A pneumonia outbreak with unknown etiology was reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, in December 2019, associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. The causative agent of the outbreak was identified by the WHO as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), producing the disease named coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The virus is closely related (96.3%) to bat coronavirus RaTG13, based on phylogenetic analysis. Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed even from asymptomatic carriers. The virus has spread to at least 200 countries, and more than 1,700,000 confirmed cases and 111,600 deaths have been recorded, with massive global increases in the number of cases daily. Therefore, the WHO has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The disease is characterized by fever, dry cough, and chest pain with pneumonia in severe cases. In the beginning, the world public health authorities tried to eradicate the disease in China through quarantine but are now transitioning to prevention strategies worldwide to delay its spread. To date, there are no available vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs to treat the virus. There are many knowledge gaps about the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, leading to misinformation. Therefore, in this review, we provide recent information about the COVID-19 pandemic. This review also provides insights for the control of pathogenic infections in humans such as SARS-CoV-2 infection and future spillovers.

No abstract

Egypt has a unique geographical location connecting the three old-world continents Africa, Asia and Europe. It is the country with the highest population density in the Middle East, Northern Africa and the Mediterranean basin. This review summarizes the prevalence, reservoirs, sources of human infection and control regimes of common bacterial, parasitic and viral zoonoses in animals and humans in Egypt. There is a gap of knowledge conerning the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases at the human-animal interface in different localities in Egypt. Some zoonotic agents are “exotic” for Egypt (e.g., MERS-CoV and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus), others are endemic (e.g., Brucellosis, Schistosomiasis and Avian influenza). Transboundary transmission of emerging pathogens from and to Egypt occurred via different routes, mainly importation/exportation of apparently healthy animals or migratory birds. Control of the infectious agents and multidrug resistant bacteria in the veterinary sector is on the frontline for infection control in humans. The implementation of control programs significantly decreased the prevalence of some zoonoses, such as schistosomiasis and fascioliasis, in some localities within the country. Sustainable awareness, education and training targeting groups at high risk (veterinarians, farmers, abattoir workers, nurses, etc.) are important to lessen the burden of zoonotic diseases among Egyptians. There is an urgent need for collaborative surveillance and intervention plans for the control of these diseases in Egypt.

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), a most common bacterial pathogen of poultry, causes multiple extra-intestinal diseases in poultry which results in significant economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. In addition, APEC are a subgroup of extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC), and APEC contaminated poultry products are a potential source of foodborne ExPEC infections to humans and transfer of antimicrobial resistant genes. The emergence of multi-drug resistant APEC strains and the limited efficacy of vaccines necessitate novel APEC control approaches. Here, we screened a small molecule (SM) library and identified 11 SMs bactericidal to APEC. The identified SMs were effective against multiple APEC serotypes, biofilm embedded APEC, antimicrobials resistant APECs, and other pathogenic E. coli strains. Microscopy revealed that these SMs affect the APEC cell membrane. Exposure of SMs to APEC revealed no resistance. Most SMs showed low toxicity towards chicken and human cells and reduced the intracellular APEC load. Treatment with most SMs extended the wax moth larval survival and reduced the intra-larval APEC load. Our studies could facilitate the development of antimicrobial therapeutics for the effective management of APEC infections in poultry as well as other E. coli related foodborne zoonosis, including APEC related ExPEC infections in humans.

BackgroundGiardia duodenalis is a common flagellated protozoan parasite that infects the small intestine of a wide range of vertebrate hosts. This study aimed to determine whether tracing of G. duodenalis isolates by current genetic typing tools is possible using an exemplary set of samples from infected cattle, buffalo and children from the Ismailia province, Egypt.MethodA total of 804 fecal samples from ruminant animals was collected from 191 herds and 165 samples from diarrheal children below the age of 10 years. Parasites were detected in these samples using the copro-antigen RIDA®QUICK test and by real-time PCR. Samples were then genetically characterized based on the triosephosphate isomerase, glutamate dehydrogenase and β-giardin genes.ResultsThe prevalence of G. duodenalis was 53% in ruminants and 21% in symptomatic children and infection was not positively correlated with diarrheal symptoms. Sequence typing analysis confirmed predominance of B-type sequences (>67%) in humans and E-type sequences (>81%) in ruminants over A-type sequences. For 39 samples the complete sequence information of the three marker gene fragments could be derived. Integration of the concatenated sequence information of the three marker gene fragments with the spatial data of the respective sample revealed that identical or near identical (only up to 1 out of 1358 bp different) concatenated sequencing types were spatially related in 4 out of 5 cases.ConclusionThe risk of zoonotic infection emanating from ruminants even in high prevalence areas is negligible. Genetic characterization indicated a predominant anthropogenic cycle of infection within the pediatric population studied. Integration of sequence typing data with information on geographic origins of samples allows parasite sub-population tracing using current typing tools.

Subclinical mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus has worldwide public health significance. Here, we aimed to determine the prevalence of S. aureus, antimicrobial resistance profiles, and the virulence and enterotoxins determinant genes of MRSA strains that caused subclinical bovine mastitis. Milk samples were collected from 120 lactating animals (50 buffaloes and 70 dairy cattle) from different farms located in Ismailia Province (Egypt). The collected samples were investigated for subclinical mastitis using a California mastitis test. The total prevalence of S. aureus was 35.9% (84/234) with 36.3% (53/146) in cattle and 31% (31/88) in buffaloes. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that 35.7% (30/84) of the isolated strains were resistant to cefoxitin, defined as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), with 37.7% (20/53) in cattle and 32.2% (10/31) in buffaloes. Using PCR, 100% of the tested strains harbored coa and mecA genes, while 86.6% were positive for spa gene, with remarkable gene size polymorphism. Additionally, 10% of the tested strains contained the pvl gene. Further, using multiplex PCR, 26.6% of the tested samples had sea gene, two strains had sec gene and only one strain had sea and sec genes. The seb and sed genes were absent in the tested strains. In conclusion, mecA, coa and spa virulence genes were widely distributed in MRSA strains isolated from bovine milk, whereas the sea gene was the most predominant enterotoxin gene. Notably, this is the first report that emphasizes the prevalence of pvl gene of MRSA isolated from bovine milk in Egypt.

BackgroundGiardiasis is an important gastrointestinal parasitic disease in humans and other mammals caused by the protozoan Giardia duodenalis. This species complex is represented by genetically distinct groups (assemblages A-H) with varying zoonotic potential and host preferences. Wild rodents can harbor potentially zoonotic assemblages A and B, and the rodent-specific assemblage G. Other Giardia spp. found in these animals are Giardia muris and Giardia microti. For the latter, only limited information on genetic typing is available. It has been speculated that wild rodents might represent an important reservoir for parasites causing human giardiasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of Giardia spp. and assemblage types in wild rodents from different study sites in Germany.ResultsScreening of 577 wild rodents of the genera Apodemus, Microtus and Myodes, sampled at eleven study sites in Germany, revealed a high overall Giardia prevalence. Giardia species determination at the SSU rDNA gene locus revealed that Apodemus mice, depending on species, were predominantly infected with one of two distinct G. muris sequence types. Giardia microti was the predominant parasite species found in voles of the genera Microtus and Myodes. Only a few animals were positive for potentially zoonotic G. duodenalis. Subtyping at the beta-giardin (bg) and glutamine dehydrogenase (gdh) genes strongly supported the existence of different phylogenetic subgroups of G. microti that are preferentially harbored by distinct host species.ConclusionsThe present study highlights the preference of G. muris for Apodemus, and G. microti for Microtus and Myodes hosts and argues for a very low prevalence of zoonotic G. duodenalis assemblages in wild rodents in Germany. It also provides evidence that G. muris and G. microti subdivide into several phylogenetically distinguishable subgroups, each of which appears to be preferentially harbored by species of a particular rodent host genus. Finally, the study expands the database of sequences relevant for sequence typing of G. muris and G. microti isolates which will greatly help future analyses of these parasites’ population structure.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2802-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an emerging transboundary, mosquito-borne, zoonotic viral disease caused high morbidity and mortality in both human and ruminant populations. It is considered an important threat to both agriculture and public health in African and the Middle Eastern countries including Egypt. Five major RVF epidemics have been reported in Egypt (1977, 1993, 1994, 1997, and 2003). The virus is transmitted in Egypt by different mosquito's genera such as Aedes, Culex, Anopheles, and Mansonia, leading to abortions in susceptible animal hosts especially sheep, goat, cattle, and buffaloes. Recurrent RVF outbreaks in Egypt have been attributed in part to the lack of routine surveillance for the virus. These periodic epizootics have resulted in severe economic losses. We posit that there is a critical need for new approaches to RVF control that will prevent or at least reduce future morbidity and economic stress. One Health is an integrated approach for the understanding and management of animal, human, and environmental determinants of complex problems such as RVF. Employing the One Health approach, one might engage local communities in surveillance and control of RVF efforts, rather than continuing their current status as passive victims of the periodic RVF incursions. This review focuses upon endemic and epidemic status of RVF in Egypt, the virus vectors and their ecology, transmission dynamics, risk factors, and the ecology of the RVF at the animal/human interface, prevention, and control measures, and the use of environmental and climate data in surveillance systems to predict disease outbreaks.