Previous studies have documented natural infections of SARS-CoV-2 in various domestic and wild animals. More recently, studies have been published noting the susceptibility of members of the Cervidae family, and infections in both wild and captive cervid populations. In this study, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in mammalian wildlife within the state of Vermont. 739 nasal or throat samples were collected from wildlife throughout the state during the 2021 and 2022 harvest season. Data was collected from red and gray foxes (Vulpes vulples and Urocyon cineroargentus, respectively), fishers (Martes pennati), river otters (Lutra canadensis), coyotes (Canis lantrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus rufus), black bears (Ursus americanus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Samples were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 via quantitative RT-qPCR using the CDC N1/N2 primer set and/or the WHO-E gene primer set. Surprisingly, we initially detected a number of N1 and/or N2 positive samples with high cycle threshold values, though after conducting environmental swabbing of the laboratory and verifying with a second independent primer set (WHO-E) and PCR without reverse transcriptase, we showed that these were false positives due to plasmid contamination from a construct expressing the N gene in the general laboratory environment. Our final results indicate that no sampled wildlife were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and highlight the importance of physically separate locations for the processing of samples for surveillance and experiments that require the use of plasmid DNA containing the target RNA sequence. These negative findings are surprising, given that most published North America studies have found SARS-CoV-2 within their deer populations. The absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in populations sampled here may provide insights in to the various environmental and anthropogenic factors that reduce spillover and spread in North American's wildlife populations.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39232-0 | DOI Listing |
ACS Omega
December 2024
Experiment Research Center, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, PR China.
Invasive meningococcal disease, caused by (), is a critical global health issue, necessitating swift and precise diagnostics for effective management and control. Here, we introduce a novel diagnostic assay, NM-RT-MCDA, that combines multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) with real-time fluorescence detection, targeting a specific gene region in the genome. The assay utilizes a primer set designed for high specificity and incorporates a fluorophore-quencher pair with a restriction endonuclease site for real-time monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroPubl Biol
December 2024
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
Tall fescue ( ) is a widely adopted forage and turf grass. This is partly due to a fungal endophyte, which confers both abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. Although PCR primers exist to test for endophyte presence, these were not designed to quantitatively analyze the amount of fungus in the plant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirus Res
December 2024
UK Health Security Agency, Science Group, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK; Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Institute of Infection and Veterinary and Ecological Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the most prevalent tick-borne viral disease in Europe and Asia. There are three main subtypes of the virus: European, Siberian, and Far Eastern, each of which having distinctive ecology, clinical presentation, and geographic distribution. In recent years, other TBEV subtypes have been described, namely the Himalayan and Baikalian subtypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFForensic Sci Int
December 2024
Department of Legal Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Japan.
We developed a novel next-generation sequencing-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping method for second- and third-degree kinship analysis, and designed 1144- and 2045-SNP panels using one (Set A) and two sets (Sets A and B) of primers. These SNP loci were analyzed in 120 Japanese individuals, and likelihood ratios (LRs) for kinship discrimination were calculated to evaluate the effect of number of SNP loci in simulated analysis. Likelihood evaluation was performed using DNA profiles from two individuals, namely, the unknown and one reference relative.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Infect Dis
December 2024
Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology and Experimental Pathology, LR16IPT04, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, LR16IPT04, Tunisia.
Background: The COVID-19 has put emphasis on pivotal needs for diagnosis and surveillance worldwide, with the subsequent shortage of diagnostic reagents and kits. Therefore, it has become strategic for the countries to access diagnostics, expand testing capacity, and develop their own diagnostic capabilities and alternative rapid accurate nucleic acid diagnostics that are at lower costs. Here, we propose a visual SARS-CoV-2 detection using a one-step fast multiplex reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) amplification coupled to lateral flow immunoassay detection on a PCRD device (Abingdon Health, UK).
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