transmission pathways
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Author(s):  
Cinzia Ullrich ◽  
Anne M. Luescher ◽  
Julian Koch ◽  
Robert N. Grass ◽  
Hugo Sax

Abstract Background To establish effective infection control protocols, understanding pathogen transmission pathways is essential. Non-infectious surrogate tracers may safely explore these pathways and challenge pre-existing assumptions. We used silica nanoparticles with encapsulated DNA (SPED) for the first time in a real-life hospital setting to investigate potential transmission routes of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in the context of a prolonged outbreak. Methods The two study experiments took place in the 900-bed University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. A three-run ‘Patient experiment’ investigated pathogen transmission via toilet seats in a two-patient room with shared bathroom. First, various predetermined body and fomite sites in a two-bed patient room were probed at baseline. Then, after the first patient was contaminated with SPED at the subgluteal region, both patients sequentially performed a toilet routine. All sites were consequently swabbed again for SPED contamination. Eight hours later, further spread was tested at predefined sites in the patient room and throughout the ward. A two-run ‘Mobile device experiment’ explored the potential transmission by mobile phones and stethoscopes in a quasi-realistic setting. All SPED contamination statuses and levels were determined by real-time qPCR. Results Over all three runs, the ‘Patient experiment’ yielded SPED in 59 of 73 (80.8%) predefined body and environmental sites. Specifically, positivity rates were 100% on subgluteal skin, toilet seats, tap handles, and entertainment devices, the initially contaminated patients’ hands; 83.3% on patient phones and bed controls; 80% on intravenous pumps; 75% on toilet flush plates and door handles, and 0% on the initially not contaminated patients’ hands. SPED spread as far as doctor’s keyboards (66.6%), staff mobile phones (33.3%) and nurses’ keyboards (33.3%) after eight hours. The ‘Mobile device experiment’ resulted in 16 of 22 (72.7%) positive follow-up samples, and transmission to the second patient occurred in one of the two runs. Conclusions For the first time SPED were used to investigate potential transmission pathways in a real hospital setting. The results suggest that, in the absence of targeted cleaning, toilet seats and mobile devices may result in widespread transmission of pathogens departing from one contaminated patient skin region.


Author(s):  
Svenja Koepper ◽  
Sri Nuryati ◽  
Harry W. Palm ◽  
Christian Wild ◽  
Irfan Yulianto ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite being an important component of the marine ecosystem and posing health risks to human seafood consumers, fish parasites in Indonesia have yet to be adequately described. Here, we analyzed the diet and metazoan parasite fauna of seven commercial fish species (Alectis indica, Carangoides chrysophrys, Johnius borneensis, Mene maculata, Trichiurus lepturus, Upeneus asymmetricus, U. moluccensis) landed in Java, Indonesia. We isolated 11 endoparasite species, established 22 new host and 14 new locality records, and extended parasitological records of A. indica by 24%, C. chrysophrys by 25%, J. borneensis by 40%, M. maculata by 44%, U. asymmetricus by 100%, and U. moluccensis by 17%. We genetically identified the trematode Stephanostomum cf. uku (of Bray et al. 2005) from Alecta indica for the first time in Indonesia and provided the sequence of its 28S marker. Stomach content analysis revealed seven different prey items, and the examined fish species were grouped into four feeding categories, which differed significantly in their respective endoparasite fauna. All but two examined fish species hosted potentially zoonotic nematodes, which reveal a risk for parasite-borne diseases in Indonesian food fishes and call for more consequent monitoring with regard to seafood safety in this region. With this study, we were able to establish an association between the feeding ecology and the endoparasite fauna of marine fishes which will help to better understand the transmission pathways of (potentially zoonotic) parasites in food fishes in tropical waters.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela C. Köster ◽  
Eva Martínez-Nevado ◽  
Andrea González ◽  
María T. Abelló-Poveda ◽  
Hugo Fernández-Bellon ◽  
...  

We assessed the occurrence, genetic diversity, and zoonotic potential of four protozoan (Cryptosporidium spp., Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Giardia duodenalis), one stramenopile (Blastocystis sp.), one microsporidia (Enterocytozoon bieneusi), and two ciliate (Balantioides coli, Troglodytella abrassarti) intestinal parasite or commensal protist species in captive non-human primates (NHP) and their zookeepers from six European zoological gardens in France (n = 1), Germany (n = 1), and Spain (n = 4). Faecal samples from NHP (n = 454) belonging to 63 species within 35 genera and humans (n = 70) were collected at two sampling periods in each participating institution between October 2018-August 2021. Detection and species identification was accomplished by PCR and Sanger sequencing of the ssu rRNA and/or ITS genes. Sub-genotyping analyses using specific markers were conducted on isolates positive for G. duodenalis (gdh, bg, tpi) and Cryptosporidium spp. (gp60). Overall, 41.0% (186/454) and 30.0% (21/70) of the faecal samples of NHP and human origin tested positive for at least one intestinal protist species, respectively. In NHP, Blastocystis sp. was the most prevalent protist species found (20.3%), followed by G. duodenalis (18.1%), E. dispar (7.9%), B. coli and T. abrassarti (1.5% each), and Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi (0.9% each). Occurrence rates varied largely among NHP host species, sampling periods, and zoological institutions. The predominant protist species found in humans was Blastocystis sp. (25.7%), followed by Cryptosporidium spp. (2.9%), E. dispar (1.4%), and G. duodenalis (1.4%). Sequencing of PCR-positive amplicons in human and/or NHP confirmed the presence of Cryptosporidium in six isolates (C. hominis: 66.7%, C. parvum: 33.3%), G. duodenalis in 18 isolates (assemblage A: 16.7%, assemblage B: 83.3%), Blastocystis in 110 isolates (ST1:38.2%, ST2:11.8%, ST3: 18.2%, ST4: 9.1%, ST5: 17.3%, ST8: 2.7%, ST13: 0.9%), and E. bieneusi in four isolates (CM18: 75.0%, Type IV: 25.0%). Zoonotic transmission events involving Blastocystis ST1–ST4 were identified in four zoological institutions. Zoonotic transmission of C. hominis was highly suspected, but not fully demonstrated, in one of them. Monitoring of intestinal protist species might be useful for assessing health status of captive NHP and their zookeepers, and to identify transmission pathways of faecal-orally transmitted pathogens.


2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (186) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayla Kauffman ◽  
Courtney S. Werner ◽  
Georgia Titcomb ◽  
Michelle Pender ◽  
Jean Yves Rabezara ◽  
...  

Social and spatial network analysis is an important approach for investigating infectious disease transmission, especially for pathogens transmitted directly between individuals or via environmental reservoirs. Given the diversity of ways to construct networks, however, it remains unclear how well networks constructed from different data types effectively capture transmission potential. We used empirical networks from a population in rural Madagascar to compare social network survey and spatial data-based networks of the same individuals. Close contact and environmental pathogen transmission pathways were modelled with the spatial data. We found that naming social partners during the surveys predicted higher close-contact rates and the proportion of environmental overlap on the spatial data-based networks. The spatial networks captured many strong and weak connections that were missed using social network surveys alone. Across networks, we found weak correlations among centrality measures (a proxy for superspreading potential). We conclude that social network surveys provide important scaffolding for understanding disease transmission pathways but miss contact-specific heterogeneities revealed by spatial data. Our analyses also highlight that the superspreading potential of individuals may vary across transmission modes. We provide detailed methods to construct networks for close-contact transmission pathogens when not all individuals simultaneously wear GPS trackers.


Author(s):  
Adeyinka Adedeji ◽  
Anvou Jambol ◽  
R. Weka ◽  
Muwanika V.B. ◽  
Pam Luka ◽  
...  

African swine fever (ASF) is the most lethal disease of pigs caused by ASF virus (ASFV) with severe economic implications and threat to food security in endemic countries. Between 2016 and 2018, several ASF outbreaks were reported throughout pig producing States in Nigeria. This study was designed to identify the ASFV genotypes responsible for these outbreaks and the transmission pathways of the virus during this period. Twenty-two ASFV-positive samples collected during passive surveillance in eight States of Nigeria were characterized using 3 partial genes sequences of the virus. The genes were: p72 capsid protein of the B646L, p54 envelope protein of E183L, and the central variable region (CVR) within B602L of ASFV. Phylogenetic analysis based on p72 and p54 revealed ASFV genotype I as the circulating virus. Sequence analysis of the CVR of B602L revealed genetic variations with six ASFV variants namely: Tet-15, Tet-20a, Tet-21b, Tet-27, Tet-31 and Tet-34, thus increasing the overall genetic diversity of ASFV in Nigeria. Three of these variants: Tet-21b, Tet-31 and Tet-34 were identified for the first time in Nigeria. The new variants of ASFV genotype I were identified in the States of Enugu, Imo, Plateau and Taraba, while co-circulation of multiple variants of ASFV genotype I were recorded in Plateau and Benue States. The high genetic diversity, emergence and increasing recovery of new variants of genotype I in Nigeria should be a concern given that ASFV is a relatively stable DNA virus. The epidemiological implications of these findings require further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. e1009604
Author(s):  
Pratha Sah ◽  
Michael Otterstatter ◽  
Stephan T. Leu ◽  
Sivan Leviyang ◽  
Shweta Bansal

The spread of pathogens fundamentally depends on the underlying contacts between individuals. Modeling the dynamics of infectious disease spread through contact networks, however, can be challenging due to limited knowledge of how an infectious disease spreads and its transmission rate. We developed a novel statistical tool, INoDS (Identifying contact Networks of infectious Disease Spread) that estimates the transmission rate of an infectious disease outbreak, establishes epidemiological relevance of a contact network in explaining the observed pattern of infectious disease spread and enables model comparison between different contact network hypotheses. We show that our tool is robust to incomplete data and can be easily applied to datasets where infection timings of individuals are unknown. We tested the reliability of INoDS using simulation experiments of disease spread on a synthetic contact network and find that it is robust to incomplete data and is reliable under different settings of network dynamics and disease contagiousness compared with previous approaches. We demonstrate the applicability of our method in two host-pathogen systems: Crithidia bombi in bumblebee colonies and Salmonella in wild Australian sleepy lizard populations. INoDS thus provides a novel and reliable statistical tool for identifying transmission pathways of infectious disease spread. In addition, application of INoDS extends to understanding the spread of novel or emerging infectious disease, an alternative approach to laboratory transmission experiments, and overcoming common data-collection constraints.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhimanyu Tharayil ◽  
R. Rajakumari ◽  
Miran Mozetic ◽  
Gregor Primc ◽  
Sabu Thomas

There is an unprecedented concern regarding the viral strain SARS-CoV-2 and especially its respiratory disease more commonly known as COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 virus has the ability to survive on different surfaces for extended periods, ranging from days up to months. The new infectious properties of SARS-CoV-2 vary depending on the properties of fomite surfaces. In this review, we summarize the risk factors involved in the indirect transmission pathways of SARS-CoV-2 strains on fomite surfaces. The main mode of indirect transmission is the contamination of porous and non-porous inanimate surfaces such as textile surfaces that include clothes and most importantly personal protective equipment like personal protective equipment kits, masks, etc. In the second part of the review, we highlight materials and processes that can actively reduce the SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination pattern and the associated transmission routes. The review also focuses on some general methodologies for designing advanced and effective antiviral surfaces by physical and chemical modifications, viral inhibitors, etc.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
KIMBERLY A. DAUTEL ◽  
EPHRAIM O. AGYINGI

Disease awareness that informs the public about the severity and transmission pathways of infectious diseases such as Ebola is key to curtailing an outbreak. Public health education when available can limit the intensity and duration of an Ebola outbreak in any community if there is compliance. It is important that all population groups be informed about the methods in which Ebola is transmitted to control the disease when there is an outbreak. In this paper, we study the impact of public health education that leads to behavioral changes on the dynamics of Ebola spread. The model is formulated as a system of ordinary differential equations and incorporates direct transmission from infectious, hospitalized, and deceased individuals with Ebola. We establish the existence of a disease free equilibrium and an endemic equilibrium, and investigate them for local and global stability. Model predictions show that a more informed community results in fewer cases, and thus limits the impact of an Ebola outbreak. Further, the model also predicts subsequent outbreak waves within a community in the absence of complete eradication. Lastly, the model successfully captures the dynamics of the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak and the 2018–2020 Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola outbreak.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wentao Ye ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Nan Xu ◽  
Rong Chen ◽  
Changhu Lu ◽  
...  

AbstractThe red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is an endangered species distributed across southeast Russia, northeast China, Korea, and Japan. Here, we sequenced for the first time the full-length unreferenced transcriptome of red-crowned crane mixed samples using a PacBio Sequel platform. A total of 359,136 circular consensus sequences (CCS) were obtained via clustering to remove redundancy. A total of 303,544 full-length non-chimeric sequences were identified by judging whether CCS contained 5′ and 3′ adapters, and the poly(A) tail. Eight samples were sequenced using Illumina, and PacBio sequencing data were corrected according to the collected Illumina data to obtain more accurate full-length transcripts. A total of 4,100 long non-coding RNAs, 13,115 simple sequences repeat loci and 29 transcription factor families were identified. The expression of lncRNAs and TFs in pancreas was lowest comparing with other tissues. Many enriched immune-related transmission pathways (MHC and IL receptors) were identified in the spleen. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the gene structure and post-transcriptional regulatory network, and provide references for future studies on red-crowned cranes.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e050869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra LJ Freeman ◽  
Simon Parker ◽  
Catherine Noakes ◽  
Shaun Fitzgerald ◽  
Alexandra Smyth ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo help people make decisions about the most effective mitigation measures against SARS-CoV-2 transmission in different scenarios, the likelihoods of transmission by different routes need to be quantified to some degree (however uncertain). These likelihoods need to be communicated in an appropriate way to illustrate the relative importance of different routes in different scenarios, the likely effectiveness of different mitigation measures along those routes, and the level of uncertainty in those estimates. In this study, a pragmatic expert elicitation was undertaken to supply the underlying quantitative values to produce such a communication tool.ParticipantsTwenty-seven individual experts from five countries and many scientific disciplines provided estimates.Outcome measuresEstimates of transmission parameters, assessments of the quality of the evidence, references to relevant literature, rationales for their estimates and sources of uncertainty.Results and conclusionThe participants’ responses showed that there is still considerable disagreement among experts about the relative importance of different transmission pathways and the effectiveness of different mitigation measures due to a lack of empirical evidence. Despite these disagreements, when pooled, the majority views on each parameter formed an internally consistent set of estimates (for example, that transmission was more likely indoors than outdoors, and at closer range), which formed the basis of a visualisation to help individuals and organisations understand the factors that influence transmission and the potential benefits of different mitigation measures.


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