An overview of emerging foodborne and waterborne diseases

Several foodborne and waterborne diseases have emerged in the past two decades as a consequence of changes in etiological agents, hosts and the environment. The burden of foodborne and waterborne disease is not uniformly distributed globally:because of the inequitable distribution of the world’s resources some countries carry a disproportionately heavy burden of infectious disease, and what is considered a re-emergent pathogen in one location may be endemic in another

Improved dynamics of sharing research findings in the COVID-19 epidemic compared with the SARS and Ebola epidemics

Background When a new or re-emergent pathogen, such as SARS-CoV-2, causes a major outbreak, rapid access to pertinent research findings is crucial for planning strategies and decision making. We researched whether the speed of sharing research results in the COVID-19 epidemic was higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics. We also researched whether there is any difference in the most frequent topics investigated before and after the COVID-19, SARS, and Ebola epidemics started. Methods We used PubMed database search tools to determine the time-period it took for the number of articles to rise after the epidemics started and the most frequent topics assigned to the articles. Results The main results were, first, the rise in the number of articles occurred 6 weeks after the COVID-19 epidemic started whereas, this rise occurred 4 months after the SARS and 7 months after the Ebola epidemics started. Second, etiology, statistics & numerical data, and epidemiology were the three most frequent topics investigated in the COVID-19 epidemic. However, etiology, microbiology, and genetics in the SARS epidemic, and statistics & numerical data, epidemiology, and prevention & control in the Ebola epidemic were more frequently studied compared with other topics. Third, some topics were studied more frequently after the epidemics started. Conclusions The speed of sharing results in the COVID-19 epidemic was much higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics, and that there is a difference in the most frequent articles’ topics investigated in these three epidemics. Due to the value of time in controlling epidemics spread, the study highlights the necessity of defining more solutions for rapidly providing pertinent research findings in fighting against the next public health emergency.

Improved dynamics of sharing research findings in the COVID-19 epidemic compared with the SARS and Ebola epidemics

Background: When a new or re-emergent pathogen, such as SARS-CoV-2, causes a major outbreak, rapid access to pertinent research findings is crucial for planning strategies and decision making. We researched whether the speed of sharing research results in the COVID-19 epidemic was higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics. We also researched whether there is any difference in the most frequent topics investigated before and after the COVID-19, SARS, and Ebola epidemics started. Methods: We used PubMed database search tools to determine the time-period it took for the number of articles to rise after the epidemics started and the most frequent topics assigned to the articles.Results: The main results were, first, the rise in the number of articles occurred six weeks after the COVID-19 epidemic started whereas, this rise occurred five months after the SARS and seven months after the Ebola epidemics started. Second, etiology, statistics & numerical data, and epidemiology were the three most frequent topics investigated in the COVID-19 epidemic. However, etiology, microbiology, and genetics in the SARS epidemic, and statistics & numerical data, epidemiology, and prevention & control in the Ebola epidemic were more frequently studied compared with other topics. Third, some topics were studied more frequently after the epidemics started.Conclusions: The speed of sharing results in the COVID-19 epidemic was much higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics, and that there is a difference in the most frequent articles’ topics investigated in these three epidemics. Due to the value of time in controlling epidemics spread, the study highlights the necessity of defining more solutions for rapidly providing pertinent research findings in fighting against the next public health emergency.

Aspergillus tubingensis Is a Pre-Emergent Pathogen of Date Palm Seedlings

Many diseases of date palm are known. However, pathogens that might affect seed germination and seedling emergence from soil are poorly studied, perhaps because date palm cultivars are propagated vegetatively. Here, we first determined the effects of date seed fungi on the germination and emergence of 600 seeds overall (i.e., 200 of each of three cultivars: ‘Thoory’, ‘Halawi’, and ‘Barhi’). In each cultivar, 100 seeds were from Saudi Arabia (part of the native range), and 100 were from the southwestern USA (where the date palm was introduced around 1765). Just four fungal genera (i.e., Alternaria, Aspergillus, Chaetomium, and Penicillium) were isolated from the surface-sterilized date seeds. Aspergillus isolates all belonged to Aspergillus sect. Nigri; collectively they were in the highest relative abundance at 39%, and significantly more common in Saudi Arabian seeds than in American seeds. Aspergillus reduced seed germination and also reduced emergence when germinated and non-germinated seeds were planted in potting mix in a greenhouse. In contrast, Penicillium species were more common in American than in Saudi seeds; Penicillium did not affect germination, although it did have a positive effect on seedling emergence. In a second experiment with 17 seeds of the ‘Halawi’ cultivar, fungus-free seeds were either inoculated with isolates of Aspergillus sect. Nigri or not, and then planted. Controls emerged whereas Aspergillus-inoculated seeds did not. Finally, a third experiment was conducted with Aspergillus tubingensis Mosseray, a sect. Nigri member, as sole inoculum of 100 ‘Halawi’ seeds versus 100 uninoculated controls. Aspergillus tubingensis exerted the same pathogenic effects on germinating and emerging seedlings as the isolates identified only to Aspergillus sect. Nigri. Aspergillus tubingensis is thus a previously unreported, seedborne pathogen affecting date palm seedlings. Our findings also suggest that A. tubingensis may be more common in seeds in the host’s native range than in its introduced range.

Phylodynamic analysis of an emergent Mycobacterium bovis outbreak in an area with no previously known wildlife infections

Understanding how an emergent pathogen successfully establishes itself and persists in a previously unaffected population is a crucial problem in disease ecology. In multi-host pathogen systems this problem is particularly difficult, as the importance of each host species to transmission is often poorly characterised, and the epidemiology of the disease is complex. Opportunities to observe and analyse such emergent scenarios are few.Here, we exploit a unique dataset combining densely-collected data on the epidemiological and evolutionary characteristics of an outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, bTB) in a population of cattle and badgers in an area considered low-risk for bTB, that has no previous record of either persistent infection in cattle, or of any infection in wildlife.We analyse the outbreak dynamics using a combination of mathematical modelling, machine learning and Bayesian evolutionary analyses. Comparison to M. bovis whole-genome sequences from Northern Ireland confirmed this to be a single introduction of the pathogen from the latter region, with evolutionary analysis supporting an introduction directly into the local cattle population at least six years prior to its first discovery in badgers. Once introduced, the evidence supports M. bovis epidemiological dynamics passing through two phases, the first dominated by cattle-to-cattle transmission before becoming established in the local badger population.These findings emphasise the importance of disease surveillance for early containment of outbreaks, in particular for pathogens not causing immediately evident symptoms in the infected host, and highlight the utility of combining dynamic modelling and phylogenetic analyses for understanding the often complex infection dynamics associated with emergent outbreaks.

Improved dynamics of sharing research findings in the COVID-19 epidemic compared with the SARS and Ebola epidemics

Background: When a new or re-emergent pathogen, such as SARS-CoV-2, causes a major outbreak, rapid access to pertinent research findings is crucial for planning strategies and decision making. We researched whether the speed of sharing research results in the COVID-19 epidemic was higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics. We also researched whether there is any difference in the most frequent topics investigated before and after the COVID-19, SARS, and Ebola epidemics started.Method: We used PubMed database search tools to determine the time-period it took for the number of articles to rise after the epidemics started and the most frequent topics assigned to the articles.Results: The main results were, first, the rise in the number of articles occurred six weeks after the COVID-19 epidemic started whereas, this rise occurred five months after the SARS and seven months after the Ebola epidemics started. Second, etiology, statistics & numerical data, and epidemiology were the three most frequent topics investigated in the COVID-19 epidemic. However, etiology, microbiology, and genetics in the SARS epidemic, and statistics & numerical data, epidemiology, and prevention & control in the Ebola epidemic were more frequently studied compared with other topics. Third, some topics were studied more frequently after the epidemics started.Conclusion: The speed of sharing results in the COVID-19 epidemic was much higher than the SARS and Ebola epidemics, and that there is a difference in the most frequent articles’ topics investigated in these three epidemics. Due to the value of time in controlling epidemics spread, the study highlights the necessity of defining more solutions for rapidly providing pertinent research findings in fighting against the next public health emergency.

Platelet activation and platelet-monocyte aggregate formation trigger tissue factor expression in patients with severe COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emergent pathogen responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, the novel coronavirus has rapidly achieved pandemic proportions causing remarkably increased morbidity and mortality around the world. A hypercoagulability state has been reported as a major pathologic event in COVID-19, and thromboembolic complications listed among life-threatening complications of the disease. Platelets are chief effector cells of hemostasis and pathological thrombosis. However, the participation of platelets in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 remains elusive. This report demonstrates that increased platelet activation and platelet-monocyte aggregate formation are observed in severe COVID-19 patients, but not in patients presenting mild COVID-19 syndrome. In addition, exposure to plasma from severe COVID-19 patients increased the activation of control platelets ex vivo. In our cohort of COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit, platelet-monocyte interaction was strongly associated with tissue factor (TF) expression by the monocytes. Platelet activation and monocyte TF expression were associated with markers of coagulation exacerbation as fibrinogen and D-dimers, and were increased in patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation or patients who evolved with in-hospital mortality. Finally, platelets from severe COVID-19 patients were able to induce TF expression ex vivo in monocytes from healthy volunteers, a phenomenon that was inhibited by platelet P-selectin neutralization or integrin αIIb/β3 blocking with the aggregation inhibitor abciximab. Altogether, these data shed light on new pathological mechanisms involving platelet activation and platelet-dependent monocyte TF expression, which were associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality.

Non-Bacterial Thrombotic Endocarditis: A Presentation of COVID-19

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a newly emergent pathogen first identified in Wuhan, China, and responsible for the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this case report we describe a manifestation of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis with continuous peripheral embolization in a COVID-19-positive patient. The patient responded well to high-dose LMWH treatment with cessation of the embolic process.