H7N9 influenza A virus transmission in a multispecies barnyard model.

Influenza A viruses are a diverse group of pathogens that have been responsible for millions of human and avian deaths throughout history. Here, we illustrate the transmission potential of H7N9 influenza A virus between Coturnix quail (Coturnix sp.), domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) co-housed in an artificial barnyard setting.

Potential Use for Serosurveillance of Feral Swine to Map Risk for Anthrax Exposure, Texas, USA.

Anthrax is a disease of concern in many mammals, including humans. Management primarily consists of prevention through vaccination and tracking clinical-level observations because environmental isolation is laborious and bacterial distribution across large geographic areas difficult to confirm. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species with an extensive range in the southern United States that rarely succumbs to anthrax.

Peridomestic Mammal Susceptibility to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection.

Wild animals have been implicated as the origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but it is largely unknown how the virus affects most wildlife species and if wildlife could ultimately serve as a reservoir for maintaining the virus outside the human population. We show that several common peridomestic species, including deer mice, bushy-tailed woodrats, and striped skunks, are susceptible to infection and can shed the virus in respiratory secretions. In contrast, we demonstrate that cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels, Wyoming ground squirrels, black-tailed prairie dogs, house mice, and racoons are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A Whole Virion Vaccine for COVID-19 Produced via a Novel Inactivation Method and Preliminary Demonstration of Efficacy in an Animal Challenge Model.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated intense interest in the rapid development and evaluation of vaccine candidates for this disease and other emerging diseases. Several novel methods for preparing vaccine candidates are currently undergoing clinical evaluation in response to the urgent need to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In many cases, these methods rely on new approaches for vaccine production and immune stimulation.

Replicating bacterium-vectored vaccine expressing SARS-CoV-2 Membrane and Nucleocapsid proteins protects against severe COVID-19-like disease in hamsters.

To generate an inexpensive readily manufactured COVID-19 vaccine, we employed the LVS ΔcapB vector platform, previously used to generate potent candidate vaccines against Select Agent diseases tularemia, anthrax, plague, and melioidosis. Vaccines expressing SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins are constructed using the LVS ΔcapB vector, a highly attenuated replicating intracellular bacterium, and evaluated for efficacy in golden Syrian hamsters, which develop severe COVID-19-like disease. Hamsters immunized intradermally or intranasally with a vaccine co-expressing the Membrane and Nucleocapsid proteins and challenged 5 weeks later with a high dose of SARS-CoV-2 are protected against severe weight loss and lung pathology and show reduced viral loads in the oropharynx and lungs.

Replicating bacterium-vectored vaccine expressing SARS-CoV-2 Membrane and Nucleocapsid proteins protects against severe COVID-19 disease in hamsters.

An inexpensive readily manufactured COVID-19 vaccine that protects against severe disease is needed to combat the pandemic. We have employed the LVS Δ vector platform, previously used successfully to generate potent vaccines against the Select Agents of tularemia, anthrax, plague, and melioidosis, to generate a COVID-19 vaccine. The LVS Δ vector, a replicating intracellular bacterium, is a highly attenuated derivative of a tularemia vaccine (LVS) previously administered to millions of people.

Antibody potency, effector function, and combinations in protection and therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo.

SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, has been responsible for over 42 million infections and 1 million deaths since its emergence in December 2019. There are few therapeutic options and no approved vaccines. Here, we examine the properties of highly potent human monoclonal antibodies (hu-mAbs) in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 and in a mouse-adapted model of SARS-CoV-2 infection (SARS-CoV-2 MA).

Experimental infection of domestic dogs and cats with SARS-CoV-2: Pathogenesis, transmission, and response to reexposure in cats.

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached nearly every country in the world with extraordinary person-to-person transmission. The most likely original source of the virus was spillover from an animal reservoir and subsequent adaptation to humans sometime during the winter of 2019 in Wuhan Province, China. Because of its genetic similarity to SARS-CoV-1, it is probable that this novel virus has a similar host range and receptor specificity.

Current status and future recommendations for feral swine disease surveillance in the United States.

USDA APHIS Wildlife Services (WS) responded to the threat of feral swine as a pathogen reservoir as early as 2004. To increase awareness and knowledge on that risk, WS began opportunistic sampling of animals harvested by its operational component to curtail swine damage to agriculture and property. Initially, pseudorabies and swine brucellosis were of most concern, as both serve as a potential threat to the domestic swine industry and the latter also possesses zoonotic implications.

LEPTOSPIRA ANTIBODIES DETECTED IN WILDLIFE IN THE USA AND THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS.

From 2011 to 2017, 4,534 serum samples from 13 wildlife species collected across the US and in one territory (US Virgin Islands) were tested for exposure to Leptospira serovars Bratislava, Canicola, Grippotyphosa, Hardjo, Icterohaemorrhagiae, and Pomona. Of 1,759 canids, 1,043 cervids, 23 small Indian mongooses ( Herpestes auropunctatus), 1,704 raccoons ( Procyon lotor), and five striped skunks ( Mephitis mephitis), 27.0, 44.