A high-performance polymer composite column for coronavirus nucleic acid purification

Here, we report the development of a novel polymer composite (PC) purification column and kit. The performance of the PC columns was compared to conventional silica gel (SG) columns for the purification of nucleic acids from coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, in 82 clinical samples. The results shows that PC-based purification outperforms silica gel (SG)-based purification by enabling a higher sensitivity (94%), accuracy (97%), and by eliminating false positives (100% specificity). The high specificity is critical for efficient patient triage and resource management during pandemics. Furthermore, PC-based purification exhibits three times higher analytical precision than a commonly used SG-based nucleic acid purification thereby enabling a more accurate quantification of viral loads and higher reproducibility.

A High-Performance Polymer Composite Column for Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Purification

Here, we report the development of a novel polymer composite (PC) purification column and kit. The performance of the PC columns was compared to conventional silica gel (SG) columns for the purification of nucleic acids from coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, in 82 clinical samples. The results shows that PC-based purification outperforms silica gel (SG)-based purification by enabling a higher sensitivity (94%), accuracy (97%), and by eliminating false positives (100% selectivity). The high selectivity is critical for efficient patient triage and resource management during pandemics. Furthermore, PC-based purification exhibits three times higher analytical precision than a commonly used SG-based nucleic acid purification thereby enabling a more accurate quantification of viral loads and higher reproducibility.

Genetic Diversity of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale Isolated from Chickens and Turkeys in the United States

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) is an important bacterial pathogen of great economic significance to poultry production. This bacterium causes severe disease in chickens and turkeys worldwide. The objective of this study was to characterize ORT isolates from two different geographic locations in the United States by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A total of 60 isolates were included in this study; 36 from California and 24 from Minnesota. All 60 isolates were confirmed to be ORT by PCR that targeted the 16S rRNA gene. The results of MLST revealed eight different sequence types (ST) of ORT. Out of these, four were novel and were assigned numbers ST-32, ST-33, ST-34, and ST-35. ST-1 was the predominant sequence type among all isolates followed by ST-9 and ST-8. Only one isolate was identified as ST-2. No significant variation was seen in STs in ORT isolated from different years. In turkeys, 76.3% (29/38) of isolates belonged to ST-1 and 7.9% (3/38) to ST-8. Of the chicken isolates, 72.2% (13/18) belonged to ST-1 and 16.6% (3/18) to ST-9. Isolates from both states showed low genetic variability. Of the 32 isolates from California, 24 (75%) were identified as ST-1 and 4 (12.5%) were identified as ST-9. The most prevalent sequence type was ST-1 (17/24) followed by ST-8 (3/24) in Minnesota. Three isolates from turkeys in Minnesota belonged to the same ST (ST-8) as the already known ORT strain RefO, which isolated from a rook in Germany in 2000. Whether this sequence type had evolved from wild birds could not be ascertained in this study.

Greater than 3-Log Reduction in Viable Coronavirus Aerosol Concentration in Ducted Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) Systems

Control technologies to inactivate airborne viruses effectively are needed during the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and to guard against airborne transmitted diseases. We demonstrate that sealed UV-C flow reactors operating with fluences near 253 ± 1 nm of 13.9-49.6 mJ cm-2 efficiently inactivate coronaviruses in an aerosol. For measurements, porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV) was nebulized in a custom-built, 3.86 m wind tunnel housed in a biosafety level class II facility. The single pass log10 reduction of active coronavirus was in excess of 2.2 at a flow rate of 2439 L min-1 (13.9 mJ cm-2) and in excess of 3.7 (99.98% removal efficiency) at 684 L min-1 (49.6 mJ cm-2). Because virus titers resulting from sampling downstream of the UV-C reactor were below the limit of detection, the true log reduction is likely even higher than measured. Comparison of virus titration results to reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR and measurement of fluorescein concentrations (doped into the nebulized aerosol) reveals that the reduction in viable PRCV is primarily due to UV-C based inactivation, as opposed to physical collection of virus. The results confirm that UV-C flow reactors can efficiently inactivate coronaviruses through incorporation into HVAC ducts or recirculating air purifiers.

Involvement of Egyptian Foods in Foodborne Viral Illnesses: The Burden on Public Health and Related Environmental Risk Factors: An Overview

Foodborne viral diseases are a major public health threat and pose a huge burden on the economies of both developed and developing countries. Enteric viruses are the causative agents of most foodborne illnesses and outbreaks. Egypt is classified by WHO among the regions with intermediate to high endemicity for various enteric viruses. This is manifested by the high prevalence rates of different enteric virus infections among Egyptian population such as Hepatitis A and E viruses, human rotaviruses, human noroviruses, human astroviruses, and human adenovirus. Recently, a number of foodborne gastroenteritis and acute hepatitis outbreaks have occurred in the US, Canada, Australia, and the European Union countries. Some of these outbreaks were attributed to the consumption of minimally processed foods imported from Egypt indicating the possibility that Egyptian foods may also be partially responsible for high prevalence of enteric virus infections among Egyptian population. In the absence of official foodborne-pathogen surveillance systems, evaluating the virological safety of Egyptian foods is a difficult task. In this review, we aim to provide a preliminary evaluation of the virological safety of Egyptian foods. A comprehensive review of prevalence studies on enteric virus infections shows hyperendemicity of several enteric viruses in Egypt and provides strong evidence of implication of Egyptian foods in these infections. We also address possible environmental risk factors that may lead to the contamination of Egyptian foods with enteric viruses. In addition, we describe potential obstacles to any plan that might be considered for improving the virological safety of Egyptian foods.