Validation of an infectious bronchitis virus GVIII-specific RT-PCR assay and first detection of IB80-like strains (lineage GVIII-2) in Italy.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a pathogen causing respiratory, renal and reproductive clinical forms in chickens of all ages and productive categories. Its proneness to mutation and recombination gave rise to a plethora of variants differing in terms of pathogenicity, antigenicity, and distribution, with relevant implications for disease control, mainly pursued by routine vaccination, and diagnosis, requiring a steady update of molecular and serological methods. Among the most recent additions to the current phylogenetic classification, based on S1 gene sequencing, is the discovery of an eighth genotype (GVIII), further divided into lineages GVIII-1 and GVIII-2.

The Polysorbate containing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is tolerated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) allergic patients.

Background: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is the excipient found in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We previously demonstrated PEG allergy was a cause of severe anaphylaxis to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. PEG is widely used in many household products, cosmetics and medicines.

First glimpse into the origin and spread of the Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in the United States.

Established populations of Asian longhorned ticks (ALT), Haemaphysalis longicornis, were first identified in the United States (US) in 2017 by sequencing the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) 'barcoding' locus followed by morphological confirmation. Subsequent investigations detected ALT infestations in 12, mostly eastern, US states. To gain information on the origin and spread of US ALT, we (1) sequenced cox1 from ALT populations across 9 US states and (2) obtained cox1 sequences from potential source populations [China, Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK) as well as Australia, New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga (KOT)] both by sequencing and by downloading publicly available sequences in NCBI GenBank.