One Health Outlook
January 2025
Background: Rabies, a lethal viral zoonotic disease, remains a significant global public health concern. In northeastern Brazil, in particular, its epidemiology is complex and dynamic, characterized by the presence of several reservoirs associated with human rabies infection.
Methods: This study, conducted from June 2022 to July 2023, was part of a passive epidemiological surveillance initiative under Brazil's National Rabies Surveillance Program.
We detected an emerging human-associated gemykibivirus-2 (HuGkV-2) in rectal swab sample from Molossus molossus bat from Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis further revealed well-supported relationships between our sequence and those associated with human infections. This study underscores the necessity of ongoing monitoring of HuGkV-2 to elucidate potential spillback events, its role in human infections, and its public health implications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus with maternal, sexual, and TORCH-related transmission capabilities. After 2015, Brazil had the highest number of ZIVK-infected pregnant women who lost their babies or delivered them with Congenital ZIKV Syndrome (CZS). ZIKV triggers an immune defense in the placenta.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: SARS-CoV2 virus, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has four structural proteins and 16 nonstructural proteins. S-protein is one of the structural proteins exposed on the virus surface and is the main target for producing neutralizing antibodies and vaccines. The S-protein forms a trimer that can bind the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through its receptor binding domain (RBD) for cell entry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe raising of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants led to the use of COVID-19 bivalent vaccines, which include antigens of the wild-type (WT) virus, and of the Omicron strain. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of bivalent vaccination on the neutralizing antibody (NAb) response. We enrolled 93 volunteers who had received three or four doses of monovalent vaccines based on the original virus (n = 61), or a booster shot with the bivalent vaccine (n = 32).
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