Assessment and sero-diagnosis for coronaviruses with risk of human spillover.

Zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs) caused major human outbreaks in the last two decades. One of the biggest challenges during future CoV disease is ensuring rapid detection and diagnosis at the early phase of a zoonotic event, and active surveillance to the zoonotic high-risk CoVs appears the best way at the present time to provide early warnings. However, there is neither an evaluation of spillover potential nor diagnosis tools for the majority of CoVs. Here, we analyzed the viral traits, including population, genetic diversity, receptor and host species for all 40 alpha- and beta-CoV species, where the human-infecting CoVs are from. Our analysis proposed 20 high-risk CoV species, including 6 of which jumped to human, 3 with evidence of spillover but not to human and 11 without evidence of spillover yet, which prediction were further supported by an analysis of the history of CoV zoonosis. We also found three major zoonotic sources: multiple bat-origin CoV species, the rodent-origin sub-genus Embecovirus and the CoV species AlphaCoV1. Moreover, the Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae bats harbour a significantly higher proportion of human-threatening CoV species, whereas camel, civet, swine and pangolin could be important intermediate hosts during CoV zoonotic transmission. Finally, we established quick and sensitive serologic tools for a list of proposed high-risk CoVs and validated the methods in serum cross-reaction assays using hyper-immune rabbit sera or clinical samples. By comprehensive risk assessment of the potential human-infecting CoVs, our work provides a theoretical or practical basis for future CoV disease preparedness.

Longitudinal assessment of anxiety and depression symptoms in U.S. adolescents across six months of the coronavirus pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to describe anxiety and depression symptoms at two timepoints during the coronavirus pandemic and evaluate demographic predictors. METHODS: U.S. high school students 13-19 years old completed a self-report online survey in May 2020 and November 2020-January 2021. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric Depression and Anxiety short forms queried depression and anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 694 participants (87% White, 67% female, 16.2 ± 1.1 years). Nearly 40% of participants reported a pre-pandemic depression diagnosis and 49% reported a pre-pandemic anxiety diagnosis. Negative affect, defined as both moderate to severe depression and anxiety PROMIS scores, was found in ~ 45% of participants at both timepoints. Female and other gender identities and higher community distress score were associated with more depression and anxiety symptoms. Depression symptoms T-score decreased slightly (- 1.3, p-value ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSION: Adolescent mental health screening and treatment should be a priority as the pandemic continues to impact the lives of youth.

Isolation and oral immunogenicity assessment of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus NH-TA2020 strain: One of the predominant strains circulating in China from 2017 to 2021.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) caused by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is one of the most devastating diseases in the global pig industry due to its high mortality rate in piglets. Maternal vaccines can effectively enhance the gut-mammary gland-secretory IgA axis to boost lactogenic immunity and passive protection of nursing piglets against PEDV challenge. From 2017 to 2021, we collected 882 diarrhea samples from 303 farms in China to investigate the epidemiology of PEDV. The result showed that about 52.15% (158/303) of the farms were positive for PEDV with an overall detection rate of 63.95% (564/882) of the samples. The S1 fragments of S gene from 104 strains were sequenced for the phylogenetic analysis. A total of 71 PEDV strains (68.27%) sequenced in this study were clustered into the predominant G2c subgroup, while the newly-defined G2d strains (9.62%) were identified in three provinces of China. The NH-TA2020 strain of G2c subgroup was isolated and cultured, and its infection to piglets caused watery diarrhea within 24 â€‹h, indicating its strong pathogenicity. Oral administration of NH-TA2020 strain to pregnant gilts stimulated high levels of IgA antibody in colostrum. The piglets fed by the gilts above were challenged with NH-TA2020 strain or CH-HeB-RY-2020 strain from G2d subgroup, and the clinical symptoms and virus shedding were significantly reduced compared to the mock group. Our findings suggest that G2c subgroup is the predominant branch circulating in China from 2017 to 2021. Oral administration of NH-TA2020 enhances maternal IgA and lactogenic immune responses, which confer protection against the homologous and emerging G2d PEDV strains challenges in neonates.

The Pandemic and Beyond: Innovation in Cardiovascular Training to Improve Quality of Education and Trainees' Well-being.

During the first 2 years of the coronavirus-19 pandemic, many changes and innovations occurred to overcome the challenges associated with the pandemic and improve cardiovascular training. This review highlights the literature on the pandemic response regarding cardiovascular fellowship education and identifies areas of need to ensure future opportunities for fellows to achieve competency and career advancement. Specifically, we describe the recent changes to the four cornerstones of cardiovascular training: core content education, procedural training, career development, and the well-being of trainees.

Modelling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on bowel cancer screening outcomes in England: A decision analysis to prepare for future screening disruption.

The English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme invites people between the ages of 60 and 74 to take a Faecal Immunochemical Test every two years. This programme was interrupted during the coronavirus pandemic. The research aimed: (1) to estimate the impact of colorectal cancer (CRC) Faecal Immunochemical Test screening pauses of different lengths and the actual coronavirus-related screening pause in England, and (2) to analyse the most effective and cost-effective strategies to re-start CRC screening to prepare for future disruptions. The analysis used the validated Microsimulation Model in Cancer of the Bowel built in the R programming language. The model simulated the life course of a representative English screening population from 2019, by age, sex, socio-economic deprivation, and prior screening history. The modelling scenarios were based on assumptions and data from screening centres in England. Pausing bowel screening in England due to coronavirus pandemic is predicted to increase CRC deaths by 0.73% within 10 years and 0.13% over the population's lifetime, with excess deaths due to peak in 2023. More deaths are expected in men and people aged over 70. Pausing screening for longer would result in greater additional CRC cases and deaths. Postponing screening for everyone would be the most cost-effective strategy to minimise the impact of screening disruption without any additional endoscopy capacity. If endoscopy capacity can be increased, temporarily raising the Faecal Immunochemical Test threshold to 190 µg/g may help to minimise CRC deaths, particularly if screening programmes start from age 50 in the future.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea: Causative Agent, Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics, and Treatment Strategy Targeting Main Protease.

AIMS: This aimed to study the causative agent, epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment strategy targeting the main protease in porcine epidemic diarrhea. BACKGROUND: Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is a contagious intestinal viral infection causing severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration in pigs. High rates of mortalities and severe morbidities, approaching 100%, are reported in piglets infected with PEDV. In recent years, PED has been observed to influence the swine-farming nations in Europe, Asia, the USA, South Korea, and Canada. The PED virus (PEDV) transmission takes place through a faecal-oral route. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to review the characteristics of PEDV and its role in the disease. In addition, we aim to outline some possible methods to combat PED infection, including targeting the main protease of coronavirus and their future perspectives. METHODS: This study is a review of literature on the PED virus. RESULTS: Apart from symptomatic treatment and supportive care, there is no available specific treatment for PEDV. Appropriate disinfectants and cleaning are pivotal for the control of PEDV. To date, apart from anti-PEDV inhibitors, there are no specific drugs available commercially to treat the disease. Therefore, 3C-like protease (3CLpro) in PEDV that has highly conserved structure and catalytic mechanism serves as an alluring drug as it plays a vital role during viral polyprotein processing at the time of infection. CONCLUSION: A well synchronized and collective effort of scientists, swine veterinarians, pork industry experts, and associated authorities is essential for the accomplishment of proper execution of these required measures.

COVID-19 y salas de análisis del riesgo en salud pública en cuatro departamentos fronterizos de Colombia / COVID-19 and risk assessment room for public health in four Colombian crossborder territories

Introducción. La gestión del riesgo de salud pública en Colombia es liderada por el Instituto Nacional de Salud. Ante la emergencia de la COVID-19, se articularon acciones de respuesta mediante salas de análisis del riesgo y se fortaleció la vigilancia en los puntos de entrada al país. Objetivo. Analizar las fases de implementación y mantenimiento de las salas de análisis del riesgo de COVID-19 en cuatro departamentos fronterizos de Colombia. Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un estudio cualitativo de salas de análisis del riesgo en salud pública para COVID-19. Se revisaron la documentación y los datos generados en el periodo de marzo a junio de 2020 en Amazonas, Vichada, Guainía y Putumayo, y se hicieron entrevistas semiestructuradas a personas clave, las cuales se analizaron con el aplicativo NVivo plus, versión 11, en tres ciclos: codificación abierta, establecimiento de categorías emergentes y modelación mediante el análisis de las debilidades y fortalezas detectadas. Resultados. Se determinaron los componentes de la estructura de comando de incidentes y las relaciones entre las áreas de salud pública. Se encontraron fortalezas en la integración de las áreas, el manejo de la información en tiempo real, la vigilancia en las fronteras y las capacidades de los equipos de respuesta inmediata. Se detectaron debilidades en los procesos de planeación, vigilancia comunitaria y comunicación del riesgo. Conclusiones. Las salas de análisis del riesgo constituyen un esfuerzo conjunto del nivel local y nacional que han promovido la participación articulada de los actores, para analizar la información y optimizar la respuesta organizada durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

Introduction: Public health risk management in Colombia is led by the Instituto Nacional de Salud. In the face of the COVID-19 emergency, response actions centered on the implementation of risk analysis rooms and the strengthening of surveillance at points of entry into the country. Objective: To analyze the implementation and maintenance phases of the COVID-19 risk analysis rooms in four border departments of Colombia. Materials and methods: We conducted a qualitative study of public health risk analysis rooms for COVID-19. We reviewed the documentation and data generated from March to June, 2020, in the departments of Amazonas, Vichada, Guainía, and Putumayo. We did semi-structured interviews with key actors and analyzed the answers using the NVivo plus version 11 application in three cycles: open coding, identification of emerging categories, and modeling by analyzing the identified strengths and weaknesses. Results: We identified the components of the incident command structure and the relationships between the public health areas. Strengths were evidenced in the integration of the areas: the management of information in real time, the border surveillance and the capabilities of rapid response teams, while weaknesses appeared in planning, community surveillance, and risk communication processes. Conclusions: Risk analysis rooms constitute a joint effort at the national and local levels which has promoted the articulated participation of all actors in the analysis of information and the optimization of an organized response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two novel human coronavirus OC43 genotypes circulating in hospitalized children with pneumonia in China.

HCoV-OC43 is one of the mildly pathogenic coronaviruses with high infection rates in common population. Here, 43 HCoV-OC43 related cases with pneumonia were reported, corresponding genomes of HCoV-OC43 were obtained. Phylogenetic analyses based on complete genome, orf1ab and spike genes revealed that two novel genotypes of HCoV-OC43 have emerged in China. Obvious recombinant events also can be detected in the analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of novel HCoV-OC43 genotypes. Estimated divergence time analysis indicated that the two novel genotypes had apparently independent evolutionary routes. Efforts should be conducted for further investigation of genomic diversity and evolution analysis of mildly pathogenic coronaviruses.

Effectiveness of Emergent Ad Hoc Coordination Groups in Public Health Emergencies.

Whether emergent groups positively or negatively influence a disaster response remains inconclusive in the literature. We analyzed the effect of an emergent group on two interorganizational networks for information communication and resource coordination during a public health emergency response. Using the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus in Korea as a study case, we identified an ad hoc entity that appeared in both networks. This emergent group, which consists of government officials and public health specialists, directed and coordinated organizations at the center of the response networks. We found that the emergent group positively contributed to efficient information communication but had no effect on the resource network's efficiency. Our interpretation is that the ad hoc entity was filling relational gaps in the information network, but was redundant in the resource network.

Survey Findings About the Experiences, Challenges, and Practical Advice/Solutions Regarding Teleneuropsychological Assessment in Adults.

OBJECTIVE: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, teleneuropsychology utilization has increased. There is a need to characterize the first-hand experiences of individuals using teleneuropsychology, identify the common teleneuropsychology challenges, and devise practical strategies for mitigating/resolving these challenges. METHOD: Survey data were collected from U.S. based neuropsychologists and other individuals (e.g., graduate students and research assistants) who were engaged in remote cognitive assessment with adults (n = 87). Frequency analyses were conducted to examine: how respondents used teleneuropsychology (e.g., duration of use, types of measures and devices/technology platforms used); challenges that were encountered with different technology platforms and teleneuropsychology use; and advice for navigating these challenges. RESULTS: Most respondents began using teleneuropsychology relatively recently in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, with home-to-home or clinic-to-home settings being the most frequently reported teleneuropsychology settings. Zoom®, Doxy.Me®, and MyChart® were the most frequently used platforms, largely due to workplace mandates and/or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant features. Common challenges with teleneuropsychology included internet connection issues and environmental distractions in examinees' homes, and examinees having limited-to-no access to technologies requisite for teleneuropsychology. Providing clear instructions to the examinee prior to the teleneuropsychology visit was the most common advice for ensuring a successful teleneuropsychology evaluation. Similar response patterns were generally noted for those who used TeleNP for clinical or research purposes. CONCLUSIONS: These survey results reflect common experiences and challenges with teleneuropsychology and identify priority targets for increasing its feasibility, reliability, and validity. Findings provide context for the development of formal teleneuropsychology competencies.

Uso de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones para el autoaprendizaje en estudiantes de ciencias médicas durante la pandemia de COVID-19 / Use of information and communication technologies for self-learning among medical sciences students during the COVID-19 pandemic

La actual situación, resultado de la COVID-19, ha provocado la necesidad de reorganizar el proceso docente-educativo en la enseñanza médica, orientándola hacia la virtualidad. Esta investigación se propuso como objetivo caracterizar el uso de las tecnologías de la información y de las comunicaciones para el autoaprendizaje por estudiantes de ciencias médicas durante la COVID-19 en Cuba. Se desarrolló un estudio multicéntrico, observacional, descriptivo y transversal, en el mes de julio de 2020. La muestra estuvo constituida por 354 estudiantes, seleccionados mediante un muestreo tipo bola de nieve (snow ball). Para la recolección de la información, se empleó un formulario de Google Forms. Predominaron estudiantes del sexo femenino (53,67 por ciento) y de la carrera de medicina (67,23 por ciento). El 89,27 por ciento del total empleó teléfonos móviles para estudiar, y el 91,24 por ciento utilizó WhatsApp como principal medio de intercambio. El 95,76 por ciento manejó recursos disponibles en Infomed. El 11,86 por ciento refirió participar en cursos virtuales sobre la COVID-19 y el 11,29 por ciento, en algún evento científico de igual tipo, relacionado con la pandemia. Se confirmó el uso de las tecnologías de la información y de las comunicaciones por los estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud en Cuba, con aprovechamiento de los recursos disponibles en la red Infomed; ello permitió continuar con el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, a pesar de las limitaciones impuestas por la COVID-19. El uso de teléfonos inteligentes y de las redes sociales también fue favorable(AU)

The current situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the need to gear the medical education teaching-learning process toward virtuality. This study aimed to characterize the use of information and communication technologies for self-learning among medical sciences students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba. A multicenter cross-sectional observational descriptive study was conducted of Medical Sciences students in Cuba in the month of July 2020. The sample was 354 students selected by snowball sampling. Data collection was based on a form obtained from Google Forms. A predominance was found of female students (53.67percent) and medical undergraduate training (67.23percent). Of the students surveyed, 89.27percent used mobile phones to study, whereas for 91.24percent WhatsApp was the main data sharing tool. 95.76percent used resources available in Infomed. 11.86percent of the students reported participation in virtual courses about COVID-19, and 11.29percent in some sort of virtual scientific event related to the pandemic. Identification was made of the use of information and communications technologies by medical sciences students in Cuba, with a profitable use of the resources made available by the Infomed network. This made it possible to go on with the teaching-learning process despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic. Smartphones and social networks enhanced the teaching-learning process(AU)

A study of rural chicken farmers, diseases and remedies in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

The source of emerging diseases and antimicrobial resistance is of increasing interest to epidemiologists. This paper looks at village chickens as such a source. In addition, infectious diseases constitute a major challenge to the growth and profitability of the rural poultry sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. A serological survey was conducted to estimate the apparent seroprevalence of selected chicken diseases in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa alongside a sociological survey of poultry farmers and the remedies most commonly used to prevent diseases in their flocks. Sera collected from village chickens (n = 1007) in the province were screened for specific antibodies against Newcastle disease (ND), avian influenza (AI), avian infectious bronchitis (IB) and Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG). The overall seroprevalence of ND, AI, IB and MG in the province was found to be 69.2 % (95 % CI 51.9-86.5%); 1.8 % (95 % CI 0.2-3.4%); 78.5 % (95 % CI 74.9-82%) and 55.8 % (95 % CI 41.3-70.3%) respectively with clustering found at the District level. Cross hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests indicated that the chickens were exposed to the ND vaccine. AI ELISA-positive samples were tested using HIs against the H5, H6 and H7-subtypes, but only H6-specific antibodies were detected. Avian influenza strains shared the common ancestor responsible for the 2002 chicken outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal Province. The majority of chicken farmers were females and pensioners (69 % and 66.1 % respectively) and had a primary school education (47.1 %). Traditional remedies were commonly used by farmers (47.15 %) and among the remedies, Aloe plant (Aloe ferox Mill.) or ikhala (Xhosa) was the most commonly used product (28.23 %) for preventing and reducing mortalities among village chickens. The findings stress the importance of village chickens as a substitute for social welfare and highlight the exposure of village chickens to important chicken pathogens. The economic impact of these pathogens on the development of this sub-sector needs further investigation. Village chickens are a potential source of virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) because of the lack of vaccination and biosecurity. They may serve as amplification hosts which increases the probability that virulent NDV could spill over into commercial poultry flocks due to large amounts of circulating virus. The zoonotic threat of circulating H6N2 viruses raise concern due to their mutation and reassortment among chickens and a potential movement of infected birds within the province. Finally, the use of antibiotics by untrained chicken farmers constitute another major concern as it could serve as a source of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Plano estadual de contingência para enfrentamento do SARS-CoV-2 / State contingency plan for chartering SARS-CoV-2

A 3ª edição do Plano Estadual de Contingência para Enfrentamento do SARS-CoV-2 na Bahia, contém recomendações para o contexto atual desta emergência, conforme vem evoluindo as estratégias de enfrentamento norteadas pela OMS, MS e SESAB, com vistas a minimizar o impacto na Saúde Pública provocado pela introdução do vírus em território estadual.

Herramienta de evaluación rápida para la recopilación de datos críticos / Rapid assessment tool for critical data gathering

Esta herramienta está diseñada para realizar una evaluación rápida de las instituciones prestadoras de servicios de salud y de otras relacionadas con la salud y analiza su capacidad para recopilar datos críticos y de alta calidad en la respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19. La herramienta evalúa el compromiso institucional con la pertinencia y la calidad de los datos utilizados para la toma de decisiones a todos los niveles. Además, facilita la autoevaluación para redefinir las prioridades de la pandemia; identifica la brecha de capacidad de los sistemas de datos internacionales, nacionales y subnacionales, y evalúa la capacidad para proporcionar datos fiables y constructivos.

This tool is designed for rapid assessment of health and health-related institutions and evaluates their capacity to gather critical, high-quality data in the COVID-19 pandemic response. The tool assesses institutional commitment to the timeliness and quality of data used for decision-making at all levels. It facilitates self-assessment to redefine pandemic priorities and, identifies the capacity gap within international, national, and subnational data systems, and assesses the ability to provide reliable and constructive data.

Lethal zoonotic coronavirus infections of humans - comparative phylogenetics, epidemiology, transmission, and clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019, The Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronaviruses-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), emerged as a new zoonotic pathogen of humans at the end of 2019 and rapidly developed into a global pandemic. Over 106 million COVID-19 cases including 2.3 million deaths have been reported to the WHO as of February 9, 2021. This review examines the epidemiology, transmission, clinical features, and phylogenetics of three lethal zoonotic coronavirus infections of humans: SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-COV). RECENT FINDINGS: Bats appear to be the common natural source of SARS-like CoV including SARS-CoV-1 but their role in SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV remains unclear. Civet cats and dromedary camels are the intermediary animal sources for SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV infection, respectively whereas that of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear. SARS-CoV-2 viral loads peak early on days 2-4 of symptom onset and thus high transmission occurs in the community, and asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission occurs commonly. Nosocomial outbreaks are hallmarks of SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV infections whereas these are less common in COVID-19. Several COVID-19 vaccines are now available. SUMMARY: Of the three lethal zoonotic coronavirus infections of humans, SARS-CoV-2 has caused a devastating global pandemic with over a million deaths. The emergence of genetic variants, such as D614G, N501Y (variants 1 and 2), has led to an increase in transmissibility and raises concern about the possibility of re-infection and impaired vaccine response. Continued global surveillance is essential for both SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, to monitor changing epidemiology due to viral variants.

The COVID-19 pandemic and contact tracing technologies, between upholding the right to health and personal data protection.

Countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with various levels of restrictions and lockdown in an effort to save lives and prevent the saturation and collapse of national health systems. Unfortunately, the blockades have entailed hefty socioeconomic costs. In order to contrast the spread of the virus, states have used contact tracing technology, in the form of mobile phone applications designed to track close contacts of those infected with COVID-19. Recent research has shown the effectiveness of this solution, particularly when used in conjunction with manual tracking. Nonetheless, the contact tracing app raises concerns due to the potential privacy implications. The authors have delved into the European legislation that protects privacy through the principles of proportionality and minimization, arguing that in order to quickly resolve the pandemic caused by COVID-19, one cannot blindly trust the exclusive help of technology. Instead, we need the involvement of health personnel, scientists, and no less importantly, the citizenry's sense of solidarity and the duty to abide by the rules of social distancing, the use of protective devices and hygiene rules to protect public health.