Experimental Susceptibility of North American Raccoons (Procyon lotor) and Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) to SARS-CoV-2

Recent spillback events of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to animals has raised concerns about it becoming endemic in wildlife. A sylvatic cycle of SARS-CoV-2 could present multiple opportunities for repeated spillback into human populations and other susceptible wildlife. Based on their taxonomy and natural history, two native North American wildlife species —the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and the raccoon (Procyon lotor) —represent a high likelihood of susceptibility and ecological opportunity of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. Eight skunks and raccoons were each intranasally inoculated with one of two doses of the virus (103 PFU and 105 PFU) and housed in pairs. To evaluate direct transmission, a naïve animal was added to each inoculated pair 48 h post-inoculation. Four control animals of each species were handled like the experimental groups. At predetermined intervals, we collected nasal and rectal swabs to quantify virus shed via virus isolation and detect viral RNA via rRT-PCR and blood for serum neutralization. Lastly, animals were euthanized at staggered intervals to describe disease progression through histopathology and immunohistochemistry. No animals developed clinical disease. All intranasally inoculated animals seroconverted, suggesting both species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The highest titers in skunks and raccoons were 1:128 and 1:64, respectively. Low quantities of virus were isolated from 2/8 inoculated skunks for up to day 5 post-inoculation, however no virus was isolated from inoculated raccoons or direct contacts of either species. Neither species had gross lesions, but recovering mild chronic pneumonia consistent with viral insult was recorded histologically in 5/8 inoculated skunks. Unlike another SARS-CoV-2 infection trial in these species, we detected neutralizing antibodies in inoculated raccoons; thus, future wildlife serologic surveillance results must be interpreted with caution. Due to the inability to isolate virus from raccoons, the lack of evidence of direct transmission between both species, and low amount of virus shed by skunks, it seems unlikely for SARS-CoV-2 to become established in raccoon and skunk populations and for virus to spillback into humans. Continued outbreaks in non-domestic species, wild and captive, highlight that additional research on the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife, especially musteloidea, and of conservation concern, is needed.

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Safety and Nutritional Behaviors

Global events like pandemics or climatic changes have an important influence on food systems. Taking into account consumer requirements during the pandemic, nutrition and food safety are very significant for individuals' well-being. Lockdowns, quarantine, and social distancing changed daily routines as well as nutritional behaviors from shopping for food to eating habits. Direct transmission of coronavirus through food was not observed. Food safety and food sustainability are strongly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still ongoing. For this reason, novel treatments of COVID-19 and immune-boosting food products will remain on-trend. Food loss and food waste should be avoided to achieve a sustainable food future. This chapter reveals a basis for the pandemic about the changes on nutritional behaviors, eating habits, and aimed to highlight the importance of food handling and food safety issues to create awareness. Future studies should investigate the sustainability, innovative technologies, mechanisms, and changes on nutritional behavior and food safety aspects during the pandemic.

Investigation of Cyprinid Herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) Disease Periods and Factors Influencing CyHV-3 Transmission in A Low Stocking Density Infection Trial

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) is the etiological agent of koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD) and important pathogen of aquaculture and wild populations of common carp worldwide. Understanding the relative contributions of direct and indirect transmission of CyHV-3 as well as the factors that drive CyHV-3 transmission can clarify the importance of environmental disease vectors and is valuable for informing disease modeling efforts. To study the mechanisms and factors driving CyHV-3 transmission we conducted infection trials that determined the kinetics of KHVD and the contributions of direct and indirect forms of CyHV-3 transmission, as well as the contributions of contact rate, viral load, pathogenicity and contact type. The incubation period of KHVD was 5.88 + 1.75 days and the symptomatic period was 5.31 + 0.87 days. Direct transmission was determined to be the primary mechanism of CyHV-3 transmission (OR = 25.08, 95%CI = 10.73–99.99, p = 4.29 × 10−18) and transmission primarily occurred during the incubation period of KHVD. Direct transmission decreased in the symptomatic period of disease. Transmissibility of CyHV-3 and indirect transmission increased during the symptomatic period of disease, correlating with increased viral loads. Additionally, potential virulence-transmission tradeoffs and disease avoidance behaviors relevant to CyHV-3 transmission were identified.

When and why direct transmission models can be used for environmentally persistent pathogens

Variants of the susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) model of Kermack & McKendrick (1927) enjoy wide application in epidemiology, offering simple yet powerful inferential and predictive tools in the study of diverse infectious diseases across human, animal and plant populations. Direct transmission models (DTM) are a subset of these that treat the processes of disease transmission as comprising a series of discrete instantaneous events. Infections transmitted indirectly by persistent environmental pathogens, however, are examples where a DTM description might fail and are perhaps better described by models that comprise explicit environmental transmission routes, so-called environmental transmission models (ETM). In this paper we discuss the stochastic susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) DTM and susceptible-exposed-infected-removed-pathogen (SEIR-P) ETM and we show that the former is the timescale separation limit of the latter, with ETM host-disease dynamics increasingly resembling those of a DTM when the pathogen’s characteristic timescale is shortened, relative to that of the host population. Using graphical posterior predictive checks (GPPC), we investigate the validity of the SEIR model when fitted to simulated SEIR-P host infection and removal times. Such analyses demonstrate how, in many cases, the SEIR model is robust to departure from direct transmission. Finally, we present a case study of white spot disease (WSD) in penaeid shrimp with rates of environmental transmission and pathogen decay (SEIR-P model parameters) estimated using published results of experiments. Using SEIR and SEIR-P simulations of a hypothetical WSD outbreak management scenario, we demonstrate how relative shortening of the pathogen timescale comes about in practice. With atttempts to remove diseased shrimp from the population every 24h, we see SEIR and SEIR-P model outputs closely conincide. However, when removals are 6-hourly, the two models’ mean outputs diverge, with distinct predictions of outbreak size and duration.

STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATION OF BLOCK’S POEM “THOSE, BORN IN THE TIMES QUIET AND DREAR...” INTO ENGLISH

В статье рассматриваются особенности перевода стихотворения А. Блока «Рожденные в года глухие…» на английский язык. Авторы проводят анализ использования переводческих трансформаций в переводах Е. Бонвера и В. Гурвича. Добавления и перестановки используются для сохранения рифмы и ритмического рисунка стихотворения, но могут и помешать передаче поэтического своеобразия и индивидуально-авторского стиля. Переводчикам удалось сохранить форму и перевести стихотворение именно стихотворением, но потери ритма, рифмы, использование других стихотворных размеров либо уход к свободному стихотворению со свободной рифмой были неизбежны. Е. Бонвер в своем переводе старается придерживаться лексики, данной в оригинале, находить эквиваленты, которые будут близки по смыслу и будут подходить по ритму и рифме, а В. Гурвич уходит от прямой передачи лексики к передаче целого образа посредством других слов и конструкций, что, однако, не ведет к потере эмоционального посыла, который закладывал автор. Опущения в переводах обоих авторов вызваны, возможно, недостаточным изучением анализа стихотворения или темы, которой оно посвящено. Анализ переводов показывает, что наиболее популярными трансформациями, используемыми переводчиками, являются добавления и перестановки, вызванные различиями в синтаксисе русского и английского языков. The article considers the peculiarities of the translation of A. Blok's poem “Those, born in the times quiet and drear...” into English. The authors analyze the use of translation transformations in the translations by E. Bonver and V. Gurvich. Additions and permutations are used to preserve the rhyme and rhythmic pattern of the poem. However, such transformations may prevent the transfer of poetic originality and individual author’s style. The translators managed to keep the form and to preserve the form of a poem, but the loss of rhythm, rhyme, the use of other verse sizes, of a free poem with a free rhyme was inevitable. E. Bonver in his translation tries to adhere to the vocabulary given in the original, to find equivalents that will be close in meaning and will fit in rhythm and rhyme. V. Gurvich moves away from the direct transmission of vocabulary to the transmission of the whole image, through other words and constructions, which, however, does not result in the loss of the emotional message of the author. The omissions in the translations of both authors are probably due to insufficient study of the analysis of the poem or the topic to which it is devoted. The analysis of translations shows that the most frequent transformations used by translators are additions and permutations caused by differences in the syntax of the Russian and English languages.

A Mathematical Model to Control the Prevalence of a Directly and Indirectly Transmitted Disease

In this paper, a mathematical model to describe the spread of an infectious disease on a farm is developed. To analyze the evolution of the infection, the direct transmission from infected individuals and the indirect transmission from the bacteria accumulated in the enclosure are considered. A threshold value of population is obtained to assure the extinction of the disease. When this size of population is exceeded, two control procedures to apply at each time are proposed. For each of them, a maximum number of steps without control and reducing the prevalence of disease is obtained. In addition, a criterion to choose between both procedures is established. Finally, the results are numerically simulated for a hypothetical outbreak on a farm.

Molecular Characterization of Blastocystis from Animals and Their Caregivers at the Gdańsk Zoo (Poland) and the Assessment of Zoonotic Transmission

Blastocystis is a highly genetically diverse gut protist commonly found in humans and various animals. The role of animals in human infection is only partly understood. The aim of this study was to determine the host specificity and possibility of zoonotic transmission of this microorganism. Subtypes of Blastocystis isolated from 201 zoo animals and their 35 caregivers were identified by sequencing of the SSU rRNA gene. Blastocystis was found in 26.86% of animal and 17.14% of human samples. Both mammalian (ST1–ST3, ST5, ST8, ST10, ST13, ST14) and non-mammalian subtypes were detected. Of the subtypes found in non-human primates (ST1, ST2, ST3, and ST13), two subtypes (ST1 and ST3) were also detected in humans. The presence of identical ST1 sequences in three monkeys and their caregiver indicates the possibility of direct transmission of Blastocystis between these animals and humans. Detection of ST5 only in wild boars and peccaries, ST8 only in Marsupial, ST10 and ST14 only in Bovidae, and non-mammalian subtypes in reptiles suggests higher host specificity for these subtypes, and indicates that their transmission between animals and humans is unlikely. Additionally, this was probably the first time that ST5 was found in peccaries, ST2 in patas monkeys, and ST8 in red kangaroos.

On the question of the use of GTZA with direct transmission on linear nuclear icebreakers

В статье проведено краткое сопоставление основных характеристик гребных электрических установок, традиционно применяемых на отечественных атомных ледоколах, и судовых реверсивных главных турбозубчатых агрегатов. В работе показано, что естественные механические характеристики турбозубчатых агрегатов позволяют удовлетворить основные требования к работе ледокольных двигательно-движительных установок без построения сложных систем, которые имеют место в гребных электрических установках для получения искусственных механических характеристик электродвигателей с организацией диапазонов работы с постоянством мощности, диапазонов работы с ограничением крутящих моментов, а также – решения задачи утилизации рекуперируемой энергии при реверсах гребных винтов. В аналитическом разделе статьи показано, что в предложенной установке с прямой передачей мощности на гребной винт задача поддержания постоянства мощности энергоустановки на номинальных эксплуатационных режимах, задача обеспечения работы установки при движении в ледовом поле, когда требуется обеспечить «фрезерование» льда, чтобы исключить заклинивание и поломку гребного винта с ограничением максимальных перегрузочных крутящих моментов на гребном валу, задача реверсирования гребного винта решаются за счет использования естественных механических характеристик реверсивного турбозубчатого агрегата. При создании перспективных тяжелых атомных ледоколов рекомендуется применение более простой, надежной и экономичной схемы построения ледокольных главных энергетических установок на основе современных конструкций турборедукторных тепловых двигателей для привода гребных винтов. The article presents a brief comparison of the main characteristics of rowing electric installations, traditionally used on domestic nuclear icebreakers, and ship reversible main turbine with gearbox. The paper shows that the natural mechanical characteristics of turbine with gearbox allow us to meet the basic requirements for the operation of icebreaking propulsion systems without building complex systems that take place in rowing electric installations to obtain artificial mechanical characteristics of electric motors with the organization of ranges of operation with constant power, ranges of operation with limited torques, as well as solving the problem of utilization of recovered energy during propeller reversals. The analytical section of the article shows that in the proposed installation with direct power transmission to the propeller, the task of maintaining the constancy of the power plant's power at nominal operating conditions, the task of ensuring the operation of the installation when moving in an ice field, when it is necessary to ensure "ice milling" to eliminate jamming and breakage of the propeller with limiting the maximum overload torques on the propeller shaft, the task of reversing the propeller is solved by using the natural mechanical characteristics of a reversible turbine with gearbox. When creating promising heavy nuclear icebreakers, it is recommended to use a simpler, reliable and economical scheme for building icebreaking main power plants based on modern designs of turbine with gearbox as heat engines for driving propellers.

An Outbreak of Trichophyton quinckeanum Zoonotic Infections in the Czech Republic Transmitted from Cats and Dogs

Trichophyton quinckeanum, a zoophilic dermatophyte mostly known as the causative agent of rodent favus, is relatively rarely reported to cause human infections. Indeed, no infections were detected in Czechia between 2012 and 2015 despite routine verification of species identification by ITS rDNA sequencing. By contrast, 25 human and 11 animal cases of infection were documented from December 2016 to December 2020 and the rates tended to grow every following year. Interestingly, most of the cases were reported in the Olomouc region, suggesting a local outbreak. We bring the evidence that human T. quinckeanum infections are most commonly contracted from infected cats or, less frequently, dogs. Although rodents or contaminated soil and environment could be the source of infection to cats and dogs, the occurrence of infections in multiple animals in the same household suggests direct transmission among animals. Confirmation of the identification by molecular methods is highly recommended due to morphological similarity with T. mentagrophytes/T. interdigitale. Antifungal susceptibility testing of isolates to eight antifungals was performed using EUCAST methodology (E.Def 11.0). Among the tested antifungals, terbinafine, amorolfine, ciclopirox and efinaconazole were most potent in vitro and elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations were obtained for fluconazole and ketoconazole.