New approaches to wildlife health.

Recent environmental change and biodiversity loss have modified ecosystems, altering disease dynamics. For wildlife health, this trend has translated into increased potential for disease transmission and reduced capacity to overcome significant population-level impacts, which may place species at risk of extinction. Thus, current approaches to wildlife health focus not on the absence of disease but rather on the concept of health promotion.

High frequency of plastic ingestion in procellariiform seabirds (albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters) in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Ocean pollution by plastics is a growing concern for marine wildlife conservation, and seabirds are particularly prone to ingest plastics. We report baseline information on plastic ingestion in 17 procellariiform species along the coast of Brazil and Argentina. Through a collaborative regional effort we found plastic items in 30.

Leveraging one health as a sentinel approach for pandemic resilience.

The resurgence of H5N1 avian influenza highlights the urgent need for robust surveillance systems to detect zoonotic risks before they evolve into human-to-human transmission. The One Health approach-integrating human, animal, and environmental health-offers a comprehensive framework for addressing these challenges. H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, has caused significant mortality in avian populations and poses a serious threat to human health.

Serologic Survey of Brucella spp. in Culled Invasive Alien Mammals from El Palmar National Park, Argentina, and in Exposed Consumers.

Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease caused by Brucella spp. and transmitted from domestic and wild animals to humans. Brucellosis causes important economic losses in livestock, has a significant impact on public health, and may affect the health of wildlife.

Biochemical and molecular biomarkers and their association with anthropogenic chemicals in wintering Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus).

Anthropogenic pollution poses a threat to marine conservation by causing chronic toxic effects. Seabirds have contact throughout their lives with pollutants like plastic, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides such as hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). We assessed 155 Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) stranded along the Brazilian coast, analyzing associations between organic pollutants, plastic ingestion, biomarkers (transcript levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, cytochrome P450-1A-5 [CYP1A5], UDP-glucuronosyl-transferase [UGT1], estrogen receptor alpha-1 [ESR1], and heat shock protein-70 genes) and enzymes activity (ethoxy-resorufin O-deethylase and glutathione S-transferase [GST]).

New Vaccine Platforms-Novel Dimensions of Economic and Societal Value and Their Measurement.

The COVID-19 pandemic's dramatic impact has been a vivid reminder that vaccines-especially in the context of infectious respiratory viruses-provide enormous societal value, well beyond the healthcare system perspective which anchors most Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) evaluation frameworks. Furthermore, the development of modified ribonucleic acid-based (mRNA-based) and nanoparticle vaccine technologies has brought into focus several new value drivers previously absent from the discourse on vaccines as public health interventions such as increased vaccine adaptation capabilities, the improved ability to develop combination vaccines, and more efficient vaccine manufacturing and production processes. We review these novel value dimensions and discuss how they might be measured and incorporated within existing value frameworks using existing methods.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Viruses from Multispecies Outbreak, Argentina, August 2023.

We report full-genome characterization of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.

Diversity and prevalence of zoonotic infections at the animal-human interface of primate trafficking in Peru.

Wildlife trafficking creates favorable scenarios for intra- and inter-specific interactions that can lead to parasite spread and disease emergence. Among the fauna affected by this activity, primates are relevant due to their potential to acquire and share zoonoses - infections caused by parasites that can spread between humans and other animals. Though it is known that most primate parasites can affect multiple hosts and that many are zoonotic, comparative studies across different contexts for animal-human interactions are scarce.

Trichinella Infection in Culled Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) from El Palmar National Park, Argentina, and Exposure Risk in Humans and Dogs Consuming Wild Boar Meat.

Trichinellosis is a foodborne disease caused by ingestion of raw or undercooked meat containing Trichinella spp. larvae. Consumption of wild boar (Sus scrofa) meat represents an important source of human trichinellosis worldwide.

A multispecies competitive nanobody-based ELISA for the detection of antibodies against hepatitis E virus.

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emergent zoonotic virus causing viral hepatitis worldwide. Clinically, hepatitis E is not easily distinguished from other types of acute viral hepatitis. There is a need for HEV diagnostic assays to detect and prevent interspecies transmission among susceptible populations.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) in marine mammals and seabirds in Peru.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A/H5N1 viruses (lineage 2.3.4.

Exploring the relationship between environmental drivers and the manifestation of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in eastern Brazil.

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease characterized by epithelial tumors that can impede life-sustaining activities of sea turtles, especially green turtles (Chelonia mydas). FP is caused by a herpesvirus, but environmental factors are also thought to play a role in triggering FP tumor growth. In this study, we evaluate the epidemiology of FP tumors in green turtles along the coast of Espírito Santo, Brazil, a region where juvenile green turtles are known to aggregate with high FP prevalence.

Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Assembly Causes Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Lipid Droplet Accumulation.

Gumboro illness is caused by the highly contagious immunosuppressive infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), which affects the poultry industry globally. We have previously shown that IBDV hijacks the endocytic pathway to construct viral replication complexes on endosomes linked to the Golgi complex (GC). Then, analyzing crucial proteins involved in the secretory pathway, we showed the essential requirement of Rab1b, the Rab1b downstream effector Golgi-specific BFA resistance factor 1 (GBF1), and its substrate, the small GTPase ADP-ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1), for IBDV replication.

Human adipose mesenchymal stromal cells growing into PCL-nHA electrospun scaffolds undergo hypoxia adaptive ultrastructural changes.

Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells (hAD-MSCs) have great potential for tissue regeneration. Since transplanted hAD-MSCs are likely to be placed in a hypoxic environment, culturing the cells under hypoxic conditions might improve their post-transplantation survival and regenerative performance. The combination of hAD-MSCs and PCL-nHA nanofibers synergically improves the contribution of both components for osteoblast differentiation.

PHTHALATE ESTERS (PLASTICIZERS) IN THE UROPYGIAL GLAND AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO PLASTICS INGESTION IN SEABIRDS ALONG THE COAST OF ESPÍRITO SANTO, EASTERN BRAZIL.

Plastic ingestion is a problem for seabirds worldwide. In addition to direct health effects such as obstruction or perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, plastic ingestion can also lead to indirect health effects through the release of chemicals that may be absorbed and cause systemic and chronic toxicity. Among chemicals that can be released by plastics are phthalate esters, a group of chemicals widely used as plasticizers or additives to change the physical characteristics of plastics.

Increased prevalence of canine echinococcosis a decade after the discontinuation of a governmental deworming program in Tierra del Fuego, Southern Chile.

Hydatid disease is a neglected zoonotic parasitic disease caused by cysts of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. Canids, especially domestic dogs, are definitive hosts of the parasite and are the most pragmatic targets for control programs. A governmental dog deworming campaign was established in 1979 to control hydatidosis in southern Chile, which succeeded in reducing the prevalence of canine echinococcosis in Tierra del Fuego province from 68.

Sarcoptic mange outbreak decimates South American wild camelid populations in San Guillermo National Park, Argentina.

Sarcoptic mange epidemics can devastate wildlife populations. In 2014, mange was first detected in vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) and guanacos (Lama guanicoe) in San Guillermo National Park (SGNP), Argentina. This study describes the temporal dynamics of the outbreak, its effects on the park's wild camelid populations between 2017-2019, and investigates the potential source of the epidemic.

Rab1b-GBF1-ARF1 Secretory Pathway Axis Is Required for Birnavirus Replication.

Birnaviruses are members of the Birnaviridae family, responsible for major economic losses to poultry and aquaculture. The family is composed of nonenveloped viruses with a segmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome. Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), the prototypic family member, is the etiological agent of Gumboro disease, a highly contagious immunosuppressive disease in the poultry industry worldwide.