Decoding the blueprint of receptor binding by filoviruses through large-scale binding assays and machine learning.

Evidence suggests that bats are important hosts of filoviruses, yet the specific species involved remain largely unidentified. Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is an essential entry receptor, with amino acid variations influencing viral susceptibility and species-specific tropism. Herein, we conducted combinatorial binding studies with seven filovirus glycoproteins (GPs) and NPC1 orthologs from 81 bat species.

Distribution and molecular identification of ixodid ticks infesting cattle in Kilombero and Iringa Districts, Tanzania.

Background: Hard ticks infesting cattle are vectors of Tick-borne diseases that causes major public health problems and considerable socioeconomic losses to the livestock industry in tropical and subtropical countries. A repeated cross-sectional study was carried out by collecting ticks on cattle during the wet and dry seasons from January to August 2021 in order to determine hard tick prevalence, distribution, and abundance on cattle in Kilombero and Iringa Districts of Tanzania. The collected ticks were identified morphologically using published morphological keys under a stereomicroscope and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing.

Health of African Buffalos () in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania.

In association with a study investigating the apparent decline of African buffalos () in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, 40 buffalos were screened for selected diseases. Bovine tuberculosis was detected in 23%, and exposure to and Rift Valley fever virus in 18% and 8%, respectively, of buffalos tested.