Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 2023

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 3971

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Guest Editor
Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, University of Montpellier. Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic and Emerging Infections (PCCEI), 60 Rue de Navacelles, 34394 Montpellier, CEDEX 5, France
Interests: pathogenesis and diagnosis of emerging viruses especially flaviviruses and neurotropic viruses
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zoonotic diseases account for at least 60% of all infectious diseases and no less than two-thirds of new emerging ones, which underlines the importance of monitoring them as early as possible. They can cause considerable economic losses each year, as recently illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the nature of the animal-to-human transmission of zoonotic diseases is a fundamental requirement for their effective anticipation and control. The changes in our environment caused mainly by human activity and the evolution of human–animal interactions are and will undoubtedly continue to be responsible for several new health crises. These crises will manifest in particular through an increase in the frequency and intensity of epidemics and epizootics. Therefore, the first two decades of the 21st century have so far been marked by the multiple emergence and re-emergence phenomena of viral diseases. Climate change and changes in ecosystems due to biodiversity loss and modifications in land use pose environmental threats to human and animal health.

In this Special Issue, we invite colleagues to submit their original research articles and scientific reviews to assemble a collection of papers highlighting critical advancements in our understanding of on all aspects of viral infection in emerging zoonotic diseases, including (but not restricted to) cellular, molecular, and immunological aspects of infection, cell–virus interactions, factors responsible for virulence, epidemiology, transmission, vector competence, diagnosis, outbreak investigation, and surveillance programs for emerging viruses.

Prof. Dr. Yannick Simonin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • emerging viruses
  • zoonoses
  • epidemiology
  • pathogenesis
  • cell–virus interaction
  • surveillance program
  • one health
  • innovative diagnosis

Published Papers (4 papers)

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18 pages, 1969 KiB  
Article
Label-Free Quantitative Analysis of Pig Liver Proteome after Hepatitis E Virus Infection
by Camillo Martino, Alessio Di Luca, Francesca Bennato, Andrea Ianni, Fabrizio Passamonti, Elisa Rampacci, Michael Henry, Paula Meleady and Giuseppe Martino
Viruses 2024, 16(3), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16030408 - 06 Mar 2024
Viewed by 858
Abstract
Hepatitis E represents an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the Hepatitis E virus (HEV), for which the main route of transmission is foodborne. In particular, infection in humans has been associated with the consumption of contaminated undercooked meat of pig origin. The aim [...] Read more.
Hepatitis E represents an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the Hepatitis E virus (HEV), for which the main route of transmission is foodborne. In particular, infection in humans has been associated with the consumption of contaminated undercooked meat of pig origin. The aim of this study was to apply comparative proteomics to determine if porcine liver protein profiles could be used to distinguish between pigs seropositive and seronegative for HEV. Preliminarily, an ELISA was used to evaluate the presence of anti-HEV antibodies in the blood serum of 136 animals sent to slaughter. Among the analyzed samples, a seroprevalence of 72.8% was estimated, and it was also possible to identify 10 animals, 5 positive and 5 negative, coming from the same farm. This condition created the basis for the quantitative proteomics comparison between homogeneous animals, in which only the contact with HEV should represent the discriminating factor. The analysis of the proteome in all samples of liver exudate led to the identification of 554 proteins differentially expressed between the two experimental groups, with 293 proteins having greater abundance in positive samples and 261 more represented in negative exudates. The pathway enrichment analysis allowed us to highlight the effect of the interaction between HEV and the host biological system in inducing the potential enrichment of 69 pathways. Among these, carbon metabolism stands out with the involvement of 41 proteins, which were subjected to interactomic analysis. This approach allowed us to focus our attention on three enzymes involved in glycolysis: glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and fructose-bisphosphate aldolase A (ALDOA). It therefore appears that infection with HEV induced a strengthening of the process, which involves the breakdown of glucose to obtain energy and carbon residues useful for the virus’s survival. In conclusion, the label-free LC-MS/MS approach showed effectiveness in highlighting the main differences induced on the porcine liver proteome by the interaction with HEV, providing crucial information in identifying a viral signature on the host metabolism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 2023)
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11 pages, 670 KiB  
Article
IDV Typer: An Automated Tool for Lineage Typing of Influenza D Viruses Based on Return Time Distribution
by Sanket Limaye, Anant Shelke, Mohan M. Kale, Urmila Kulkarni-Kale and Suresh V. Kuchipudi
Viruses 2024, 16(3), 373; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16030373 - 28 Feb 2024
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Abstract
Influenza D virus (IDV) is the most recent addition to the Orthomyxoviridae family and cattle serve as the primary reservoir. IDV has been implicated in Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC), and there is serological evidence of human infection of IDV. Evolutionary changes in [...] Read more.
Influenza D virus (IDV) is the most recent addition to the Orthomyxoviridae family and cattle serve as the primary reservoir. IDV has been implicated in Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC), and there is serological evidence of human infection of IDV. Evolutionary changes in the IDV genome have resulted in the expansion of genetic diversity and the emergence of multiple lineages that might expand the host tropism and potentially increase the pathogenicity to animals and humans. Therefore, there is an urgent need for automated, accurate and rapid typing tools for IDV lineage typing. Currently, IDV lineage typing is carried out using BLAST-based searches and alignment-based molecular phylogeny of the hemagglutinin-esterase fusion (HEF) gene sequences, and lineage is assigned to query sequences based on sequence similarity (BLAST search) and proximity to the reference lineages in the tree topology, respectively. To minimize human intervention and lineage typing time, we developed IDV Typer server, implementing alignment-free method based on return time distribution (RTD) of k-mers. Lineages are assigned using HEF gene sequences. The server performs with 100% sensitivity and specificity. The IDV Typer server is the first application of an RTD-based alignment-free method for typing animal viruses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 2023)
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12 pages, 1905 KiB  
Article
Synthetic Frog-Derived-like Peptides: A New Weapon against Emerging and Potential Zoonotic Viruses
by Annalisa Chianese, Valentina Iovane, Carla Zannella, Carla Capasso, Bianca Maria Nastri, Alessandra Monti, Nunzianna Doti, Serena Montagnaro, Ugo Pagnini, Giuseppe Iovane, Anna De Filippis and Massimiliano Galdiero
Viruses 2023, 15(9), 1804; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15091804 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 935
Abstract
Given the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), zoonoses have raised in the spotlight of the scientific community. Animals have a pivotal role not only for this infection, but also for many other recent emerging and re-emerging viral diseases, where they [...] Read more.
Given the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), zoonoses have raised in the spotlight of the scientific community. Animals have a pivotal role not only for this infection, but also for many other recent emerging and re-emerging viral diseases, where they may represent both intermediate hosts and/or vectors for zoonoses diffusion. Today, roughly two-thirds of human infections are derived from animal origins; therefore, the search for new broad-spectrum antiviral molecules is mandatory to prevent, control and eradicate future epidemic outbreaks. Host defense peptides, derived from skin secretions of amphibians, appear as the right alternative to common antimicrobial drugs. They are cationic peptides with an amphipathic nature widely described as antibacterial agents, but less is reported about their antiviral potential. In the present study, we evaluated the activity of five amphibian peptides, namely RV-23, AR-23, Hylin-a1, Deserticolin-1 and Hylaseptin-P1, against a wide panel of enveloped animal viruses. A strong virucidal effect was observed for RV-23, AR-23 and Hylin-a1 against bovine and caprine herpesviruses, canine distemper virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and Schmallenberg virus. Our results identified these three peptides as potential antiviral-led candidates with a putative therapeutic effect against several animal viruses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 2023)
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8 pages, 1182 KiB  
Brief Report
Hepatitis E Seroprevalence and Detection of Genotype 3 Strains in Domestic Pigs from Sierra Leone Collected in 2016 and 2017
by Roland Suluku, Juliet Jabaty, Kerstin Fischer, Sandra Diederich, Martin H. Groschup and Martin Eiden
Viruses 2024, 16(4), 558; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040558 - 03 Apr 2024
Viewed by 493
Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of acute hepatitis in humans worldwide and is responsible for a large number of outbreaks especially in Africa. Human infections are mainly caused by genotypes 1 and 2 of the genus Paslahepevirus, which are [...] Read more.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of acute hepatitis in humans worldwide and is responsible for a large number of outbreaks especially in Africa. Human infections are mainly caused by genotypes 1 and 2 of the genus Paslahepevirus, which are exclusively associated with humans. In contrast, viruses of genotypes 3 and 4 are zoonotic and have their main reservoir in domestic and wild pigs, from which they can be transmitted to humans primarily through the consumption of meat products. Both genotypes 3 and 4 are widespread in Europe, Asia, and North America and lead to sporadic cases of hepatitis E. However, there is little information available on the prevalence of these genotypes and possible transmission routes from animal reservoirs to humans in African countries. We therefore analysed 1086 pig sera collected in 2016/2017 in four districts in Sierra Leone for antibodies against HEV using a newly designed in-house ELISA. In addition, the samples were also analysed for HEV RNA by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The overall seroprevalence in Sierra Leone was low with only 44 positive sera and a prevalence of 4.0%. Two serum pools were RT-PCR-positive and recovered partial sequences clustered into the genotype 3 (HEV-3) of the order Paslahepevirus, species Paslahepevirus balayani. The results are the first evidence of HEV-3 infection in pigs from Sierra Leone and demonstrate a low circulation of the virus in these animals to date. Further studies should include an examination of humans, especially those with close contact with pigs and porcine products, as well as environmental sampling to evaluate public health effects within the framework of a One Health approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 2023)
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