Search Results (47)

The spread of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, presents a significant problem for public health and healthcare systems. Digital technology plays an important role in achieving access to healthcare by enhancing device connectivity and information sharing. This study aimed to develop, implement, and demonstrate a tracking and surveillance system to enhance monitoring for emerging infectious diseases, focusing on COVID-19 patient profiling. The system integrates IoT-based wearable devices, an artificial intelligence (AI) camera for real-time monitoring, and a MySQL database for data management. The program uses Charts.js for data visualization and Longdo Map API for mapping, leveraging Jetson Nano boards, webcams, and Python (Version 3.9). We employed a classification technique to categorize patients into two groups: those with a positive mood and those with a negative mood. For comparing accuracies, we utilized three types of models: multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest. Model validation and evaluation were conducted using Python programming. The results of this study fall into three parts. The first part involved testing the monitoring and surveillance system. It was found that the system could receive information from the wearable device, display the received data in graph form, and notify the medical staff when examining symptoms to consider whether the patient should be taken to the hospital. The second part focused on testing the device, and it was found that it could measure body temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels (SpO₂) and send those data to the database. The third part involved an AI camera test, and it was found that the most suitable algorithm to analyze the patient’s facial expressions was Random Forest. The results show that the system supports hospitals in managing COVID-19 and similar diseases by enabling timely interventions through facial expression analysis. Full article

Lumpy skin disease (LSD), caused by the LSD virus (LSDV), a dsDNA virus of the genus Capripoxvirus, represents a significant cross-border infectious threat, particularly impacting cattle and water buffaloes through transmission by blood-feeding insects. Traditionally endemic to Southern Africa, LSD has rapidly spread over the past decade through the Middle East to Eastern Europe and China, reaching Korea in October 2023. This outbreak prompted a nationwide vaccination campaign, addressing both the disease’s severe economic impact and its status as a notifiable disease under the World Organisation for Animal Health. This study assesses the seropositivity of the LSD vaccine in cattle across four Korean provinces 2–3 months post-vaccination, aiming to inform improvements in biosecurity and vaccination strategies. Overall, 30.59% of the cattle tested (1196 out of 3910) exhibited positive antibody responses, comparable to international post-vaccination findings. Analysis further revealed differences in the antibody positivity between farm types and management practices. Specifically, farms where vaccines were administered by veterinarians showed no significant difference in antibody positivity between Korean native cattle and dairy cattle, regardless of the presence of restraint facilities. However, on farms where vaccinations were conducted by the owners, dairy cattle demonstrated a higher seropositivity (43.30 ± 33.39%) compared to Korean native cattle (21.97 ± 20.79%) in the absence of restraint facilities. Further comparisons underscored the impact of restraint facilities on vaccination efficacy, with dairy farms generally achieving higher antibody positivity (29.43 ± 30.61%) than farms with Korean native cattle (23.02 ± 23.33%) (p < 0.05), suggesting that consistent vaccine delivery methods enhance immunogenic responses. Contrarily, no significant difference was noted in antibody positivity between large- and small-scale farms, indicating that farm size did not notably impact the effectiveness of the vaccinator. These findings emphasize that while current vaccines are sufficiently inducing immunity, enhancing vaccination strategies, particularly through trained personnel and improved restraint facilities, is crucial. This study’s insights into the impact of vaccination and farm management practices provide valuable guidance for refining LSD control measures in Korea and potentially other affected regions. Full article

The United States of America (US) has the highest annual number of human babesiosis cases caused by Babesia microti (Bm). Babesia, like malaria-causing Plasmodium, are protozoan parasites that live within red blood cells (RBCs). Both infectious diseases can be associated with hemolysis and organ damage, which can be fatal. Since babesiosis was made a nationally notifiable condition by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2011, human cases have increased, and drug-resistant strains have been identified. Both the Bm ligand(s) and RBC receptor(s) needed for invasion are unknown, partly because of the difficulty of developing a continuous in vitro culture system. Invasion pathways are relevant for therapies (e.g., RBC exchange) and vaccines. We hypothesize that there is at least one RBC surface antigen that is essential for Bm invasion and that all Bm hosts express this. Because most RBC surface antigens that impact Plasmodium invasion are in human blood group (hBG) systems, which are generated by 51 genes, they were the focus of this study. More than 600 animals with at least one hBG system gene ortholog were identified using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) command-line tools. Google Scholar searches were performed to determine which of these animals are susceptible to Bm infection. The literature review revealed 28 Bm non-human hosts (NHH). For 5/51 (9.8%) hBG system genes (e.g., RhD), no NHH had orthologs. This means that RhD is unlikely to be an essential receptor for invasion. For 24/51 (47.1%) hBG system genes, NHH had 4–27 orthologs. For the ABO gene, 15/28 NHH had an ortholog, meaning that this gene is also unlikely to generate an RBC antigen, which is essential for Bm invasion. Our prior research showed that persons with blood type A, B, AB, O, RhD+, and RhD- can all be infected with Bm, supporting our current study’s predictions. For 22/51 (43.1%) hBG system genes, orthologs were found in all 28 NHH. Nineteen (37.3%) of these genes encode RBC surface proteins, meaning they are good candidates for generating a receptor needed for Bm invasion. In vitro cultures of Bm, experimental Bm infection of transgenic mice (e.g., a CD44 KO strain), and analyses of Bm patients can reveal further clues as to which RBC antigens may be essential for invasion. Full article

Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) is a rhabdovirus that primarily infects cyprinid finfishes and causes a disease notifiable to the World Organization for Animal Health. Amphibians, which are sympatric with cyprinids in freshwater ecosystems, are considered non-permissive hosts of rhabdoviruses. The potential host range expansion of SVCV in an atypical host species was evaluated by testing the susceptibility of amphibians native to the Pacific Northwest. Larval long-toed salamanders Ambystoma macrodactylum and Pacific tree frog Pseudacris regilla tadpoles were exposed to SVCV strains from genotypes Ia, Ib, Ic, or Id by either intraperitoneal injection, immersion, or cohabitation with virus-infected koi Cyprinus rubrofuscus. Cumulative mortality was 100% for salamanders injected with SVCV, 98–100% for tadpoles exposed to virus via immersion, and 0–100% for tadpoles cohabited with SVCV-infected koi. Many of the animals that died exhibited clinical signs of disease and SVCV RNA was found by in situ hybridization in tissue sections of immersion-exposed tadpoles, particularly in the cells of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. SVCV was also detected by plaque assay and RT-qPCR testing in both amphibian species regardless of the virus exposure method, and viable virus was detected up to 28 days after initial exposure. Recovery of infectious virus from naïve tadpoles cohabited with SVCV-infected koi further demonstrated that SVCV transmission can occur between classes of ectothermic vertebrates. Collectively, these results indicated that SVCV, a fish rhabdovirus, can be transmitted to and cause lethal disease in two amphibian species. Therefore, members of all five of the major vertebrate groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians) appear to be vulnerable to rhabdovirus infections. Future research studying potential spillover and spillback infections of aquatic rhabdoviruses between foreign and domestic amphibian and fish species will provide insights into the stressors driving novel interclass virus transmission events. Full article

Background: This study aimed to examine the epidemiological characteristics of imported infections and assess the effectiveness of border health screening in detecting imported diseases. Methods: We obtained infection data for 2016 to 2019 from the Fuzhou Changle International Airport Infection Reporting System. The demographic, temporal, and spatial characteristics of travel-related infections were analyzed using r×c contingency tables, the Cochran–Armitage trend test, and seasonal-trend decomposition using LOESS (STL). Detection rates were used as a proxy for the effectiveness of border health-screening measures. Results: Overall, 559 travel-related infections were identified during the study period, with 94.3% being imported infections. Airport health screening demonstrated an overall effectiveness of 23.7% in identifying travel-associated infections. Imported infections were predominantly identified in males, with 55.8% of cases occurring in individuals aged 20–49. The peak periods of infection importation were from January to February and from May to August. The infectious diseases identified were imported from 25 different countries and regions. All dengue fever cases were imported from Southeast Asia. Most notifiable infections (76.0%) were identified through fever screening at the airport. Conclusion: The increasing number of imported infections poses a growing challenge for public health systems. Multifaceted efforts including surveillance, vaccination, international collaboration, and public awareness are required to mitigate the importation and spread of infectious diseases from overseas sources. Full article

Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (SG) causes fowl typhoid, a notifiable infectious disease in poultry. However, the pathogenic mechanism of SG-induced systemic infection in chickens remains unclear. Thioredoxin reductase (TrxB) is a redox protein crucial for regulating various enzyme activities in Salmonella serovar, but the role in SG-induced chicken systemic infection has yet to be determined. Here, we constructed a mutant SG strain lacking the trxB gene (trxB::Cm) and used chicken embryo inoculation and chicken oral infection to investigate the role of trxB gene in the pathogenicity of SG. Our results showed that trxB::Cm exhibited no apparent differences in colony morphology and growth conditions but exhibited reduced tolerance to H₂O₂ and increased resistance to bile acids. In the chicken embryo inoculation model, there was no significant difference in the pathogenicity of trxB::Cm and wild-type (WT) strains. In the chicken oral infection, the WT-infected group exhibited typical clinical symptoms of fowl typhoid, with complete mortality between days 6 and 9 post infection. In contrast, the trxB::Cm group showed a 100% survival rate, with no apparent clinical symptoms or pathological changes observed. The viable bacterial counts in the liver and spleen of the trxB::Cm-infected group were significantly reduced, accompanied by decreased expression of cytokines and chemokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, CXCLi1, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), which were significantly lower than those in the WT group. These results show that the pathogenicity of the trxB-deficient strain was significantly attenuated, indicating that the trxB gene is a crucial virulence factor in SG-induced systemic infection in chickens, suggesting that trxB may become a potentially effective target for controlling and preventing SG infection in chickens. Full article

Background: The arrival of the big-data era provides us with a chance to elaborate the spectrum and epidemiological characteristics of infectious diseases in children and adolescents aged 0–18 years in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era. Methods: We collected data on infectious diseases in 891,981 participants from the Cheeloo Lifespan Electronic Health Research Data-library. The incidence density of each infection was calculated and stratified by age and region. The annual percentage change (APC) in incidence was estimated by logarithmic linear regression. Results: A total of 18,183 cases of 78 infections were diagnosed, with an overall incidence density of 626.33 per 100,000 person-years (PY). Of these, 6825 cases of 50 non-notifiable infectious diseases were identified. Children aged 1–3 years had the highest incidence of infections. The overall incidence revealed a significant increasing trend from 2013 to 2017 (APC = 36.9%, p < 0.05). Hand, foot, and mouth disease, pneumonia, and influenza were the three most common diseases. The incidence of pneumonia, rubella, scarlet fever, zoster, molluscum contagiosum, and syphilis increased significantly during the study period (all p < 0.05). Taian, Binzhou, and Weihai had the highest incidence of all other cities. The incidence of gastrointestinal infections increased markedly in the eastern coastal regions. Conclusions: More stress should be placed on a number of non-notifiable infectious diseases with a high burden and a significant increasing trend. Age-based and regional targeting efforts are needed to prevent and contain infectious diseases among children and adolescents. Full article

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating infectious disease of domestic pigs and wild boar that is spreading quickly around the world and causing huge economic losses. Although the development of effective vaccines is currently being attempted by several labs, the absence of globally recognized licensed vaccines makes disease prevention and early detection even more crucial. ASF has spread across many countries in Europe and about two years ago affected the Italian susceptible population. In Italy, the first case of ASF genotype II in wild boar dates back to January 2022, while the first outbreak in a domestic pig farm was notified in August 2023. Currently, four clusters of infection are still ongoing in northern (Piedmont-Liguria and Lombardy), central (Lazio), and southern Italy (Calabria and Campania). In early September 2023, the first case of ASFV genotype II was detected in a domestic pig farm in Sardinia, historically affected by genotype I and in the final stage of eradication. Genomic characterization of p72, p54, and I73R/I329L genome regions revealed 100% similarity to those obtained from isolates that have been circulating in mainland Italy since January 2022 and also with international strains. The outbreak was detected and confirmed due to the passive surveillance plan on domestic pig farms put in place to provide evidence on genotype I’s absence. Epidemiological investigations suggest 24 August as the most probable time of ASFV genotype II’s arrival in Sardinia, likely due to human activities. Full article

Significant and composite indices for infectious disease can have implications for developing interventions and public health. This paper presents an investment for developing access to further analysis of the incidence of individual and multiple diseases. This research mainly comprises two steps: first, an automatic and reproducible procedure based on functional data analysis techniques was proposed for analyzing the dynamic properties of each disease; second, orthogonal transformation was adopted for the development of composite indices. Between 2000 and 2019, nineteen class B notifiable diseases in China were collected for this study from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The study facilitates the probing of underlying information about the dynamics from discrete incidence rates of each disease through the procedure, and it is also possible to obtain similarities and differences about diseases in detail by combining the derivative features. There has been great success in intervening in the majority of notifiable diseases in China, like bacterial or amebic dysentery and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, while more efforts are required for some diseases, like AIDS and virus hepatitis. The composite indices were able to reflect a more complex concept by combining individual incidences into a single value, providing a simultaneous reflection for multiple objects, and facilitating disease comparisons accordingly. For the notifiable diseases included in this study, there was superior management of gastro-intestinal infectious diseases and respiratory infectious diseases from the perspective of composite indices. This study developed a methodology for exploring the prevalent properties of infectious diseases. The development of effective and reliable analytical methods provides special insight into infectious diseases’ common dynamics and properties and has implications for the effective intervention of infectious diseases. Full article

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a devastating disease with significant mortality and long-term morbidity. The COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures have affected the epidemiology of infectious pathogens. This study’s aim was to assess IMD trends in Israel prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Neisseria meningitidis invasive infection is a notifiable disease in Israel. Laboratory analysis includes serogrouping and molecular characterization. The overall national IMD incidence rate (1998–2022) was 0.8/100,000 population. The IMD incidence rates declined during the pandemic years (0.3/100,000 in 2020–2022 vs. 0.9/100,000 in 1998–2019). The number of notified IMD cases declined by 65% in 2020–2022. The case fatality rate among laboratory-confirmed IMD cases was 9% (47/521, 2007–2022). Mortality risk markers included cases’ age (older) and socio-economic status (lower). Overall, most Neisseria meningitidis isolates were of serogroup B (62.6%), and the most prevalent clonal complex (CC) was CC32 (24.2%). Serogroup B prevailed in cases aged 0–9 years (74.5%) and less in cases aged 10 years and above (39%). Neisseria meningitidis serogroups and CC distribution altered recently with a decline in serogroup B fraction, an increase in serogroup Y, and a decline in CC32. Ongoing IMD surveillance is necessary to assess trends in circulating strains and support decision-making on meningococcal vaccination programs. Full article

The Omicron variant is the dominant strain circulating globally, and studies have shown that Omicron cases have milder symptoms than Delta cases. This study aimed to analyze the factors that affect the clinical severity of Omicron and Delta variants, evaluate and compare the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines with different technological platforms, and assess the vaccine effectiveness against different variants. We retrospectively collected the basic information of all local COVID-19 cases reported by Hunan Province to the National Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting System from January 2021 to February 2023, including gender, age, clinical severity, and COVID-19 vaccination history. From 1 January 2021 to 28 February 2023, Hunan Province reported a total of 60,668 local COVID-19 cases, of which, 134 were infected with the Delta variant and 60,534 were infected with the Omicron variant. The results showed that infection with the Omicron variant (adjusted OR (aOR): 0.21, 95% CI: 0.14–0.31), getting vaccinated (booster immunization vs. unvaccinated aOR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.23–0.39) and being female (aOR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.79–0.85) were protective factors for pneumonia, while old age (≥60 years vs. <3 years aOR: 4.58, 95% CI: 3.36–6.22) was a risk factor for pneumonia. Being vaccinated (booster immunization vs. unvaccinated aOR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.09–0.15) and female (aOR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.50–0.59) were protective factors for severe cases, while older age (≥60 years vs. < 3 years aOR: 4.95, 95% CI: 1.83–13.39) was a risk factor for severe cases. The three types of vaccines had protective effects on both pneumonia and severe cases, and the protective effect on severe cases was better than that on pneumonia. The recombinant subunit vaccine booster immunization had the best protective effect on pneumonia and severe cases, with ORs of 0.29 (95% CI: 0.2–0.44) and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.02–0.17), respectively. The risk of pneumonia from Omicron variant infection was lower than that from Delta. Chinese-produced vaccines had protective effects on both pneumonia and severe cases, with recombinant subunit vaccines having the best protective effect on pneumonia and severe pneumonia cases. Booster immunization should be advocated in COVID-19 pandemic-related control and prevention policies, especially for the elderly, and booster immunization should be accelerated. Full article

Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is an infectious, non-contagious viral disease of ruminants caused by epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) and is transmitted by insects of the genus Culicoides. In 2008, EHD was listed on the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) list of notifiable terrestrial and aquatic animal diseases. This article reviews the distribution of EHD in China and relevant studies and proposes several suggestions for the prevention and control of EHD. There have been reports of positivity for serum antibodies against EHDV-1, EHDV-2, EHDV-5, EHDV-6, EHDV-7, EHDV-8 and EHDV-10 in China. Strains of EHDV-1, -5, -6, -7, -8 and -10 have been isolated, among which the Seg-2, Seg-3 and Seg-6 sequences of serotypes -5, -6, -7 and -10 belong to the eastern topotype. The emergence of western topotype Seg-2 in EHDV-1 strains indicates that EHDV-1 strains in China are reassortant strains of the western and eastern topotypes. A novel serotype strain of EHDV named YNDH/V079/2018 was isolated in 2018. Chinese scholars have successfully expressed the EHDV VP7 protein and developed a variety of ELISA detection methods, including antigen capture ELISA and competitive ELISA. A variety of EHDV nucleic acid detection methods, including RT–PCR and qRT–PCR, have also been developed. LAMP and the liquid chip detection technique are also available. To prevent and control EHD, several suggestions for controlling EHD transmission have been proposed based on the actual situation in China, including controlling the number of Culicoides, reducing contact between Culicoides and hosts, continued monitoring of EHDV and Culicoides in different areas of China and further development and application of basic and pioneering research related to EHD prevention and control. Full article

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is not notifiable in many European countries, and accurate data on the incidence are often lacking. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.)-specific antibodies in the general population of The Netherlands, and to determine risk factors associated with seropositivity. Sera and questionnaires were obtained from participants (n = 5592, aged 0–88 years) enrolled in a nationwide serosurveillance study. The sera were tested for B. burgdorferi s.l.-specific IgM and IgG antibodies using ELISA and immunoblot. Seroprevalence was estimated controlling for the survey design. Risk factors for seropositivity were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed-effect model. In 2016/2017, the seroprevalence in The Netherlands was 4.4% (95% CI 3.5–5.2). Estimates were higher in men (5.7% [95% CI 4.4–7.2]) than in women (3.1% [95% CI 2.0–4.0]), and increased with age from 2.6% (95% CI 1.4–4.4) in children to 7.7% (95% CI 5.9–7.9) in 60- to 88-year-olds. The seroprevalence for B. burgdorferi s.l. in the general population in The Netherlands was comparable to rates reported in European countries. The main risk factors for seropositivity were increasing age, being male and the tick bite frequency. The dynamics of LB infection are complex and involve variables from various disciplines. This could be further elucidated using infectious disease modelling. Full article

Respiratory infectious diseases (RIDs) pose threats to people’s health, some of which are serious public health problems. The aim of our study was to explore epidemic situations regarding notifiable RIDs and the epidemiological characteristics of the six most common RIDs in mainland China. We first collected the surveillance data of all 12 statutory notifiable RIDs for 31 provinces in mainland China that reported between 2010 and 2018, and then the six most prevalent RIDs were selected to analyze their temporal, seasonal, spatiotemporal and population distribution characteristics. From 2010 to 2018, there were 13,985,040 notifiable cases and 25,548 deaths from RIDs in mainland China. The incidence rate of RIDs increased from 109.85/100,000 in 2010 to 140.85/100,000 in 2018. The mortality from RIDs ranged from 0.18/100,000 to 0.24/100,000. The most common RIDs in class B were pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), pertussis, and measles, while those in class C were seasonal influenza, mumps and rubella. From 2010 to 2018, the incidence rate of PTB and rubella decreased; however, pertussis and seasonal influenza increased, with irregular changes in measles and mumps. The mortality from PTB increased from 2015 to 2018, and the mortality from seasonal influenza changed irregularly. PTB was mainly prevalent among people over 15 years old, while the other five common RIDs mostly occurred among people younger than 15 years old. The incidence of the six common RIDs mostly occurred in winter and spring, and they were spatiotemporally clustered in different areas and periods. In conclusion, PTB, seasonal influenza and mumps remain as public health problems in China, suggesting that continuous government input, more precise interventions, and a high-tech digital/intelligent surveillance and warning system are required to rapidly identify emerging events and timely response. Full article

The increasing concerns over emerging infectious diseases and potential pandemics led to the formation of One Health, a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to address the risks from human–animal–ecosystem interactions. This multi-sectoral approach is specifically important in Australia, a biodiverse country with unique flora, fauna, and many infectious diseases, including leptospirosis. Leptospirosis is a relatively rare but potentially fatal zoonosis, with an attributed mortality of around 60,000 deaths per year worldwide. In recent years, sporadic cases and alarming outbreaks of leptospirosis have been notified in many states and territories of Australia, noteworthily in 2018 and 2019. The sudden outbreaks in these two years have raised a question about the possibility of a more severe menace or a potential threat to both humans and animals. Amid the fight against leptospirosis, One Health has been shown to be an excellent and ideal framework, especially in Australia, the country that has taken the lead in zoonosis control using this approach. In this review, the focus will be put on the effectiveness and ethics of One Health in leptospirosis control under the Australian setting to further advocate the implementation of this framework for many other infectious diseases. Full article