Susceptibility of turkeys, chickens and chicken embryos to SARS-CoV-2 virus was evaluated by experiment inoculation. Turkeys and chickens were inoculated using a combination of intranasal, oral and ocular routes. Both turkeys and chickens did not develop clinical disease or antibodies to the virus following inoculation. Viral RNA was not detected in oral and cloacal swabs and in tissues using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. In addition, chicken embryos were inoculated using the yolk sac, intravenous, chorioallantoic membrane and allantoic cavity routes did not support replication of the virus. SARS-COV-2 virus does not affect both turkeys and chickens in the current genetic state and does not pose any potential risk to establish in both species of domestic poultry.

Vectors of emerging infectious diseases have expanded their distributional ranges in recent decades due to increased global travel, trade connectivity, and climate change. Transboundary range shifts, arising from the continuous movement of humans and livestock across borders, are of particular disease control concern. Several tick-borne diseases are known to circulate between eastern Uganda and the western counties of Kenya, with one fatal case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) reported in 2000 in Western Kenya. Recent reports of CCHF in Uganda have highlighted the risk of cross-border disease translocation and the importance of establishing inter-epidemic, early warning systems to detect possible outbreaks. We therefore carried out surveillance of tick-borne zoonotic pathogens at livestock markets and slaughterhouses in three counties of western Kenya that neighbour Uganda. Ticks and other ectoparasites were collected from livestock and identified using morphological keys. The two most frequently sampled tick species were Rhipicephalus decoloratus (35%) and Amblyomma variegatum (30%), and Ctenocephalides felis fleas and Haematopinus suis lice were also present. In total 486 ticks, lice, and fleas were screened for pathogen presence using established molecular workflows incorporating high-resolution melting analysis and identified through PCR-sequencing of PCR products. We detected CCHF virus in Rh. decoloratus and Rhipicephalus sp. cattle ticks and 82 of 96 pools of Am. variegatum were positive for Rickettsia africae. Apicomplexan protozoa and bcteria of veterinary importance, such as Theileria parva, Babesia bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale, were primarily detected in rhipicephaline ticks. Our findings show the presence of several pathogens of public health and veterinary importance in ticks from livestock at livestock markets and slaughterhouses in western Kenya. Confirmation of CCHF virus, a Nairovirus that causes haemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality rate in humans, highlights the risk of under-diagnosed zoonotic diseases and calls for continuous surveillance and the development of preventative measures.

Pigs (Sus scrofa) have high-contact rates with humans and other animals, share many pathogens with humans, and serve as reservoirs and intermediate hosts for notable human pandemics. Several diverse genera of coronaviruses (CoVs) circulate widely in pigs and the evolutionary history of SARS-like CoVs suggests some pig-origin motifs. Thus, pigs are likely to be important surveillance targets for risk assessment and risk-based control planning against current and novel CoVs. Wild and domestic pigs both interface with humans and each other, but have unique ecologies that demand different surveillance strategies. Three fundamental questions shape any surveillance program: where, when, and how can surveillance be conducted to optimize the surveillance objective? Using theory of mechanisms of zoonotic spillover and data on risk factors, we show where surveillance might begin initially to maximize a detection in each host species at their interface. We then discuss variables that need to be considered for optimizing when and how to conduct surveillance. For example, in wild pigs, increasing surveillance effort shortly after birth pulses and seasonal conditions that drive longer-range movements might help to optimize the spending of surveillance budgets for maximizing detection. Recent advances in accounting for opportunistic sampling designs and in translating serology samples into infection times provide promising directions for extracting spatio-temporal estimates of disease risk from typical surveillance data. Moving beyond estimates of apparent seroprevalence to frameworks that enable inference of population-level metrics of transmission risk is critical for accurately assessing disease risk. For emerging pathogens such as CoVs for which little is known, basing ongoing surveillance plans on robust metrics of disease risk from current surveillance data enables allocation of surveillance resources to be optimized in space and time adaptively to new information (adaptive surveillance), thus providing improved strategies to optimize risk assessment, surveillance, and control capabilities.

To investigate the epidemic profile and genetic diversity of porcine bocavirus (PBoV), 281 clinical samples including 236 intestinal tissue samples and 45 fecal samples were collected from diarrheal piglets in 37 different pig farms of central China, and two SYBR Green I-based quantitative PCR assays were developed to detect PBoV1/2 and PBoV3/4/5 respectively. The results showed the detection limits of two assays were 1.66 × 101 genome copies/μl of PBoV1/2 and 3.3 × 101 copies/µL of PBoV 3/4/5. 148 (52.67%) of the 281 clinical samples were positive for PBoV1/2, 117 (41.63%) were positive for PBoV3/4/5, 55 (19.57%) were positive for both PBoV1/2 and PBoV3/4/5, and 86.49% (32/37) of the pig farms were positive for PBoV. Subsequently, complete genomic sequences of two PBoV strains (designated CH/HNZM and PBoV-TY) from two different farms were sequenced. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the two PBoV strains obtained in this study belonged to the PBoV2 group and had a close relationship with other 12 PBoV2 strains, but differed genetically from PBoV1, PBoV3/4/5 and 7 other bocaviruses. CH/HNZM and PBoV-TY were closely related to the PBoV strain GD18 (KJ755666) which may be derived from PBoV strains 0912/2012 (MH558677) and 57AT-HU (KF206160) through the recombination analysis. Compared with reference strain ZJD (HM053694)-China, a higher amino acid variation was found in the NS1 protein of CH/HNZM and PBoV-TY. These results extend our understanding of the molecular epidemiology and evolution of PBoV.

Rotaviruses (RVs) are a major cause of viral gastroenteritis in both animals and humans worldwide. According to the molecular and serological properties of Viral Protein 6 (VP6), RVs are classified into nine species or groups (RVA-RVD and RVF-RVJ). RVA, RVB and RVC are well-recognized as etiological agents of enteric disease on swine farms and have been identified in all countries with a relevant pork production. Contrarily, RVH has only been identified on swine farms from Japan and more recently from Brazil, USA, South Africa and Vietnam but not yet in Europe. The occurrence of RVH was investigated in 103 Spanish pig herds. Nine farms were positive and the complete nucleotide sequences were achieved for four RVH isolates. Mean nucleotide identities with the RVH sequences available in GenBak ranged between 69.4 and 93.7 %. Phylogenetically, all genomic segments of Spanish RVH isolates clustered closely with other porcine RVH strains but were distantly related to human RVH as well as bat RVH strain. Moreover, based on the available tentative genotyping system for RVH, a new genotype for VP7 was proposed. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of RVH on swine farms in Europe including its characterization by means of complete genome sequencing.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infection, is a multi-host disease which negatively affects the wildlife industry, with adverse consequences for conservation, ecotourism, and game/wildlife sales. Although interspecies transmission has been reported between some wildlife hosts, the risk of spread in complex ecosystems is largely unknown. As a controlled disease, tools for accurate detection of M. bovis infection is crucial for effective surveillance and management, especially in wildlife populations. There are however, limited species-specific diagnostic tests available for wildlife. Hippopotamuses are rarely tested for M. bovis infection and infection has not previously been confirmed in these species. In this study, blood and tissue samples collected from common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) residing in a bTB endemic area, the Greater Kruger Protected area (GKPA), were retrospectively screened to determine whether there was evidence for interspecies transmission of M. bovis, and to identify tools for M. bovis detection in this species. Using the multi-species DPP® VetTB serological assay, a bTB seroprevelance of 8% was found in hippopotamus from GKPA. In addition, the first confirmed case of M. bovis infection in a free-ranging common hippopotamus is reported, based on the isolation in mycobacterial culture, genetic speciation, and detection of DNA in tissue samples. Importantly, the M. bovis spoligotype (SB0121) isolated from this common hippopotamus is shared with other M. bovis-infected hosts in GKPA, suggesting interspecies transmission. These results support the hypothesis that M. bovis infection may be under recognized in hippopotamus. Further investigation is needed to determine the risk of interspecies transmission of M. bovis to common hippopotamus in bTB endemic ecosystems and evaluate serological and other diagnostic tools in this species.

Ebolavirus (EBOV) is responsible for several EBOV disease (EVD) outbreaks in Africa, with a fatality rate of up to 90%. During 2014-2016, An epidemic of EVD spread throughout Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, and killed over 11,000 people. EBOV began to circulate again in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018. Due to the need for a BSL-4 facility to manipulate this virus, the development and improvement of specific therapeutics has been hindered. As a result, it is imperative to perform reliable research on EBOV under lowered BSL restrictions. In this study, we developed a safe neutralization assay based on pseudotyped EBOV, which incorporates the glycoprotein of the 2014 EBOV epidemic strain into a lentivirus vector. Our results demonstrated that the tropism of pseudotyped EBOV was similar to that of authentic EBOV, but with only one infection cycle. And neutralizing activity of both authentic EBOV and pseudotyped EBOV were compared in neutralization assay using three different samples of antibody-based reagents against EBOV, similar results were obtained. In addition, an indirect ELISA was performed to show the relationship between IgG and neutralizing antibody against EBOV detected by our pseudotyped EBOV-based neutralization assay. As expected, the neutralizing antibody titers varied with the IgG titers detected by indirect ELISA, and a correlation between the results of the two assays was identified. By comparison with two different assays, the reliability of the results detected by the pseudotyped EBOV-based neutralization assay was confirmed. Collectively, in the absence of BSL-4 restrictions, pseudotyped EBOV production and neutralizing activity evaluation can be performed safely and in a manner that is neither labor- nor time-consuming, providing a simple and safe method for EBOV-neutralizing antibody detection and the assessment of immunogenicity of EBOV vaccines. All these remarkable advantages of the newly established assay highlight its potential to further application in assessment of immunogenicity of EBOV vaccine candidates.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has radically changed the sta tus quo of the global society. The fast spread of the new coronavirus is governed by nonlinear dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complex dynamics inherent by the dissemination of COVID-19 into 27 Brazilian States. Because of this, we have investigated the time series of daily death caused by COVID-19. Our analysis taking into account the Bandt & Pompe method (BPM) to estimate the Information Theory quantifiers, the Permutation entropy (Hs), and the Fisher information measure (Fs). Based on the Information Theory quantifiers we build up the Shannon-Fisher causality plane, which made it possible to study the temporal evolution inherent of the phenomenology associated with the number of daily deaths by COVID-19, as well as their respective locations along the SFCP were mapped. Our results show that the number of death cases due to COVID-19 for Brazilian States present a dynamical behavior that tends to have their starting positions close to the lower-right region at the 2-D plane (Hs x Fs). Thus, the Brazilian States located in this region or its surroundings show high entropy and lowest disorder (highest efficiency). While the Brazilian States located in the middle region of the 2-D plane (Hs x Fs) or its surroundings are depicted by a less entropic and highest disorder (lowest efficiency). We also employed the Permutation entropy and the Fisher information measure to rank the conjuncture of the Brazilian States considering the number of daily death due to COVID-19 based on the complexity hierarchy. From a mathematical point of view, we found an inverse relationship between the Permutation entropy and Fisher information measure. Given this, we concluded that the higher value of the permutation entropy (Hs)the lower value related to the Fisher information measure (Fs).

Equine piroplasmosis (EP), a tick-borne disease affecting horses, is caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. We investigate antigen and antibody of EP in whole bloods and sera of horses in the Republic of Korea during 2016-2017. We collected 1,650 whole bloods and sera of horses in 16 regions and 222 farms to examine antigen and antibody of EP by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of 18S rRNA gene and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. T. equi antigen and antibody was detected in 1 of 1,650 samples (0.06%). Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA revealed that T. equi was highly homologous with the strains from China, Mongolia, or Spain. At EP-positive ranch, 52 and 10 ticks were collected in 2016 and 2017, respectively. All of them were identified as Haemaphysalis longicornis, but EP pathogens were not detected from the collected ticks. From 1,650 whole bloods, 2 of Theileria spp. were also detected and highly homologous with T. buffeli, T. luwehshuni, and T. orientalis group. EP infectious status was very low in Korea, and routine surveillance should be needed to attain the free status of EP in Korea.

Since 2017, duck spleen necrosis caused by a new variant duck orthoreovirus (N-DRV) infection had been observed in many provinces in China. This disease causes the growth and development of ducks to be retarded, and the feed return rate is reduced. Because the target organ of the disease is mainly the spleen, the immune suppression of the diseased ducks is easy to secondary infection of other pathogens. In this study, we successfully constructed a breeding duck artificial infection model and found that N-DRV infection can cause pathological changes such as ovarian hemorrhage, follicle atrophy, and fallopian tube bleeding in breeding ducks, resulting in a significant reduction in the fertilization rate and hatching rate of breeding eggs. The qPCR method was used to detect viral RNA in samples of egg vitelline membrane, duck embryo, and duckling’s spleen. It was found that viral RNA was present in the above samples. Although there were no obvious clinical symptoms in the early stage of ducklings, autopsy revealed obvious pathological changes in the spleen and other organs. The sequence distance and phylogenetic analysis of the strain re-isolated from the spleen samples of ducklings (named N-DRV-SD19) confirmed that N-DRV-SD19 was consistent with the strain N-DRV-XT18 used for the infection of the breeding ducks. The findings of the above research confirmed that N-DRV can be vertically transmitted through eggs, which will provide an important reference for the prevention and control of the disease.

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) is a newly emerged circovirus discovered in 2016, and since then is threatening the swine industry worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the presence of different PCV3 strains in swine herds from Brazil. PCV3 was detected by qPCR in different samples from different life stages. Sequencing was performed with seventeen positive samples. This study reported the coinfection of different PCV3 strains in one animal. This study provides insights into the genetic diversity of PCV3 strains circulating in the Brazilian swine herds.

Conventional piglets were inoculated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through different routes, including intranasal, endotracheal, intramuscular and intravenous ones. Although piglets were not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and lacked lesions or viral RNA in tissues/swabs, seroconversion was observed in pigs inoculated parenterally (intramuscularly or intravenously).

Being able to link clinical outcomes to SARS-CoV-2 virus strains is a critical component of understanding COVID-19. Here we discuss how current processes hamper sustainable data collection to enable meaningful analysis and insights. Following ‘Fast Healthcare Interoperable Resource’ implementation guide, we introduce an ontology-based standard questionnaire to overcome these shortcomings and describe patient “journeys” in coordination with the World Health Organization. We identify steps in the clinical health data acquisition cycle and workflows that likely have the biggest impact in the data-driven understanding of this virus.

Letter to editor It has been demonstrated that the latest outbreak-causing novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) virus (2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2) invades human alveolar epithelial cells primarily by angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 ACE2 (Zhou et al., 2020). The SARS-CoV engages ACE2 for cellular entry to produce final infection (Hoffmann et al., 2020). Furthermore, Zhao et al documented that in human lungs, ACE2 is found primarily in alveolar epithelial cells of type II (AT2), indicating that this virus activates ACE2-positive AT2 cells to cause pneumonia (Zhao et al., 2020). Recently an epidemiological research indicated that certain patients with SARS-CoV-2 exhibit symptoms of severe liver injury (Chen et al., 2020). The investigators also established that ACE2 is significantly enriched in cholangiocytes by studying stable liver cells at single-cell resolution (Chai et al., 2020), depicting that the virus may bind ACE2-positive cholangiocytes directly causes dis-regulation result in liver function. Now the main question arises that why ACE2 is crucial for COVID-19 control and treatment strategies? Normally, ACE2 catalyzing the transformation of angiotensin-II into angiotensin-1–7. Angiotensin-II acts on angiotensin receptor-1(AT1) and controls the processes of vasoconstriction, apoptosis, proinflammatory changes, and fibrosis cycle, while angiotensin 1–7 acts on Mas receptors induces contrary symptoms (Paz Ocaranza et al., 2020 ). Thus any loss in the activity of ACE2 in the alveolar cells may increase the level of angiotensin II and result in acute respiratory distress. The expression of ACE2 is comparatively higher in lung and a study documented the protective role of ACE2 in lung injury (Imai et al., 2005). It was proved in a mice model that acidic gas inhaled by mice downregulated ACE2 and increased the level of Ang II in the lung and plasma of wild-type mice, and the levels of Ang II in the lung. Further, the research team found that recombinant human ACE2 (rhACE2) protein action may reduce the plasma Ang II levels and reduce the risk of acute lung injury in ACE2 Knockout mice. The binding mode of COVID-19 virus with ACE2 and the clinical importance of renin-angiotensin System, revealed that this system is extensively involved in the pathology of COVID-19 (Gurwitz, 2020; Vaduganathan et al., 2020). Mostly the COVID-19 patients develop fever, inflammatory changes, and respiratory distress. It can be hypothesized that these changes might be due to lack of ACE2 and imbalance in renin-angiotensin system in the pulmonary interstitium. Furthermore, Gurwitz suggested that telmisartan as an alternative choice for treating COVID19 before the respiratory distress develops. Interestingly, Zhang et al. noticed a low fatality rate in COVID-19 hypertensive patients that were exposed to Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) than control ones (Zhang et al., 2020). Hoffmann and his co-workers proved that protease inhibitor-mediated blocking of Ace2 and Tmprss2 might be a target in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 (Hoffmann et al., 2020).Based on the above findings, we can speculate that the treatment strategies for COVID-19 may include recombinant ACE2 therapy, hormones such as estradiol, which increases the level of ACE2, and drugs that decrease the level of angiotensin II.Keywords: ACE2, Angiotensin II, Zoonosis, COVID19, therapeutic purpose

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex and global problem. Despite the growing literature on AMR in the medical and veterinary settings, there is still a lack of knowledge and research on the wildlife compartment. The main aim of this study was to report the global trends in AMR research in wildlife, through a bibliometric study of articles found in the Web of Science database. A total of 214 articles were obtained, published between 1979 and 2019. A rising interest in the last decades towards this topic becomes evident. During this period, the scientific literature was distributed among a broad range of scientific fields, however it became more multidisciplinary in the last years with a change of the spotlight into the “One Health” paradigm. There was a geographical bias in the research outputs. Most published documents were indisputably from the United States, followed by Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The most productive institutions in terms of publication number were located in Portugal and Spain. An important level of international collaboration was identified. An analysis of the main keywords showed an overall dominance of “AMR”, “E. coli”, “genes”, “prevalence”, “bacteria”, “Salmonella spp.” and “wild birds”. This is the first study providing a global overview of the spatial and temporal trends of research related to AMR in wildlife. Given the growth tendency over the last years, it is envisaged that scientific production and research efforts will expand in the future. In addition to offering a broad view of the existing research trends, this study identifies research gaps both in terms of geographical incidence and also in relation to unexplored subtopics. Unearthing scientific areas that should be invested in and explored in the future is key to designing new strategic research agendas in AMR research in wildlife and to inform funding programs.

Objectives: The current study was carried out to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practices towards Brucellosis in the people of Khyber Pukhtun Khwa Province, Pakistan. Study design: Cross-sectional study Material and methods: Total of 1600 participants belong to different professions, education level, locality and nature of contact with animals were selected by random sample method. The samples were selected from the Khyber Pakhtun Khwa province of Pakistan. Results: The findings of this study documented poor knowledge regarding brucellosis in the selected participants of current study. Although human and animal health professionals had sufficient knowledge about brucellosis, however no serious trends to control brucellosis were noticed even in health professionals. The unhygienic approach was observed in farmers regarding the handling animal and their products. Self medication approach was also documented in many participants which create antibiotic resistance. Conclusions: Based on the findings we noticed a lack of information regarding zoonotic diseases, health facilities and a weak bond between health and non-health professionals in KPK. Proper education and awareness is highly recommended on zoonotic diseases. Keywords: Zoonotic diseases, Brucellosis, Knowledge, Practices, Attitude

Inclusion body hepatitis and hydropericardium syndrome (HHS) associated with fowl adenovirus (FAdV) infections occurred worldwide. In this study, we confirmed an outbreak of HHS in captive peacocks in Henan Province, China. The causative agent fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) was isolated and designated HN19. Phylogenetic analysis showed that HN19 isolate was clustered in FAdV-C. Animal experiments showed that HN19 exhibited high pathogenicity to chickens. The findings suggested that the possibility risk of cross-host transmission of FAdV-4.

The current COVID-19 global pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) of probable bat origin, has highlighted the ongoing need for a One Health response to emerging zoonotic disease events, which are significantly increasing over time. Understanding the human-animal interface and its relevance to disease transmission remains a critical control point for many emerging zoonoses. Determination of the susceptibility of various animal species to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the role of animals in the epidemiology of the disease will be critical to informing appropriate human and veterinary public health responses to this pandemic. A scoping literature review was conducted to collect, evaluate and present the available research evidence regarding SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals. Experimental studies have successfully demonstrated SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in cats, ferrets, hamsters, bats and non-human primates under experimental settings. Dogs appear to have limited susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, while other domestic species including pigs and poultry do not appear susceptible. Naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals appear uncommon, with 14 pets, 8 captive big cats and an unreported number of farmed mink testing positive to date. Infections typically appear asymptomatic in dogs, while clinical signs of respiratory and/or gastrointestinal disease tend to be mild to moderate in felines, and severe to fatal in mink. Most animal cases have been infected by close contact with COVID-19 patients. In domestic settings, viral transmission is self-limiting, however in high density animal environments there can be sustained between-animal transmission. To date, two potential cases of animal-to-human transmission are being investigated, on infected mink farms. Given the millions of COVID-19 cases worldwide and ongoing potential for further zoonotic and anthroponotic viral transmission, further research and surveillance activities are needed to definitively determine the role of animals in community transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic is a big threat for all countries’ health systems. In India, the first case of coronavirus occurred in Kerala on 30 January 2020, followed by 2 more until 2 February 2020, but all three were cured, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) India situation report-2. Since this, no single case of coronavirus has been recorded across the country for a month. Nevertheless, from 2 March onwards, the number of cases rose on a regular basis. As of 21 June 2020, 410,461 confirmed cases and 13,254 total deaths, as stated in the World Health Organization (WHO) India situation report-21. This research presents significant findings about the early outbreak of COVID-19 in India. Due to the recent rapid rise in new cases of COVID-19, the pre-evolution of pandemic coronavirus is a pre-eminence in India. The susceptible-infectious-recovered (SIR) model was developed to estimate the reproductive number R0 at the early stage of the outbreak of COVID-19 and to evaluate this outbreak with available data on confirmed, deaths and recovered cases in India from 02 February 2020 to 26 June 2020.

Since its first emergence in 2012, cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have continued to occur. In this study, we present two nucleic acid visualization assays that target the MERS-CoV UpE and N genes as a panel that combines reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification with a closed vertical flow visualization strip (RT-RPA-VF). The limit of detection was 1.2×10^1 copies/μl for the UpE assay and 1.2 copies/μl for the N assay. The two assays exhibited no cross-reactivity with multiple CoVs, including the bat severe acute respiratory syndrome related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV), the bat coronavirus HKU4, and the human coronaviruses 229E, OC43, HKU1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The RT-RPA-VF assay does not require sophisticated equipment and provides rapid detection within 30 min, so it has potential for use in surveillance and detection of MERS-CoV in low-resource settings.

To date, more than thirty animals were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, all of them infected by humans with COVID-19. Some animal experiments suggested the possibility of an animal to animal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and were seen in some cases of infected animals. Animal to human transmission was considered unlikely until investigations revealed the possibility of mink to human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands. Studying the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 to domestic animals concluded that pigs, chicken, and ducks were not vulnerable to Covid-19; dogs showed less susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 and cats as well as ferrets were seen susceptible to Covid-19. SARS-CoV-2 is seen crossing the species barrier, infecting humans from the wild with the source yet unclear, spreading from humans to humans quickly, humans to animals, animals to animals, and is likely to spread from animals to humans even though minimally. Animals appear somewhat resistant to SARS-CoV-2 transmission compared to humans who globally crossed eight million infection cases, and the infected animals mostly do not show many complications and recover quickly. Precautions are advised to prevent human to animal transmission of the virus, and in some areas, avoid animal to human spread of the virus. Further monitoring is required to assess the SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals as COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving condition worldwide.

Animal health information systems or risk analysis tools are indispensable not only for animal health surveillance, but also to observe the evolution and risk of disease incursion into a disease-free area. Given their essential function in animal disease prevention, different international and national organizations have created their own aforementioned systems/tools. Moreover, with the increase of technology and data storage, they have become more accessible and widely used by professionals in animal and human health sciences. This study aimed to establish their preferences, needs and constraints in respect of these tools. An online survey was conducted and answered by 213 respondents from 132 countries. The respondents were animal or public health professionals in different employment sectors (mostly in government, research and university institutions) and various fields of competency (highest for animal and public health). The majority of respondents used the animal health information systems frequently and on a weekly basis, with prevention measures of diseases being regarded as the most useful information. Descriptive epidemiology is more used/needed than analytical epidemiology. Risk analysis was performed by the majority of the respondents (70%), using a qualitative approach more than a quantitative or semi-qualitative. The primary objectives was to produce risk assessment and preparedness in areas involving origin and spread of animal diseases. The features most sought after in risk assessment tools were pathways of introduction and spread assessment. The level of satisfaction was higher for the platform which is most used by the respondents. Thus, the platform choice is most likely influenced by its efficiency and functionality. Overall, these results could be taken into consideration when improving an already available platform, or when creating a new efficient tool.

Gastrointestinal parasites are common in pet animals, despite the existence of therapeutic and prophylactic measures. Protozoa and helminths are of great importance for Unique Health, mainly due to their zoonotic potential. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of the main gastrointestinal parasites in domestic dog puppies in the city of Araçatuba, São Paulo. Thus, 100 fecal samples were collected from dogs up to six months of age. The samples were processed using Willis and Faust’s coproparasitological techniques and negative malachite green staining. The statistical analysis consisted of descriptive analysis. In addition, a general assessment of positivity between the techniques was carried out, in which if the animal was positive in a test it was considered positive in this criterion, due to each test being specific to a type of gastrointestinal parasite. With the results obtained it was possible to observe that animals that have age range less than or equal to six months of age had a higher occurrence for Toxocara spp. Eggs, and in some of theses animals it was possible to observe feces with normal consistency. The positivity for the parasites, by at least one of the techniques mentioned above, was: Toxocara spp. (34%); Isospora spp. (28%); Ancylostoma spp. (22%); and, Giardia spp. (8%). Thus, we concluded for the first time the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in domestic dog puppies less than six months of age, with detection of helminths and protozoa with zoonotic potential, being Toxocara spp. most prevalent. Finally, in our study, we diagnosed asymptomatic parasitized dogs, which may represent a risk in terms of Unique Health. Keywords: Helminths, Protozoa, Unique Health, Dogs, Diagnosis

COVID-19 is a new pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has created a havoc worldwide. Within no time it prevailed throughout the world compelling all countries to take emergency measures to overcome the pandemic. To overcome the disease, there is still no vaccine developed, however, different drugs are under trial. So, the only strategy to overcome the deadly virus is to avoid each and every way of contact with the already infected patients. For the assurance of avoidance policy, different countries took different measures according to their circumstances. Developing countries are much more infected than the developed ones as they already lack in fulfilling many basic necessities of life including economy. Pakistan is one of those developing countries whose economy is badly hit by following the model strategies of developed countries. So, Pakistan introduced different strategies like smart lock down, tiger force, etc. Pakistan has faced the worst peak of pandemic latter than most of the countries, so, to walk with the world in all aspects, Government should put its best efforts in the health zone to overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible.