Post-exposure Treatment with Anti-rabies VHH and Vaccine Significantly Improves Protection of Mice from Lethal Rabies Infection.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against rabies infection consists of a combination of passive immunisation with plasma-derived human or equine immune globulins and active immunisation with vaccine delivered shortly after exposure. Since anti-rabies immune globulins are expensive and scarce, there is a need for cheaper alternatives that can be produced more consistently. Previously, we generated potent virus-neutralising VHH, also called Nanobodies, against the rabies glycoprotein that are effectively preventing lethal disease in an in vivo mouse model.

Protective effect of different anti-rabies virus VHH constructs against rabies disease in mice.

Rabies virus causes lethal brain infection in about 61000 people per year. Each year, tens of thousands of people receive anti-rabies prophylaxis with plasma-derived immunoglobulins and vaccine soon after exposure. Anti-rabies immunoglobulins are however expensive and have limited availability.

No evidence of coronavirus infection by reverse transcriptase-PCR in bats in Belgium.

No coronavirus was detected by PCR in lung and intestine samples of 100 bats, mostly common pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), collected dead between 2008 and 2013 for rabies surveillance in Belgium. The negative results contrast with the high prevalence of coronaviruses detected in fecal pellets from live-captured bats in some European countries.

A two-step lyssavirus real-time polymerase chain reaction using degenerate primers with superior sensitivity to the fluorescent antigen test.

A generic two-step lyssavirus real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), based on a nested PCR strategy, was validated for the detection of different lyssavirus species. Primers with 17 to 30% of degenerate bases were used in both consecutive steps. The assay could accurately detect RABV, LBV, MOKV, DUVV, EBLV-1, EBLV-2, and ABLV.

Infectivity of rabies virus-exposed macrophages.

Rabies virus distributes widely in infected mice, including lymphoid tissues and spleen macrophages. The infection characteristics in murine macrophages and the infectivity of virus-exposed macrophages were examined upon inoculation in mice. In vitro, Mf4/4 spleen macrophages supported mild virus production (10(4)-fold less than neuroblastoma), with formation of typical virions.

A non-invasive intranasal inoculation technique using isoflurane anesthesia to infect the brain of mice with rabies virus.

Methods for intranasal inoculation of viruses are often described poorly and the effects of variations in the technique on the outcome are unknown. Standardization of protocols is key to compare studies and minimize animal use. The clinical and virological outcome of infection with rabies virus (genotypes 1 and 5) upon administration of different inoculum volumes (25, 50 and 100μl) and different anesthetic regimens were examined.

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Belgian house cats.

Five hundred and sixty seven sera of healthy house cats aged 3 months to 7 years, were examined for the presence of anti-toxoplasma antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay and compared to SAG1 and TLA enzyme linked immunosorbent assays as alternative test. Twenty-five percent of cats tested positive for IgG and/or IgM. Seroprevalence increased with age from 2% below 12 months of age up to 44% at age 7.