Effect of Adopting a Timothy Hay-based Diet at Weaning or in Adulthood on Urinary Tract Parameters in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs ().

Type of feed is an important consideration in herbivore colony management, yet limited studies report on the effects of diet on common conditions such as urolithiasis in guinea pigs. Urolithiasis is a well-documented cause of lower urinary tract disease in guinea pigs, with calcium carbonate uroliths reported as the predominant calculi formed in the guinea pig urinary tract. A calcium-rich diet has been suggested as a risk factor for of urolithiasis, with numerous commercially available guinea pig diets formulated for adults avoiding ingredients that are higher in calcium.

High-throughput quantitation of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a single-dilution homogeneous assay.

SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019 and has since spread around the world, causing a pandemic of the respiratory disease COVID-19. Detecting antibodies against the virus is an essential tool for tracking infections and developing vaccines. Such tests, primarily utilizing the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) principle, can be either qualitative (reporting positive/negative results) or quantitative (reporting a value representing the quantity of specific antibodies).

Comparative analysis of serologic cross-reactivity using convalescent sera from filovirus-experimentally infected fruit bats.

With the exception of Reston and Bombali viruses, the marburgviruses and ebolaviruses (family Filoviridae) cause outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fever in sub-Saharan Africa. The Egyptian rousette bat (ERB) is a natural reservoir host for the marburgviruses and evidence suggests that bats are also natural reservoirs for the ebolaviruses. Although the search for the natural reservoirs of the ebolaviruses has largely involved serosurveillance of the bat population, there are no validated serological assays to screen bat sera for ebolavirus-specific IgG antibodies.

Macrophage Activation Marker Soluble CD163 Associated with Fatal and Severe Ebola Virus Disease in Humans.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is associated with elevated cytokine levels, and hypercytokinemia is more pronounced in fatal cases. This type of hyperinflammatory state is reminiscent of 2 rheumatologic disorders known as macrophage activation syndrome and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which are characterized by macrophage and T-cell activation. An evaluation of 2 cohorts of patients with EVD revealed that a marker of macrophage activation (sCD163) but not T-cell activation (sCD25) was associated with severe and fatal EVD.

Kinetic Analysis of Biomarkers in a Cohort of US Patients With Ebola Virus Disease.

Background: Ebola virus (EBOV) infection causes a severe and often fatal disease. Despite the fact that more than 30 000 individuals have acquired Ebola virus disease (EVD), the medical and scientific community still does not have a clear understanding of the mechanisms by which EBOV causes such severe disease.

Methods: In this study, 54 biomarkers in plasma samples serially collected from 7 patients with EVD were analyzed in an attempt to define the kinetics of inflammatory modulators.

Von Willebrand factor is elevated in individuals infected with Sudan virus and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes.

Sudan virus (SUDV) is a member of the Filoviridae family that has been associated with sporadic outbreaks of human disease in sub-Saharan Africa. The filoviruses are notable for the high frequencies with which they cause both hemorrhagic manifestations and death in infected individuals. Recently, we reported an extensive biomarker analysis of patient specimens from the Gulu SUDV outbreak.

Biomarker correlates of survival in pediatric patients with Ebola virus disease.

Outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) occur sporadically in Africa and are associated with high case-fatality rates. Historically, children have been less affected than adults. The 2000-2001 Sudan virus-associated EVD outbreak in the Gulu district of Uganda resulted in 55 pediatric and 161 adult laboratory-confirmed cases.

Ebola hemorrhagic Fever: novel biomarker correlates of clinical outcome.

Background: Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) outbreaks occur sporadically in Africa and result in high rates of death. The 2000-2001 outbreak of Sudan virus-associated EHF in the Gulu district of Uganda led to 425 cases, of which 216 were laboratory confirmed, making it the largest EHF outbreak on record. Serum specimens from this outbreak had been preserved in liquid nitrogen from the time of collection and were available for analysis.

Association between movement and Sin Nombre virus (Bunyaviridae: Hantavirus) infection in North American deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in Colorado.

Capture data from long-term, mark-recapture studies were used to evaluate movements of North American deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) on mark-recapture webs in Colorado with respect to Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infection status, age, sex, and trapping site. Latitude and longitude coordinates for each capture during the approximately 12-yr study were used to produce an individual minimum convex polygon (MCP) area representing the movements (not home range) of an individual mouse over time. These MCP areas were compared by SNV infection status (as determined by the presence of antibody), age, and sex.

Seasonal pulses of Marburg virus circulation in juvenile Rousettus aegyptiacus bats coincide with periods of increased risk of human infection.

Marburg virus (family Filoviridae) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Bats have been implicated as likely natural reservoir hosts based most recently on an investigation of cases among miners infected in 2007 at the Kitaka mine, Uganda, which contained a large population of Marburg virus-infected Rousettus aegyptiacus fruit bats. Described here is an ecologic investigation of Python Cave, Uganda, where an American and a Dutch tourist acquired Marburg virus infection in December 2007 and July 2008.