Volume 03 · Issue 03 · 2021

In China, brucellosis has spread from the northern provinces to the southern coastal area, and Brucella melitensis has become the overwhelmingly dominant species nationwide. Although human Brucellosis cases have been reported in many parts of Hainan Province, investigations into the source of infection have been rare. In this case, we have used the techniques of bacteriology, genome sequencing, and WGS-SNP to investigate the source of infection on a patient with a traveling history between Hainan and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions. We collected a 5mL blood sample under sterile conditions from this suspected case of Brucellosis infection and incubated it in a culture bottle. A week later, Brucella colonies were purified and identified under the standard bacteriology procedures to show that the strain appeared as B. melitensis bv. 3. Subsequently, a draft genome sequencing of this strain was obtained. A WGS-SNP comparison analysis of Chinese B. melitensis selected (n = 36) from GenBank revealed that the strain in this study was more similar to the strains isolated from China's northern parts, especially those from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. These data indicated that the source of infection of the patient was in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, but the actual location where this patient became infected was unclear. We suggest that travelers from the southern part of China be cautious when visiting the traditional endemic areas of Brucellosis.

Genomoviridae is a virus family belonging to circular replication associated protein encoding ssDNA (CRESS-DNA) viruses, which have diverse genomic architecture and are widely distributed among different ecosystems. In this study, we characterized 39 novel genomovirus genomes including 3 from wild egrets, 9 from wild cranes, as well as 27 from wild finches in three different types of cloacal swabs of wild bird sampled in the station of Xinqing bird ringing, Maoershan Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province, Changbai Mountain in Jilin Province, and Hangzhou Wetland Park in Zhejiang Province, China. Here, using a Rep sequence phylogeny-based analysis, we divided the 39 genomoviruses into 8 genera within the family Genomoviridae, including Gemycircularvirus (n =20), Gemykibivirus (n =3), Gemygorvirus (n =2), Gemyvongvirus (n =2), Gemykolovirus (n =3), Gemykrogvirus (n =6), Gemytondvirus (n=1), Gemyduguivirus (n=1) and one unclassified genomovirus. The 39 genomovirus genomes belong to 36 species (27 of which are new) based on the currently accepted genomovirus pairwise nucleotide sequence identity species demarcation threshold of 78%. Overall, the research enriches our knowledge of CRESS-DNA viral diversity in China and emphasizes the prevalence of genomoviruses in nature.

Globally, rabies remains a serious threat to public health. In particular, large number of cases continue to be detected in Africa and Asia. China has experienced three major outbreaks with the current epizootic starting in 1990s, peaking in 2007 with 3,300 cases, and consistently decreasing since this point. A key factor of the success in keeping the rabies outbreak under control is the National Public Health Reporting Program that was introduced to coordinate surveillance at provincial and regional levels. Through this program, it is possible to obtain an integrated overview of how rabies was spreading and how various factors were contributing to the outbreak. At the same time, samples have been collected from suspected rabies cases and a subset of positive samples selected for sequencing. In this way, it is possible to investigate the outbreak from a phylogenetic perspective, providing the comprehensive description of a rabies outbreak to date. In this work, we review rabies control efforts over the last 20 years, and show how this integrated approach has led to a deeper characterization of the outbreak and a better understanding of the factors driving the spread of the disease.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the third coronavirus outbreak in the last two decades. Emerging and re-emerging infections like COVID-19 pose serious challenges of the paucity of information and lack of specific cure or vaccines. This leaves utilisation of existing scientific data on related viral infections and repurposing relevant aetiologic and supportive therapies as the best control approach while novel strategies are developed and trialled. Many promising antiviral agents including lopinavir, ritonavir, remdesivir, umifenovir, darunavir, and oseltamivir have been repurposed and are currently trialled for the care for COVID-19 patients. Adjunct therapies for the management of symptoms and to provide support especially in severe and critically ill patients have also been identified. This review provides an appraisal of the current evidence for the rational use of frontline therapeutics in the management of COVID-19. It also includes updates regarding COVID-19 immunotherapy and vaccine development.

Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is a recently discovered coronavirus that causes severe and acute diarrhea and rapid weight loss in piglets. SADS-CoV was reported to be capable of infecting cell lines derived from diverse species, including bats, mice, hamsters, rats, chickens, pigs, nonhuman primates, and humans, implying its high risk of cross-species infection. However, its receptor is still unknown. In this study, the receptor-binding domain of the SADS-CoV spike (S) protein was purified and then subjected to affinity purification (AP)-coupled mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic analysis to identify the interactors of the SADS-CoV S protein. Forty-three host proteins were identified, and a Gene Ontology analysis indicated that these interactors can be grouped into categories such as "cell-cell adhesion" , "translation" "viral transcription" , suggesting that these processes may participate in the SADS-CoV life cycles. RNA interference-based screening of these interactors indicated that PPIB and vimentin can affect SADS-CoV replication. Our study provides an overarching view into the host interactome of the SADS-CoV S protein and highlights potential targets for the development of therapeutics against SADS-CoV.

The crude case fatality rate (CFR), because of the calculation method, is the most accurate when the pandemic is over since there is a possibility of the delay between disease onset and outcomes. Adjusted crude CFR measures can better explain the pandemic situation by improving the CFR estimation. However, no study has thoroughly investigated the COVID-19 adjusted CFR of the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. This study estimated both survival interval and underreporting adjusted CFR of COVID-19 for these countries. Moreover, we assessed the crude CFR between genders and across age groups and observed the CFR changes due to the imposition of fees on COVID-19 tests in Bangladesh. Using the daily records up to October 9, we implemented a statistical method to remove the delay between disease onset and outcome bias, and due to asymptomatic or mild symptomatic cases, reporting rates lower than 50% (95% CI: 10%-50%) bias in crude CFR. We found that Afghanistan had the highest CFR, followed by Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Our estimated crude CFR varied from 3.708% to 0.290%, survival interval adjusted CFR varied from 3.767% to 0.296% and further underreporting adjusted CFR varied from 1.096% to 0.083%. Furthermore, the crude CFRs for men were significantly higher than that of women in Afghanistan (4.034% vs. 2.992%) and Bangladesh (1.739% vs. 1.337%) whereas the opposite was observed in Maldives (0.284% vs. 0.390%), Nepal (0.006% vs. 0.007%), and Pakistan (2.057% vs. 2.080%). Besides, older age groups had higher risks of death. Moreover, crude CFR increased from 1.261% to 1.572% after imposing the COVID-19 test fees in Bangladesh. Therefore, the authorities of countries with higher CFR should be looking for strategic counsel from the countries with lower CFR to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge to combat the pandemic. Moreover, caution is needed to report the CFR.

Patients with acute infectious respiratory illness may emit bio-aerosols containing pathogens to infect susceptible hosts, including other patients and healthcare workers. This study aimed to design the pediatric isolation (PI) bed and evaluate its purification effect on aerosols and microorganisms in the air in experiment rooms and verify the general wards' purification efficiency. The PI bed is connected to a purification device that surrounds the child's head to prevent contaminants' spread into the room. We test the purification effect of the PI bed in the experiment room and verified the purification effect of the PI bed in the hospital. The results showed that PI beds in the demonstration ward presented purifying effects on both smoke particulates and microorganisms like Staphylococcus albus (S. albus) and H1N1 virus. The Aerosol in the room in the hospital was then detected to validity the purification rate. Therefore, Isolation beds could be used in hospitals to reduce the risk of nosocomial infection to protect the health of doctors, patients, and visitors.

There are only a few case reports of Q fever caused by Coxiella burnetii in China, despite the nature as a ubiquitous zoonotic disease worldwide. In the northeast part of China, a 52-year-old male presented with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and sputum production, accompanied by headache, dizziness, chill, myalgia, and arthralgia. Chest computed tomography images showed pneumonia accompanied by bilateral scattered infiltrates and localized upper-lobe emphysema. The abnormal liver function was indicated by the increased levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Through high-throughput sequencing and molecular detection, Coxiella burnetii was positive in the patient's blood specimens. After treatment with moxifloxacin hydrochloride and vidarabine monophosphate for 12 days, the patient completely recovered. To our knowledge, this was the first reported case of Q fever with pneumonia and hepatitis in this country.