CD47-SIRPα blocking-based immunotherapy: Current and prospective therapeutic strategies.

Background: The CD47-signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) 'don't eat me' signalling axis is perhaps the most prominent innate immune checkpoint to date. However, from initial clinical trials, it is evident that monotherapy with CD47-SIRPα blocking has a limited therapeutic effect at the maximum tolerated dose. Furthermore, treatment is associated with severe side effects, most notably anaemia, that are attributable to the ubiquitous expression of CD47.

Occupational and environmental exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in and around infected mink farms.

Objective: Unprecedented SARS-CoV-2 infections in farmed minks raised immediate concerns regarding transmission to humans and initiated intensive environmental investigations to assess occupational and environmental exposure.

Methods: Air sampling was performed at infected Dutch mink farms, at farm premises and at nearby residential sites. A range of other environmental samples were collected from minks' housing units, including bedding materials.

Temporal Dynamics of Cloacal Microbiota in Adult Laying Chickens With and Without Access to an Outdoor Range.

Associations between animal health and performance, and the host's microbiota have been recently established. In poultry, changes in the intestinal microbiota have been linked to housing conditions and host development, but how the intestinal microbiota respond to environmental changes under farm conditions is less well understood. To gain insight into the microbial responses following a change in the host's immediate environment, we monitored four indoor flocks of adult laying chickens three times over 16 weeks, during which two flocks were given access to an outdoor range, and two were kept indoors.

An observational field study of the cloacal microbiota in adult laying hens with and without access to an outdoor range.

Background: Laying hens with access to outdoor ranges are exposed to additional environmental factors and microorganisms, including potential pathogens. Differences in composition of the cloacal microbial community between indoor- and outdoor-housed layers may serve as an indicator for exposure to the outdoor environment, including its pathogens, and may yield insights into factors affecting the chickens' microbiota community dynamics. However, little is known about the influence of outdoor housing on microbiota community composition in commercial layer flocks.

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms between humans and mink and back to humans.

Animal experiments have shown that nonhuman primates, cats, ferrets, hamsters, rabbits, and bats can be infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In addition, SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in felids, mink, and dogs in the field. Here, we describe an in-depth investigation using whole-genome sequencing of outbreaks on 16 mink farms and the humans living or working on these farms.