Hybrid capture shotgun sequencing detected unexpected viruses in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with acute meningitis and encephalitis.

Purpose: Investigation of undiagnosed cases of infectious neurological diseases, especially in the paediatric population, remains a challenge. This study aimed to enhance understanding of viruses in CSF from children with clinically diagnosed meningitis and/or encephalitis (M/ME) of unknown aetiology using shotgun sequencing enhanced by hybrid capture (HCSS).

Methods: A single-centre prospective study was conducted at Sant Joan de Déu University Hospital, Barcelona, involving 40 M/ME episodes of unknown aetiology, recruited from May 2021 to July 2022.

An interregional measles outbreak in Spain with nosocomial transmission, November 2017 to July 2018.

Given sustained high vaccination coverage and enhanced surveillance for measles, Spain has been free of endemic measles transmission since 2014, achieving elimination certification from the World Health Organization in 2017. In November 2017, measles was introduced through an imported case travelling to the Valencian Community, causing an interregional outbreak. Here, we describe the outbreak using data reported to the national epidemiological surveillance network.

Measles in Vaccinated People: Epidemiology and Challenges in Surveillance and Diagnosis in the Post-Elimination Phase. Spain, 2014-2020.

The MMR vaccination program was introduced in Spain in 1981. Consistently high vaccination coverage has led to Spain being declared free of endemic measles transmission since 2014. A few imported and import-related cases were reported during the post-elimination phase (2014 to 2020), with very low incidence: three cases per million of inhabitants a year, 70% in adults.

Prevention of human rabies: a challenge for the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Rabies is enzootic in over one hundred countries worldwide. In the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the vast majority of human rabies cases are travellers bitten by dogs in rabies-enzootic countries, mostly in Asia and Africa. Thus, EU/EEA travellers visiting rabies enzootic countries should be aware of the risk of being infected with the rabies virus when having physical contact with mammals.

Mating strategy is determinant of adenovirus prevalence in European bats.

Adenoviruses are double-strained DNA viruses found in a great number of vertebrates, including humans. In order to understand their transmission dynamics, it is crucial, even from a human health perspective, to investigate how host traits influence their prevalence. Bats are important reservoirs for adenoviruses, and here we use the results of recent screenings in Western Europe to evaluate the association between characteristic traits of bat species and their probability of hosting adenoviruses, taking into account their phylogenetic relationships.

Current Rabies Vaccines Do Not Confer Protective Immunity against Divergent Lyssaviruses Circulating in Europe.

The use of the rabies vaccine for post-exposure prophylaxis started as early as 1885, revealing a safe and efficient tool to prevent human rabies cases. Preventive vaccination is the basis for the control of canine-mediated rabies, which has already been eliminated from extensive parts of the world, including Europe. Plans to eliminate canine-mediated human rabies by 2030 have been agreed upon by international organisations.

First Evidence of Antibodies Against Lloviu Virus in Schreiber's Bent-Winged Insectivorous Bats Demonstrate a Wide Circulation of the Virus in Spain.

Although Lloviu virus (LLOV) was discovered in the carcasses of insectivorous Schreiber's Bent-winged bats in the caves of Northern Spain in 2002, its infectivity and pathogenicity remain unclear. We examined the seroprevalence of LLOV in potentially exposed Schreiber's Bent-winged bats ( = 60), common serotine bats ( = 10) as controls, and humans ( = 22) using an immunoblot assay. We found antibodies against LLOV GP in all of Schreiber's Bent-winged bats serum pools, but not in any of the common serotine bats and human pools tested.

Varicella-zoster virus clades circulating in Spain over two decades.

Background: Despite childhood universal VZV immunization was introduced in 2015, there are no data on VZV clade distribution in Spain.

Objectives: To characterize the varicella-zoster virus strains circulating in Spain between 1997 and 2016.

Study Design: In this retrospective study, we determined the VZV clades in 294 patients with different pathologies (mainly encephalitis, zoster and varicella) by sequencing three fragments within ORF 22, ORF 21 and ORF 50 and, subsequently analyzing 7 relevant SNPs.

Last cases of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in Spain, 1997-2016: The success of a vaccination program.

With a highly immunized population, rubella infection in Spain is so low that the WHO has declared the elimination of rubella. Rubella in pregnant women is also very rare. The objective of this study is to describe the last cases of congenital rubella syndrome reported and recommend actions to maintain the status of the disease as eliminated.

New Adenovirus Groups in Western Palaearctic Bats.

In the context of long-term screening for viruses on Western Palaearctic bats, we tested for the presence of adenovirus 1392 oropharyngeal swabs and 325 stool samples taken from 27 bat species. Adenoviruses were detected in 12 species of the Vespertilionidae and the Rhinolophidae families. Fifty positive respiratory and 26 positive stool samples were studied.

Measles virus genotype D4 strains with non-standard length M-F non-coding region circulated during the major outbreaks of 2011-2012 in Spain.

In recent decades, vaccination has substantially reduced the number of measles cases to levels close to the elimination stage. However, major measles outbreaks occurred in Europe during 2010-2012, after the introduction of the D4-Enfield lineage. We have performed a molecular characterization of 75 measles virus genotype D4 strains from patients infected in Spain between 2004 and 2012 by sequencing the N-450 region and the M-F non-coding region (M-F NCR) in order to identify genetic features of these viruses.

Isolation, antigenicity and immunogenicity of Lleida bat lyssavirus.

The lyssaviruses are an important group of viruses that cause a fatal encephalitis termed rabies. The prototypic lyssavirus, rabies virus, is predicted to cause more than 60 000 human fatalities annually. The burden of disease for the other lyssaviruses is undefined.

First cases of European bat lyssavirus type 1 in Iberian serotine bats: Implications for the molecular epidemiology of bat rabies in Europe.

Previous studies have shown that EBLV-1 strains exclusively hosted by Eptesicus isabellinus bats in the Iberian Peninsula cluster in a specific monophyletic group that is related to the EBLV-1b lineage found in the rest of Europe. More recently, enhanced passive surveillance has allowed the detection of the first EBLV-1 strains associated to Eptesicus serotinus south of the Pyrenees. The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the EBLV-1 phylogeny and phylodynamics in the Iberian Peninsula in the context of the European continent.

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2018.

In 2018, the order Mononegavirales was expanded by inclusion of 1 new genus and 12 novel species. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and summarizes additional taxonomic proposals that may affect the order in the near future.

Shift within age-groups of mumps incidence, hospitalizations and severe complications in a highly vaccinated population. Spain, 1998-2014.

The mumps vaccine (Jeryl-Lynn-strain) was introduced in Spain in 1981, and a vaccination policy which included a second dose was added in 1995. From 1992-1999, a Rubini-strain based vaccine was administered in many regions but later withdrawn due to lack of effectiveness. Despite high levels of vaccination coverage, epidemics have continued to appear.

Potentially Zoonotic Bartonella in Bats from France and Spain.

We detected Bartonella in 11 of 109 insectivorous bats from France and 1 of 26 bats from Spain. These genetic variants are closely related to bat-associated Bartonella described in Finland and the United Kingdom and to B. mayotimonensis, the agent of a human endocarditis case in the United States.