Piper aduncum L. is used in folk medicine to treat respiratory and inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to analyze the essential oil from leaves of P. aduncum collected in the Brazilian Cerrado, North of Minas Gerais, as well as to evaluate the larvicidal activity of this oil and of its major constituent. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detector and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry that allowed characterizing 23 compounds (monoterpenes: 90.4%; sesquiterpenes: 7.0%). The major component was 1,8-cineole (53.9%). This oil showed to be very different from those obtained from the same species. Larvae of A. aegypti were exposed to different concentrations of the essential oil and 1,8-cineole. The mortality rate of 100% was obtained after 24h of treatment with the oil at concentrations of 500 and 1,000 ppm. After 48h of treatment, the mortality rate was 80% and 50% for concentrations of 250 and 100 ppm, respectively. The LC 50 obtained after 24h was estimated in 289.9 ppm and after 48h was 134.1 ppm. The major compound 1,8-cineole showed no larvicidal activity.
Bats (Order: Chiroptera) harbor a high diversity of emerging pathogens presumably because their ability to fly and social behavior favor the maintenance, evolution, and dissemination of these pathogens. Until 2012, there was only one report of the presence of Hantavirus in bats. Historically, it was thought that these viruses were harbored primarily by rodent and insectivore small mammals. Recently, new species of hantaviruses have been identified in bats from Africa and Asia continents expanding the potential reservoirs and range of these viruses. To assess the potential of Neotropical bats as hosts for hantaviruses and its transmission dynamics in nature, we tested 53 bats for active hantaviral infection from specimens collected in Southeastern Brazil. Part of the hantaviral S segment was amplified from the frugivorous Carollia perspicillata and the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus. DNA sequencing showed high similarity with the genome of Araraquara orthohantavirus (ARQV), which belongs to one of the more lethal hantavirus clades (Andes orthohantavirus). ARQV-like infection was detected in the blood, urine, and organs of D. rotundus. Therefore, we describe a systemic infection in Neotropical bats by a human pathogenic Hantavirus. We also propose here a schematic transmission dynamics of hantavirus in the study region. Our results give insights to new, under-appreciated questions that need to be addressed in future studies to clarify hantavirus transmission in nature and avoid hantavirus outbreaks.
Abstract. Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses harbored by rodents, bats, and shrews. At present, only rodent-borne hantaviruses are associated with severe illness in humans. New species of hantaviruses have been recently identified in bats and shrews greatly expanding the potential reservoirs and ranges of these viruses. Brazil has one of the highest incidences of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in South America, hence it is critical to know what is the prevalence of hantaviruses in Brazil. Although much is known about rodent reservoirs, little is known regarding bats. We captured 270 bats from February 2012 to April 2014. Serum was screened for the presence of antibodies against a recombinant nucleoprotein (rN) of Araraquara virus (ARAQV). The prevalence of antibody to hantavirus was 9/53 with an overall seroprevalence of 17%. Previous studies have shown only insectivorous bats to harbor hantavirus; however, in our study, of the nine seropositive bats, five were frugivorous, one was carnivorous, and three were sanguivorous phyllostomid bats.Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae) are present throughout the globe in rodents, bats, and shrews.1 Humans exposed to rodent excreta from hantaviral reservoirs may develop lifethreatening diseases. However, none of the other reservoirs are associated with human illness presently.1,2 Bats (order Chiroptera) are known to harbor a broad diversity of emerging zoonotic pathogens.2 Their ability to fly and social behavior favors maintenance, evolution, and spread of pathogens.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the infection with the novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, revealed individual and global vulnerabilities, in which we highlight the social, economic, and political aspects and the health systems’ organization in the countries. Brazil remains with a high transmission rate and presents a centripetal distribution as observed through a more sustained growth in the number of municipalities affected, outlining a profile of invasion of poor communities. Several vulnerabilities overlap with precarious housing conditions, lack of basic sanitation, malnutrition, and endemicity for neglected chronic diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis (VL). COVID-19 and VL evidently do not share clinical features, but exactly because of the distinct immunopathogenesis between the diseases, patients with VL may present a vulnerability in the immune system against antiviral responses. Considering that VL susceptibility seems to be related to an inefficient and polarized immune response, it is likely that in endemic areas, the overlap of social weaknesses added to individual vulnerability by immune polarization may aggravate the COVID-19 condition. In this sense, we reinforce that possible relationships between endemic neglected diseases such as VL and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infection need to be further considered and investigated.
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