Aleutian Mink Disease Virus (AMDV) results in mink breeding losses due to frequent abortion, low fecundity and high juvenile mortality. Due to the high persistence of pathogen in the environment and lack of causative treatment there is a need for research on alternative methods to eliminate the pathways of the spread of the virus and extinguish current outbreaks. The aim of the study was to investigate molecular variation of AMDV on a farm where mass deaths of mink took place. The material for the research was obtained from a mink farm located in Latvia. Mass deaths had occurred on the farm among symptoms typical of Aleutian disease. Spleen samples were collected from the dead animals during post-mortem examination. Sequencing and bioinformatic analysis made it possible to distinguish the variants occurring in the groups. The presence of the genetic material of the virus was confirmed by PCR and qPCR in each of the spleen samples. The isolates were divided into two main groups: the dominant group A, with more than 83% of all isolates, and group B. Comparison of the variants with the nonpathogenic strain AMDV-G revealed that isolates from group A were more than 95% similar to that strain, whereas the similarity of group B isolates was just over 86%. The average viral load in both groups was 10 copies; no differences in viral load were noted between groups. Testing based on serological analysis produces fairly effective screening results, but these methods do not enable complete elimination of the virus from a population. Only their use in combination with modern testing techniques as tools for identification of vectors and the directions of the spread of the AMD virus can make it possible to block the routes of its spread and to extinguish its current outbreaks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2023.109851 | DOI Listing |
PNAS Nexus
December 2024
Department of Ophthalmology and Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
As the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to evolve and infect the global population, many individuals are likely to suffer from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Manifestations of PASC include vision symptoms, but little is known about the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to infect and impact the retinal cells. Here, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 can infect and perturb the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in vivo, after intranasal inoculation of a transgenic mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and in cell culture.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFN Engl J Med
December 2024
From the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch (A.C.H., S.E.P., H.S.S., A.G.-P., E.B., A.-M.D., S.N., J.A.S., L. Frigati), the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (N.A.M.) and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits Research Health Institute (L. Fairlie), University of the Witwatersrand, and Isango Lethemba TB Research Unit, Port Elizabeth, Wits Health Consortium (F.C.), Johannesburg, and the Tuberculosis and HIV Investigative Network, Durban (S.S.) - all in South Africa; the Johns Hopkins Center for TB Research, Baltimore (N.A.M.); the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London (J.B., D.M.G., C.M., C.L., R.T., T.D.) and the Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London (J.A.S.) - both in London; the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison (A.G.P.); and the Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, and the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal - both in Montreal (A.-M.D.).
Background: Worldwide, approximately 2 million children younger than 15 years of age are infected with multidrug-resistant (MDR) , with MDR tuberculosis developing in approximately 30,000 annually. Evidence from randomized, controlled trials on tuberculosis preventive treatment in persons exposed to MDR tuberculosis is lacking.
Methods: In this community-based, multisite, double-blind, cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled trial in South Africa, we assessed the efficacy and safety of levofloxacin as preventive treatment in children with household exposure to an adult with bacteriologically confirmed MDR pulmonary tuberculosis.
Prog Retin Eye Res
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, 8200, Aarhus N, Denmark.
Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies have revolutionized the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and other retinal diseases. However, the necessity for repeated intravitreal injections and the observation of variable treatment responses calls for new treatment modalities where fewer and more effective interventions can result in a clinical effect. Gene therapy might be such an alternative, and therefore the development and clinical application of gene therapy aimed at modifying gene expression has received considerable attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Genet Evol
December 2024
2(nd) Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Hippocration General Hospital, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.
The recent discovery that the trimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike S glycoprotein carries heme within an NTD domain pocket of the S1 subunits, suggested that this virus may be cleverly utilizing heme, in addition to the S1 RBD domains, for invading target cells carrying a specific entry receptor like ACE2, TMEM106B and others. Studies during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that the infectivity of this virus depends on cell surface heparan sulfate and that the infection induces non-canonical activation of the Complement Alternative pathway (AP) on the surface of infected cells. In our recent COVID-19 genomic studies, among the coding SNPs of interest we also detected the presence of the CFH rs1061170, rs800292 and rs1065489 within all the infected patient subgroups examined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Ther Methods Clin Dev
December 2024
Neuracle Genetics Inc., Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
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