Preface – Emerging Viruses: From Early Detection to Intervention

Abstract

In the last decades, several viruses emerged, as the consequence of cross-species passage from animal reservoirs to human being. Emerging infections always represent a significant challenge for public health system as knowledge about specific pathogens are generally little while and no/few effective interventions are available. In this volume we explored special aspects of emerging infectious diseases including: the application of the theory of focality of diseases to infective syndrome; the human-animal inter-face focusing on influenza; the role of bats as main reservoir of emerging and novel human pathogens; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) epidemiology and clinical presentation; immediate impact on human health of the last Zika virus outbreak occurred in Pacific Ocean and the Americas; the role and potential application of animal models for the study of emerging infections, to improve disease knowledge and for developing therapeutic drugs during ongoing outbreak.

Structurally- and dynamically-driven allostery of the chymotrypsin-like proteases of SARS, Dengue and Zika viruses

“…In the last decades, several emerging and re-emerging viral diseases have broken out globally, which not only led to worldwide health hazards, but also caused significant damages to both the regional and global economies. While the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle-east respiratory syndrome (MERS) viruses represent paradigmatic examples of viruses completely new for humans, Dengue and Zika virus are considered to be the most important re-emerging arboviruses (Guzman and Harris, 2015;Ippolito and Rezza, 2017;Wikan and Smith, 2016). Noticeably, many emerging or re-emerging viruses are RNA viruses because they own high mutation rates for the viral enzymes, and consequently can quickly adapt to the varying conditions (Nichol et al, 2000).…”

The Impact and Control of Emerging and Re-Emerging Viral Diseases in the Environment: An African Perspective

“…Increases in the movement of people, climate change, and viral evolution involving cross-species at the human-animal interface lead to the emergence of new viruses Ippolito and Rezza 2017). Environmental factors such as inadequate water supply, sanitation, food and climatic changes, as well as lapses associated with the collection, treatment and disposal of solid waste in developing nations often result to pollution of soil, water and air.…”

Impacts of virus-mediated manipulation of host Dynein

“…Indeed, the SARS-CoV Envelope membrane-associated Envelope protein brought down the DHC, among other proteins; but little else is understood about this potential interaction [93]. Members of the flaviviridae including West Nile, HCV, Dengue, and Zika among others have each their own prevalence worldwide, the last two of which are considered as the current emerging threats to human health [94], in North America and elsewhere. There are little data on virus-host interactions between Zika and components of the Dynein machinery in mid-2017.…”