Statewide surveillance of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) for the presence of the human pathogen Borrelia miyamotoi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae), a relapsing fever spirochete in Pennsylvania, USA, 2019-2020.

Borrelia miyamotoi disease is an emerging tick-borne human illness in the United States caused by Borrelia miyamotoi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) bacterium. With Pennsylvania reporting thousands of tick-borne disease cases annually, determining the minimum infection rate (MIR) of B. miyamotoi in Ixodes scapularis (Say, Acari: Ixodidae) adults within Pennsylvania is of utmost importance.

Identification and quantitation of multiple variants in RNA virus genomes.

The goal of the study was to identify and characterize RNA virus variants containing mutations spread over genomic distances >5 kb. As proof of concept, high-quality viral RNA of the Dengue 2 component of Takeda's tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate (TDV-2) was used to develop a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction protocol to amplify a ∼5.3 kb cDNA segment that contains the three genetic determinants of TDV-2 attenuation.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dynamics in the Pittsburgh Zoo Wild Felids with Two Viral Variants (Delta and Alpha) during the 2021-2022 Pandemic in the United States.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been reported in multiple animal species besides humans. The goal of this study was to report clinical signs, infection progression, virus detection and antibody response in a group of wild felids housed in adjacent but neighboring areas at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Initially, five African lions () housed together exhibited respiratory clinical signs with viral shedding in their feces in March of 2021 coinciding with infection of an animal keeper.

Probability and informed consent.

In this paper, we illustrate some serious difficulties involved in conveying information about uncertain risks and securing informed consent for risky interventions in a clinical setting. We argue that in order to secure informed consent for a medical intervention, physicians often need to do more than report a bare, numerical probability value. When probabilities are given, securing informed consent generally requires communicating how probability expressions are to be interpreted and communicating something about the quality and quantity of the evidence for the probabilities reported.