The African Swine Fever Isolate ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 Is Highly Virulent and Stable after Propagation in the Wild Boar Cell Line WSL.

We describe the characterization of an African swine fever genotype IX virus (ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033), which was isolated from a domestic pig in western Kenya during a reported outbreak. This includes the efficiency of virus replication and in vivo virulence, together with genome stability and virulence, following passage in blood macrophages and in a wild boar lung cell line (WSL). The ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 stock retained its ability to replicate in primary macrophages and retained virulence in vivo, following more than 20 passages in a WSL. At the whole genome level, a few single-nucleotide differences were observed between the macrophage and WSL-propagated viruses. Thus, we propose that the WSL is suitable for the production of live-attenuated ASFV vaccine candidates based on the modification of this wild-type isolate. The genome sequences for ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 propagated in macrophages and in WSL cells were submitted to GenBank, and a challenge model based on the isolate was developed. This will aid the development of vaccines against the genotype IX ASFV circulating in eastern and central Africa.

Deletion of the CD2v Gene from the Genome of ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 Partially Reduces Virulence and Induces Protection in Pigs.

Infection of pigs with the African swine fever virus (ASFV) leads to a devastating hemorrhagic disease with a high mortality of up to 100%. In this study, a CD2v gene deletion was introduced to a genotype IX virus from East Africa, ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 (ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033-∆CD2v), to investigate whether this deletion led to reduced virulence in domestic pigs and to see if inoculation with this LA-ASFV could induce protective immunity against parental virus challenge. All pigs inoculated with ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033-ΔCD2v survived inoculation but presented with fever, reduced appetite and lethargy. ASFV genomic copies were detected in only one animal at one time point. Seven out of eight animals survived subsequent challenge with the pathogenic parental strain (87.5%) but had mild to moderate clinical symptoms and had a gross pathology compatible with chronic ASFV infection. All mock-immunised animals developed acute ASF upon challenge with ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033 and were euthanised upon meeting the humane endpoint criteria. ASFV genome copy numbers after challenge were similar in the two groups. ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033-∆CD2v is therefore a useful tool to investigate the development of immunity to ASFV genotype IX, but safety concerns preclude its use as a candidate vaccine without further attenuation.

Rapid CRISPR/Cas9 Editing of Genotype IX African Swine Fever Virus Circulating in Eastern and Central Africa.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a contagious and fatal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the global swine industry. Due to the lack of effective treatment and vaccines against African swine fever, there is an urgent need to leverage cutting-edge technologies and cost-effective approaches for generating and purifying recombinant virus to fast-track the development of live-attenuated ASFV vaccines. Here, we describe the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and a cost-effective cloning system to produce recombinant ASFVs. Combining these approaches, we developed a recombinant virus lacking the non-essential gene A238L (5EL) in the highly virulent genotype IX ASFV (ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033) genome in less than 2 months as opposed to the standard homologous recombination with conventional purification techniques which takes up to 6 months on average. Our approach could therefore be a method of choice for less resourced laboratories in developing nations.

Access to ultra-long IgG CDRH3 bovine antibody sequences using short read sequencing technology.

The advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing and recombinant antibody technologies has presented new methods for characterizing antibody repertoires and significantly increased our understanding on the functional role of antibodies in immunity and their use in diagnostics, vaccine antigen design and as biological therapeutics. A subset of Bos taurus antibodies possesses unique ultra-long third complementary-determining region of the heavy chain (CDRH3) and are of special interest because they are thought to have unique functional abilities of broadly neutralizing properties - a functional role that has not been fully explored in vaccine development. Next generation sequencing technologies that are widely used to profile immunoglobulin (Ig) repertoires are based on short-read methods such as the Illumina technology. Although this technology has worked well in sequencing Ig V-D-J regions of most jawed vertebrates, it has faced serious technical challenges with sequencing regions in bovine Ig bearing ultra-long CDRH3 sequences, which are longer than 120 bp. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a sequencing strategy based on nested PCR products that allows sequence assembly of full-length bovine Ig heavy-chain (IgH) V-D-J regions. We have used this strategy to sequence IgH V-D-J regions of two Bos indicus breeds, Ankole and Boran. We confirm the presence of ultra-long CDRH3 sequences in IgG transcripts in both African cattle breeds, and provide preliminary evidence for differences and preferences in germline VH, DH and JH allele gene usage as well as differences in the length of the VH region in the two bovine breeds. Our method provides tools that should allow more robust analyses of ultra-long CDRH3 sequences aiding antibody and epitope discovery in different cattle breeds and their role in mediating immunity.

Contrasting patterns of longitudinal population dynamics and antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in two priority bacterial pathogens over 7 years in a single center.

BACKGROUND: Two of the most important pathogens contributing to the global rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae. Despite this, most of our knowledge about the changing patterns of disease caused by these two pathogens is based on studies with limited timeframes that provide few insights into their population dynamics or the dynamics in AMR elements that they can carry. RESULTS: We investigate the population dynamics of two priority AMR pathogens over 7 years between 2007 and 2012 in a major UK hospital, spanning changes made to UK national antimicrobial prescribing policy in 2007. Between 2006 and 2012, K. pneumoniae showed epidemiological cycles of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) lineages being replaced approximately every 2 years. This contrasted E. cloacae where there was no temporally changing pattern, but a continuous presence of the mixed population. CONCLUSIONS: The differing patterns of clonal replacement and acquisition of mobile elements shows that the flux in the K. pneumoniae population was linked to the introduction of globally recognized MDR clones carrying drug resistance markers on mobile elements. However, E. cloacae carries a chromosomally encoded ampC conferring resistance to front-line treatments and shows that MDR plasmid acquisition in E. cloacae was not indicative of success in the hospital. This led to markedly different dynamics in the AMR populations of these two pathogens and shows that the mechanism of the resistance and its location in the genome or mobile elements is crucial to predict population dynamics of opportunistic pathogens in clinical settings.

Molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae invasive infections over a decade at Kilifi County Hospital in Kenya.

Multidrug resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. Recent years have seen an explosion of resistance to extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs) and emergence of carbapenem resistance. Here, we examine 198 invasive K. pneumoniae isolates collected from over a decade in Kilifi County Hospital (KCH) in Kenya. We observe a significant increase in MDR K. pneumoniae isolates, particularly to third generation cephalosporins conferred by ESBLs. Using whole-genome sequences, we describe the population structure and the distribution of antimicrobial resistance genes within it. More than half of the isolates examined in this study were ESBL-positive, encoding CTX-M-15, SHV-2, SHV-12 and SHV-27, and 79% were MDR conferring resistance to at least three antimicrobial classes. Although no isolates in our dataset were found to be resistant to carbapenems we did find a plasmid with the genetic architecture of a known New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase-1 (NDM)-carrying plasmid in 25 isolates. In the absence of carbapenem use in KCH and because of the instability of the NDM-1 gene in the plasmid, the NDM-1 gene has been lost in these isolates. Our data suggests that isolates that encode NDM-1 could be present in the population; should carbapenems be introduced as treatment in public hospitals in Kenya, resistance is likely to ensue rapidly.