CEEZAD News Updates and Press Releases 2024
Saturday, June 29, 2024
How Does Bird Flu Spread in Cows? Experiment Yields Some ‘Good News.’
Thursday, June 27, 2024
1 big thing: A biodefense project rises on the plains
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Dr. Juergen Richt and K-State President Linton talk about Next-Gen Cats
Next-Gen 'Cats: Click the image to learn more about K-State research improving the lives of Kansans.
March 1, 2024
Article by CEEZAD researchers compares field-deployable techniques for diagnosing Rift Valley Fever virus
An article co-authored by the Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD, www.ceezad.org) and the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CEZID; https://www.k-state.edu/cezid/) explores new discoveries concerning the techniques for diagnosing Rift Valley Fever in animals.
The article was co-authored by Dr. Juergen A. Richt, Regents and University Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University and director of CEEZAD and CEZID. It was published in the Feb. 2 edition of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
Other co-authors include Igor Morozov and Jessie D Trujillo, both of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University and CEEZAD, as well as Bill Wilson, of the Foreign Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research Unit at the National Bio-and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) based in Manhattan, Ks.
Rift Valley Fever phlebovirus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic pathogen that causes major agricultural and public health problems in parts of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is considered a potential agro-bioterrorism agent for which only limited countermeasures are available.
In the article, researchers describe a rapid and sensitive molecular method immediately employable at sites of suspected outbreaks in animals that commonly precede outbreaks in humans. The strategy involves the concurrent detection of two of the three RVFV genome segments (large and medium) using reverse transcription insulated isothermal PCR (RT-iiPCR) performed on a portable, touch screen nucleic acid analyzer, POCKITTM.
The analytical sensitivity for both the RT-iiPCR and a laboratory-based L and M multiplex reverse transcription real-time RT-PCR assay was estimated at approximately 0.1-3 copies/reaction using synthetic RNA or viral RNA. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of detection of RVFV on the POCKITTM, determined using sera from sheep and cattle (n = 181) experimentally infected with two strains of RVFV (SA01 and Ken06), were 93.8% and 100% (kappa = 0.93), respectively.
Testing of ruminant field sera (n = 193) in two locations in Africa demonstrated 100% diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Researchers concluded that the POCKITTM dual-gene RVFV detection strategy can provide reliable, sensitive, and specific point-of-need RVFV RNA detection. Moreover, the field detection of RVFV in vectors or susceptible animal species can aid in the surveillance and epidemiological studies to better understand and control RVFV outbreaks.
The study demonstrates that field-deployable detection devices can provide reliable, sensitive, and specific point-of-need RVFV RNA detection that could be used for diagnostic investigations and epidemiological studies.
The full article can be read by following this link. https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00430-23
February 3, 2024
Article examines SARS CoV-2 host factors in animals
An article co-authored by the Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD, www.ceezad.org) and the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CEZID; https://www.k-state.edu/cezid/) assesses the distribution and abundance of the two most important host factors, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRRS2), in the respiratory tract of various animal species and humans..
The article was co-authored by Dr. Juergen A. Richt, Regents and University Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University and director of CEEZAD and CEZID. It was published in the January edition of Microbiology Spectrum.
Other co-authors include Igor Morozov, Natasha N Gaudreault, and Jessie D Trujillo, all of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University and CEEZAD as well as …M. Carossino, U. B. …. from Louisiana State University and …Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, etc … from Icahn School of Medicine.
SARS-CoV-2 infects - besides humans - a wide array of domestic and wild animals, raising concerns regarding its evolutionary dynamics in animals and potential for spillback transmission of emerging variants to humans. Hence, SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals has significant public health relevance.
Host factors determining animal susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 are vastly unknown, and their characterization is critical to further understand susceptibility and viral dynamics in animal populations and determine the risk of potential spillback transmission to humans.
In this study, researchers quantitatively assess the distribution and abundance of the two most important SASS-CoV-2 host factors, ACE2 and TMPRRS2 , in the respiratory tract of various animal species and humans, some highly susceptible, other rather resistant to infection. The results demonstrate that while specific regions of the respiratory tract are enriched in these two host factors, they seem to be only partial determinants of susceptibility since quantity of expression did not correlate with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility. Detailed analysis of additional host factors for SARS-CoV-2 is critical for the understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing viral susceptibility and reservoir hosts.
The full article can be read by following this link:
Microbiol Spectr. 2024 Jan 17:e0327023. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.03270-23.
February 2, 2024
An article co-authored by the Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD, www.ceezad.org) and the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CEZID; https://www.k-state.edu/cezid/) investigates the susceptibility and transmission of the Delta and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant of concerns (VOCs) in cattle.
The article was co-authored by Dr. Juergen A. Richt, Regents and University Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University and director of CEEZAD and CEZID. It was published in the December 13 edition of Emerging Microbes and Infections.
Other co-authors include Igor Morozov, Natasha N Gaudreault, Jessie D Trujillo, Konner Cool, Taeyong Kwon, Dashzeveg Bold, Velmurugan Balaraman, Patricia Assato, Emily Mantlo, Jayme Souza-Neto, Franco Matias Ferreyra, Jaime Retallick, Roman Pogranichniy, David A Meekins, Velmurugan Balaraman, Bianca Libanori Artiaga, Daniel W Madden and Chester McDowell, all of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University and CEEZAD.
Since emerging in late 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has repeatedly crossed the species barrier with natural infections reported in various domestic and wild animal species. The emergence and global spread of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs has expanded the range of susceptible host species.
Previous experimental infection studies in cattle using Wuhan-like SARS-CoV-2 isolates suggested that cattle were not likely amplifying hosts for SARS-CoV-2. However, SARS-CoV-2 sero- and RNA-positive cattle have since been identified in Europe, India, and Africa.
Eight Holstein calves were -infected orally and intranasally with a mixed inoculum of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs Delta and Omicron BA.2. Twenty-four hours post-challenge, two sentinel calves were introduced to evaluate virus transmission. The co-infection resulted in a high proportion of calves shedding SARS-CoV-2 RNA at 1- and 2-days post-challenge (DPC).
Extensive tissue distribution of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was observed at 3 and 7 DPC and infectious virus was recovered from two calves at 3 DPC. Next-generation sequencing revealed that only the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and not the Omicron VOC was detected in clinical samples and tissues.
Similar to previous experimental infection studies in cattle, the authors observed only limited seroconversion and no clear evidence of transmission to sentinel calves. Together, these findings suggest that cattle are more permissive to infection with SARS-CoV-2 Delta than Omicron BA.2 and Wuhan-like isolates but, in the absence of horizontal transmission, are not likely to be reservoir hosts for currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.
The complete article can be read by following this link:
Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024 Dec;13(1):2281356. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2281356. Epub 2023 Dec 30.
January 11, 2024
Preliminary Study on the Efficacy of a Recombinant, Subunit SARS-CoV-2 Animal Vaccine against Virulent SARS-CoV-2 Challenge in Cats
An article co-authored by the Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD, www.ceezad.org) and the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CEZID; https://www.k-state.edu/cezid/) evaluates the safety and efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 animal vaccine in cats.
The article was co-authored by Dr. Juergen A. Richt, Regents and University Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University and director of CEEZAD and CEZID. It was published in December by Vaccines. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38140233/#:~:text=Vaccines%20(Basel),doi%3A%2010.3390/vaccines11121831)
Other co-authors include Igor Morozov, Natasha N Gaudreault, Jessie D Trujillo, Sabarish V Indran, Konner Cool, Taeyong Kwon, David A Meekins, Velmurugan Balaraman, Bianca Libanori Artiaga, Daniel W Madden and Chester McDowell, all of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University and CEEZAD. Zoetis collaborators were also involved.
The study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a recombinant, subunit SARS-CoV-2 animal vaccine in cats developed by Zoetis against virulent SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Two groups of cats were immunized with two doses of a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein vaccine or a placebo, administered three weeks apart.
Seven weeks after the second vaccination, both groups of cats were challenged with SARS-CoV-2 via the intranasal and oral routes simultaneously. Animals were monitored for 14 days post-infection for clinical signs and viral shedding before being humanely euthanized and evaluated for macroscopic and microscopic lesions.
The recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein subunit vaccine induced strong antibody responses post-vaccination and significantly increased neutralizing antibody responses post-challenge. A significant difference in nasal and oral viral shedding, with significantly reduced virus load (detected using RT-qPCR) was observed in vaccinates compared to mock-vaccinated controls. Duration of nasal, oral, and rectal viral shedding was also significantly reduced in vaccinates compared to controls. No differences in histopathological lesion scores were noted between the two groups.
The study’s findings support the safety and efficacy of the recombinant spike protein-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which induced high levels of neutralizing antibodies and reduced nasal, oral, and rectal viral shedding, indicating that this vaccine will be efficacious as a COVID-19 vaccine for domestic cats.