The effect of Proteinase K treatment on GeoMx digital spatial profiling data quality from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.

The emergence of spatial profiling technologies in recent years has accelerated opportunities to profile in detail the molecular attributes of a wide range of tissue pathologies using archival specimens. However, tissue treatment for fixation and storage does not always support generation of high-quality genomic data. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of Proteinase K (ProtK) treatment, as a way to increase target transcript exposure, on downstream sequencing data quality metrics for spatial transcriptomic data using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples.

Nucleic Acid Preservation Card Surveillance Is Effective for Monitoring Arbovirus Transmission on Crocodile Farms and Provides a One Health Benefit to Northern Australia.

The Kunjin strain of West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that can infect farmed saltwater crocodiles in Australia and cause skin lesions that devalue the hides of harvested animals. We implemented a surveillance system using honey-baited nucleic acid preservation cards to monitor WNV and another endemic flavivirus pathogen, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV), on crocodile farms in northern Australia. The traps were set between February 2018 and July 2020 on three crocodile farms in Darwin (Northern Territory) and one in Cairns (North Queensland) at fortnightly intervals with reduced trapping during the winter months.

Detection of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 in aircraft wastewater.

On the 26th of November 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the newly detected B.1.1.

Replication Kinetics of B.1.351 and B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern Including Assessment of a B.1.1.7 Mutant Carrying a Defective ORF7a Gene.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of COVID-19, is a readily transmissible and potentially deadly pathogen which is currently re-defining human susceptibility to pandemic viruses in the modern world. The recent emergence of several genetically distinct descendants known as variants of concern (VOCs) is further challenging public health disease management, due to increased rates of virus transmission and potential constraints on vaccine effectiveness. We report the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs imported into Australia belonging to the B.

Infection, Dissemination, and Replication of Urban and Sylvatic Strains of Dengue Virus Type 2 (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) in Australian Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae).

The dengue viruses (DENVs) occur throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world where they infect 100s of millions of people annually. In Australia, the dengue receptive zone is confined to the northern state of Queensland where the principal vector Aedes aegypti (L.) is present.

Mosquito-Independent Transmission of West Nile virus in Farmed Saltwater Crocodiles ().

West Nile virus, Kunjin strain (WNV) is endemic in Northern Australia, but rarely causes clinical disease in humans and horses. Recently, WNV genomic material was detected in cutaneous lesions of farmed saltwater crocodiles (), but live virus could not be isolated, begging the question of the pathogenesis of these lesions. Crocodile hatchlings were experimentally infected with either 10 ( = 10) or 10 ( = 11) TCID-doses of WNV and each group co-housed with six uninfected hatchlings in a mosquito-free facility.

Characterization of non-lethal West Nile Virus (WNV) infection in horses: Subclinical pathology and innate immune response.

Most natural West Nile virus (WNV) infections in humans and horses are subclinical or sub-lethal and non-encephalitic. Yet, the main focus of WNV research remains on the pathogenesis of encephalitic disease, mainly conducted in mouse models. We characterized host responses during subclinical WNV infection in horses and compared outcomes with those obtained in a novel rabbit model of subclinical WNV infection (Suen et al.