptomes for viral transcripts. However, technical problems such as low abundances of viral transcripts in large volumes of sequencing data, viral sequence divergence, and homology between viral and human factors significantly confound identification of tumor viruses. We have developed a novel computational approach for detecting viral transcripts in human cancers that takes the aforementioned confounding factors into account and is applicable to a wide variety of viruses and tumors. We apply the approach to conducting the first systematic search for viruses in neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in infancy. The diverse clinical progression of this disease as well as related epidemiological and virological findings are highly suggestive of a pathogenic cofactor. However, a viral etiology of neuroblastoma is currently contested. We mapped 14 transcriptomes of neuroblastoma as well as positive and negative controls to the human and all known viral genomes in order to detect both known and unknown viruses. Analysis of controls, comparisons with related methods, and statistical estimates demonstrate the high sensitivity of our approach. Detailed investigation of putative viral transcripts within neuroblastoma samples did not provide evidence for the existence of any known human viruses. Likewise, de-novo assembly and analysis of chimeric transcripts did not result in expression signatures associated with novel human pathogens. While confounding factors such as sample dilution or viral clearance in progressed tumors may mask viral cofactors in the data, in principle, this is rendered less likely by the high sensitivity of our approach and the number of biological replicates

Peroxisome-mitochondria interplay and disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrader, Michael; Costello, Joseph; Godinho, Luis F; Islinger, Markus

2015-07-01

Peroxisomes and mitochondria are ubiquitous, highly dynamic organelles with an oxidative type of metabolism in eukaryotic cells. Over the years, substantial evidence has been provided that peroxisomes and mitochondria exhibit a close functional interplay which impacts on human health and development. The so-called "peroxisome-mitochondria connection" includes metabolic cooperation in the degradation of fatty acids, a redox-sensitive relationship, an overlap in key components of the membrane fission machineries and cooperation in anti-viral signalling and defence. Furthermore, combined peroxisome-mitochondria disorders with defects in organelle division have been revealed. In this review, we present the latest progress in the emerging field of peroxisomal and mitochondrial interplay in mammals with a particular emphasis on cooperative fatty acid β-oxidation, redox interplay, organelle dynamics, cooperation in anti-viral signalling and the resulting implications for disease.

Preparedness for emerging infectious diseases: pathways from anticipation to action.

Science.gov (United States)

Brookes, V J; Hernández-Jover, M; Black, P F; Ward, M P

2015-07-01

Emerging and re-emerging infectious disease (EID) events can have devastating human, animal and environmental health impacts. The emergence of EIDs has been associated with interconnected economic, social and environmental changes. Understanding these changes is crucial for EID preparedness and subsequent prevention and control of EID events. The aim of this review is to describe tools currently available for identification, prioritization and investigation of EIDs impacting human and animal health, and how these might be integrated into a systematic approach for directing EID preparedness. Environmental scanning, foresight programmes, horizon scanning and surveillance are used to collect and assess information for rapidly responding to EIDs and to anticipate drivers of emergence for mitigating future EID impacts. Prioritization of EIDs - using transparent and repeatable methods - based on disease impacts and the importance of those impacts to decision-makers can then be used for more efficient resource allocation for prevention and control. Risk assessment and simulation modelling methods assess the likelihood of EIDs occurring, define impact and identify mitigation strategies. Each of these tools has a role to play individually; however, we propose integration of these tools into a framework that enhances the development of tactical and strategic plans for emerging risk preparedness.

HTLV Tax: a fascinating multifunctional co-regulator of viral and cellular pathways

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Robert eCurrer

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1 has been identified as the causative agent of adult T cell leukemia (ATL and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP. The virus infects between 15 and 20 million people worldwide of which approximately 2 to 5% develop ATL. The past 35 years of research have yielded significant insight into the pathogenesis of HTLV-1, including the molecular characterization of Tax, the viral transactivator and oncoprotein. In spite of these efforts, the mechanisms of oncogenesis of this pleiotropic protein remain to be fully elucidated. In this review, we illustrate the multiple oncogenic roles of Tax by summarizing a recent body of literature that refines our understanding of cellular transformation. A focused range of topics are discussed in this review including Tax-mediated regulation of the viral promoter and other cellular pathways, particularly the connection of the NF-κB pathway to both post-translational modifications of Tax and sub-cellular localization. Specifically, recent research on polyubiquitination of Tax as it relates to the activation of the IkappaB kinase (IKK complex is highlighted. Regulation of the cell cycle and DNA damage responses due to Tax are also discussed, including Tax interaction with minichromosome maintenance proteins and the role of Tax in chromatin remodeling. The recent identification of HTLV-3 has amplified the importance of the characterization of emerging viral pathogens. The challenge of the molecular determination of pathogenicity and malignant disease of this virus lies in the comparison of the viral transactivators of HTLV-1, -2, and -3 in terms of transformation and immortalization. Consequently, differences between the three proteins are currently being studied to determine what factors are required for the differences in tumorogenesis.

HTLV Tax: A Fascinating Multifunctional Co-Regulator of Viral and Cellular Pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Currer, Robert; Van Duyne, Rachel; Jaworski, Elizabeth; Guendel, Irene; Sampey, Gavin; Das, Ravi; Narayanan, Aarthi; Kashanchi, Fatah

2012-01-01

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) has been identified as the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The virus infects between 15 and 20 million people worldwide of which approximately 2–5% develop ATL. The past 35 years of research have yielded significant insight into the pathogenesis of HTLV-1, including the molecular characterization of Tax, the viral transactivator, and oncoprotein. In spite of these efforts, the mechanisms of oncogenesis of this pleiotropic protein remain to be fully elucidated. In this review, we illustrate the multiple oncogenic roles of Tax by summarizing a recent body of literature that refines our understanding of cellular transformation. A focused range of topics are discussed in this review including Tax-mediated regulation of the viral promoter and other cellular pathways, particularly the connection of the NF-κB pathway to both post-translational modifications (PTMs) of Tax and subcellular localization. Specifically, recent research on polyubiquitination of Tax as it relates to the activation of the IkappaB kinase (IKK) complex is highlighted. Regulation of the cell cycle and DNA damage responses due to Tax are also discussed, including Tax interaction with minichromosome maintenance proteins and the role of Tax in chromatin remodeling. The recent identification of HTLV-3 has amplified the importance of the characterization of emerging viral pathogens. The challenge of the molecular determination of pathogenicity and malignant disease of this virus lies in the comparison of the viral transactivators of HTLV-1, -2, and -3 in terms of transformation and immortalization. Consequently, differences between the three proteins are currently being studied to determine what factors are required for the differences in tumorogenesis. PMID:23226145

Dengue viral infections

OpenAIRE

Gurugama Padmalal; Garg Pankaj; Perera Jennifer; Wijewickrama Ananda; Seneviratne Suranjith

2010-01-01

Dengue viral infections are one of the most important mosquito-borne diseases in the world. Presently dengue is endemic in 112 countries in the world. It has been estimated that almost 100 million cases of dengue fever and half a million cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) occur worldwide. An increasing proportion of DHF is in children less than 15 years of age, especially in South East and South Asia. The unique structure of the dengue virus and the pathophysiologic responses of the host...

Effects of vaccination against viral haemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis on long-term mortality rates of European wild rabbits.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvete, C; Estrada, R; Lucientes, J; Osacar, J J; Villafuerte, R

2004-09-25

The effects of vaccination against myxomatosis and viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD) on long-term mortality rates in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were studied from 1993 to 1996 by radiotracking a free-living population of wild rabbits. During the three months after immunisation, unvaccinated young rabbits weighing between 180 and 600 g were 13.6 times more likely to die than vaccinated young rabbits. In adult rabbits, vaccination did not significantly decrease mortality, mainly owing to the high proportion of rabbits which had previously been exposed to the antigens of both diseases. Compared with adult rabbits with natural antibodies to VHD, rabbits without these antibodies were 5.2 times more likely to die of VHD during annual outbreaks.

HTLV-1 HBZ Viral Protein: A Key Player in HTLV-1 Mediated Diseases

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Marco Baratella

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1 is an oncogenic human retrovirus that has infected 10–15 million people worldwide. After a long latency, 3–5% of infected individuals will develop either a severe malignancy of CD4+ T cells, known as Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATL or a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease of the nervous system designated Tropical Spastic Paraparesis/HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy (HAM/TSP. The precise mechanism behind HTLV-1 pathogenesis still remains elusive. Two viral regulatory proteins, Tax-1 and HTLV-1 bZIP factor (HBZ are thought to play a critical role in HTLV-1-associated diseases. Tax-1 is mainly involved in the onset of neoplastic transformation and in elicitation of the host’s inflammatory responses; its expression may be lost during cell clonal proliferation and oncogenesis. Conversely, HBZ remains constantly expressed in all patients with ATL, playing a role in the proliferation and maintenance of leukemic cells. Recent studies have shown that the subcellular distribution of HBZ protein differs in the two pathologies: it is nuclear with a speckled-like pattern in leukemic cells and is cytoplasmic in cells from HAM/TSP patients. Thus, HBZ expression and distribution could be critical in the progression of HTLV-1 infection versus the leukemic state or the inflammatory disease. Here, we reviewed recent findings on the role of HBZ in HTLV-1 related diseases, highlighting the new perspectives open by the possibility of studying the physiologic expression of endogenous protein in primary infected cells.

HTLV-1 HBZ Viral Protein: A Key Player in HTLV-1 Mediated Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Baratella, Marco; Forlani, Greta; Accolla, Roberto S

2017-01-01

Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is an oncogenic human retrovirus that has infected 10-15 million people worldwide. After a long latency, 3-5% of infected individuals will develop either a severe malignancy of CD4+ T cells, known as Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATL) or a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease of the nervous system designated Tropical Spastic Paraparesis/HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy (HAM/TSP). The precise mechanism behind HTLV-1 pathogenesis still remains elusive. Two viral regulatory proteins, Tax-1 and HTLV-1 bZIP factor (HBZ) are thought to play a critical role in HTLV-1-associated diseases. Tax-1 is mainly involved in the onset of neoplastic transformation and in elicitation of the host's inflammatory responses; its expression may be lost during cell clonal proliferation and oncogenesis. Conversely, HBZ remains constantly expressed in all patients with ATL, playing a role in the proliferation and maintenance of leukemic cells. Recent studies have shown that the subcellular distribution of HBZ protein differs in the two pathologies: it is nuclear with a speckled-like pattern in leukemic cells and is cytoplasmic in cells from HAM/TSP patients. Thus, HBZ expression and distribution could be critical in the progression of HTLV-1 infection versus the leukemic state or the inflammatory disease. Here, we reviewed recent findings on the role of HBZ in HTLV-1 related diseases, highlighting the new perspectives open by the possibility of studying the physiologic expression of endogenous protein in primary infected cells.

Ethical issues in the response to Ebola virus disease in US emergency departments: a position paper of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Emergency Nurses Association and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkat, Arvind; Wolf, Lisa; Geiderman, Joel M; Asher, Shellie L; Marco, Catherine A; McGreevy, Jolion; Derse, Arthur R; Otten, Edward J; Jesus, John E; Kreitzer, Natalie P; Escalante, Monica; Levine, Adam C

2015-03-01

The 2014 outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa has presented a significant public health crisis to the international health community and challenged US emergency departments to prepare for patients with a disease of exceeding rarity in developed nations. With the presentation of patients with Ebola to US acute care facilities, ethical questions have been raised in both the press and medical literature as to how US emergency departments, emergency physicians, emergency nurses and other stakeholders in the healthcare system should approach the current epidemic and its potential for spread in the domestic environment. To address these concerns, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Emergency Nurses Association and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine developed this joint position paper to provide guidance to US emergency physicians, emergency nurses and other stakeholders in the healthcare system on how to approach the ethical dilemmas posed by the outbreak of EVD. This paper will address areas of immediate and potential ethical concern to US emergency departments in how they approach preparation for and management of potential patients with EVD. Copyright © 2015 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) A & B

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — NNDSS - Table II. Hepatitis (viral, acute) A & B - 2017. In this Table, provisional cases of selected notifiable diseases (≥1,000 cases reported during the...

Effects of mutations in the VP2/VP4 cleavage site of Swine vesicular disease virus on RNA encapsidation and viral infectivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rebel, J.M.J.; Leendertse, C.H.; Dekker, A.; Moormann, R.J.M.

2003-01-01

We studied VP0 cleavage of Swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV), a member of the Picornaviridae using a full-length cDNA copy of the Dutch SVDV isolate. The influences of mutations, introduced at the cleavage site of SVDV, on VP0 cleavage, RNA encapsidation and viral infection were studied. Double

Viral Pneumonia in Patients with Hematologic Malignancy or Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vakil, Erik; Evans, Scott E

2017-03-01

Viral pneumonias in patients with hematologic malignancies and recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation cause significant morbidity and mortality. Advances in diagnostic techniques have enabled rapid identification of respiratory viral pathogens from upper and lower respiratory tract samples. Lymphopenia, myeloablative and T-cell depleting chemotherapy, graft-versus-host disease, and other factors increase the risk of developing life-threatening viral pneumonia. Chest imaging is often nonspecific but may aid in diagnoses. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage is recommended in those at high risk for viral pneumonia who have new infiltrates on chest imaging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Real time bayesian estimation of the epidemic potential of emerging infectious diseases.

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Luís M A Bettencourt

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Fast changes in human demographics worldwide, coupled with increased mobility, and modified land uses make the threat of emerging infectious diseases increasingly important. Currently there is worldwide alert for H5N1 avian influenza becoming as transmissible in humans as seasonal influenza, and potentially causing a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. Here we show how epidemiological surveillance data for emerging infectious diseases can be interpreted in real time to assess changes in transmissibility with quantified uncertainty, and to perform running time predictions of new cases and guide logistics allocations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We develop an extension of standard epidemiological models, appropriate for emerging infectious diseases, that describes the probabilistic progression of case numbers due to the concurrent effects of (incipient human transmission and multiple introductions from a reservoir. The model is cast in terms of surveillance observables and immediately suggests a simple graphical estimation procedure for the effective reproductive number R (mean number of cases generated by an infectious individual of standard epidemics. For emerging infectious diseases, which typically show large relative case number fluctuations over time, we develop a bayesian scheme for real time estimation of the probability distribution of the effective reproduction number and show how to use such inferences to formulate significance tests on future epidemiological observations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Violations of these significance tests define statistical anomalies that may signal changes in the epidemiology of emerging diseases and should trigger further field investigation. We apply the methodology to case data from World Health Organization reports to place bounds on the current transmissibility of H5N1 influenza in humans and establish a statistical basis for monitoring its evolution in real time.

Improving laboratory efficiencies to scale-up HIV viral load testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Alemnji, George; Onyebujoh, Philip; Nkengasong, John N

2017-03-01

Viral load measurement is a key indicator that determines patients' response to treatment and risk for disease progression. Efforts are ongoing in different countries to scale-up access to viral load testing to meet the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS target of achieving 90% viral suppression among HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, the impact of these initiatives may be challenged by increased inefficiencies along the viral load testing spectrum. This will translate to increased costs and ineffectiveness of scale-up approaches. This review describes different parameters that could be addressed across the viral load testing spectrum aimed at improving efficiencies and utilizing test results for patient management. Though progress is being made in some countries to scale-up viral load, many others still face numerous challenges that may affect scale-up efficiencies: weak demand creation, ineffective supply chain management systems; poor specimen referral systems; inadequate data and quality management systems; and weak laboratory-clinical interface leading to diminished uptake of test results. In scaling up access to viral load testing, there should be a renewed focus to address efficiencies across the entire spectrum, including factors related to access, uptake, and impact of test results.

Development of a novel real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Seneca Valley virus-1 associated with emerging cases of vesicular disease in pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Veronica L; Ransburgh, Russell H; Poulsen, Elizabeth G; Wadsworth, Jemma; King, Donald P; Mioulet, Valerie; Knowles, Nick J; Williamson, Susanna; Liu, Xuming; Anderson, Gary A; Fang, Ying; Bai, Jianfa

2017-01-01

Seneca Valley virus 1 (SVV-1) can cause vesicular disease that is clinically indistinguishable from foot-and-mouth disease, vesicular stomatitis and swine vesicular disease. SVV-1-associated disease has been identified in pigs in several countries, namely USA, Canada, Brazil and China. Diagnostic tests are required to reliably detect this emerging virus, and this report describes the development and evaluation of a novel real-time (r) reverse-transcription (RT) PCR assay (rRT-PCR), targeting the viral polymerase gene (3D) of SVV-1. This new assay detected all historical and contemporary SVV-1 isolates examined (n=8), while no cross-reactivity was observed with nucleic acid templates prepared from other vesicular disease viruses or common swine pathogens. The analytical sensitivity of the rRT-PCR was 0.79 TCID 50 /ml and the limit of detection was equivalent using two different rRT-PCR master-mixes. The performance of the test was further evaluated using pig nasal (n=25) and rectal swab samples (n=25), where concordant results compared to virus sequencing were generated for 43/50 samples. The availability of this assay, will enable laboratories to rapidly detect SVV-1 in cases of vesicular disease in pigs, negated for notifiable diseases, and could enable existing knowledge gaps to be investigated surrounding the natural epidemiology of SVV-1. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Driving improvements in emerging disease surveillance through locally relevant capacity strengthening.

Science.gov (United States)

Halliday, Jo E B; Hampson, Katie; Hanley, Nick; Lembo, Tiziana; Sharp, Joanne P; Haydon, Daniel T; Cleaveland, Sarah

2017-07-14

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) threaten the health of people, animals, and crops globally, but our ability to predict their occurrence is limited. Current public health capacity and ability to detect and respond to EIDs is typically weakest in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many known drivers of EID emergence also converge in LMICs. Strengthening capacity for surveillance of diseases of relevance to local populations can provide a mechanism for building the cross-cutting and flexible capacities needed to tackle both the burden of existing diseases and EID threats. A focus on locally relevant diseases in LMICs and the economic, social, and cultural contexts of surveillance can help address existing inequalities in health systems, improve the capacity to detect and contain EIDs, and contribute to broader global goals for development. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Interferon therapy of acute respiratory viral infections in children

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A.E. Abaturov

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of nasal spray Laferobionum® (100,000 IU/ml in children with acute respiratory viral infections. Materials and methods. The study included 84 children aged 12 to 18 years. Children of the main group (42 persons received Laferobionum® spray in addition to the standard treatment for acute respiratory viral infections. The drug was administered to children of 12–14 years for 2 spray doses in each nasal passage 4–5 times a day at regular intervals (with the exception of sleep time, children aged 14–18 years received 3 spray-doses per each nasal passage 5–6 times a day at regular intervals (excluding sleep time. The course of treatment for all subjects was 5 days. Children of the control group received standard treatment for acute respiratory viral infections without Laferobionum®. Objective research included: auscultation of the heart and lungs, examination of the skin and mucous membranes, measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. All patients underwent a general blood test, a general urinalysis, identification of the pathogen using the method of direct immunofluorescence (in smears taken from the nasal passages in the laboratory “Medical Diagnostic Center of Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy”. Results. In the non-epidemic period, the respiratory syncytial virus and adenoviruses were the leading viral pathogens of acute respiratory viral infections. The main clinical manifestations of acute respiratory viral infection in the observed patients were signs of general inflammatory and catarrhal syndromes. All patients had not severe course of the disease. The data of the physical examination performed before the beginning of treatment indicated the absence of clinically significant deviations from the cardiovascular system in the children of the main and control groups. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate in the subjects of both groups were

Emerging Animal Parasitic Diseases: A Global Overview and Appropriate Strategies for their Monitoring and Surveillance in Nigeria.

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Atehmengo, Ngongeh L; Nnagbo, Chiejina S

2014-01-01

Emerging animal parasitic diseases are reviewed and appropriate strategies for efficient monitoring and surveillance in Nigeria are outlined. Animal and human parasitic infections are distinguished. Emerging diseases have been described as those diseases that are being recognised for the first time or diseases that are already recorded but their frequency and/or geographic range is being increased tremendously. Emergence of new diseases may be due to a number of factors such as the spread of a new infectious agent, recognition of an infection that has been in existence but undiagnosed, or when it is realised that an established disease has an infectious origin. The terms could also be used to describe the resurgence of a known infection after its incidence had been known to have declined. Emerging infections are compounding the control of infectious diseases and huge resources are being channeled to alleviate the rising challenge. The diseases are numerous and include helminth, protozoal / rickettsial and entomological. A list of parasitic emerging diseases in Nigeria is included. Globally occurring emerging parasitic diseases are also outlined. Emerging and re-emerging infections can be brought about by many factors including climate change and global warming, changes in biodiversity, population mobility, movement of animals, globalisation of commerce/trade and food supply, social and cultural factors such as food eating habits, religious beliefs, farming practices, trade of infected healthy animals, reduction in the available land for animals, immune-suppressed host and host density and misuse or over use of some drugs leading to drug resistance.

Emerging Animal Parasitic Diseases: A Global Overview and Appropriate Strategies for their Monitoring and Surveillance in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Atehmengo, Ngongeh L; Nnagbo, Chiejina S

2014-01-01

Emerging animal parasitic diseases are reviewed and appropriate strategies for efficient monitoring and surveillance in Nigeria are outlined. Animal and human parasitic infections are distinguished. Emerging diseases have been described as those diseases that are being recognised for the first time or diseases that are already recorded but their frequency and/or geographic range is being increased tremendously. Emergence of new diseases may be due to a number of factors such as the spread of a new infectious agent, recognition of an infection that has been in existence but undiagnosed, or when it is realised that an established disease has an infectious origin. The terms could also be used to describe the resurgence of a known infection after its incidence had been known to have declined. Emerging infections are compounding the control of infectious diseases and huge resources are being channeled to alleviate the rising challenge. The diseases are numerous and include helminth, protozoal / rickettsial and entomological. A list of parasitic emerging diseases in Nigeria is included. Globally occurring emerging parasitic diseases are also outlined. Emerging and re-emerging infections can be brought about by many factors including climate change and global warming, changes in biodiversity, population mobility, movement of animals, globalisation of commerce/trade and food supply, social and cultural factors such as food eating habits, religious beliefs, farming practices, trade of infected healthy animals, reduction in the available land for animals, immune-suppressed host and host density and misuse or over use of some drugs leading to drug resistance. PMID:25328553

Bibliometric analysis of Oropouche research: impact on the surveillance of emerging arboviruses in Latin America [version 1; referees: 2 approved

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Carlos Culquichicón

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Given the emergence and reemergence of viral diseases, particularly in Latin America, we would like to provide an analysis of the patterns of research and publication on Oropouche virus (OROV. We also discuss the implications of recent epidemics in certain areas of South America, and how more clinical and epidemiological information regarding OROV is urgently needed.

Bibliometric analysis of Oropouche research: impact on the surveillance of emerging arboviruses in Latin America [version 2; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Culquichicón

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Given the emergence and reemergence of viral diseases, particularly in Latin America, we would like to provide an analysis of the patterns of research and publication on Oropouche virus (OROV. We also discuss the implications of recent epidemics in certain areas of South America, and how more clinical and epidemiological information regarding OROV is urgently needed.

Nonreplicative RNA Recombination of an Animal Plus-Strand RNA Virus in the Absence of Efficient Translation of Viral Proteins.

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Kleine Büning, Maximiliane; Meyer, Denise; Austermann-Busch, Sophia; Roman-Sosa, Gleyder; Rümenapf, Tillmann; Becher, Paul

2017-04-01

RNA recombination is a major driving force for the evolution of RNA viruses and is significantly implicated in the adaptation of viruses to new hosts, changes of virulence, as well as in the emergence of new viruses including drug-resistant and escape mutants. However, the molecular details of recombination in animal RNA viruses are only poorly understood. In order to determine whether viral RNA recombination depends on translation of viral proteins, a nonreplicative recombination system was established which is based on cotransfection of cells with synthetic bovine viral diarrhea virus (family Flaviviridae) RNA genome fragments either lacking the internal ribosome entry site required for cap-independent translation or lacking almost the complete polyprotein coding region. The emergence of a number of recombinant viruses demonstrated that IRES-mediated translation of viral proteins is dispensable for efficient recombination and suggests that RNA recombination can occur in the absence of viral proteins. Analyses of 58 independently emerged viruses led to the detection of recombinant genomes with duplications, deletions and insertions in the 5' terminal region of the open reading frame, leading to enlarged core fusion proteins detectable by Western blot analysis. This demonstrates a remarkable flexibility of the pestivirus core protein. Further experiments with capped and uncapped genome fragments containing a luciferase gene for monitoring the level of protein translation revealed that even a ∼1,000-fold enhancement of translation of viral proteins did not increase the frequency of RNA recombination. Taken together, this study highlights that nonreplicative RNA recombination does not require translation of viral proteins. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Molecular Tracing of Viral Pathogen in Aquaculture (MOLTRAQ): a new EMIDA project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, B. Bang; Aldrin, M.; Avarre, M. C.

2012-01-01

a generic approach to viral disease control by using information on epidemiological and phylogenetic attributes from several important aquatic animal viruses. The project will i) generate and use spatio-temporal epidemiological data, phylogeographic data and gene expression data for important host......-viral pathogen systems to identify important factors affecting the spread of diseases in aquaculture, and ii) integrate these in scenario simulation models to assess effects of various control strategies for selected host-pathogen systems. The project consists of six workpackages: WP 1: Project co...

[Knowledge about viral hepatitis in a sample of Brazilian students from Vale do Araguaia, Legal Amazonia].

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Ferrari, Carlos K B; Savazzi, Kamirri; Honorio-França, Adenilda C; Ferrari, Graziele S L; França, Eduardo L

2012-06-01

Viral and non-viral hepatitis are of great concern among developing nations because of their pathogenicity and virulence, and also their wide spreading by contaminated blood, food or water. The objective of this work was to evaluate the knowledge about hepatitis of academic students from three life/health sciences courses and also students from the last year of high school To measure the students' knowledge on hepatitis an instrument containing 22 questions was applied. Surprinsingly, it was verified that 41.9% of students had poor knowledge of viral hepatitis. Among the high school students, 31.8% ignored that viral hepatitis are infectious and transmissible diseases. Considering hepatitis symptomatology, just 18% of high school students declared knowledge of the symptons, but none of those cited the ictericia. Among the academic students, 75.9% of nursing students had adequate knowledge of hepatitis, followed by pharmacy (51.3%), and biology students (18.2%). Nursing students had also higher scores of right answers regarding viral hepatitis and chronic disease. On contrary, biology and high school students had poor knowledge of that matter (37% and 44.5%, respectively). Less than 15% of nursing and pharmacy students did not know that viral hepatitis are sexually transmissible, whereas 78.6% of the 3rd year and 52.4% of the 4th year biology course ignored the sexual transmission of viral hepatitis. Still considering the same question, 54.5% of the high school students also ignored that viral hepatitis are sexually transmitted diseases. Important conclusions can be drawn from this study, since the higher hepatitis knowledge scores were found among nursing students, followed by pharmacy academics. However, biology students, which will serve as high school teachers, had poor and insufficient knowledge on hepatitis. This finding could explain the same poor disease knowledge among high school pupils.

Virus del dengue: estructura y ciclo viral Dengue virus: structure and viral cycle

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Myriam L Velandia

2011-03-01

viral cycle has begun to be described and this knowledge will impact the rational design of new antiviral drugs. Patients suffering dengue can have an undifferentiated fever or in the severe cases, show an aberrant immunological activation process that lead to soluble inflammatory mediators secretion, affecting tissue function, mainly endothelium. This organ dysfunction is associated with plasma leakage and coagulatory imbalance. Despite it has been recently described some host factors associated with severity of infection, it remains unknown some aspects of viral biology or the role of DENV proteins in disease pathogenesis. This article pretends to make an updated revision about DENV structure, cell viral cycle and introduce some concepts about dengue immunopathogenesis.

The use of convalescent plasma to treat emerging infectious diseases: focus on Ebola virus disease.

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Winkler, Anne M; Koepsell, Scott A

2015-11-01

The purpose of this review is to discuss the use of convalescent plasma for the treatment of emerging infectious diseases, focusing on the recent use for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). Ebola convalescent plasma has been used as a therapy for treatment of EVD during the 2014 West Africa epidemic. Several cases from the United States and Europe have been recently published, in addition to multiple ongoing clinical trials in the United States and West Africa. Even more recently, convalescent plasma has been used for treatment of individuals with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Although the first reports of successful treatment with passive immune therapy date back to the early 1900s, convalescent plasma has materialized as a possible therapy for patients who develop infection from one of the emerging infectious diseases such as EVD or MERS-CoV, although the efficacy of such therapy has yet to be proven in clinical trials.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype SAT 3 in Long-Horned Ankole Calf, Uganda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dhikusooka, Moses Tefula; Tjørnehøj, Kirsten; Ayebazibwe, Chrisostom

2015-01-01

After a 16-year interval, foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype SAT 3 was isolated in 2013 from an apparently healthy long-horned Ankole calf that grazed close to buffalo in Uganda. The emergent virus strain is ≈20% different in nucleotide sequence (encoding VP1 [viral protein 1]) from its closest...

Viral Hepatitis and Thrombosis: A Narrative Review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Squizzato, Alessandro; Gerdes, Victor E. A.

2012-01-01

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a multicausal disease. Among minor risk factors, acute infections in general are associated with a transient increased risk of VTE. However, acute hepatitis is usually not reported as a potential risk factor for VTE. Recent studies suggest a possible role of viral

VirSorter: mining viral signal from microbial genomic data

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Simon Roux

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Viruses of microbes impact all ecosystems where microbes drive key energy and substrate transformations including the oceans, humans and industrial fermenters. However, despite this recognized importance, our understanding of viral diversity and impacts remains limited by too few model systems and reference genomes. One way to fill these gaps in our knowledge of viral diversity is through the detection of viral signal in microbial genomic data. While multiple approaches have been developed and applied for the detection of prophages (viral genomes integrated in a microbial genome, new types of microbial genomic data are emerging that are more fragmented and larger scale, such as Single-cell Amplified Genomes (SAGs of uncultivated organisms or genomic fragments assembled from metagenomic sequencing. Here, we present VirSorter, a tool designed to detect viral signal in these different types of microbial sequence data in both a reference-dependent and reference-independent manner, leveraging probabilistic models and extensive virome data to maximize detection of novel viruses. Performance testing shows that VirSorter’s prophage prediction capability compares to that of available prophage predictors for complete genomes, but is superior in predicting viral sequences outside of a host genome (i.e., from extrachromosomal prophages, lytic infections, or partially assembled prophages. Furthermore, VirSorter outperforms existing tools for fragmented genomic and metagenomic datasets, and can identify viral signal in assembled sequence (contigs as short as 3kb, while providing near-perfect identification (>95% Recall and 100% Precision on contigs of at least 10kb. Because VirSorter scales to large datasets, it can also be used in “reverse” to more confidently identify viral sequence in viral metagenomes by sorting away cellular DNA whether derived from gene transfer agents, generalized transduction or contamination. Finally, VirSorter is made

VirSorter: mining viral signal from microbial genomic data

Science.gov (United States)

Roux, Simon; Enault, Francois; Hurwitz, Bonnie L.

2015-01-01

Viruses of microbes impact all ecosystems where microbes drive key energy and substrate transformations including the oceans, humans and industrial fermenters. However, despite this recognized importance, our understanding of viral diversity and impacts remains limited by too few model systems and reference genomes. One way to fill these gaps in our knowledge of viral diversity is through the detection of viral signal in microbial genomic data. While multiple approaches have been developed and applied for the detection of prophages (viral genomes integrated in a microbial genome), new types of microbial genomic data are emerging that are more fragmented and larger scale, such as Single-cell Amplified Genomes (SAGs) of uncultivated organisms or genomic fragments assembled from metagenomic sequencing. Here, we present VirSorter, a tool designed to detect viral signal in these different types of microbial sequence data in both a reference-dependent and reference-independent manner, leveraging probabilistic models and extensive virome data to maximize detection of novel viruses. Performance testing shows that VirSorter’s prophage prediction capability compares to that of available prophage predictors for complete genomes, but is superior in predicting viral sequences outside of a host genome (i.e., from extrachromosomal prophages, lytic infections, or partially assembled prophages). Furthermore, VirSorter outperforms existing tools for fragmented genomic and metagenomic datasets, and can identify viral signal in assembled sequence (contigs) as short as 3kb, while providing near-perfect identification (>95% Recall and 100% Precision) on contigs of at least 10kb. Because VirSorter scales to large datasets, it can also be used in “reverse” to more confidently identify viral sequence in viral metagenomes by sorting away cellular DNA whether derived from gene transfer agents, generalized transduction or contamination. Finally, VirSorter is made available through the i

Identifying Local Hotspots of Pediatric Chronic Diseases Using Emergency Department Surveillance

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Lee, David C.; Yi, Stella S.; Fong, Hiu-Fai; Athens, Jessica K.; Ravenell, Joseph E.; Sevick, Mary Ann; Wall, Stephen P.; Elbel, Brian

2016-01-01

Objective To use novel geographic methods and large-scale claims data to identify the local distribution of pediatric chronic diseases in New York City. Methods Using a 2009 all-payer emergency claims database, we identified the proportion of unique children aged 0 to 17 with diagnosis codes for specific medical and psychiatric conditions. As a proof of concept, we compared these prevalence estimates to traditional health surveys and registry data using the most geographically granular data available. In addition, we used home addresses to map local variation in pediatric disease burden. Results We identified 549,547 New York City children who visited an emergency department at least once in 2009. Though our sample included more publicly insured and uninsured children, we found moderate to strong correlations of prevalence estimates when compared to health surveys and registry data at pre-specified geographic levels. Strongest correlations were found for asthma and mental health conditions by county among younger children (0.88, p=0.05 and 0.99, pdisease prevalence with higher geographic resolution. More studies are needed to investigate limitations of these methods and assess reliability of local disease estimates. What’s New This study demonstrated how emergency department surveillance may improve estimates of pediatric disease prevalence with higher geographic resolution. We identified 29% of New York City children with a single year of data and identified local hotspots of pediatric chronic diseases. PMID:28385326

Aptamers in Diagnostics and Treatment of Viral Infections

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Tomasz Wandtke

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Aptamers are in vitro selected DNA or RNA molecules that are capable of binding a wide range of nucleic and non-nucleic acid molecules with high affinity and specificity. They have been conducted through the process known as SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment. It serves to reach specificity and considerable affinity to target molecules, including those of viral origin, both proteins and nucleic acids. Properties of aptamers allow detecting virus infected cells or viruses themselves and make them competitive to monoclonal antibodies. Specific aptamers can be used to interfere in each stage of the viral replication cycle and also inhibit its penetration into cells. Many current studies have reported possible application of aptamers as a treatment or diagnostic tool in viral infections, e.g., HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HBV (Hepatitis B Virus, HCV (Hepatitis C Virus, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, H5N1 avian influenza and recently spread Ebola. This review presents current developments of using aptamers in the diagnostics and treatment of viral diseases.

Application of a uniform anatomic grading system to measure disease severity in eight emergency general surgical illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Crandall, Marie L; Agarwal, Suresh; Muskat, Peter; Ross, Steven; Savage, Stephanie; Schuster, Kevin; Tominaga, Gail T; Shafi, Shahid

2014-11-01

Emergent general surgical diseases encompass a broad spectrum of anatomy and pathophysiology, creating challenges for outcomes assessment, research, and surgical training. The goal of this study was to measure anatomic disease severity for eight emergent general surgical diseases using the uniform grading system of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). The Committee on Patient Assessment and Outcomes of AAST applied the previously developed uniform grading system to eight emergent general surgical diseases using a consensus of experts. It was then reviewed and approved by the Board of Managers of AAST. Severity grades for eight commonly encountered emergent general surgical conditions were created: breast abscess, esophageal perforation, infectious colitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, perirectal abscess, pleural space infections, soft tissue infections, and surgical site infections. The range of grades from I through V, reflect progression from mild disease, limited to within the organ itself, to widespread severe disease. This article provides a uniform grading system for measuring anatomic severity of eight emergent general surgical diseases. Consistent adoption of these grades could improve standardization for quality assurance, outcomes research, and surgical training.