Background To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) were implemented worldwide, which impacted a broad spectrum of acute respiratory infections (ARI). Methods Etiologically diagnostic data from 142 559 cases with ARIs, who were tested for eight viral pathogens (influenza virus, IFV; respiratory syncytial virus, RSV; human parainfluenza virus, HPIV; human adenovirus; human metapneumovirus; human coronavirus, HCoV; human bocavirus, HBoV, and human rhinovirus, HRV) between 2012 and 2021, were analyzed to assess the changes of respiratory infections in China during the first COVID-19 pandemic year compared to pre-pandemic years. Results Test positive rates of all respiratory viruses decreased during 2020, compared to the average levels during 2012−2019, with changes ranging from -17·2% for RSV to -87·6% for IFV. Sharp decreases mostly occurred between February and August when massive NPIs remained active, although HRV rebounded to the historical level during the summer. While IFV and HMPV were consistently suppressed year round, RSV, HPIV, HCoV, HRV HBov resurged and went beyond historical levels during September, 2020−January, 2021, after NPIs were largely relaxed and schools reopened. Resurgence was more prominent among children younger than 18 years and in Northern China. These observations remain valid after accounting for seasonality and long-term trend of each virus. Conclusions Activities of respiratory viral infections were reduced substantially in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, and massive NPIs were likely the main driver. Lifting of NPIs can lead to resurgence of viral infections, particularly in children.

Migration and transport of dogs may have caused recent epidemics of human rabies.

To investigate whether healthy animals are potential carriers of rabies virus in China, 153 domestic dogs were collected from a rabies enzootic area, Anlong county in Guizhou Province, and monitored for 6 months. Initially, findings of rabies virus antigen in the saliva of 15 dogs by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test suggested they might be carriers. These 15 dogs were kept under observation for 6 months. None of the dogs showed any clinical signs of rabies during the observation period. Moreover, using the ELISA test alone, detection of rabies virus antigen in saliva of some animals was not consistent during the observation period. However, none of the saliva samples collected either at the time of acquisition or during the observation period was found to be positive for rabies virus RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, neither viral antigen nor viral RNA was detected in the brain samples collected at the time of euthanasia. These results do not provide support for the contention that healthy dogs act as carriers in rabies. Caution is urged when preliminary and nondefinitive tests, such as ELISA, are used to infer clinical status related to rabies.