Publications by authors named "Elisabetta Di Felice"

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease of cattle and water buffalo characterized by cutaneous nodules, biphasic fever, and lymphadenitis. LSD is endemic in Africa and the Middle East but has spread to different Asian countries in recent years. The disease is well characterized in cattle while little is known about the disease in buffaloes in which no experimental studies have been conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to lose the furin polybasic cleavage site (FCS) following adaptation on cell culture. Deletion occurring in this region, which may include also the FCS flanking regions, seem not to affect virus replication in vitro; however, a chimeric SARS-CoV-2 virus without the sole FCS motif has been associated with lower virulence in mice and lower neutralization values. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 virus lacking the FCS was shed to lower titers from experimentally infected ferrets and was not transmitted to cohoused sentinel animals, unlike wild-type virus.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Since 2018, only WNV Lineage 2 had been reported, but in October 2020, WNV Lineage 1 re-emerged in Campania, marking its return to Italy after a three-year gap.
  • * Research revealed the presence of WNV in birds like a goshawk and a kestrel, indicating a potential re-introduction or unnoticed circulation, highlighting the need for ongoing WNV surveillance in Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Viral recombination is a key mechanism in the evolution and diversity of noroviruses. In vivo, synchronous single-cell coinfection by multiple viruses, the ultimate prerequisite to viral recombination, is likely to be a rare event and delayed secondary infections are a more probable occurrence. Here, we determine the effect of a temporal separation of in vitro infections with the two homologous murine norovirus strains MNV-1 WU20 and CW1 on the composition of nascent viral populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Between September and October 2016, an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) was monitored in the Okakarara veterinary district of Namibia. The complete coding sequences were obtained for LSD virus isolates from skin nodules from two symptomatic animals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Circoviruses are relatively novel pathogens with increased importance in canids. In this study, we first screened the presence of dog circovirus (DogCV) by molecular methods from a total number of 389 internal organ samples originating from 277 individuals of domestic dogs and wild animals including wolves, foxes and badgers. All the animals originated from Central-Southern Italy, specifically from Abruzzi and Molise regions, areas hosting several natural parks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Noroviruses are RNA viruses that belong to the Genus Norovirus, Family Caliciviridae, and infect human beings and several animal species, including cattle. Bovine norovirus infections have been detected in cattle of a range of different ages throughout the world. Currently there is no suitable cell culture system for these viruses and information on their pathogenesis is limited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Kobuvirus RNA was found in 6.6 % (13/198) of stool specimens from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) captured during the regular hunting season. Upon sequence analysis of a fragment of the 3D gene, nine strains displayed the highest nucleotide sequence identity (91.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Noroviruses (NoVs) of genogroup IV (GIV) (Alphatron-like) cause infections in humans and in carnivorous animals such as dogs and cats. We screened an age-stratified collection of serum samples from 535 humans in Italy, using virus-like particles of genotypes GIV.1, circulating in humans, and GIV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By screening 104 faecal samples from asymptomatic calves in Italy, bovine norovirus RNA was detected with a prevalence rate of 10.5 % (11/104). A continuous sequence spanning the RdRp region and the 5' end of the capsid gene was generated for 7 of the 11 strains.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are susceptible to viral diseases of domestic carnivores. In this study, by screening rectal swabs collected from 34 red foxes in Italy, we identified kobuvirus RNA in five samples. Based on analysis of partial RdRp and full-length VP1 genes, all of the strains shared the highest identity with canine kobuviruses (CaKVs) recently detected in the US, the UK and Italy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Feline morbillivirus was detected in urine samples of a 15 year old cat suffering from severe nephropathy. Viral RNA was not detected in blood and faecal samples and also the most common pathogens associated to cat kidney failure were not found. This report describes the first evidence of feline morbillivirus in Europe.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, fecal specimens (n=260) collected from Italian healthy pigs aged between 6 and 10 months were screened by RT-PCR using generic kobuvirus primers. Porcine kobuviruses (PKVs) were detected in 3.85% of the samples tested.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Canine kobuviruses (CaKVs) are newly recognized picornaviruses recently detected in dogs in the US. By molecular analysis of the whole genome, CaKV that appeared genetically closest to the murine kobuvirus (MuKV) and to the human Aichi virus (AiV), may be classified in the Kobuvirus genus as new genotype (CaKV type 1) within the species Aichivirus A. To date, there are no information on the epidemiology of these novel viruses in other continents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aichi virus (AiV) is suspected to play a role in viral gastroenteritis in humans. In this study, we assessed the presence of AiV in untreated influent sewage samples collected at four wastewater treatment plants in central Italy. AiV was detected in 6 (12.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Faecal samples obtained from either asymptomatic or diarrhoeic calves in Italy were screened for bovine kobuviruses (BKVs) using specific primers. BKV RNA was detected in 4.9 % of the samples, with higher positivity rates in diarrhoeic calves (5.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The stools of slaughtered pigs were screened for hepatitis E virus (HEV). HEV RNA was detected in 7.3% of the samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF