Adenoviruses (AdVs) broadly infect vertebrate hosts, including a variety of nonhuman primates (NHPs).In the present study, we identified AdVs in NHPs living in their natural habitats, and through the combination of phylogenetic analyses and information on the habitats and epidemiological settings, we detected possible horizontal transmission events between NHPs and humans. Wild NHPs were analyzed with a pan-primate AdV-specific PCR using a degenerate nested primer set that targets the highly conserved adenovirus DNA polymerase gene.

To prevent complications that might follow an infection with varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the live attenuated Oka strain (V-Oka) is administered to children in many developed countries. Three vaccine brands (Varivax from Sanofi Pasteur MSD; Varilrix and Priorix-Tetra, both from Glaxo-Smith-Kline) are licensed in Germany and have been associated with both different degrees of vaccine effectiveness and adverse effects. To identify genetic variants in the vaccines that might contribute to rash-associated syndromes, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles of variants from the three vaccines and rash-associated vaccine-type VZV from German vaccinees were quantitatively compared by PCR-based pyrosequencing (PSQ). The Varivax vaccine contained an estimated 3-fold higher diversity of VZV variants, with 20% more wild-type (wt) SNPs than Varilrix and Priorix-Tetra. These minor VZV variants in the vaccines were identified by analyzing cloned full-length open reading frame (ORF) orf62 sequences by chain termination sequencing and PSQ. Some of these sequences amplified from vaccine VZV were very similar or identical to those of the rash-associated vaccine-type VZV from vaccinees and were almost exclusively detected in Varivax. Therefore, minorities of rash-associated VZV variants are present in varicella vaccine formulations, and it can be concluded that the analysis of a core set of four SNPs is required as a minimum for a firm diagnostic differentiation of vaccine-type VZV from wt VZV.The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) live attenuated Oka strain (V-Oka) is licensed in developed countries for vaccination against varicella. In Germany, routine vaccination of healthy children Ͼ11 months of age has been performed since 2004. Since then, varicella morbidity has declined (16). The mixtures of V-Oka strains with different single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles present in vaccine preparations and the reported genomic variation of vaccine VZV strains have prompted investigations of the linkage of certain genomic variants to episodes of vaccine-induced rash (9, 10).We aimed at comparing the SNP profiles of the varicella vaccines used in Germany and of vaccine-type VZV from German vaccinees for several reasons. First, three vaccine brands are distributed in Germany (Varivax from Sanofi Pasteur MSD [SPMSD], Leimen, Germany; Varilrix and PriorixTetra, both from GlaxoSmithKline [GSK], Munich, Germany) and have been associated with different degrees of vaccine effectiveness (17). In addition, data from the German varicella sentinel (16) indicated that the vaccines might be related to different frequencies of rash-associated syndromes, i.e., mild forms of varicella or zoster (Anette Siedler and Bernhard Ehlers, unpublished data). Second, vaccine-type VZV strains causing rash-associated clinical syndromes in vaccinees have been reported to contain a number of wild-type (wt) SNPs. It has been hypothesized that these vaccine-type, wt SNP-containing VZV strains are minor components of the vaccines (1, 9, 10, 13). To substantiate t...

The downstream process development of novel antibodies (Abs) is often challenged by virus filter fouling making a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms highly desirable. The present study combines the protein characterization of different feedstreams with their virus filtration performance using a novel high throughput filtration screening system. Filtration experiments with Ab concentrations of up to 20 g/L using either low interacting or hydrophobically interacting pre‐filters indicate the existence of two different fouling mechanisms, an irreversible and a reversible one. At the molecular level, size exclusion chromatography revealed that the presence of large amount of high molecular weight species—considered as irreversible aggregates—correlates with irreversible fouling that caused reduced Ab throughput. Results using dynamic light scattering show that a concentration dependent increase of the mean hydrodynamic diameter to the range of dimers (17 nm at 20 g/L) together with a negative DLS interaction parameter kD (−18 mL/g) correlate with the propensity to form reversible aggregates and to cause reversible fouling, probably by a decelerated Ab transport velocity within the virus filter. The two fouling mechanisms are further supported by buffer flush experiments. Finally, concepts for reversible and irreversible fouling mechanisms are discussed together with strategies for respective fouling mitigation. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2776, 2019.