Striped skunks (skunks) are susceptible to respiratory infection by influenza A viruses (IAV). As they are common synanthropes, maintenance of IAV in skunks could provide a source of infection for humans. We previously studied the nasal turbinates, lungs and faeces of 50 free-ranging skunks for the presence of IAV and identified two individuals with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection during the 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 flu seasons. Subsequent to publication of that study, ferrets were shown to preferentially replicate and harbour A(H1N1)pdm09 in the soft palate, a site which had not been investigated in the skunks. From March 2015 to May 2016, we surveyed a convenience sample of 80 free-ranging urban skunks for IAV in soft palate, nasal turbinates and lungs. The newly emergent influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 clade 6B.1 was detected at all three sites in one skunk with acute rhinitis in February 2016. Clade 6B.1 was the dominant clade in circulation during the 2015/2016 flu season. As the skunk was detected at the height of flu season, reverse zoonosis was considered the most probable source of infection.

Influenza A virus causes respiratory disease in both humans and animals. In this study, a survey of influenza A antibodies in domestic dogs and cats was conducted in 47 animal shelters in 19 provinces of Thailand from September 2011 to September 2014. One thousand and eleven serum samples were collected from 932 dogs and 79 cats. Serum samples were tested for influenza A antibodies using a multi-species competitive NP-ELISA and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. The NP-ELISA results showed that 0.97% (9/932) of dogs were positive, but all cat samples were negative. The HI test against pandemic H1N1, human H3N2 and canine H3N2 showed that 0.64% (6/932) and 1.20% (1/79) of dogs and cats were positive, respectively. It is noted that all six serum samples (5 dogs and 1 cat) had antibodies against pandemic H1N1. In summary, a serological survey revealed the evidence of pandemic H1N1 influenza exposure in both dogs and cats in the shelters in Thailand.

Antiviral drug was firstly reported regarding thiosemicarbazones developed for poxviruses in 1951. Then, human beings have been developed antiviral drugs using the latest technolo- gies including drug-design by computer, selection from huge compounds, antibodies and ge- nome editing. However, drug-resistant viruses always emerge because viruses are able to easily mutate. Although Favipiravir, which is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, became a hot topic by having antiviral activity to several viruses including ebolavirus, viral drug-resistance would have been appeared by mutation in chikungunya virus. In this paper, the herpesvirus, HIV and influenza virus were focused to introduce development of antiviral drugs and the mechanism for emergence of drug-resistance.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) came to the attention of the international sci- entific community for the first time in 1997 at Hong Kong. The current global spread of hu- man infection by this subtype started in 2003. Since then, many clinical case reports on H5N1 have been reported. In 2013, China WHO reported new avian influenza virus H7N9 infected to human. After 2013 season, H7N9 infection occurred seasonally in mainly China and total number of patients reached nearly one thousand in 2016 season. Clinically, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with avian influenza vi- rus infection is more severe than usual, which mortality rate reaches nearly 60%. A patholog- ical study of post-mortem biopsied lung tissues revealed that H5N1 infected alveolar epithe- lial cells and caused primary viral pneumonia, which subsequently developed into ARDS.

It is presumed that various changes of rapid increase of the human and material traffic with worldwide scale, environment, or a social situation have caused the infection showing emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. These infectious diseases as the emerging infectious diseases which were not seen until now and the re-emerging infectious diseases which have observed again have been increased. Emerging and re-emerging infections hap- pened by various factors, such as environmental destruction by the increase in a traveler or export and import, and a deforestation. Nowadays,we face to AIDS, Lassa fever, Ebola dis- ease, highly pathogenic avian influenza, haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, tuberculo- sis, enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection, Legionella infection, the Cryptosporidium infection, Zika virus infection, etc. are mentioned.

The effectiveness of rabies vaccination in both humans and animals is determined by the presence of virus neutralizing antibodies (VNAs). The Rapid Fluorescent Focus Inhibition Test (RFFIT) is the method traditionally used for detection and quantification of VNAs. It is a functional in vitro test for assessing the ability of antibodies in serum to bind and prevent infection of cultured cells with rabies virus (RABV). The RFFIT is a labor intensive, low throughput and semi-quantitative assay performed by trained laboratorians. It requires staining of RABV-infected cells by rabies specific fluorescent antibodies and manual quantification of fluorescent fields for titer determination. Although the quantification of fluorescent fields observed in each sample is recorded, the corresponding images are not stored or captured to be used for future analysis. To circumvent several of these disadvantages, we have developed an alternative, automated high throughput neutralization test (HTNT) for determination of rabies VNAs based on green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression by a recombinant RABV and compared with the RFFIT. The HTNT assay utilizes the recombinant RABV ERA variant expressing GFP with a nuclear localization signal (NLS) for efficient quantification. The HTNT is a quantitative method where the number of RABV-infected cells are determined and the images are stored for future analysis. Both RFFIT and HTNT results correlated 100% for a panel of human and animal positive and negative rabies serum samples. Although, the VNA titer values are generally agreeable, HTNT titers tend to be lower than that of RFFIT, probably due to the differences in quantification methods. Our data demonstrates the potential for HTNT assays in determination of rabies VNA titers.

Influenza is a communicable disease with most of the mortality burden falling on high-risk populations and those with pre-existing comorbidities and chronic diseases. In South Korea, adults aged 50-64 years are recommended for influenza vaccination, but no government financial support is offered to encourage vaccination uptake, which has led to suboptimal vaccination rates and significant public health concerns. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting influenza vaccine uptake in adults aged 50-64 years and to compare high-risk and non-high-risk groups. We conducted randomized telephone questionnaires in South Korea on influenza vaccination-related behavioural factors in adults aged 50-64 years based on their vaccination history during the 2015-2016 flu season. The vaccination rate was 29.9% in non-high-risk adults aged 50-64 years and 41.3% in high-risk adults aged 50-64 years, which is considerably lower than the 81.7% rate in adults aged ≥65 years. Individuals who reported awareness of the potential severity of influenza, the importance and safety of vaccination, and who had experienced influenza after immunization or received a healthcare recommendation reported higher influenza vaccination rates. Therefore, highlighting awareness of influenza disease and vaccination through public campaigns and by information from healthcare professionals could represent opportunities to improve vaccination uptake in this population.

Respiratory infections, especially those of the lower respiratory tract, remain a foremost cause of mortality and morbidity of children greater than 5 years in developing countries including Pakistan. Ignoring these acute-level infections may lead to complications. Particularly in Pakistan, respiratory infections account for 20% to 30% of all deaths of children. Even though these infections are common, insufficiency of accessible data hinders development of a comprehensive summary of the problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence rate in various regions of Pakistan and also to recognize the existing viral strains responsible for viral respiratory infections through published data. Respiratory viruses are detected more frequently among rural dwellers in Pakistan. Lower tract infections are found to be more lethal. The associated pathogens comprise respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), coronavirus, enterovirus/rhinovirus, influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, and human bocavirus. RSV is more dominant and can be subtyped as RSV-A and RSV-B (BA-9, BA-10, and BA-13). Influenza A (H1N1, H5N1, H3N2, and H1N1pdm09) and Influenza B are common among the Pakistani population. Generally, these strains are detected in a seasonal pattern with a high incidence during spring and winter time. The data presented include pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and influenza. This paper aims to emphasise the need for standard methods to record the incidence and etiology of associated pathogens in order to provide effective treatment against viral infections of the respiratory tract and to reduce death rates.

Influenza A annually infects 5-10% of the world's human population resulting in one million deaths. Influenza causes annual epidemics and re-infects previously exposed individuals because of antigenic drift in the glycoprotein hemagglutinin. Due to antigenic drift, the immune system is simultaneously exposed to novel and conserved parts of the influenza virus via vaccination and/or infection throughout life. Preexisting immunity has long been known to augment subsequent hemagglutination inhibitory antibody (hAb) responses. However, the preexisting immunological contributors that influence hAb responses are not understood. Therefore, we adapted and developed sequential infection and immunization mouse models using drifted influenza strains to show that MHC Class II haplotype and T cell reactivity influences subsequent hAb responses. We found that CB6F1 mice infected with A/CA followed by immunization with A/PR8 have increased hAb responses to A/PR8 compared to C57BL/6 mice. Increased hAb responses in CB6F1 mice were CD4+  T cell and B cell dependent and corresponded to increased germinal center A/PR8-specific B and T follicular helper cells.   These results suggest conserved MHC Class II restricted epitopes within HA are essential for B cells to respond to drifting influenza and could be leveraged to boost hAb responses. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.