ETIDIOH - NEW

  Abstract Background Plague, a zoonosis caused by Yersinia pestis, is endemic in Madagascar but knowledge on the epidemiological situation in the northern focus remains unclear . The aim of this study was to investigate the circulation of Y. pestis in terrestrial small mammals in north eastern Madagascar, where suspected plague outbreaks have been reported. Methods Sampling of terrestrial small mammals and their fleas was carried out in 22 trapping sites within 9 localities of the two sectors (1 and 3) of Makira Natural Park (MNP) and surroundings, from 2020 to 2022. Yersinia pestis was investigated in terrestrial small mammal spleen samples and their fleas using bacteriological, serological and molecular methods. Results A total of 614 terrestrial small mammals composed of eight species and 1,754 individual fleas were collected following 4,880 trap-nights. The black rat (Rattus rattus) represented the majority (87.8%) of the small mammal species caught. Flea infestation rate was ...

Abstract Most human emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic , originating in animal hosts prior to spillover to humans . Prioritizing the surveillance of wildlife that overlaps with humans and human activities can increase the likelihood of detecting viruses with a high potential for human infection. Here, we obtained fecal swabs from two fruit bat species —Eidolon helvum (n = 6) and Epomophorus wahlbergi (n = 43) (family Pteropodidae)— in peridomestic habitats in Nairobi, Kenya , and used metagenome sequencing to detect microorganisms. A near-complete genome of a novel virus assigned taxonomically to the Coronaviridae family Betacoronavirus genus and Nobecovirus subclade was characterized from E. wahlbergi. Phylogenetic analysis indicates this unique Nobecovirus clade shares a common ancestor with Eidolon/Rousettus Nobecovirus subclades isolated from Madagascar, Kenya, and Cameroon . Recombination was detected across open reading frames, except the spike protein, in all BOOTSCAN ana...