scholarly journals Development of genus-specific universal primers for the detection of flaviviruses

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomo Daidoji ◽  
Ronald Enrique Morales Vargas ◽  
Katsuro Hagiwara ◽  
Yasuha Arai ◽  
Yohei Watanabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Viral Genome ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Infected Mosquito ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Universal Primers ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Universal Primer ◽  
Mosquito Cells

Abstract Background Flaviviruses are representative arboviruses carried by arthropods and/or vertebrates; these viruses can pose a public health concern in many countries. By contrast, it is known that a novel virus group called insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) also infects arthropods, although no such virus has yet been isolated from vertebrates. The characteristics of ISFs, which affect replication of human-pathogenic flaviviruses within co-infected mosquito cells or mosquitoes without affecting the mosquitoes themselves, mean that we should pay attention to both ISFs and human-pathogenic flaviviruses, despite the fact that ISFs appear not to be directly hazardous to human health. To assess the risk of diseases caused by flaviviruses, and to better understand their ecology, it is necessary to know the extent to which flaviviruses are harbored by arthropods. Methods We developed a novel universal primer for use in a PCR-based system to detect a broad range of flaviviruses. We then evaluated its performance. The utility of the novel primer pair was evaluated in a PCR assay using artificially synthesized oligonucleotides derived from a template viral genome sequence. The utility of the primer pair was also examined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using cDNA templates prepared from virus-infected cells or crude supernatants prepared from virus-containing mosquito homogenates. Results The novel primer pair amplified the flavivirus NS5 sequence (artificially synthesized) in all samples tested (six species of flavivirus that can cause infectious diseases in humans, and flaviviruses harbored by insects). In addition, the novel primer pair detected viral genomes in cDNA templates prepared from mosquito cells infected with live flavivirus under different infectious conditions. Finally, the viral genome was detected with high sensitivity in crude supernatants prepared from pooled mosquito homogenates. Conclusion This PCR system based on a novel primer pair makes it possible to detect arthropod-borne flaviviruses worldwide (the primer pair even detected viruses belonging to different genetic subgroups). As such, an assay based on this primer pair may help to improve public health and safety, as well as increase our understanding of flavivirus ecology.

scholarly journals First molecular detection of hepatitis E virus genome in camel and pig faecal samples in Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fufa Dawo Bari ◽  
Haimanot Belete Wodaje ◽  
Umer Said ◽  
Hika Waktole ◽  
Melaku Sombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hepatitis E Virus ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Hepatitis E ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Universal Primers ◽  
Viral Gene ◽  
Public Health Importance ◽  
Faecal Samples

Abstract Background Hepatitis E is an enteric and zoonotic disease caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV) that is mainly transmitted via the faecal-oral route through contaminated food or the environment. The virus is an emerging infectious agent causing acute human infection worldwide. A high seroprevalence of the disease was reported in pregnant women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, raising significant public health concern. The presence of HEV specific antibodies were also reported in dromedary camels in the country; however, the infectious virus and/or the viral genome have not been demonstrated to date in animal samples. Methods To address this gap, a total of 95 faecal samples collected from both apparently healthy pigs of uncharacterised types (50 samples) in Burayu and Addis Ababa areas and camels (Camelus dromedarius, 45 samples) in west Hararghe were screened for the presence of HEV genome using universal primers in a fully nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR). The protocol is capable of detecting HEV in faecal samples from both pigs and camels. Results The nRT-PCR detected HEV genes in six (12%) pig faecal samples and one camel sample (2.2%). Therefore, the results indicate that HEV is circulating in both pigs and camels in Ethiopia and these animals and their products could serve as a potential source of infection for humans. Conclusion The detection of HEV in both animals could raise another concern regarding its public health importance as both animals’ meat and camel milk are consumed in the country. Further studies to determine the prevalence and distribution of the virus in different animals and their products, water bodies, food chain, and vegetables are warranted, along with viral gene sequencing for detailed genetic characterisation of the isolates circulating in the country. This information is critically important to design and institute appropriate control and/or preventive measures.

scholarly journals The early scientific literature response to the novel Coronavirus outbreak: who published what?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Gori ◽  
Erik Boetto ◽  
Maria Pia Fantini
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Epidemic Outbreak ◽  
Emerging Pathogens ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Reported Data

AbstractIntroductionRecent events highlight how emerging and re-emerging pathogens are becoming global challenges for public health. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus has emerged. This has suddenly turned out into global health concern.ObjectivesAim of this research is to focus on the bibliometric aspects in order to measure what is published in the first 30-days of a global epidemic outbreakMethodsWe searched PubMed database in order to find all relevant studies in the first 30-days from the first publication.ResultsFrom the initial 442 identified articles, 234 were read in-extenso. The majority of papers come from China, UK and USA. 63.7% of the papers were commentaries, editorials and reported data and only 17.5% of the sources used data directly collected on the field. Topics mainly addressed were “epidemiology”, “preparedness” and “generic discussion”. NNR showed a reduction for both the objectives assessed from January to February.Conclusions“Diagnosis” and effective preventive and therapeutic measures were the fields in which more research is still needed. The vast majority of scientific literature in the first 30-days of an epidemic outbreak is based on reported data rather than primary data. Nevertheless, the scientific statements and public health decisions rely on these data.Strengths of our studyThis is the first bibliometric research in Pubmed Database on the first 30 days of publications regarding the novel Coronavirus (SARS-nCoV-2) outbreak of 2019.The vast majority of publication in the first 30-days of an epidemic outbreak are reported data or comments, and only a small fraction of the papers have directly collected data.Limitations of our studyOur research is only PubMed based. It ill be auspicable to consult more than one relevant database in future papers.In addition, we excluded non-English publications leading to a potential bias due to the fact that the outbreak started in China.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and suicide: when crises collide

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Clyde G Corpuz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Sectoral Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Abstract Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Even before the emergence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 pandemic, suicide continued to be a major public health concern. Globally, someone dies by suicide every 40 s, and for each death, there are 20 more persons attempting suicide. A recently published article rightly stated the need for a ‘population-based approach’ to suicide prevention to mitigate suicide attempts. This paper further adds that there must be a stronger multi-agency or multi-sectoral approach to suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. This paper concludes with few suggestions on how to address the COVID-19-related suicide cases as the world continues to fight against the double pandemic.

scholarly journals Failed detection of the full-length genome of SARS-CoV-2 by ultra-deep sequencing from the recovered and discharged patients retested viral PCR positive

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengyu Hu ◽  
Fengjuan Chen ◽  
Yaping Wang ◽  
Teng Xu ◽  
Xiaoping Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Deep Sequencing ◽  
Viral Genome ◽  
Full Length ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Low Concentration ◽  
Discharged Patients ◽  
Full Length Genome

AbstractOver 10 percent of recovered and discharged patients retested positive for SARS-CoV-2, raising a public health concern whether they could be potential origins of infection. In this study, we found that detectable viral genome in discharged patients might only mean the presence of viral fragments, and could hardly form an infection origin for its extremely low concentration.

scholarly journals Investigation of Drowning Deaths: A Practical Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica J. Armstrong ◽  
Kevin L. Erskine
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Environmental Extremes ◽  
Close Observation ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Public Health And Safety

Drowning, which typically involves a watery environment, remains a serious public health concern claiming an estimated 362 000 lives per year worldwide across all socioeconomic classifications and has remained under close observation by the World Health Organization and its signatories. A significant number of water-related deaths are attributed to accidental drowning, while a smaller but still significant number represent suicidal or homicidal drowning. Others involve a combination of drowning precipitated by injury, intoxication, or environmental extremes. Still others involve victims that die from injury, intoxication, or a natural disease entity of such significance as to preclude the drowning process, while near or in water. While there may be an initial presumption that all water-related deaths are accidental drownings, other possibilities must be considered in the investigation of these types of deaths, as drowning as a cause of death is a diagnosis based on the exclusion of other potential causes. The coordinated investigative efforts of multiple agencies and disciplines are required not only for the designation as drowning as the cause of death but also for death certification. The ongoing analysis and dissemination of data generated from all levels of investigation augment our understanding of the impact on public health and safety, guiding allocation of monetary and educational resources in an effort to prevent further mortality and disability.

scholarly journals Lower motor neuron facial palsy in a postnatal mother with COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. e240267
Author(s):  
Vignesh Kumar ◽  
Priyanka Narayanan ◽  
Seema Shetty ◽  
Afsal P Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Facial Palsy ◽  
Respiratory Symptoms ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Neurological Manifestations ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Fatal Disease

COVID-19 is caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 and is a potentially fatal disease that is of great global public health concern. In addition to respiratory symptoms, neurological manifestations have been associated with COVID-19. This is attributed to the neurotropic nature of coronaviruses. The authors present a case of Bell’s palsy associated with COVID-19 in a term primigravida.

Pandemic Drones

Transfers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-158
Author(s):  
Julia M. Hildebrand ◽  
Stephanie Sodero
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The Novel ◽  
International Media ◽  
Transport Mode ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Public Health And Safety

When the novel coronavirus moved around the planet in early 2020, reconfiguring, slowing down, or halting everyday mobilities, another transport mode was mobilized: the pandemic drone. We highlight the increasing prominence of this aerial device by surveying international media coverage of pandemic drone use in the spring of 2020. To address a range of pandemic drone affordances and applications, we organize manifold cases under two broad categories: sensing and moving with the pandemic drone. Here we ask: what roles do, and could, drones play during the pandemic? Following the empirical examples and related mobilities research, we theorize the drone versus virus and the drone as virus. As such, the work identifies avenues for mobilities research into pandemic drones as a growing mobility domain. Moreover, in thinking through the pandemic drone, we demonstrate creative extensions of mobilities thinking that bridge biological and technological, as well as media and mobility frameworks when multiple public health and safety crises unfolded and intersected.

scholarly journals Loquacious Modulates Flaviviral RNA Replication in Mosquito Cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shwetha Shivaprasad ◽  
Kuo-Feng Weng ◽  
Yaw Shin Ooi ◽  
Julia Belk ◽  
Jan E. Carette ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Viral Genome ◽  
Viral Gene Expression ◽  
Rna Replication ◽  
Viral Rna ◽  
Infected Mosquito ◽  
Viral Gene ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Mosquito Cells ◽  
Detection Assay

AbstractArthropod-borne viruses infect both mosquito and mammalian hosts. While much is known about virus-host interactions that modulate viral gene expression in their mammalian host, much less is known about the interactions that involve inhibition, subversion or avoidance strategies in the mosquito host. A novel RNA-Protein interaction detection assay was used to detect proteins that directly or indirectly bind to dengue viral genomes in infected mosquito cells. Membrane-associated mosquito proteins SEC61A1 and Loquacious (Loqs) were found to be in complex with the viral RNA. Depletion analysis demonstrated that both SEC61A1 and Loqs have pro-viral functions in the dengue viral infectious cycle. Co-localization and pull-down assays showed that Loqs interacts with viral protein NS3 and both full-length and subgenomic viral RNAs. While Loqs coats the entire positive-stranded viral RNA, it binds selectively to the 3’ end of the negative-strand of the viral genome. In-depth analyses showed that the absence of Loqs did not affect translation or turnover of the viral RNA but modulated viral replication. Loqs also displayed pro-viral functions for several flaviviruses in infected mosquito cells, suggesting a conserved role for Loqs in flavivirus-infected mosquito cells.Author SummaryThere is a wealth of information that dictates virus-host interactions in flavivirus-infected mammalian cells, yet there is only sparse information on the mechanisms that modulate viral gene expression in the mosquito host. Using a novel RNA-protein detection assay, the interactions of SEC61A1 and Loqs with the dengue viral genome were found to have proviral functions in infected mosquito cells. In particular, Loqs forms complexes with the positive-strand of the viral RNA and the very 3’ end of the negative-strand viral RNA. Further analyses showed that Loqs modulates viral RNA replication of dengue virus and gene amplification of several other flaviviral genomes. These findings argue that Loqs is an essential proviral host factor in mosquitos.

scholarly journals Sewage surveillance for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genome as a useful wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) tracking tool in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudipti Arora ◽  
Aditi Nag ◽  
Jasmine Sethi ◽  
Jayana Rajvanshi ◽  
Sonika Saxena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Viral Genome ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
N Gene ◽  
List Type ◽  
Hospital Wastewater ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Wastewater Samples

AbstractThe infection with SARS-CoV-2 is reported to be accompanied by the shedding of the virus in stool samples of infected patients. Earlier reports have suggested that COVID-19 agents can be present in the fecal and sewage samples and thus it can be a good indication of the pandemic extent in a community. However, no such studies have been reported in the Indian context so far. Since, several factors like local population physiology, the climatic conditions, sewage composition, and processing of samples could possibly affect the detection of the viral genome, it becomes absolutely necessary to check for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serving different localities of Jaipur city, which has been under red zone (pandemic hotspots) since early April 2020. Samples from different local municipal WWTPs and hospital wastewater samples were collected and wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) studies for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 were carried out using the RT-PCR technique to confirm the presence of different COVID-19 target genes namely S gene, E gene, ORF1ab gene, RdRp gene and N gene in the viral load of wastewater samples. In the present study, the untreated wastewater samples from the municipal WWTPs and hospital wastewater samples showed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral genome, which was correlated with the increased number of COVID-19 positive patients from the concerned areas, as per reported in the publically available health data. This is the first study that investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral genome in wastewater, at higher ambient temperature (above 40°C), further validating WBE as a potential tool in predicting and mitigating outbreaks.HighlightsThe study reports detection of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage in India.The presence of SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed by RT-PCR.The presence of viral genome was detected at high ambient temperatures of 40-45° C.Corroborates trends in the WWTPs showing viral genome with public health data.Treated effluent from WWTPs appears safe for reuse with low public health concern.Graphical Abstract

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