scholarly journals Case Report: Early Transcontinental Import of SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern 202012/01 (B.1.1.7) From Europe to Uruguay

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Salazar ◽  
Alicia Costabile ◽  
Ignacio Ferrés ◽  
Paula Perbolianachis ◽  
Marianoel Pereira-Gómez ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant B.1.1.7 causes a more transmissible and apparently more severe disease. We report its early introduction from Europe to South America from a traveler who arrived in Uruguay from the United Kingdom, even before B.1.1.7 was recognized as a variant of concern. This highlights the risk of introduction of SARS-CoV-2 variants despite strict contingency protocols and underscores the need of improving real-time surveillance worldwide.

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6539) ◽  
pp. eabg0821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina A. Lythgoe ◽  
Matthew Hall ◽  
Luca Ferretti ◽  
Mariateresa de Cesare ◽  
George MacIntyre-Cockett ◽  
...  

Extensive global sampling and sequencing of the pandemic virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have enabled researchers to monitor its spread and to identify concerning new variants. Two important determinants of variant spread are how frequently they arise within individuals and how likely they are to be transmitted. To characterize within-host diversity and transmission, we deep-sequenced 1313 clinical samples from the United Kingdom. SARS-CoV-2 infections are characterized by low levels of within-host diversity when viral loads are high and by a narrow bottleneck at transmission. Most variants are either lost or occasionally fixed at the point of transmission, with minimal persistence of shared diversity, patterns that are readily observable on the phylogenetic tree. Our results suggest that transmission-enhancing and/or immune-escape SARS-CoV-2 variants are likely to arise infrequently but could spread rapidly if successfully transmitted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragya D Yadav ◽  
Dimpal A Nyayanit ◽  
Rima R Sahay ◽  
Prasad Sarkale ◽  
Jayshri Pethani ◽  
...  

We have isolated the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 variant of concern 202 012/01 from the positive coronavirus disease 2019 cases that travelled from the UK to India in the month of December 2020. This emphasizes the need for the strengthened surveillance system to limit the local transmission of this new variant.


Author(s):  
Jack Zipes

This chapter explores some of the more salient contemporary Grimm variants, primarily in the fields of literature and poetry that have appeared in North and South America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia during the twenty-first century. The chapter endeavors to choose and discuss works that represent, in the author's opinion, significant artistic contributions to our understanding of the Grimms' folk and fairy tales and are furthermore innovations that seek to alter our viewpoints on how these tales relate to current sociopolitical conditions. Alongside a discussion of these contemporary fairy tales, the chapter also touches upon its use of the terms “Grimmness” and “Grimm.”


Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L.J. Duffus ◽  
Trenton W.J. Garner ◽  
Richard A. Nichols ◽  
Joshua P. Standridge ◽  
Julia E. Earl

Ranaviruses began emerging in common frogs (Rana temporaria) in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, causing severe disease and declines in the populations of these animals. Herein, we explored the transmission dynamics of the ranavirus(es) present in common frog populations, in the context of a simple susceptible-infected (SI) model, using parameters derived from the literature. We explored the effects of disease-induced population decline on the dynamics of the ranavirus. We then extended the model to consider the infection dynamics in populations exposed to both ulcerative and hemorrhagic forms of the ranaviral disease. The preliminary investigation indicated the important interactions between the forms. When the ulcerative form was present in a population and the hemorrhagic form was later introduced, the hemorrhagic form of the disease needed to be highly contagious, to persist. We highlighted the areas where further research and experimental evidence is needed and hope that these models would act as a guide for further research into the amphibian disease dynamics.


Author(s):  
Ross Brown ◽  
Augusto Rocha ◽  
Marc Cowling

This commentary explores the manner in which the current COVID-19 crisis is affecting key sources of entrepreneurial finance in the United Kingdom. We posit that the unique relational nature of entrepreneurial finance may make it highly susceptible to such a shock owing to the need for face-to-face interaction between investors and entrepreneurs. The article explores this conjecture by scrutinising a real-time data source of equity investments. Our findings suggest that the volume of new equity transactions in the United Kingdom has declined markedly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It appears that seed finance is the main type of entrepreneurial finance most acutely affected by the crisis, which typically goes to the most nascent entrepreneurial start-ups facing the greatest obstacles obtaining finance. Policy makers can utilise these real-time data sources to help inform their strategic policy interventions to assist the firms most affected by crisis events.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hershel Jick ◽  
Dean S. MacLaughlin ◽  
Pascal Egger ◽  
Peter Wiggins

Background. Initially the course of the 2009 swine flu pandemic was uncertain and impossible to predict with any confidence. An effective prospective data resource exists in the United Kingdom (UK) that could have been utilized to describe the scope and extent of the swine flu outbreak as it unfolded. We describe the 2009 swine flu outbreak in the UK as recorded daily by general practitioners and the potential use of this database for real-time tracking of flu outbreaks. Methods. Using the General Practice Research Database, a real-time general practice, electronic database, we estimated influenza incidence from July 1998 to September 2009 according to age, region, and calendar time. Results. From 1998 to2008, influenza outbreaks regularly occurred yearly from October to March, but did not typically occur from April to September until the swine flu outbreak began in April 2009. The weekly incidence rose gradually, peaking at the end of July, and the outbreak had largely dissipated by early September. Conclusions. The UK swine flu outbreak, recorded in real time by a large group of general practitioners, was mild and limited in time. Simultaneous online access seemed feasible and could have provided additional clinical-based evidence at an early planning stage of the outbreak.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (29) ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Shipman ◽  
S E Jones ◽  
G Smith ◽  
B Stewart ◽  
N McCarthy

The following case report describes a cluster of Escherichia coli O157 cases in the United Kingdom related to undercooked beef at a barbecue, resulting in an intensive care admission in France with haemolytic uraemic syndrome and highlighting the need to cook beef properly.


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