European Preparedness for Japanese Encephalitis Virus Through Alignment of Animal Health Laboratory Diagnosis.

Outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis (JE) can have severe health and economic impacts in both humans and susceptible animal species and are estimated to cause ~68,000 human disease cases in Asia annually. The disease is caused by infection with the mosquito-borne JE virus (JEV), which continues to expand its geographical range from its endemic region in Asia. Since appropriate vertebrate host and mosquito vector species are present in Europe and average European summer temperatures continue to increase, JEV introduction could lead to the establishment of the pathogen in native mosquito species and wild birds and disease outbreaks among humans, pigs, and horses.

Host-pathogen protein interaction studies: quality control of cDNA libraries using nanopore sequencing.

Protein-protein interactions (PPI) play a key role in host-pathogens interaction studies, as proteins are essential to many cellular mechanisms. The yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) approach is a well-established method for high-throughput PPI screening and mapping of protein interaction networks. The success of this approach partially depends on the quality and representativeness of the host cDNA library, which can be constructed from the transcriptomic content of a selected host cellular type.

Eastern Africa Origin of SAT2 Topotype XIV Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Outbreaks, Western Asia, 2023.

We describe detection of SAT2 topotype XIV foot-and-mouth disease viruses in western Asia during 2022-2023. Sequences show the viruses originated in eastern Africa and were introduced into western Asia on >1 occasion. The rapid spread in naive animals highlights risks for onward transmission and potential endemicity in Asia.

Simultaneous targeted amplicon deep sequencing and library preparation for a time and cost-effective universal parasite diagnostic sequencing approach.

We recently described a targeted amplicon deep sequencing (TADS) strategy that utilizes a nested PCR targeting the 18S rDNA gene of blood-borne parasites. The assay facilitates selective digestion of host DNA by targeting enzyme restriction sites present in vertebrates but absent in parasites. This enriching of parasite-derived amplicon drastically reduces the proportion of host-derived reads during sequencing and results in the sensitive detection of several clinically important blood parasites including Plasmodium spp.

Field Evaluation of a Safe, Easy, and Low-Cost Protocol for Shipment of Samples from Suspected Cases of Foot-and-Mouth Disease to Diagnostic Laboratories.

Identification and characterization of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) strains circulating in endemic countries and their dynamics are essential elements of the global FMD control strategy. Characterization of FMDV is usually performed in reference laboratories (RL). However, shipping of FMD samples to RL is a challenge due to the cost and biosafety requirements of transportation, resulting in a lack of knowledge about the strains circulating in some endemic areas.

Circulation of Bluetongue Virus Serotypes 1, 4, 8, 10 and 16 and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Virus in the Sultanate of Oman in 2020-2021.

The circulation of Bluetongue (BT) and Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in the Middle East has already been reported following serological analyses carried out since the 1980s, mostly on wild ruminants. Thus, an EHD virus (EHDV) strain was isolated in Bahrain in 1983 (serotype 6), and more recently, BT virus (BTV) serotypes 1, 4, 8 and 16 have been isolated in Oman. To our knowledge, no genomic sequence of these different BTV strains have been published.

Upscaling the Surveillance of Tick-borne Pathogens in the French Caribbean Islands.

Despite the high burden of vector-borne disease in (sub)tropical areas, few information are available regarding the diversity of tick and tick-borne pathogens circulating in the Caribbean. Management and control of vector-borne disease require actual epidemiological data to better assess and anticipate the risk of (re)emergence of tick-borne diseases in the region. To simplify and reduce the costs of such large-scale surveys, we implemented a high-throughput microfluidic real-time PCR system suitable for the screening of the main bacterial and parasitic genera involved in tick-borne disease and potentially circulating in the area.

RNA Viruses of and and Cattle Susceptibility in the French Antilles.

Ticks transmit a wide variety of pathogens including bacteria, parasites and viruses. Over the last decade, numerous novel viruses have been described in arthropods, including ticks, and their characterization has provided new insights into RNA virus diversity and evolution. However, little is known about their ability to infect vertebrates.

Insights into the Host Range, Genetic Diversity, and Geographical Distribution of Jingmenviruses.

Jingmenvirus is a recently identified group of segmented RNA viruses phylogenetically linked with unsegmented viruses. Primarily identified in various tick genera originating in China, Jingmenvirus geographical distribution has rapidly expanded to cover Africa, South America, Caribbean, and Europe. The identification of Jingmen-related viruses in various mammals, including febrile humans, opens the possibility that Jingmenviruses may be novel tick-borne arboviruses.

Vector-Borne Zoonotic Pathogens in Eurasian Moose (Alces alces alces).

Climate change, with warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns, has affected the distribution of vectors and vector-borne diseases. In the northern hemisphere, vectors are spreading north, and with them, pathogens of zoonotic and animal health impact. Eurasian moose (Alces alces alces) are physiologically and anatomically adapted for cold climate, and are rarely considered ideal hosts of vectors, apart from deer keds (Lipoptena cervi).

Prevalence of tick-borne viruses in Ixodes ricinus assessed by high-throughput real-time PCR.

Ticks are one of the principal arthropod vectors of human and animal infectious diseases. Whereas the prevalence of tick-borne encephalitis virus in ticks in Europe is well studied, there is less information available on the prevalence of the other tick-borne viruses (TBVs) existing worldwide. The aim of this study was to improve the epidemiological survey tools of TBVs by the development of an efficient high-throughput test to screen a wide range of viruses in ticks.

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens of the Caribbean: Current Understanding and Future Directions for More Comprehensive Surveillance.

Ticks are obligate hematophagous arthropods of significant importance to human and veterinary medicine. They transmit a vast array of pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and helminths. Most epidemiological data on ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in the West Indies are limited to common livestock pathogens such as spp.