Infectious Disease, Endangerment, and Extinction

International audience

Recently,the Th1/Th2 dichotomy has been revisited by the new member of the CD4~+ Th cells family,now widely known as Th17 cells.Th17 cells have attracted much attention as a consequence of their important roles in several models of human inflammatory disorders.But the role of Th17 cells in viral infectious diseases is still controversial.The focus of this article is to review the emerging studies on the role of Th17 cells during viral infectious diseases. Key words: IL-17; Th17 cells; Viral diseases

A One Health approach to investigating the health and prevalence of zoonotic pathogens in snow leopards, sympatric wildlife, domestic animals and humans in the South Gobi Desert in Mongolia

This study aimed to determine the Sero-prevalence of viral transfusion-transmissible Infectious diseases among blood donors, namely immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C transmissible infections (TTIs like HBV, HCV.) HIV (Human immune viruses.). sero-prevalence of viral transmissible infections. The donated blood for specific antibodies for infections agents. Can largely reduce the risk of TTIs, virus among blood donors. The study was carried out in the blood bank at Khartoum Teaching Hospital, centre, Sudan. Screening of blood samples for hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg), Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) Antibodies were done using (ELISA) enzyme link immunoassay. The study included (1184) voluntary Blood donors, all were males. The overall prevalence of viral transfusion transmissible Infections were (11.84%). The sero-prevalence for antibody against HIV (6) and hepatitis C Virus was positive in 8 (0.06) and (0.08%) donors respectively while HBsAg was detected in 98 (9.8%) donors. situation that need for strict criteria for selection of blood donors and also methods of laboratory assays. Services are high in Sudan due to the endemicity of infections like malaria, nutritional problem and obstetrical emergencies associated with blood loss. Little is known about the level of these infections in Sudan so; this study was conducted to investigate the sero-prevalence of transfusion transmissible viral infectious diseases in particular human B and hepatitis Immunodeficiency, hepatitis C viruses. The mode of transmission for HIV, HBV and HCV is the same and includes unsafe Sexual sharp materials Contact, using contaminated with body fluid, mother to Child and transfusion of blood and blood Products.

Infectious disease is listed among the top five causes of global species extinctions. However, the majority of available data supporting this contention is largely anecdotal. We used the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species and literature indexed in the ISI Web of Science to assess the role of infectious disease in global species loss. Infectious disease was listed as a contributing factor in <4% of species extinctions known to have occurred since 1500 (833 plants and animals) and as contributing to a species' status as critically endangered in <8% of cases (2,852 critically endangered plants and animals). Although infectious diseases appear to play a minor role in global species loss, our findings underscore two important limitations in the available evidence: uncertainty surrounding the threats to species survival and a temporal bias in the data. Several initiatives could help overcome these obstacles, including rigorous scientific tests to determine which infectious diseases present a significant threat at the species level, recognition of the limitations associated with the lack of baseline data for the role of infectious disease in species extinctions, combining data with theory to discern the circumstances under which infectious disease is most likely to serve as an agent of extinction, and improving surveillance programs for the detection of infectious disease. An evidence-based understanding of the role of infectious disease in species extinction and endangerment will help prioritize conservation initiatives and protect global biodiversity.

Objective To study the epidemiological characteristics of viral infectious diseases among children under 3 years old in Fengtai district from 2008 to 2015. Methods The descriptive epidemiology was used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics. Results There were 20 400 cases of 10 reportable diseases and 4 death cases reported in Fengtai district from 2008 to 2015. The average incidence rate of viral infectious diseases was 5 247.20 per 100 000. Males were more likely to suffer from viral infectious diseases than females. East region of the Yongding river had more disease than the west. The top two incidences were HFMD and varicella. Conclusions We should focus on the prevention and control of HFMD and varicella and combining epidemic characteristics in the comprehensive prevention and control work. Key words: Viral infectious diseases; Epidemiological characteristics; HFMD; Varicella

Even limited to mammals, there exist more than 5,000 species of wild animals. Because each wild animal is the natural host of specific viruses, the total number of viruses in wild animals is enormous. Although it is impossible to cover all the infectious diseases caused by such viruses, accumulation of data on viral infectious diseases is important. In this paper, some of the latest findings acquired from our studies on viral infectious diseases in wild animals will be introduced.

Simple SummaryDonkeys have been neglected and threatened by abandonment, indiscriminate slaughter, and a lack of proper sanitary management. They are often treated as “small horses.” However, donkeys and horses have significant genetic, physiological, and behavioral differences. Specific knowledge about viral infectious diseases that affect donkeys and mules is important to mitigate disease outbreaks. Thus, the purpose of this review is to provide a brief update on viral diseases of donkeys and mules and ways to prevent their spread.Donkeys (Equus asinus) and mules represent approximately 50% of the entire domestic equine herd in the world and play an essential role in the lives of thousands of people, primarily in developing countries. Despite their importance, donkeys are currently a neglected and threatened species due to abandonment, indiscriminate slaughter, and a lack of proper sanitary management. Specific knowledge about infectious viral diseases that affect this group of Equidae is still limited. In many cases, donkeys and mules are treated like horses, with the physiological differences between these species usually not taken into account. Most infectious diseases that affect the Equidae family are exclusive to the family, and they have a tremendous economic impact on the equine industry. However, some viruses may cross the species barrier and affect humans, representing an imminent risk to public health. Nevertheless, even with such importance, most studies are conducted on horses (Equus caballus), and there is little comparative information on infection in donkeys and mules. Therefore, the objective of this article is to provide a brief update on viruses that affect donkeys and mules, thereby compromising their performance and well-being. These diseases may put them at risk of extinction in some parts of the world due to neglect and the precarious conditions they live in and may ultimately endanger other species’ health and humans.

Background: To date, no effective therapeutic interventions for viral infectious diseases have yet been established. A recently reported herbal medicine-based therapeutic known as “Marecipe AV” has demonstrated potent efficacy in managing viral infectious diseases. Aim: This review aimed to introduces an herbal therapy with demonstrated potent and clinically satisfactory efficacy against viral infections, and presents its therapeutic and preventive outcomes across multiple species under real-world conditions. Methods: This review summarizes the therapeutic outcomes of the Marecipe AV herbal remedy for various viral infectious diseases. Results: The findings indicate that Marecipe AV exhibits significant clinical benefits in treating a range of viral diseases, including COVID-19, African swine fever, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, Newcastle disease, avian influenza, canine distemper, canine parvovirus infection, feline panleukopenia, koi herpesvirus disease, herpesviral hematopoietic necrosis disease, grass carp hemorrhagic disease, and largemouth bass ranavirus. The application of Marecipe AV herbal therapy has reduced the mortality rate associated with these lethal viral diseases from nearly 100% to close to 0%. Additionally, Marecipe AV herbal therapy has shown promising therapeutic efficacy in managing certain chronic viral infections, as well as some acute but non-fatal viral diseases, including Herpes Zoster, postherpetic neuralgia, chronic hepatitis B, feline acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, feline infectious peritonitis, feline chronic gingivostomatitis, and ulceration and erosion lesions in largemouth bass. However, the Marecipe AV herbal therapy appears to only inhibit the virus but cannot completely eliminate it. The long-term effectiveness of Marecipe AV herbal therapy in managing certain chronic viral diseases requires further investigation for validation. Conclusion: Marecipe AV herbal therapy shows potential as a groundbreaking approach to treating and managing a broad spectrum of viral infectious diseases.

It is well known that viral infectious disease is the hazard for humans. Advanced techniques developed in recent years make the etiological diagnosis for viral diseases more sensitive, specific and rapid. It becomes more and more important for the diagnosis of viral diseases because the requirement of clinical medicine and the discovery of the new drugs for viruses. The key for the precision etiological diagnosis of viral disease is to choose the right techniques and methods. Currently virus diagnostic kits with high quality and standard, especially approved by SFDA are needed mostly. Key words: Virus diseases; Noxae; Diagnosis

Hepatitis E is an infectious viral disease with clinical and morphological features of acute hepatitis. The aetiological agent is the Hepatitis E virus (HEV). The disease represents an important Public Health problem in developing countries where is frequently epidemic and primarily transmitted by fecal-oral route. In the last few years, a certain number of sporadic cases have been also described in industrialized countries, Italy included. A swine HEV was first identified in 1997 and is now considered an ubiquitous virus. Human and swine strains from the same geographical region have shown to have a high level of nucleotidic omology and in experimental infections, the possibility of interspecific transmission of swine strains to humans and of human strains to non-human primates has been demonstrated. Furthermore, some seroepidemiological studies have demonstrated that people working in contact with swine have a higher risk to get infected than normal blood donors. Recently, cases of HEV hepatitis have been directly associated to the ingestion of uncooked tissues from pigs, wild boar or deer and today the disease is considered an emerging zoonosis. The aims of this thesis were: evaluate HEV prevalence in Italian swine herds (both in fattening and in breeding animals); investigate the possibility of finding HEV in livers used for human consumption; investigate if there is any correlation between HEV infection and the presence of macroscopical lesions; investigate HEV prevalence in a demographic managed wild boar population; phylogenetically analyse viral strains identified. During an internship period at Veterinary Laboratories Agency (Weybridge, UK), furthermore, swine samples at different stages of production and slurry lagoons have been analysed. Six swine herds located in North Italy have been sampled at different stage of production. The overall prevalence resulted 42%, and both breeding and fattening animals were positive for HEV infection. A longitudinal study has been conducted in a herd across all stages of production until the slaughtering age. Livers have been collected from the animals at the abattoir and 11.8% of them were positive for HEV infection. No correlations have been identified between HEV infection and macroscopical lesions in pigs affected by different pathological conditions. Of 86 wild boars tested 22 (25%) were positive for HEV. Of the swine tested in UK 21,5 % and 2 of the 9 slurry lagoons (22,2%) were positive for HEV infection. All the strains identified belonged to genotype 3 and showed high percentages of nucleotidic identity with humans and swine strains identified in Europe. The high prevalence detected in these studies confirms the widespread diffusion of HEV in swine populations in Italy and in UK. Phylogenetical analysis of identified strains, similar to those identified in autochthonous human hepatitis E cases of the same geographical area, confirm the hypothesis that pigs can be a font of zoonotical infection. The finding that a fraction of the livers inserted in the food chain are positive for HEV infection it’s of some concern for Public Health. The finding of a high HEV prevalence in all examined farms, together with the observation that infection may be sub-clinical and affect animals at slaughtering age, raise concern because of the possible risk of transmission of HEV to humans by either direct contact with infected pigs, indirect contact with environment and working instruments contaminated with pig feces, or ingestion of contaminated undercooked meat.

Objective To evaluate the clinical diagnostic value of the combined detection of CD64, serum amyloid A protein (SAA) , procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) for acute infectious diseases. Methods CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP were detected in 241 patients with bacterial infection, 162 patients with viral infection and 144 healthy controls, respectively. The diagnosis value of CD64, PCT, SAA and CRP were analyzed by ROC curve. Results In bacterial infection group, CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP were (17.77±6.18) MFI, (179.37±116.56) mg/L, (1.22±0.39) ng/mL and (51.03±34.34) mg/L, respectively. In viral infection group, CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP were (9.85±2.69) MFI, (122.14±101.58) mg/L, (0.13±0.08) ng/mL and (15.62±13.04) mg/L, respectively. In healthy control group, CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP were (9.35±2.16) MFI, (5.55±3.36) mg/L, (0.11±0.05) ng/mL and (3.93±2.77) ng/mL, respectively. The different levels of CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP were statistically significant in 3 groups (F=59.449, 32.710, 31.531 and 34.439, P all <0.01) . The area under ROC curve of SAA was 0.812 to diagnose acute viral infection, and the sensitivity was 0.783. The diagnostic value was better than CRP. The area under ROC curve of CD64 was 0.882 to diagnose acute bacterial infection, and the sensitivity was 0.908. The diagnostic value was better than PCT. The area under ROC curve of the four index combined detection was 0.941 to diagnose acute bacterial infection, and the sensitivity was 0.983. The area under ROC curve of the four index combined detection was 0.850 to diagnose acute viral infection, and the sensitivity was 0.800. Conclusions SAA is better than CRP in diagnosing viral infection, while CD64 is better than PCT in diagnosing the bacterial infection. To diagnose bacterial infection or viral infection, the combined detection of CD64, SAA, PCT and CRP is better than respective detection. Key words: Communicable diseases; CD64; Procalcitonin; Serum amyloid A protein; C-reactive protein

In the last two decades, various types of infections caused by microorganisms occurred in some countries and most of them are emerging /re-emerging infectious diseases (EID/REID). Majority of EID/REID cases are a zoonosis, a disease that is naturally transmitted from animals to human. Bats are wild animals attracting global public health attention because they are related to the transmission of infectious viral diseases, such as Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Co-V and the Middle East Respiratory Syndromes (Mers Co-V). This review discusses the bats as a potential source of viral zoonotic both global and Indonesia, including the research activities that have been done. In the last two decades, various types of infections caused by microorganisms occur in some countries and are generally emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases (EID / REID). Most cases of EID / REID are zoonotic, a disease that is transmitted naturally from animal to human. Bats are wild animals that attract much attention in terms of global public health as they relate to the transmission of infectious diseases caused by viruses, such as Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Co-V and the Middle East Respiratory Syndromes Mers Co-V.

Several viral infectious diseases have emerged or re-emerged from wildlife vectors that have generated serious threats to global health. Increased international travel and commerce increase the risk of transmission of viral or other infectious diseases. In addition, recent climate changes accelerate the potential spread of domestic disease. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an important example of the worldwide spread, and the current epidemic will unlikely be the last. Viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as dengue and Lassa fevers, may also have the potential to spread worldwide with a significant impact on public health with unpredictable timing. Based on the important lessons learned from COVID-19, it would be prudent to prepare for future pandemics of life-threatening viral diseases. The key concept that connect COVID-19 and viral hemorrhagic fever is the coagulation disorder. This review focuses on the coagulopathy of acute viral infections since hypercoagulability has been a major challenge in COVID-19, but represents a different presentation compared with viral hemorrhagic fever. However, both thrombosis and hemorrhage are understood as the result of thromboinflammation due to viral infections, and the role of anticoagulation is important to consider.

Infectious diseases can impact the physiological performance of individuals, including their mobility, visual acuity, behavior and tolerance and ability to effectively respond to additional stressors. These physiological effects can influence competitiveness, social hierarchy, habitat usage, migratory behavior and risk to predation, and in some circumstances, viability of populations. While there are multiple means of detecting infectious agents (microscopy, culture, molecular assays), the detection of infectious diseases in wild populations in circumstances where mortality is not observable can be difficult. Moreover, if infection-related physiological compromise leaves individuals vulnerable to predation, it may be rare to observe wildlife in a late stage of disease. Diagnostic technologies designed to diagnose cause of death are not always sensitive enough to detect early stages of disease development in live-sampled organisms. Sensitive technologies that can differentiate agent carrier states from active disease states are required to demonstrate impacts of infectious diseases in wild populations. We present the discovery and validation of salmon host transcriptional biomarkers capable of distinguishing fish in an active viral disease state [viral disease development (VDD)] from those carrying a latent viral infection, and viral versus bacterial disease states. Biomarker discovery was conducted through meta-analysis of published and in-house microarray data, and validation performed on independent datasets including disease challenge studies and farmed salmon diagnosed with various viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases. We demonstrate that the VDD biomarker panel is predictive of disease development across RNA-viral species, salmon species and salmon tissues, and can recognize a viral disease state in wild-migrating salmon. Moreover, we show that there is considerable overlap in the biomarkers resolved in our study in salmon with those based on similar human viral influenza research, suggesting a highly conserved suite of host genes associated with viral disease that may be applicable across a broad range of vertebrate taxa.