Developing vaccines against epidemic-prone emerging infectious diseases

AbstractToday’s world is characterized by increasing population density, human mobility, urbanization, and climate and ecological change. This global dynamic has various effects, including the increased appearance of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), which pose a growing threat to global health security.Outbreaks of EIDs, like the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa or the current Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have not only put populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) at risk in terms of morbidity and mortality, but they also have had a significant impact on economic growth in affected regions and beyond.The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) is an innovative global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations that was launched as the result of a consensus that a coordinated, international, and intergovernmental plan was needed to develop and deploy new vaccines to prevent future epidemics.CEPI is focusing on supporting candidate vaccines against the World Health Organization (WHO) Blueprint priority pathogens MERS-CoV, Nipah virus, Lassa fever virus, and Rift Valley fever virus, as well as Chikungunya virus, which is on the WHO watch list. The current vaccine portfolio contains a wide variety of technologies, ranging across recombinant viral vectors, nucleic acids, and recombinant proteins. To support and accelerate vaccine development, CEPI will also support science projects related to the development of biological standards and assays, animal models, epidemiological studies, and diagnostics, as well as build capacities for future clinical trials in risk-prone contexts.

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Mutagen-directed Attenuation of Rift Valley Fever Virus as a Method for Vaccine Development

Journal of General Virology ◽

10.1099/0022-1317-66-10-2271 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 66 (10) ◽

pp. 2271-2277 ◽

Cited By ~ 177

Author(s):

H. Caplen ◽

C. J. Peters ◽

D. H. L. Bishop

Keyword(s):

Rift Valley ◽

Rift Valley Fever ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽

Fever Virus ◽

Valley Fever

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Mosquito-Borne Viral Pathogens Detected in Zambia: A Systematic Review

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens10081007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1007

Author(s):

Rachel Milomba Velu ◽

Geoffrey Kwenda ◽

Liyali Libonda ◽

Caroline Cleopatra Chisenga ◽

Bumbangi Nsoni Flavien ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Viral Vectors ◽

Yellow Fever Virus ◽

Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽

Fever Virus ◽

Diagnostic Methods ◽

Control Measures ◽

Viral Pathogens ◽

Valley Fever ◽

Effective Prevention

Emerging and re-emerging mosquito-borne viral diseases are a threat to global health. This systematic review aimed to investigate the available evidence of mosquito-borne viral pathogens reported in Zambia. A search of literature was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar for articles published from 1 January 1930 to 30 June 2020 using a combination of keywords. Eight mosquito-borne viruses belonging to three families, Togaviridae, Flaviviridae and Phenuiviridae were reported. Three viruses (Chikungunya virus, Mayaro virus, Mwinilunga virus) were reported among the togaviruses whilst four (dengue virus, West Nile virus, yellow fever virus, Zika virus) were among the flavivirus and only one virus, Rift Valley fever virus, was reported in the Phenuiviridae family. The majority of these mosquito-borne viruses were reported in Western and North-Western provinces. Aedes and Culex species were the main mosquito-borne viral vectors reported. Farming, fishing, movement of people and rain patterns were among factors associated with mosquito-borne viral infection in Zambia. Better diagnostic methods, such as the use of molecular tools, to detect the viruses in potential vectors, humans, and animals, including the recognition of arboviral risk zones and how the viruses circulate, are important for improved surveillance and design of effective prevention and control measures.

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Attenuated Rift Valley Fever virus (NMP18) chemically for vaccine development

International Journal of Virology ◽

10.3923/ijv.2005.49.49 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 49-49

Author(s):

Wassel M.S., . ◽

Elham A. EI-Ebiary . ◽

Soliman Y.A. . ◽

EI-Sayed M.M. .

Keyword(s):

Rift Valley ◽

Rift Valley Fever ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽

Fever Virus ◽

Valley Fever

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Serologic Tools and Strategies to Support Intervention Trials to Combat Zika Virus Infection and Disease

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease ◽

10.3390/tropicalmed4020068 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 68 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Matthew H. Collins

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Virus Infection ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

Zika Virus ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Sexual Transmission ◽

Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽

World Health ◽

Public Health Response ◽

Zika Virus Infection

Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus that recently caused a large epidemic in Latin America characterized by novel disease phenotypes, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, sexual transmission, and congenital anomalies, such as microcephaly. This epidemic, which was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization, has highlighted shortcomings in our current understanding of, and preparation for, emerging infectious diseases in general, as well as challenges that are specific to Zika virus infection. Vaccine development for Zika virus has been a high priority of the public health response, and several candidates have shown promise in pre-clinical and early phase clinical trials. The optimal selection and implementation of imperfect serologic assays are among the crucial issues that must be addressed in order to advance Zika vaccine development. Here, I review key considerations for how best to incorporate into Zika vaccine trials the existing serologic tools, as well as those on the horizon. Beyond that, this discussion is relevant to other intervention strategies to combat Zika and likely other emerging infectious diseases.

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Rift valley fever: diagnostic challenges and investment needs for vaccine development

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002694 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (8) ◽

pp. e002694

Author(s):

Velislava Petrova ◽

Paul Kristiansen ◽

Gunnstein Norheim ◽

Solomon A Yimer

Keyword(s):

Rift Valley ◽

Rift Valley Fever ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

Efficacy Evaluation ◽

Valley Fever ◽

Animal Products ◽

Specific Investment

Rift valley fever virus (RVFV) is a causative agent of a viral zoonosis that constitutes a major clinical burden in wild and domestic ruminants. The virus causes major outbreaks in livestock (sheep, goats, cattle and camels) and can be transmitted to humans by contaminated animal products or via arthropod vectors. Human-to-human transmission has not been reported to date, but spill-over events from animals have led to outbreaks in humans in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Currently, there is no licensed human vaccine against RVFV and the virus is listed as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) due to the high epidemic potential and the lack of effective countermeasures. Multiple large RVFV outbreaks have been reported since the virus was discovered. During the last two decades, over 4000 cases and ~1000 deaths have been reported. The lack of systematic surveillance to estimate the true burden and incidence of human RVF disease is a challenge for planning future vaccine efficacy evaluation. This creates a need for robust diagnostic methodologies that can be deployed in remote regions to aid case confirmation, assessment of seroprevalence as well as pathogen surveillance required for the different stages of vaccine evaluation. Here, we perform comprehensive landscaping of the available diagnostic solutions for detection of RVFV in humans. Based on the identified gaps in the currently available in-house and commercially available methods, we highlight the specific investment needs for diagnostics that are critical for accelerating the development of effective vaccines against RVFV.

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Pathogenesis of Rift Valley Fever Virus Aerosol Infection in STAT2 Knockout Hamsters

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v10110651 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 651 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brady Hickerson ◽

Jonna Westover ◽

Arnaud Van Wettere ◽

Johanna Rigas ◽

Jinxin Miao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Animal Models ◽

Rift Valley ◽

Rift Valley Fever ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Rift Valley Fever Virus ◽

Fever Virus ◽

Infection Model ◽

Valley Fever ◽

Cell Parameters ◽

Aerosol Exposure

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging pathogen capable of causing severe disease in livestock and humans and can be transmitted by multiple routes including aerosol exposure. Several animal models have been developed to gain insight into the pathogenesis associated with aerosolized RVFV infection, but work with these models is restricted to high containment biosafety level (BSL) laboratories limiting their use for antiviral and vaccine development studies. Here, we report on a new RVFV inhalation infection model in STAT2 KO hamsters exposed to aerosolized MP-12 vaccine virus by nose-only inhalation that enables a more accurate delivery and measurement of exposure dose. RVFV was detected in hepatic and other tissues 4–5 days after challenge, consistent with virus-induced lesions in the liver, spleen and lung. Furthermore, assessment of blood chemistry and hematological parameters revealed alterations in several liver disease markers and white blood cell parameters. Our results indicate that STAT2 KO hamsters develop a disease course that shares features of disease observed in human cases and in other animal models of RVFV aerosol exposure, supporting the use of this BSL-2 infection model for countermeasure development efforts.

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Vaccines: past, present and future

One Health & Risk Management ◽

10.38045/ohrm.2021.2.04 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 27-35

Author(s):

Ion BERDEU ◽

Diana SPATARU ◽

Angela PARASCHIV

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Viral Vectors ◽

New Technologies ◽

Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽

Medical Intervention ◽

World Health ◽

Substantial Contribution ◽

Future Potential ◽

Health Organization ◽

Medical Achievement

Introduction. Vaccination is now entering the third century of its practice and it is the most important medical intervention that has ever been implemented. Due to vaccines, the incidence of infectious diseases, which have killed hundreds of millions throughout the history has been dramatically reduced and made a substantial contribution to life expectancy. Recently, new technologies have emerged in the development of vaccines that are being implemented in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. The successful immunoprophylaxis and the better understanding of the immune response mechanisms suggest that vaccination would also help in curing cancer and chronic diseases in the nearest future. Material and methods. There were analyzed 43 scientific articles on both vaccination and its future potential. Results. On 8 May 1980, the World Health Organization certified that smallpox had been eradicated globally. For the first time in history, the humankind defeated a disease. It was certainly the greatest medical achievement of the twentieth century. Recently, however, new technologies have emerged in the development of vaccines, based on mRNA, viral vectors and other technologies. Conclusions. Vaccines are the most important medical achievement ever made with a great impact in eradicating and controlling emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

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