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Virus Research Sep 2023Contagious ecthyma (CE) is an acute infectious zoonosis caused by orf virus (ORFV) that mainly infects sheep and goats and causes obvious lesions and low market value of...
Contagious ecthyma (CE) is an acute infectious zoonosis caused by orf virus (ORFV) that mainly infects sheep and goats and causes obvious lesions and low market value of livestock, resulting in huge economic losses for farmers. In this study, two strains of ORFV were isolated from Shaanxi Province and Yunnan Province in China, named FX and LX. The two ORFVs were located in the major clades of domestic strains respectively, and exhibited distinct sequence homology. We analyzed the genetic data of core genes (B2L, F1L, VIR, ORF109) and variable genes (GIF, ORF125 and vIL-10) of ORFV to investigate its epidemiological and evolutionary characteristics. The sequences from 2007 to 2018 constituted the majority of the viral population, predominantly concentrated in India and China. Most genes were clustered into SA00-like type and IA82-like type, and the hotspots in East and South Asia were identified in the ORFV transmission trajectories. For these genes, VIR had the highest substitution rate of 4.85 × 10, both VIR and vIL-10 suffered the positive selection pressure during ORFV evolution. Many motifs associated with viral survival were distributed among ORFVs. In addition, some possible viral epitopes have been predicted, which still require validation in vivo and in vitro. This work gives more insight into the prevalence and phylogenetic relationships of existing orf viruses and facilitate better vaccine design.
Topics: Animals; Sheep; Orf virus; Goats; Phylogeny; China; Ecthyma, Contagious
PubMed: 37402415
DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199160 -
Viruses Apr 2023Lumpy Skin disease (LSD) is an economically important disease in cattle caused by the LSD virus (LSDV) of the genus , while pseudocowpox (PCP) is a widely distributed...
Lumpy Skin disease (LSD) is an economically important disease in cattle caused by the LSD virus (LSDV) of the genus , while pseudocowpox (PCP) is a widely distributed zoonotic cattle disease caused by the PCP virus (PCPV) of the genus . Though both viral pox infections are reportedly present in Nigeria, similarities in their clinical presentation and limited access to laboratories often lead to misdiagnosis in the field. This study investigated suspected LSD outbreaks in organized and transhumance cattle herds in Nigeria in 2020. A total of 42 scab/skin biopsy samples were collected from 16 outbreaks of suspected LSD in five northern States of Nigeria. The samples were analyzed using a high-resolution multiplex melting (HRM) assay to differentiate poxviruses belonging to , , and genera. LSDV was characterized using four gene segments, namely the RNA polymerase 30 kDa subunit (RPO30), G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), the extracellular enveloped virus (EEV) glycoprotein and CaPV homolog of the variola virus B22R. Likewise, the partial B2L gene of PCPV was also analyzed. Nineteen samples (45.2%) were positive according to the HRM assay for LSDV, and five (11.9%) were co-infected with LSDV and PCPV. The multiple sequence alignments of the GPCR, EEV, and B22R showed 100% similarity among the Nigerian LSDV samples, unlike the RPO30 phylogeny, which showed two clusters. Some of the Nigerian LSDVs clustered within LSDV SG II were with commonly circulating LSDV field isolates in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, while the remaining Nigerian LSDVs produced a unique sub-group. The B2L sequences of Nigerian PCPVs were 100% identical and clustered within the PCPV group containing cattle/Reindeer isolates, close to PCPVs from Zambia and Botswana. The results show the diversity of Nigerian LSDV strains. This paper also reports the first documented co-infection of LSDV and PCPV in Nigeria.
Topics: Animals; Cattle; Nigeria; Farms; Lumpy skin disease virus; Poxviridae Infections; Capripoxvirus; Cattle Diseases; Disease Outbreaks; Zoonoses; Phylogeny
PubMed: 37243137
DOI: 10.3390/v15051051 -
Infection, Genetics and Evolution :... Aug 2023Contagious ecthyma in small ruminants is a zoonotic disease caused by Orf virus (ORFV) in the genus Parapoxvirus that can be deadly to its natural hosts. It causes...
Contagious ecthyma in small ruminants is a zoonotic disease caused by Orf virus (ORFV) in the genus Parapoxvirus that can be deadly to its natural hosts. It causes significant losses worldwide, and commonly infects humans. However, the literature about its comparative severity in sheep and goat hosts is misleading; and while contagious ecthyma has been shown to occur in camels and transmit to humans, there is confusion as to whether ORFV is responsible. Camels are important from a 'One Health' perspective as they have been implicated as a reservoir host for the virus causing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has a case fatality rate of 35% in humans. We compared ORFV gene sequences and mortality data from the West Bank in Palestine, where ORFV has not been reported previously, with data from the region. Surprisingly, we found that infections of camels that had been attributed to ORFV were more closely related to a different member of the genus Parapoxvirus. Two Middle East ORFVs isolated from humans were unrelated and sat alongside sheep and goat derived sequences on two distinct ORFV lineages of a maximum likelihood B2L gene tree. One of the viral lineages bifurcated to produce a monophyletic group of goat-derived ORFVs characterized uniquely by a glycine at amino acid reside 249. We found that serine is the ancestral allele shared between ORFV infections of sheep and also two closely related Parapoxviruses (PCPV and CCEV), indicating that the glycine allele represents a more recent shift in virus host range adaptation to goats. Furthermore, and contrary to some reports that ORFV is more severe in goats than in sheep, we observed median mortality of up to 24.5% in sheep, but none in goats. We also identified trans-boundary spread of ORFV between the West Bank and Israel.
Topics: Humans; Sheep; Animals; Orf virus; Ecthyma, Contagious; Camelus; Host Specificity; Ruminants; Goats; Phylogeny
PubMed: 37217030
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2023.105448 -
Functional & Integrative Genomics May 2023The Orf virus (ORFV) is a member of the Parapoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family and can cause contagious diseases in sheep, goats, and wild ungulates. In the present...
The Orf virus (ORFV) is a member of the Parapoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family and can cause contagious diseases in sheep, goats, and wild ungulates. In the present study, two ORFV isolates (ORFV-SC isolated from Sichuan province and ORFV-SC1 produced by 60 passages of ORFV-SC in cells) were sequenced and compared to multiple ORFVs. The two ORFV sequences had entire genome sizes of 14,0707 bp and 141,154 bp, respectively, containing 130 and 131 genes, with a G + C content of 63% for the ORFV-SC sequence and 63.9% for the ORFV-SC1 sequence. Alignment of ORFV-SC and ORFV-SC1 with five other ORFV isolates revealed that ORFV-SC, ORFV-SC1, and NA1/11 shared > 95% nucleotide identity with 109 genes. Five genes (ORF007, ORF20, ORF080, ORF112, ORF116) have low amino acids identity between ORFV-SC and ORFV-SC1. Mutations in amino acids result in changes in the secondary and tertiary structure of ORF007, ORF020, and ORF112 proteins. The phylogenetic tree based on the complete genome sequence and 37 single genes revealed that the two ORFV isolates originated from sheep. Finally, animal experiments demonstrated that ORFV-SC1 is less harmful to rabbits than ORFV-SC. The exploration of two full-length viral genome sequences provides valuable information in ORFV biology and epidemiology research. Furthermore, ORFV-SC1 demonstrated an acceptable safety profile following animal vaccination, indicating its potential as a live ORFV vaccine.
Topics: Rabbits; Animals; Sheep; Orf virus; Phylogeny; Genome, Viral; Genomics; Goats; China
PubMed: 37188892
DOI: 10.1007/s10142-023-01079-z -
Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 2023
Topics: Animals; Sheep; Humans; Ecthyma, Contagious; Orf virus; Mpox (monkeypox); Zoonoses
PubMed: 37178945
DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2023.102588 -
Viruses Apr 2023Influenza A viruses (IAV-S) belonging to the H1 subtype are endemic in swine worldwide. Antigenic drift and antigenic shift lead to a substantial antigenic diversity in...
Influenza A viruses (IAV-S) belonging to the H1 subtype are endemic in swine worldwide. Antigenic drift and antigenic shift lead to a substantial antigenic diversity in circulating IAV-S strains. As a result, the most commonly used vaccines based on whole inactivated viruses (WIVs) provide low protection against divergent H1 strains due to the mismatch between the vaccine virus strain and the circulating one. Here, a consensus coding sequence of the full-length of HA from H1 subtype was generated in silico after alignment of the sequences from IAV-S isolates obtained from public databases and was delivered to pigs using the Orf virus (ORFV) vector platform. The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the resulting ORFVconH1 recombinant virus were evaluated against divergent IAV-S strains in piglets. Virus shedding after intranasal/intratracheal challenge with two IAV-S strains was assessed by real-time RT-PCR and virus titration. Viral genome copies and infectious virus load were reduced in nasal secretions of immunized animals. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the frequency of T helper/memory cells, as well as cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), were significantly higher in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the vaccinated groups compared to unvaccinated animals when they were challenged with a pandemic strain of IAV H1N1 (CA/09). Interestingly, the percentage of T cells was higher in the bronchoalveolar lavage of vaccinated animals in relation to unvaccinated animals in the groups challenged with a H1N1 from the gamma clade (OH/07). In summary, delivery of the consensus HA from the H1 IAV-S subtype by the parapoxvirus ORFV vector decreased shedding of infectious virus and viral load of IAV-S in nasal secretions and induced cellular protective immunity against divergent influenza viruses in swine.
Topics: Animals; Swine; Hemagglutinins; Orf virus; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Orthomyxoviridae Infections; Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Consensus; Influenza Vaccines; Influenza A virus; Swine Diseases; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; Antibodies, Viral
PubMed: 37112974
DOI: 10.3390/v15040994 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2023Contagious ecthyma (Orf), an acute and highly contagious zoonosis, is prevalent worldwide. Orf is caused by Orf virus (ORFV), which mainly infects sheep/goats and...
Contagious ecthyma (Orf), an acute and highly contagious zoonosis, is prevalent worldwide. Orf is caused by Orf virus (ORFV), which mainly infects sheep/goats and humans. Therefore, effective and safe vaccination strategies for Orf prevention are needed. Although immunization with single-type Orf vaccines has been tested, heterologous prime-boost strategies still need to be studied. In the present study, ORFV B2L and F1L were selected as immunogens, based on which DNA, subunit and adenovirus vaccine candidates were generated. Of note, heterologous immunization strategies using DNA prime-protein boost and DNA prime-adenovirus boost in mice were performed, with single-type vaccines as controls. We have found that the DNA prime-protein boost strategy induces stronger humoral and cellular immune responses than DNA prime-adenovirus boost strategy in mice, which was confirmed by the changes in specific antibodies, lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine expression. Importantly, this observation was also confirmed when these heterologous immunization strategies were performed in sheep. In summary, by comparing the two immune strategies, we found that DNA prime-protein boost strategy can induce a better immune response, which provides a new attempt for exploring Orf immunization strategy.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Mice; Sheep; Orf virus; Adenovirus Vaccines; Immunization; Vaccination; Adenoviridae
PubMed: 37026014
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1077938 -
Veterinary Research Mar 2023Orf virus (ORFV) is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma, which is an important zoonotic pathogen with a widespread distribution affecting sheep, goats and humans....
Orf virus (ORFV) is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma, which is an important zoonotic pathogen with a widespread distribution affecting sheep, goats and humans. Our previous research showed that autophagy can be induced in host cells by ORFV infection. However, the exact mechanism of ORFV-induced autophagy remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of autophagy induced by ORFV in OFTu cells and the impact of autophagy on ORFV replication. By using specific autophagy inhibitors and activators, Western blotting, immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy imaging, we confirmed that ORFV infection triggered intracellular autophagosome accumulation and the activation of autophagic flux. Moreover, ORFV-induced autophagic activity was found to rely on an increase in the phosphorylation of tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2) and a decrease in the phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which is mediated by the suppression of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway and activation of the ERK1/2/mTOR signalling pathway. Furthermore, we investigated the role of mTOR-mediated autophagy during ORFV replication using pharmacological agents and demonstrated that ORFV-induced autophagy correlated positively with viral replication. Taken together, our data reveal the pathways of ORFV-induced autophagy and the impact of autophagy on ORFV replication, providing new insights into ORFV pathogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Autophagy; MAP Kinase Signaling System; Orf virus; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Sheep; Sirolimus; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; Virus Replication
PubMed: 36918891
DOI: 10.1186/s13567-023-01153-1 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Apr 2023A 26-year-old patient in France who worked as a butcher sought care initially for erythema multiforme. Clinical examination revealed a nodule with a crusty center, which...
A 26-year-old patient in France who worked as a butcher sought care initially for erythema multiforme. Clinical examination revealed a nodule with a crusty center, which upon investigation appeared to be an orf nodule. Diagnosis was confirmed by PCR. The patient was not isolated and had a favorable outcome after basic wound care.
Topics: Animals; Sheep; Humans; Adult; Ecthyma, Contagious; Mpox (monkeypox); Erythema Multiforme; France; Disease Outbreaks
PubMed: 36918376
DOI: 10.3201/eid2904.230058 -
Viruses Jan 2023A winter population of around 4000-5000 wild Eurasian tundra reindeer () in the eastern part of Iceland represents descendants from 35 semi-domesticated reindeer...
A winter population of around 4000-5000 wild Eurasian tundra reindeer () in the eastern part of Iceland represents descendants from 35 semi-domesticated reindeer imported to Iceland from Finnmark county, Norway, in 1787. While previous studies have indicated that they host fewer parasite species as compared to reindeer in Fennoscandia, little information exists on their exposure to reindeer viral pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate blood from hunted reindeer for antibodies against alphaherpesvirus and gammaherpesviruses (malignant catarrhal fever viruses, MCFV), pestivirus, bluetongue virus, and Schmallenberg virus, and to investigate nasal and oral mucosal membrane swab samples for the presence of parapoxvirus-specific DNA. Blood samples collected during the hunting seasons in 2017 ( = 40), 2018 ( = 103), and 2019 ( = 138) were tested for viral antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Screening for parapoxvirus DNA was conducted on swab samples from 181 reindeer by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeting the and genes. Antibodies against pestivirus were detected in two animals from 2017, and antibodies against MCFV were detected in two reindeer from 2018. No antibodies were detected against the other viruses tested. Parapoxvirus-specific DNA was detected in nasal swab samples from two animals sampled in 2019. This study suggests that the investigated viral infections are either not present or present at a low prevalence only, probably not representing a major health threat to this reindeer population. The lack of exposure to alphaherpesvirus, an enzootic pathogen in most investigated populations, was unexpected.
Topics: Animals; Reindeer; Iceland; Virus Diseases; Deer; Antibodies, Viral; Alphaherpesvirinae; Oncogenic Viruses; Pestivirus; DNA
PubMed: 36851530
DOI: 10.3390/v15020317