Senecavirus A (SVA) is an emerging picornavirus that has been associated with vesicular disease and neonatal mortality in swine. Many aspects of SVA infection biology and pathogenesis, however, remain unknown. Here the pathogenesis of SVA was investigated in finishing pigs. Animals were inoculated via the oronasal route with SVA strain SD15-26 and monitored for clinical signs and lesions associated with SVA infection. Viraemia was assessed in serum and virus shedding monitored in oral and nasal secretions and faeces by real-time reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and/or virus isolation. Additionally, viral load and tissue distribution were assessed during acute infection and following convalescence from disease. Clinical signs characterized by lethargy and lameness were first observed on day 4 post-inoculation (pi) and persisted for approximately 2-10 days. Vesicular lesions were first observed on day 4 pi on the snout and/or feet, affecting the coronary bands, dewclaws, interdigital space and heel/sole of SVA-infected animals. A short-term viraemia was observed between days 3 and 10 pi, whereas virus shedding was detected between days 1 and 28 pi in oral and nasal secretions and faeces. Notably, RT-qPCR and in situ hybridization (ISH) performed on tissues collected on day 38 pi revealed the presence of SVA RNA in the tonsils of all SVA-infected animals. Serological responses to SVA were characterized by early neutralizing antibody responses (day 5 pi), which coincided with decreased levels of viraemia, virus shedding and viral load in tissues. This study provides significant insights into the pathogenesis and infectious dynamics of SVA in swine.

Predominantly, Hoplias malabaricus inhabits stagnant 0, poor environments, whereas Hoplias lacrrdae occurs in well-aerated streams. The present study evaluates the influence of mode of life on 0, uptake and gill ventilation in equally-sized (300 g) specimens of this genus at 25-C. Comparing the species, H . lacerdae was characterized by the highest 0, uptake and gill ventilation combined with a relatively higher cost of breathing and a lower 0, extraction. Both species substantially increased ventilation in response to hypoxia with the difference that H. malaharicus exclusively augmented tidal volume, whereas H. lacerdae also increased breathing frequency.

Highlights SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 P681H mutation in the spike is predicted to enhance viral infection P681H does not significantly impact furin cleavage, viral entry, or cell-cell spread Other mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 VOC may account for increased infection rates

In order to verify the influence of chronic and acute ambient oxygen levels from egg to adult stage of the zebrafish, in vivo oxygen consumption (MO 2 ), critical tensions of oxygen (Pcrit), heart rate (f H ) and total body lactate concentration (Lc) were determined for Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) ) and exposed to acute hypoxia during different developmental stages. Our findings confirmed that very early stages do not respond effectively to ambient acute hypoxia. However, after the stage corresponding to the age of 30 days, D. rerio was able to respond to acute hypoxia through effective physiological mechanisms involving aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Such responses were more efficient for the fishes reared under hypoxia which showed that D. rerio survival capability increased during acclimation to mild hypoxia. Measurements of body mass and length showed that moderate hypoxia did not affect growth significantly until the fish reached the stage of 60 days. Moreover, a growth delay was verified for the hypoxic-reared animals. Also, the D. rerio eggs-to-larvae survival varied from 87.7 to 62.4% in animals reared under normoxia and mild hypoxia, respectively. However, the surviving animals raised under moderated hypoxia showed a better aptitude to regulate aerobic and anaerobic capacities when exposed to acute hypoxia.Keywords: hypoxia, anaerobic metabolism, Danio rerio, lactate, fish.Metabolismo aeróbico e anaeróbico do paulistinha Danio rerio, mantidos sob normóxia e hipóxia moderada e expostos a hipóxia aguda durante diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento Resumo A influência de diferentes níveis de oxigênio no desenvolvimento (ovos a adulto) do peixe paulistinha Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) foi verificada por meio de medidas experimentais de consumo de oxigênio (MO 2 ), tensões críticas de oxigênio (Pcrit), taxa de batimentos cardíacos (fH) e concentração total de lactato nos tecidos (Lc), para os animais mantidos a 28 ºC sob níveis normóxicos de oxigênio (7.5 mgO 2 .L -1 ou 80 mmHg) e hipóxicos (4.3 mgO 2 .L -1 ) e submetidos a hipóxia ambiental aguda, em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os peixes em estágios iniciais do desenvolvimento não variam suas respostas fisiológicas em função das oscilações ambientais nos níveis de oxigênio, visto que tais respostas iniciaram-se somente no estágio de 30 dias de vida. A partir deste estágio D. rerio apresentou capacidade em responder à hipóxia aguda por meio de mecanismos fisiológicos efetivos envolvendo metabolismo aeróbico e anaeróbico. Tais respostas foram mais efetivas para os peixes mantidos sob hipóxia, o que mostrou que a capacidade de sobrevivência de D. rerio aumentou durante o período de aclimatação à hipóxia moderada. As medidas de massa e comprimento corpóreos mostraram que a permanência dos peixes em hipóxia durante o desenvolvimento não afetou esses parâmetro até os peixes atingirem o estágio de 60 dias. A partir deste estágio foi observado ligeiro atraso no crescimento dos espécimes mantidos sob hipóx...

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the causative agent of an acute, highly contagious, and severe enteric disease that leads to high mortality rates in suckling piglets. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of PEDV infection is critical for the implementation of control measures for the virus. Many diagnostic tests have been recently developed and are currently available for the detection of PEDV, its proteins or nucleic acid, including virus isolation, immunofluorescence (IF) or immunohistochemistry (IHC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and isothermal amplification assays. Additionally, several serological assays have been developed and are currently used for the detection of antibodies against PEDV. Molecular assays such as real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (rRT-PCR) became the methods of choice for the diagnosis of PEDV infection, providing sensitive, specific and rapid detection of the virus RNA in clinical samples. Whereas serological assays have been widely used to monitor prior exposure to the virus and to evaluate the efficacy of novel vaccine candidates or vaccination strategies. Here we discuss the properties of current PEDV diagnostic assays and prospects for improving diagnostic strategies in the future.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans, has a broad host range, and is able to infect domestic and wild animal species. Notably, white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus), the most widely distributed cervid species in the Americas, were shown to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 in challenge studies and reported natural infection/exposure rates approaching 30–40% in free-ranging WTD in the U.S. Thus, understanding the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD is critical to prevent future zoonotic transmission to humans, at the human-WTD interface during hunting or venison farming, and for implementation of effective disease control measures. Here, we demonstrated that following intranasal inoculation with SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage, WTD fawns (~8-month-old) shed infectious virus up to day 5 post-inoculation (pi), with high viral loads shed in nasal and oral secretions. This resulted in efficient deer-to-deer transmission on day 3 pi. Consistent a with lack of infectious SARS-CoV-2 shedding after day 5 pi, no transmission was observed to contact animals added on days 6 and 9 pi. We have also investigated the tropism and sites of SARS-CoV-2 replication in adult WTD (3–4 years of age). Infectious virus was detected up to day 6 pi in nasal secretions, and from various respiratory-, lymphoid-, and central nervous system tissues, indicating broad tissue tropism and multiple sites of virus replication. The study provides important insights on the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD, a wild animal species that is highly susceptible to infection and with the potential to become a reservoir for the virus in the field.

The relative influence of the factors acting on burn probability, namely fuel and weather, is not well understood, especially in Europe. We use a digital fire atlas (1975–2008) and apply survival analysis to individual fires (1998–2008) to describe how burn probability changes with fuel age in Portugal. The typical fire return interval and median fire-free interval vary regionally from 23 to 52 and 18 to 47 years. Increase of the hazard of burning with time is generally near-linear, denoting moderate fuel-age dependency, as in some other shrub-dominated Mediterranean environments. Analysis of complete fire intervals resulted in shorter fire return interval and higher fuel-age dependency of burn probability than findings that included censored observations. Increasingly severe weather conditions either expressed through fire size or by extreme fire danger concurrently decreased fuel-age dependency and selected older fuels. The results are discussed from the viewpoints of fire suppression and fuel treatments.