scholarly journals Predictors of zoonotic potential in helminths

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1837) ◽  
pp. 20200356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ania A. Majewska ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
Barbara Han ◽  
John M. Drake
Keyword(s):  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Zoonotic Potential ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Considerable Cost ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Human Infections

Helminths are parasites that cause disease at considerable cost to public health and present a risk for emergence as novel human infections. Although recent research has elucidated characteristics conferring a propensity to emergence in other parasite groups (e.g. viruses), the understanding of factors associated with zoonotic potential in helminths remains poor. We applied an investigator-directed learning algorithm to a global dataset of mammal helminth traits to identify factors contributing to spillover of helminths from wild animal hosts into humans. We characterized parasite traits that distinguish between zoonotic and non-zoonotic species with 91% accuracy. Results suggest that helminth traits relating to transmission (e.g. definitive and intermediate hosts) and geography (e.g. distribution) are more important to discriminating zoonotic from non-zoonotic species than morphological or epidemiological traits. Whether or not a helminth causes infection in companion animals (cats and dogs) is the most important predictor of propensity to cause human infection. Finally, we identified helminth species with high modelled propensity to cause zoonosis (over 70%) that have not previously been considered to be of risk. This work highlights the importance of prioritizing studies on the transmission of helminths that infect pets and points to the risks incurred by close associations with these animals. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.

scholarly journals Predictors of zoonotic potential in helminths

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ania A Majewska ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
Barbara A Han ◽  
John M. Drake
Keyword(s):  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Zoonotic Potential ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Considerable Cost ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Human Infections

Helminths are parasites that cause disease at considerable cost to public health and present a risk for emergence as novel human infections. Although recent research has elucidated characteristics conferring a propensity to emergence in other parasite groups (e.g. viruses), the understanding of factors associated with zoonotic potential in helminths remains poor. We applied an investigator-directed learning algorithm to a global dataset of mammal helminth traits to identify factors contributing to spillover of helminths from wild animal hosts into humans. We characterize parasite traits that distinguish between zoonotic and non-zoonotic species with greater than 88% accuracy. Results suggest that helminth traits relating to transmission (e.g. definitive and intermediate hosts) and geography (e.g. distribution) are more important to predicting zoonotic species than morphological or epidemiological traits. Whether or not a helminth causes infection in companion animals (cats and dogs) is the most important predictor of propensity to cause human infection. Finally, we identify helminth species with high modeled propensity to cause zoonosis (over 70%) that have not previously been deemed to be of risk. This work highlights the importance of prioritizing studies on the transmission of helminths that infect pets and points to the risks incurred by close associations with these animals.

scholarly journals Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. I. Patterson ◽  
G. Elia ◽  
A. Grassi ◽  
A. Giordano ◽  
C. Desario ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Neutralizing Antibody ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Antibody Titers

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 emerged from animals and is now easily transmitted between people. Sporadic detection of natural cases in animals alongside successful experimental infections of pets, such as cats, ferrets and dogs, raises questions about the susceptibility of animals under natural conditions of pet ownership. Here, we report a large-scale study to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection in 919 companion animals living in northern Italy, sampled at a time of frequent human infection. No animals tested PCR positive. However, 3.3% of dogs and 5.8% of cats had measurable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers, with dogs from COVID-19 positive households being significantly more likely to test positive than those from COVID-19 negative households. Understanding risk factors associated with this and their potential to infect other species requires urgent investigation.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in Dogs and Cats in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Smith ◽  
Enyia Anderson ◽  
Cintia Cansado Utrilla ◽  
Tessa Prince ◽  
Sean Farrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Neutralising Antibodies ◽  
Diagnostic Laboratory ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Second Wave

Companion animals are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and sporadic cases of pet infections have occurred in the United Kingdom. Here we present the first large-scale serological survey of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in dogs and cats in the UK. Results are reported for 688 sera (454 canine, 234 feline) collected by a large veterinary diagnostic laboratory for routine haematology during three time periods; pre-COVID-19 (January 2020), during the first wave of UK human infections (April-May 2020) and during the second wave of UK human infections (September 2020-February 2021). Both pre-COVID-19 sera and those from the first wave tested negative. However, in sera collected during the second wave, 1.4% (n=4) of dogs and 2.2% (n=2) cats tested positive for neutralising antibodies. The low numbers of animals testing positive suggests pet animals are unlikely to be a major reservoir for human infection in the UK. However, continued surveillance of in-contact susceptible animals should be performed as part of ongoing population health surveillance initiatives.

Angiostrongyliasis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1516-1519
Author(s):  
Richard Knight
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Eosinophilic Meningitis ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Ocular Lesions ◽  
Rat Lungworm ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Hepatic Lesions ◽  
Paratenic Hosts ◽  
Human Infections

The rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis causes outbreaks of eosinophilic meningitis in parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean. Human infections follow ingestion of raw snails (the primary intermediate hosts), food contaminated by snail mucus, or one of several paratenic hosts. Clinical manifestations include headache, meningism, vomiting, cranial nerve, ocular, lesions, and rarely seizures. Lumbar puncture reveals eosinophilic meningitis and sometimes larval worms. Treatment is usually with prednisolone alone, or with albendazole and prednisolone. Mortality is usually below 2%. Prevention is by avoidance of raw high-risk dietary items and unwashed salads. Another species A. costaricensis causes granulomatous bowel and hepatic lesions in some tropical American countries. Rats are the definiitive hosts, human infection follows ingestion of small slugs. Treatment is surgical.

scholarly journals Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.I. Patterson ◽  
G. Elia ◽  
A. Grassi ◽  
A. Giordano ◽  
C. Desario ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Neutralizing Antibody ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Antibody Titers

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 originated in animals and is now easily transmitted between people. Sporadic detection of natural cases in animals alongside successful experimental infections of pets, such as cats, ferrets and dogs, raises questions about the susceptibility of animals under natural conditions of pet ownership. Here we report a large-scale study to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection in 817 companion animals living in northern Italy, sampled at a time of frequent human infection. No animals tested PCR positive. However, 3.4% of dogs and 3.9% of cats had measurable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers, with dogs from COVID-19 positive households being significantly more likely to test positive than those from COVID-19 negative households. Understanding risk factors associated with this and their potential to infect other species requires urgent investigation.One Sentence SummarySARS-CoV-2 antibodies in pets from Italy.

scholarly journals Organoids to Dissect Gastrointestinal Virus–Host Interactions: What Have We Learned?

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Sue E. Crawford ◽  
Sasirekha Ramani ◽  
Sarah E. Blutt ◽  
Mary K. Estes
Keyword(s):  
Cell Types ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Microbe Interactions ◽  
Host Microbe Interactions ◽  
Human Intestinal Epithelium ◽  
Human Viruses ◽  
Human Infections

Historically, knowledge of human host–enteric pathogen interactions has been elucidated from studies using cancer cells, animal models, clinical data, and occasionally, controlled human infection models. Although much has been learned from these studies, an understanding of the complex interactions between human viruses and the human intestinal epithelium was initially limited by the lack of nontransformed culture systems, which recapitulate the relevant heterogenous cell types that comprise the intestinal villus epithelium. New investigations using multicellular, physiologically active, organotypic cultures produced from intestinal stem cells isolated from biopsies or surgical specimens provide an exciting new avenue for understanding human specific pathogens and revealing previously unknown host–microbe interactions that affect replication and outcomes of human infections. Here, we summarize recent biologic discoveries using human intestinal organoids and human enteric viral pathogens.

scholarly journals Characterizing and Evaluating the Zoonotic Potential of Novel Viruses Discovered in Vampire Bats

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 252
Author(s):  
Laura M. Bergner ◽  
Nardus Mollentze ◽  
Richard J. Orton ◽  
Carlos Tello ◽  
Alice Broos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Zoonotic Potential ◽  
Metagenomic Sequencing ◽  
Learning Models ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Vampire Bats ◽  
Machine Learning Models

The contemporary surge in metagenomic sequencing has transformed knowledge of viral diversity in wildlife. However, evaluating which newly discovered viruses pose sufficient risk of infecting humans to merit detailed laboratory characterization and surveillance remains largely speculative. Machine learning algorithms have been developed to address this imbalance by ranking the relative likelihood of human infection based on viral genome sequences, but are not yet routinely applied to viruses at the time of their discovery. Here, we characterized viral genomes detected through metagenomic sequencing of feces and saliva from common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) and used these data as a case study in evaluating zoonotic potential using molecular sequencing data. Of 58 detected viral families, including 17 which infect mammals, the only known zoonosis detected was rabies virus; however, additional genomes were detected from the families Hepeviridae, Coronaviridae, Reoviridae, Astroviridae and Picornaviridae, all of which contain human-infecting species. In phylogenetic analyses, novel vampire bat viruses most frequently grouped with other bat viruses that are not currently known to infect humans. In agreement, machine learning models built from only phylogenetic information ranked all novel viruses similarly, yielding little insight into zoonotic potential. In contrast, genome composition-based machine learning models estimated different levels of zoonotic potential, even for closely related viruses, categorizing one out of four detected hepeviruses and two out of three picornaviruses as having high priority for further research. We highlight the value of evaluating zoonotic potential beyond ad hoc consideration of phylogeny and provide surveillance recommendations for novel viruses in a wildlife host which has frequent contact with humans and domestic animals.

scholarly journals Domestication of wild animals may provide a springboard for rapid variation of coronavirus

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-254
Author(s):  
Lei Gao
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Rapid Variation ◽  
Cross Breeding ◽  
Important Direction ◽  
Animal Hosts

Abstract Coronaviruses have spread widely among humans and other animals, but not all coronaviruses carried by specific animals can directly infect other kinds of animals. Viruses from most animal hosts need an intermediate host before they can spread widely among humans. Under natural conditions, coronaviruses do not rapidly change from infecting wild animals as intermediate hosts and to spreading widely among humans. The intermediate host might be the animals captured or bred for the purpose of cross-breeding with domesticated species for improvement of the breed. These animals differ from wild animals at the environmental and genetic levels. It is an important direction to study the semi-wild animals domesticated by humans in search for intermediate hosts of viruses widely spread among humans.

scholarly journals Subcutaneous dirofilariasis caused by Dirofilaria (Nochtiella) repens in Sri Lanka: A potential risk of transmitting human dirofilariasis

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2050313X1770137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayana Gunathilaka ◽  
Shirom Siriwardana ◽  
Lakmini Wijesooriya ◽  
Gayana Gunaratne ◽  
Nilanga Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Abdominal Wall ◽  
Anterior Abdominal Wall ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Filarial Nematodes ◽  
Human Dirofilariasis ◽  
Proper Diagnosis ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Controlling Measures

Objective: Dirofilariasis is a parasitic infection caused by filarial nematodes belonging to the genus Dirofilaria. Human dirofilariasis due to Dirofilaria repens has been widely reported from European countries. Sri Lanka is the most affected country in Asia with an infection rate of almost 60% in dog population. However, human infection of D. repens remains undiagnosed and many of the cases are not scientifically documented. Therefore, the objective of the present investigation is to document the presence of dirofilariasis infections in humans. Method: A 1 year and 10 months old boy from Ragama, Gampaha District, Western Province of Sri Lanka, was presented to a private hospital with a painless, non-pruritic and ill-defined subcutaneous nodule on his right hypochondrial region of the anterior abdominal wall for 1 week. On examination, there was a non-tender swelling measuring 2 cm × 2 cm in the anterior abdominal wall, with surrounding mild redness. The patient was referred for ultrasound confirmation. Results: The ultrasound scan revealed a hypoechoic nodular lesion measuring 11 mm × 6 mm in the anterior abdominal wall. Parasitological examination on the excised nodule confirmed the presence of D. repens measuring 10.5 cm in length having characteristic cuticle with longitudinal ridges. Conclusion: It is essential to record the human infections and increase the awareness about this infection, diagnostic tests and vector controlling measures, in order to reduce the disease prevalence through suppressing vector densities, proper diagnosis and patient care.

Molecular characterization of the first human G15 rotavirus strain of zoonotic origin from the bovine species

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Tsugawa ◽  
Yoshiki Fujii ◽  
Yusuke Akane ◽  
Saho Honjo ◽  
Kenji Kondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Molecular Characterization ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Potential Reservoir ◽  
Group A Rotaviruses ◽  
Paediatric Outpatient ◽  
Group A ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Bovine Species

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) infect a wide variety of mammalian and avian species. Animals act as a potential reservoir to RVA human infections by direct virion transmission or by contributing genes to reassortants. Here, we report the molecular characterization of a rare human RVA strain Ni17-46 with a genotype G15P[14], isolated in Japan in 2017 during rotavirus surveillance in a paediatric outpatient clinic. The genome constellation of this strain was G15-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A13-N2-T9-E2-H3. This is the first report of an RVA with G15 genotype in humans, and sequencing and phylogenetic analysis results suggest that human infection with this strain has zoonotic origin from the bovine species. Given the fact that this strain was isolated from a patient with gastroenteritis and dehydration symptoms, we must take into account the virulence of this strain in humans.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document