- JMM Profile: Japanese encephalitis virus: an emerging threat. [Journal Article]J Med Microbiol. 2022 Dec; 71(12)JM
- Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection that occurs predominantly in Asia and the Pacific Islands. It is transmitted by mosquito bites, with the main vector being Culex tritaeniorhynchus, and is maintained in enzootic cycles involving pigs, wild birds and mosquitoes. JE is caused by infection with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a zoonotic pathogen that also causes disease in mammals such a…
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- Phenotypic effects of mutations observed in the neuraminidase of human origin H5N1 influenza A viruses. [Journal Article]PLoS Pathog. 2023 Feb 06; 19(2):e1011135.PP
- Global spread and regional endemicity of H5Nx Goose/Guangdong avian influenza viruses (AIV) pose a continuous threat for poultry production and zoonotic, potentially pre-pandemic, transmission to humans. Little is known about the role of mutations in the viral neuraminidase (NA) that accompanied bird-to-human transmission to support AIV infection of mammals. Here, after detailed analysis of the N…
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- Evolution and mammalian adaptation of H3 and H10 subtype avian influenza viruses in wild birds in Yancheng Wetland of China. [Journal Article]Vet Microbiol. 2023 Jan 23; 279:109669.VM
- Wild birds play a critical role in avian influenza virus (AIV) ecology and some outbreaks of avian influenza in human originate from wild birds, suggesting that epidemiological surveillance and interspecies-transmission analysis of AIVs in wild birds are critical. Since 2019, we have performed sampling in Yancheng Wetland along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Totally, 2054 fecal swabs were co…
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- Bird flu spread between mink is a 'warning bell'. [News]Science. 2023 01 27; 379(6630):316-317.Sci
- Big outbreak at a Spanish farm reignites fears of an H5N1 influenza pandemic.
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- Avian influenza overview September - December 2022. [Journal Article]EFSA J. 2023 Jan; 21(1):e07786.EJ
- Between October 2021 and September 2022 Europe has suffered the most devastating highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epidemic with a total of 2,520 outbreaks in poultry, 227 outbreaks in captive birds, and 3,867 HPAI virus detections in wild birds. The unprecedent geographical extent (37 European countries affected) resulted in 50 million birds culled in affected establishments. In the curre…
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- Bird flu outbreak in mink sparks concern about spread in people. [News]Nature. 2023 Feb; 614(7946):17.Nat
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- Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in farmed minks, Spain, October 2022. [Journal Article]
- In October 2022, an outbreak in Europe of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) in intensively farmed minks occurred in northwest Spain. A single mink farm hosting more than 50,000 minks was involved. The identified viruses belong to clade 2.3.4.4b, which is responsible of the ongoing epizootic in Europe. An uncommon mutation (T271A) in the PB2 gene with potential public health implica…
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- Kinetics and magnitude of viral RNA shedding as indicators for Influenza A virus transmissibility in ferrets. [Journal Article]
- The ferret transmission model is routinely used to evaluate the pandemic potential of newly emerging influenza A viruses. However, concurrent measurement of viral load in the air is typically not a component of such studies. To address this knowledge gap, we measured the levels of virus in ferret nasal washes as well as viral RNA emitted into the air for 14 diverse influenza viruses, encompassing…
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- The swan genome and transcriptome, it is not all black and white. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data suggest that the immune system of the black swan is such that should any avian viral infection become established in its native habitat, the black swan would be in a significant peril.
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- Clade 2.3.4.4b H5N8 Subtype Avian Influenza Viruses Were Identified from the Common Crane Wintering in Yunnan Province, China. [Journal Article]
- The seasonal migration of wild aquatic birds plays a critical role in the maintenance, transmission, and incursion of the avian influenza virus (AIV). AIV surveillance was performed during 2020-2021 in two national nature reserves with abundant wild bird resources in Yunnan, China. Four H5N8 AIVs isolates from the common crane were identified by next-generation sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis d…
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- Three Cases of Atypical Pneumonia with Chlamydia psittaci: The Role of Laboratory Vigilance in the Diagnosis of Psittacosis. [Case Reports]
- Chlamydia psittaci is an established zoonotic agent causing respiratory disease in humans. An infection often remains asymptomatic but can also result in flu-like illness, pneumonia or even multi-organ failure. This paper describes three patients, hospitalised at AZ Sint-Lucas Hospital, with atypical pneumonia who were diagnosed with C. psittaci after an in-depth anamnesis and laboratory investig…
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- Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Clade 2.3.4.4b in Wild Birds and Live Bird Markets, Egypt. [Journal Article]
- Clade 2.3.4.4 H5Nx influenza viruses have further diversified into several subclades. Sub-clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 viruses have been widely circulating in wild birds and detected in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America since October 2020. In this study, we report the first detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b viruses in wild birds and domestic ducks from live bird mark…
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- Avian flu threatens Neotropical birds. [Letter]Science. 2023 01 20; 379(6629):246.Sci
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- Avian Influenza A Virus Polymerase Can Utilize Human ANP32 Proteins To Support cRNA but Not vRNA Synthesis. [Journal Article]mBio. 2023 Jan 16 [Online ahead of print]MBIO
- Host restriction limits the emergence of novel pandemic strains from the influenza A virus avian reservoir. For efficient replication in mammalian cells, the avian influenza RNA-dependent RNA polymerase must adapt to use human orthologues of the host factor ANP32, which lack a 33-amino-acid insertion relative to avian ANP32A. Here, we find that influenza polymerase requires ANP32 proteins to supp…
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- Attenuation of Avian Flavivirus by Rewiring the Leucine and Serine Codons of Its E-NS1 Protein toward Stop Mutation To Redirect Virus Evolution. [Journal Article]Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Jan 10 [Online ahead of print]MS
- Recently, a new strategy for attenuating RNA viruses by redirecting their evolution in sequence space was confirmed for Enterovirus and Influenza viruses. Using avian flavivirus as a model, the 69 serine and 53 leucine codons on the E-NS1 genes were modified to change evolutionary direction of the viral sequence space. This means that all codons encoding serine or leucine residues were substitute…
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- Safety and Immunogenicity of a monovalent inactivated influenza A/H5N8 virus vaccine given with and without AS03 or MF59 adjuvants in healthy adults. [Journal Article]Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Jan 05 [Online ahead of print]CI
- CONCLUSIONS: AS03 or MF59-adjuvanted H5N8 IIV generated strong immunogenic responses following two doses. There was poor cross-reactivity for the three antigenically drifted H5N1 strains tested.
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- Safety and Immunogenicity of Influenza A/H5N8 Virus Vaccine in Healthy Adults: Durability and Cross-reactivity of Antibody Responses. [Journal Article]Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Jan 05 [Online ahead of print]CI
- CONCLUSIONS: Two doses of influenza A/H5N8 vaccine were well-tolerated. Immunogenicity improved with receipt of two doses of adjuvanted vaccine and higher antigen content. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
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- Influenza A viruses circulating in dogs: A review of the scientific literature. [Review]
- Influenza A viruses (IAV) cause persistent epidemics and occasional human pandemics, leading to considerable economic losses. The ecology and epidemiology of IAV are very complex and the emergence of novel zoonotic pathogens is one of the greatest challenges in the healthcare. IAV are characterized by genetic and antigenic variability resulting from a combination of high mutation rates and a segm…
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- The evolution, characterization and phylogeography of avian influenza H9N2 viruses from India. [Journal Article]Virology. 2023 Feb; 579:9-28.V
- The low pathogenic avian influenza H9N2 virus is a significant zoonotic agent and contributes genes to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses. H9N2 viruses are prevalent in India with a reported human case. We elucidate the spatio-temporal origins of the H9N2 viruses from India. A total of 30H9N2 viruses were isolated from poultry and environmental specimens (years 2015-2020). Genome se…
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- Flavivirus proteases: The viral Achilles heel to prevent future pandemics. [Review]Antiviral Res. 2023 Feb; 210:105516.AR
- Flaviviruses are important human pathogens and include dengue (DENV), West Nile (WNV), Yellow fever virus (YFV), Japanese encephalitis (JEV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). DENV, transmitted by mosquitoes, causes diseases ranging in severity from mild dengue fever with non-specific flu-like symptoms to fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. DENV infections are caused by four serotypes, …
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- Containment and conversion: Urban livelihoods and the circulation of value amid South Africa's avian influenza outbreak. [Journal Article]
- In South Africa the racialized contours of economic life powerfully shape the distribution of who owns poultry enterprises, who is employed to labor in them, who consumes poultry products, and in which way. When, in late 2017, an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) decimated the South African poultry sector, it revealed the ontological transformations of industrial egg-laying pou…
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- Human Immunity and Susceptibility to Influenza A(H3) Viruses of Avian, Equine, and Swine Origin. [Journal Article]
- Influenza A viruses (IAVs) of subtype H3 that infect humans are antigenically divergent from those of birds, horses, and swine. Human immunity against these viruses might be limited, implying potential pandemic risk. To determine human risk, we selected 4 avian, 1 equine, and 3 swine IAVs representing major H3 lineages. We tested serum collected during 2017-2018 from 286 persons in Belgium for he…
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- Detection of Clade 2.3.4.4b Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Virus in Cambodia, 2021. [Journal Article]
- In late 2021, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses were detected in domestic ducks in poultry markets in Cambodia. Surveillance, biosafety, and biosecurity efforts should be bolstered along the poultry value chain to limit spread and infection risk at the animal-human interface.
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- NS2 is a key determinant of compatibility in reassortant avian influenza virus with heterologous H7N9-derived NS segment. [Journal Article]Virus Res. 2023 Jan 15; 324:199028.VR
- Influenza A viruses are common pathogens with high prevalence worldwide and potential for pandemic spread. While influenza A infections typically elicit robust cellular innate immune responses, the non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antagonizes host anti-viral responses and is critical for efficient virus replication and virulence. The avian influenza virus (AIV) H7N9 initially emerged in China in 20…
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- Key amino acid position 272 in neuraminidase determines the replication and virulence of H5N6 avian influenza virus in mammals. [Journal Article]
- Avian influenza H5N6 virus not only wreaks economic havoc in the poultry industry but also threatens human health. Strikingly, as of August 2022, 78 human beings were infected with H5N6, and the spike in the number of human infections with H5N6 occurred during 2021. In the life cycle of influenza virus, neuraminidase (NA) has numerous functions, especially viral budding and replication. Here, we …
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- FLU-LISA (fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay): high-throughput antibody profiling using antigen microarrays. [Journal Article]Immunol Cell Biol. 2022 Dec 25 [Online ahead of print]IC
- Vaccination and natural infection both elicit potent humoral responses that provide protection from subsequent infections. The immune history of an individual following such exposures is in part encoded by antibodies. While there are multiple immunoassays for measuring antibody responses, the majority of these methods measure responses to a single antigen. A commonly used method for measuring ant…
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- Antigenic Characterization of Human Monoclonal Antibodies for Therapeutic Use against H7N9 Avian Influenza Virus. [Journal Article]
- Since 2013, H7N9 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) have caused more than 1,500 human infections and the culling of millions of poultry. Despite large-scale poultry vaccination, H7N9 AIVs continue to circulate among poultry in China and pose a threat to human health. Previously, we isolated and generated four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) derived from humans naturally infected with H7N9 AIV. Here, we …
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- Nucleoside-Modified mRNA-Based Influenza Vaccines Circumvent Problems Associated with H3N2 Vaccine Strain Egg Adaptation. [Journal Article]
- Most human influenza vaccine antigens are produced in fertilized chicken eggs. Recent H3N2 egg-based vaccine antigens have limited effectiveness, partially due to egg-adaptive substitutions that alter the antigenicity of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein. The nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP) vaccine platform is a promising alternative for egg-based influenza va…
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- 'Tentative hope' that worst is over for avian flu. [News]Vet Rec. 2022 Dec; 191(12):478.VR
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- Persistent renal replacement requirement following fulminant psittacosis infection in pregnancy. [Case Reports]BMJ Case Rep. 2022 Dec 13; 15(12)BC
- Chlamydia psittaci is a zoonotic bacterial infection that most commonly causes mild flu-like symptoms in humans. However, in pregnancy, it can present as fulminant psittacosis associated with systemic illness, disseminated intravascular coagulation, renal and hepatic failure. We describe a case of a veterinary nurse in her 30s who presented at 32 weeks' gestation with rapidly progressive multiorg…
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