Science February 16, 2023 According to a team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, New York University) more zoonotic diseases originated in the United States than in any other country during the second half of the 20th century. Of the many agencies that govern food animal production, the US Department of Agriculture is the most important, but even it has no authority to regulate on-farm animal production. Each year, the US consumes an estimated 1 billion pounds of “game” . Yet, most hunter-harvested meat is not inspected, and no sanitary measures are required. The US is the largest importer […]
Tag Archives: Zoonotic diseases
U.S. unprepared for dangers posed by zoonotic diseases, new analysis concludes
Science Daily February 16, 2023 In October, the Biden administration released its National Biodefense Strategy (NBS-22), the first update since the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to a team of researcher in the US (Harvard University, New York University) although the document notes that one of the lessons of the pandemic is that threats originating anywhere are threats everywhere, it frames threats as largely external to the United States. NBS-22 focuses primarily on bioterrorism and laboratory accidents, neglecting threats posed by routine practices of animal use and production inside the United States. NBS-22 references zoonotic disease but assures readers that no […]
Nipah Virus–Another Threat From the World of Zoonotic Viruses
Frontiers in Microbiology January 25, 2022 The Nipah virus (NiV) belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family was reported in Malaysia in 1998/1999. According to the researchers in Poland due to its high mortality in humans, its zoonotic nature, the possibility of human-to-human transmission, and the lack of an available vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized Nipah virus as a global health problem. Depending on strain specificity, neurological symptoms and severe respiratory disorders are observed in NiV infection. In most confirmed cases of NiV epidemics, the appearance of the virus in humans was associated with the presence of various animal […]
Where will the next pandemic begin? The Amazon rainforest offers troubling clues
Phys.org November 22, 2021 According to the scientists the next pandemic is likely to emerge from a community as people demolish forest, they not only accelerate global warming but also dramatically increase their risk of exposure to disease. Lurking in mammals and birds are about 1.6 million viruses, some of which will be deadly when they leap to humans. Scientists say that disease hot zones are multiplying from Africa to South America, and that deforestation has already triggered a rise in infectious disease. Zoologists have traced about a third of all known outbreaks around the world to rapid land use […]
AI may predict the next virus to jump from animals to humans
Science Daily September 28, 2021 Researchers in the UK developed machine learning models that identify candidate zoonoses solely using signatures of host range encoded in viral genomes. Within a dataset of 861 viral species with known zoonotic status, their approach outperformed models based on the phylogenetic relatedness of viruses to known human-infecting viruses distinguishing high-risk viruses within families that contain a minority of human-infecting species. The model predictions suggested the existence of generalizable features of viral genomes that are independent of virus taxonomic relationships and that may preadapt viruses to infect humans. Their model reduced a second set of 645 […]
Researchers propose process to detect and contain emerging diseases
Science Daily December 18, 2020 To date, the main pre-emptive response to zoonotic diseases outbreaks has been extensive, cost-heavy efforts to document virus diversity in wildlife. To enable fast detection of new zoonotic disease outbreaks, an international team of researchers (USA – University of Arkansas, George Washington University, University of South Carolina, Kenya, Canada, France Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda) proposes a system of procuring and screening samples from hospital patients with fevers of unknown origin, analyzing samples from suspicious fatalities of unknown cause, testing blood serum in high-risk or sentinel groups and analyzing samples that have already been collected […]
Researchers developed a sequence analysis pipeline for virus discovery
Science Daily December 3, 2020 Researchers in Finland have developed a novel bioinformatics pipeline called Lazypipe for identifying viruses in host-associated or environmental samples. Previously they published two examples of novel and potentially zoonotic viral agents that were identified with Lazypipe from wild animals that can serve as vectors. A new ebolavirus was identified from feces and organ samples of Mops condylurus bats in Kenya, and a new tick-borne pathogen Alongshan virus from ticks in Northeast Europe. These examples demonstrate the efficacy of Lazypipe data analysis for NGS libraries with very different DNA/RNA backgrounds, ranging from mammalian tissues to pooled […]
New method adds and subtracts for sustainability’s true measure
Science Daily September 17, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (State University of Michigan, UC Merced) used a new integrated framework to guide socioeconomic-environmental interactions within and across adjacent or distant systems (SDG) synergy and trade-off analysis within and across systems, as influenced by cross-boundary tourism and wildlife translocations. The world’s terrestrial protected areas alone receive approximately 8 billion visits per year. Globally, more than 5000 animal species and 29,000 plant species are traded across country borders, and the wildlife trade has arguably contributed to zoonotic disease worldwide, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They synthesized 22 cases […]
Call for immunology to return to the wild
EurekAlert July 2, 2020 The viruses that cause COVID-19, AIDS, Ebola, and rabies – among others – all made the lethal jump from wildlife into humans. At the Australian Wild and Comparative Immunology (WACI) https://www.wacimmuno.com/ workshop researchers in Australia outline how integrating a more diverse set of species and environments could enhance the biomedical research cycle. The viruses that cause COVID-19, AIDS, Ebola, and rabies – among others – all made the lethal jump from wildlife into humans. Understanding how the immune system works in animals that live with coronaviruses in a natural environment, such as bats, can give us […]
K-State Infectious Disease Scientist Offers Road Map for Future COVID-19 Research
Global Biodefense May 23, 2020 Because of the rapid change of knowledge related to coronavirus, it is important to stress the importance of studying the ways that COVID-19 could spread between humans and animals. The scientists say that research should focus in several areas, including the potential for companion animals, such as cats and dogs, to carry the virus , the economic and food security effects if the virus can spread among livestock and poultry and national security areas, especially among service animals such as dogs that detect narcotics or explosives because COVID-19 is known to affect smell and cause […]