Validation of a New Duplex Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for DNA Detection in Ocular Swab Samples.

Trachoma is the world-leading infectious cause of preventable blindness and is caused by the bacteria . In developing countries, diagnosis is usually based on clinical evaluation. Serological-based tests are cheaper than molecular-based ones, but the latter are more sensitive and specific.

Prevalence of trachoma in the non-indigenous Baixo Jaguaribe micro-region, Ceará State, Northeast Brazil.

Background: The aim of the current study was to estimate the population prevalence of trachoma in non-indigenous populations in the Baixo Jaguaribe micro-region, in the state of Ceará, northeast region of Brazil, 2021-2022.

Methods: A population-based prevalence survey focusing on detecting cases of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1-9 y and trachomatous trichiasis (TT) 'unknown to the health system' in people aged ≥15 y, was conducted in rural areas of the Baixo Jaguaribe micro-region in the state of Ceará. Indigenous populations will be further researched.

Genome sequencing of dengue virus serotype 4 in a bat brain sample (Platyrrhinus helleri) from the Brazilian Amazon.

The existence of sylvatic transmission of dengue virus in communities of neotropical bats remains uncertain. In this work we present a near-complete genome of dengue virus serotype 4 obtained from the brain sample of a bat from Platyrrhinus helleri specie collected in the Brazilian Amazon region. The presence of the virus in the brain sample may indicate a possible tropism for the central nervous system in bats, which may justify negative results in previous studies that focused on analysis of other tissues, such as liver and spleen.

Insect-specific viruses and arboviruses in adult male culicids from Midwestern Brazil.

Viruses were identified from male anthropophilic mosquitoes from Mato Grosso (MT) State, Midwest Brazil from February 2017 to January 2018. Mosquitoes tested included Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (1139 males; 84 pools), Culex quinquefasciatus (9426 males; 179 pools), Culex sp. (3 males; 3 pools) and Psorophora albigenu (1 male; 1 pool) collected from four cities of MT.

Complete Endogenous Retrovirus Genome Sequence from a Brazilian Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus).

The strain Desmodus rotundus (DrERV) QR09 was obtained from a bat tissue sample collected from Desmodus rotundus in the Brazilian rain forest. The complete genome was sequenced using the next-generation sequencing strategy. The full-length genome of DrERV QR09 is 8,256 nucleotides in length and showed high similarity with other DrERVs.

Metagenomic Analysis of Samples from Three Bat Species Collected in the Amazon Rain Forest.

We report here the sequencing of five microbiome samples collected from different bat species in the Amazon rain forest. All contigs matching virus sequences were assigned to members of the family, while the bacterial contigs matched several bacterial species mostly belonging to the phylum.