p38-MAPK is prerequisite for the synthesis of SARS-CoV-2 protein.

The inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38-MAPK) by small molecule chemical inhibitors was previously shown to impair severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication, however, mechanisms underlying antiviral activity remains unexplored. In this study, reduced growth of SARS-CoV-2 in p38- knockout Vero cells, together with enhanced viral yield in cells transfected with construct expressing p38, suggested that p38-MAPK is essential for the propagation of SARS-CoV-2. The SARS-CoV-2 was also shown to induce phosphorylation (activation) of p38, at time when transcription/translational activities are considered to be at the peak levels.

Post-Vaccination Sero-Monitoring of Peste des Petits Ruminants in Sheep and Goats in Karnataka: Progress towards PPR Eradication in India.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) presents economic challenges in enzootic countries impacting small ruminant productivity. The state of Karnataka, India, implemented a mass vaccination campaign in alignment with the PPR-Global Eradication Programme (GEP) and the National Strategic Plan for PPR eradication. This study was conducted from January to March 2023 to assess seroconversion in post-vaccinated goats and sheep at the epidemiological unit (epi-unit) level, aligning with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) guidelines in the PPR Global Control and Eradication Strategy (GCES).

First evidence of lumpy skin disease in mithun (Bos frontalis) in India.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a disease of cattle that is also known to cause mild infection in buffaloes. To date, there have been no reports of LSD in mithun (Bos frontalis), a bovine species distributed in Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and parts of China. In the present study, the presence of typical clinical signs, virus isolation, PCR amplification, sequence analysis, and the demonstration of antibodies in serum by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and serum neutralization test, confirmed the occurrence of LSD in mithun for the first time in India.

Unravelling the genomic origins of lumpy skin disease virus in recent outbreaks.

Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus and family Poxviridae. LSDV was endemic in most of Africa, the Middle East and Turkey, but since 2015, several outbreaks have been reported in other countries. In this study, we used whole genome sequencing approach to investigate the origin of the outbreak and understand the genomic landscape of the virus.

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in Yak (): An Evidence of Species Spillover from Cattle in India.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD), caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), is a global concern that affects cattle and buffalo. Recently, the disease has been reported in new species such as the Indian Gazelle, Camel, Banteng, Gaur, and Giraffe from various parts of the world. This report provides an insight into the occurrence of LSD in Yak from Sikkim, a North-Eastern state of India.

Epidemiological investigation of ASF outbreaks in Kerala (India): detection, source tracing and economic implications.

This study investigates suspected African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in two villages of Kannur district in Kerala, India, with the aim of identifying the causative agent and its genotype, the source of infection, and estimating the economic losses due to the outbreaks. Clinically, the disease was acute with high mortality, while gross pathology was characterized by widespread haemorrhages in various organs, especially the spleen, which was dark, enlarged and had friable cut surfaces with diffuse haemorrhages. Notably, histopathological examination revealed multifocal, diffuse haemorrhages in the splenic parenchyma and lymphoid depletion accompanied by lymphoid cell necrosis.

Diagnosis of rabies using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction on post-mortem skin tissue specimens of the nasolabial plate in a rabies suspected cow: a case study.

In India, rabies in cattle is under-reported. Religious sentiments hamper its diagnosis, discouraging post-mortem examination, particularly opening the cranium. Specimens of peripheral tissue innervated by the cranial nerves could potentially be used as alternative diagnostic specimens to the brain.

Evaluation of the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of a new live-attenuated lumpy skin disease vaccine in India.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) was reported for the first time in India in 2019 and since then, it has become endemic. Since a homologous (LSD-virus based) vaccine was not available in the country, goatpox virus (GPV)-based heterologous vaccine was authorized for mass immunization to induce protection against LSD in cattle. This study describes the evaluation of safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of a new live-attenuated LSD vaccine developed by using an Indian field strain, isolated in 2019 from cattle.

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Genotype III Strains Detection and Genome Sequencing from Indian Pig and Mosquito Vector.

Japanese encephalitis viruses (JEVs) are globally prevalent as deadly pathogens in humans and animals, including pig, horse and cattle. Japanese encephalitis (JE) still remains an important cause of epidemic encephalitis worldwide and exists in a zoonotic transmission cycle. Assam is one of the highly endemic states for JE in India.

Multisectoral prioritization of zoonotic diseases in Haryana (India) using one health approach.

Zoonotic diseases have huge livestock and public health burden worldwide, including India. Prioritizing zoonotic diseases is one of the important tasks under 'One Health' as it facilitates effective policy making, proper allocation of resources and promotion of multisectoral collaboration. Although some efforts have been made to prioritizing zoonotic diseases at national level in India, it is important to identify priority diseases in regional settings due to wide variation in climate and demography of different states.

S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase inhibitor DZNep blocks transcription and translation of SARS-CoV-2 genome with a low tendency to select for drug-resistant viral variants.

We report the in vitro antiviral activity of DZNep (3-Deazaneplanocin A; an inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase) against SARS-CoV-2, besides demonstrating its protective efficacy against lethal infection of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV, a member of the Coronaviridae family). DZNep treatment resulted in reduced synthesis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and proteins without affecting other steps of viral life cycle. We demonstrated that deposition of N6-methyl adenosine (m6A) in SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the infected cells recruits heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNPA1), an RNA binding protein which serves as a m6A reader.

Studies on Growth Characteristics and Cross-Neutralization of Wild-Type and Delta SARS-CoV-2 From Hisar (India).

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly evolved to generate several antigenic variants. These variants have raised concerns whether pre-existing immunity to vaccination or prior infection would be able to protect against the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants or not. We isolated SARS-CoV-2 from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-confirmed patients in the beginning of the first (April/May 2020) and second (April/May 2021) waves of COVID-19 in India (Hisar, Haryana).

Sero-positivity of Japanese Encephalitis Virus in Equine Population of India Using IgG ELISA: Unraveling the Need for Vaccination.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a mosquito borne flaviviral zoonoses, causing fatal disease in equines and humans. JE is endemic in most of the states of India with occurrence of human cases every year. The horses are not vaccinated against JE in India and thus they are at more risk of acquiring the disease.

Emetine suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication by inhibiting interaction of viral mRNA with eIF4E.

Emetine is a FDA-approved drug for the treatment of amebiasis. Previously we demonstrated the antiviral efficacy of emetine against some RNA and DNA viruses. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro antiviral efficacy of emetine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and found it to be a low nanomolar (nM) inhibitor.

Antiviral activity of Apigenin against buffalopox: Novel mechanistic insights and drug-resistance considerations.

We describe herein that Apigenin, which is a dietary flavonoid, exerts a strong in vitro and in ovo antiviral efficacy against buffalopox virus (BPXV). Apigenin treatment was shown to inhibit synthesis of viral DNA, mRNA and proteins, without affecting other steps of viral life cycle such as attachment, entry and budding. Although the major mode of antiviral action of Apigenin was shown to be mediated via targeting certain cellular factors, a modest inhibitory effect of Apigenin was also observed directly on viral polymerase.

Serological surveillance and clinical investigation of glanders among indigenous equines in India from 2015 to 2018.

Equine glanders is an infectious and notifiable bacterial disease caused by Burkholderia mallei. The disease has been reported in South American, African and Asian countries including India. Here, we present the outcome of glanders serosurveillance carried out between January 2015 and December 2018 to know the status of equine glanders among different states in India.

Latex agglutination test for rapid on-site serodiagnosis of Japanese encephalitis in pigs using recombinant NS1 antigen.

Background & Objectives: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a mosquitoe-borne viral zoonotic disease and globally around three billion people are at the risk of disease. The occurrence of JE cases has shown a rising trend during last decade in India. Pig is the amplifying host for JE virus and serves as a suitable sentinel model for the prediction of disease outbreak in humans.

Mosquito abundance and pig seropositivity as a correlate of Japanese encephalitis in human population in Assam, India.

Background & Objectives: Assam is the most vulnerable state for Japanese encephalitis (JE) in India. The situation warrants characterization of epidemiological patterns of JE in vectors, pigs and human population. This investigation was aimed to determine the relative abundance of mosquito species and seroprevalence of JE in pigs in order to draw an epidemiological association with reported human JE cases in Assam.

Peptide-Recombinant VP6 Protein Based Enzyme Immunoassay for the Detection of Group A Rotaviruses in Multiple Host Species.

We developed a novel enzyme immunoassay for the detection of group A rotavirus (RVA) antigen in fecal samples of multiple host species. The assay is based on the detection of conserved VP6 protein using anti-recombinant VP6 antibodies as capture antibodies and anti-multiple antigenic peptide (identified and constructed from highly immunodominant epitopes within VP6 protein) antibodies as detector antibodies. The clinical utility of the assay was evaluated using a panel of 914 diarrhoeic fecal samples from four different host species (bovine, porcine, poultry and human) collected from diverse geographical locations in India.

Pathology of Equine Influenza virus (H3N8) in Murine Model.

Equine influenza viruses (EIV)-H3N8 continue to circulate in equine population throughout the world. They evolve by the process of antigenic drift that leads to substantial change in the antigenicity of the virus, thereby necessitating substitution of virus strain in the vaccines. This requires frequent testing of the new vaccines in the in vivo system; however, lack of an appropriate laboratory animal challenge model for testing protective efficacy of equine influenza vaccine candidates hinders the screening of new vaccines and other therapeutic approaches.

Bone morphogenetic protein-12 induces tenogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from equine amniotic fluid.

Tendon injuries are common in race horses, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from adult and foetal tissue have been used for tendon regeneration. In the present study, we evaluated equine amniotic fluid (AF) as a source of MSCs and standardised methodology and markers for their in vitro tenogenic differentiation. Plastic-adherent colonies were isolated from 12 of 20 AF samples by day 6 after seeding and 70-80% cell confluency was reached by day 17.

Immunophenotypic characterization and tenogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells isolated from equine umbilical cord blood.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from umbilical cord blood (UCB) in equines have not been well characterized with respect to the expression of pluripotency and mesenchymal markers and for tenogenic differentiation potential in vitro. The plastic adherent fibroblast-like cells isolated from 13 out of 20 UCB samples could proliferate till passage 20. The cells expressed pluripotency markers (OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2) and MSC surface markers (CD90, CD73, and CD105) by RT-PCR, but did not express CD34, CD45, and CD14.