Altered ACE2 and interferon landscape in the COVID-19 microenvironment correlate with the anti-PD-1 response in solid tumors.

Angiotensensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is a receptor for SARS-CoV-2, allowing the virus to enter cells. Although tumor patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 often have a worse outcome, the expression, function and clinical relevance of ACE2 in tumors has not yet been thoroughly analyzed. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from tumors, adjacent tissues and whole blood samples of COVID-19 patients from genome databases and from tumor cell lines and endothelial cells infected with different SARS-CoV-2 variants or transfected with an ACE2 expression vector (ACE2) or mock (ACE2) were analyzed for the expression of ACE2 and immune response relevant molecules in silico or by qPCR, flow cytometry, Western blot and/or RNA-seq.

Serologic Evidence for Early SARS-CoV-2 Circulation in Lima, Peru, 2020.

During early 2021, Peru had the highest COVID-19-associated per-capita mortality rate. Socioeconomic inequality, insufficiently prepared healthcare, and surveillance systems are factors explaining the mortality rate, which can be severely worsened by early undetected SARS-CoV-2 circulation. We tested 1,441 individuals with fever sampled during August 2019-May 2021, several months before the first SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study available so far in Lima, Peru, for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies.

Fort Sherman Virus Infection in Human, Peru, 2020.

Fort Sherman virus (FSV) was isolated in Panama in 1985 from a US soldier. We report a case of human FSV infection in a febrile patient from northern coastal Peru in 2020. FSV infections spanning ≈35 years and a distance of 2,000 km warrant diagnostics, genomic surveillance, and investigation of transmission cycles.

Discovery and biological confirmation of a highly divergent Tacaribe virus in metatranscriptomic data from neotropical bats.

Unlabelled: First isolated from neotropical fruit bats in Trinidad in 1956, Tacaribe virus (TCRV) has rarely been detected since. We searched for New World arenavirus reads in roughly 5.7 million sequencing runs available on public databases using Serratus.

Virological evidence of the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 in Ecuador, a resource-limited setting.

Ecuador had substantial COVID-19-mortality during 2020 despite early implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Resource-limited settings like Ecuador have high proportions of informal labour which entail high human mobility, questioning efficacy of NPIs. We performed a retrospective observational study in Ecuador's national reference laboratory for viral respiratory infections during March 2020-February 2021 using stored respiratory specimens from 1950 patients, corresponding to 2.

Experimental infection of Artibeus lituratus bats and no detection of Zika virus in neotropical bats from French Guiana, Peru, and Costa Rica suggests a limited role of bats in Zika transmission.

Bats are important natural reservoir hosts of a diverse range of viruses that can be transmitted to humans and have been suggested to play an important role in the Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission cycle. However, the exact role of these animals as reservoirs for flaviviruses is still controversial. To further expand our understanding of the role of bats in the ZIKV transmission cycle in Latin America, we carried out an experimental infection in wild-caught Artibeus lituratus bats and sampled several free-living neotropical bats across three countries of the region.

Virulent infecting has emerging potential due to the broad foraging range of its bat host for humans and wild and domestic animals.

vampire bats, transmit dangerous infections, and brucellosis is a hazardous zoonotic disease, two adversities that coexist in the subtropical and tropical areas of the American continent. Here, we report a 47.89% infection prevalence in a colony of vampire bats inhabiting the tropical rainforest of Costa Rica.

A novel ACE2 decoy for both neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants and killing of infected cells.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) led to millions of infections and deaths worldwide. As this virus evolves rapidly, there is a high need for treatment options that can win the race against new emerging variants of concern. Here, we describe a novel immunotherapeutic drug based on the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2 and provide experimental evidence that it cannot only be used for (i) neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 and in SARS-CoV-2-infected animal models but also for (ii) clearance of virus-infected cells.

RETRACTED: Gradual emergence followed by exponential spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in Africa.

The geographic and evolutionary origins of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (BA.1), which was first detected mid-November 2021 in Southern Africa, remain unknown. We tested 13,097 COVID-19 patients sampled between mid-2021 to early 2022 from 22 African countries for BA.

Highly Diverse Arenaviruses in Neotropical Bats, Brazil.

We detected arenavirus RNA in 1.6% of 1,047 bats in Brazil that were sampled during 2007-2011. We identified Tacaribe virus in 2 Artibeus sp.

Detection of Rickettsia spp. in ticks of wildlife fauna from Costa Rica: First report of Rickettsia rhipicephali in Central America.

In the past two decades, new species of Rickettsia have been detected and described worldwide, some of them considered pathogenic for humans. Although Costa Rica is considered a biodiversity hotspot, the knowledge about rickettsiae in sylvatic ecosystems and wild animals is scarce. The aim of this preliminary study was to detect and identify species of Rickettsia in ticks collected from wild animals in Costa Rica.

Effectiveness of Naturally Acquired and Vaccine-Induced Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Mu Variant.

SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant emerged in Colombia in 2021 and spread globally. In 49 serum samples from vaccinees and COVID-19 survivors in Colombia, neutralization was significantly lower (p<0.0001) for Mu than a parental strain and variants of concern.

Genomic determinants of Furin cleavage in diverse European SARS-related bat coronaviruses.

The furin cleavage site (FCS) in SARS-CoV-2 is unique within the Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SrC) species. We re-assessed diverse SrC from European horseshoe bats and analyzed the spike-encoding genomic region harboring the FCS in SARS-CoV-2. We reveal molecular features in SrC such as purine richness and RNA secondary structures that resemble those required for FCS acquisition in avian influenza viruses.

Serological Evidence That SARS-CoV-2 Has Not Emerged in Deer in Germany or Austria during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Spillover of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to North American white-tailed deer () has been documented. However, it is unclear if this is a phenomenon specific to North American deer or is a broader problem. We evaluated pre and pandemic exposure of German and Austrian deer species using a SARS-CoV-2 pseudoneutralization assay.

Frequent Infection of Cats With SARS-CoV-2 Irrespective of Pre-Existing Enzootic Coronavirus Immunity, Brazil 2020.

Carnivores such as cats and minks are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Brazil is a global COVID-19 hot spot and several cases of human-to-cat transmission have been documented. We investigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by testing 547 domestic cats sampled between July-November 2020 from seven states in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Brazil.

High SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Rural Peru, 2021: a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study.

Latin America has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 burden in rural settings in Latin America is unclear. We performed a cross-sectional, population-based, random-selection SARS-CoV-2 serologic study during March 2021 in the rural population of San Martin region, northern Peru.

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant, Benin, May-July 2021.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Delta variant epidemiology in Africa is unknown. We found Delta variant was introduced in Benin during April-May 2021 and became predominant within 2 months, after which a steep increase in reported coronavirus disease incidence occurred. Benin might require increased nonpharmaceutical interventions and vaccination coverage.