What is already known about this topic?:Echinococcosis exhibits a global distribution. In China, the primary endemic area is the northwest region. In December 2023, we documented a case of echinococcosis in an individual lacking any travel or residential history in endemic regions. What is added by this report?:This is the first laboratory-confirmed case of hepatic echinococcosis reported in Guangdong Province, associated with the G7 genotype of Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus). The most probable mode of transmission is a local infection resulting from E. granulosus introduced from endemic regions. What are the implications for public health practice?:As the circulation of agricultural products increases, it is essential to enhance the quarantine and management of livestock from epidemic areas to prevent and control the spread of echinococcosis to non-epidemic regions.

Here, we report on a case of human infection with the H3N8 avian influenza virus. The patient had multiple myeloma and died of severe infection. Genome analysis showed multiple gene mutations and reassortments without mammalian-adaptive mutations. This suggests that avian influenza (A/H3N8) virus infection could be lethal for immunocompromised persons.

Databases such as ClinicalTrials,PubMed,and China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)were used to search for studies on the research progress of different dengue vaccine development strategies in ongoing or completed global clinical trials published between 2015 and September 2023.The results were organized and summarized,followed by a review of the characteristics of each vaccine development strategy.Traditional vaccine development strategies,such as live attenuated and inactivated vaccines,have multiple projects in clinical trials,but suffer from the disadvantage of immune imbalance between different dengue virus serotypes.Emerging vaccine development strategies,including DNA vaccines and recombinant subunit vaccines,are advancing rapidly but still require validation of their safety profiles.

What is already known about this topic?:An increasing number of human infected avian influenza A (H9N2) cases have been reported. In 2021, 11 human infections with influenza A virus subtype H9N2 (A/H9N2) have been reported in China.What is added by this report?:A new case of H9N2 that occurred in April 2021 in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China, was reported in this study. Epidemiological and laboratory information of the case and routine influenza surveillance data of avian influenza A were presented in this report.What are the implications for public health practice?:The emergence of a human infected with Avian Influenza Virus H9N2 demonstrates that there is an urgent need to strengthen the surveillance of influenza-like illness and live poultry market.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a new coronavirus causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a major topic of global human health concern. The Delta and Omicron variants have caused alarming responses worldwide due to their high transmission rates and a number of mutations. During a one-year follow-up (from June 2020 to June 2021), we included 114 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection to study the long-term dynamics and the correlative factors of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in convalescent patients. The blood samples were collected at two detection time points (at 6 and 12 months after discharge). We evaluated the NAbs response of discharged patients by performing a micro-neutralization assay using a SARS-CoV-2 wild type. In addition, a total of 62 serum samples from discharged COVID-19 patients with Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants of infection were enrolled to perform cross-neutralization tests using the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and VOCs variants (including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants) and to assess the ability of NAbs against the SARS-CoV-2 variants. NAbs seroconversion occurred in 91.46% of patients (n = 82) in the first timepoint and in 89.29% of patients (n = 84) in the second detection point, and three kinds of NAbs kinetics curves were perceived. The NAbs levels in young patients had higher values than those in elder patients. The kinetics of disease duration was accompanied by an opposite trend in NAbs levels. Despite a declining NAbs response, NAbs activity was still detectable in a substantial proportion of recovered patients one year after discharge. Compared to the wild strain, the Omicron strain could lead to a 23.44-, 3.42-, 8.03-, and 2.57-fold reduction in neutralization capacity in “SAlpha”, “SBeta”, “SDelta”, and “SOmicron”, respectively, and the NAbs levels against the Omicron strain were significantly lower than those of the Beta and Delta variants. Remarkably, the NAbs activity of convalescent serum with Omicron strain infection was most obviously detectable against six SARS-CoV-2 strains in our study. The role of the vaccination history in NAbs levels further confirmed the previous study that reported vaccine-induced NAbs as the convincing protection mechanism against SARS-CoV-2. In conclusion, our findings highlighted the dynamics of the long-term immune responses after the disappearance of symptoms and revealed that NAbs levels varied among all types of convalescent patients with COVID-19 and that NAbs remained detectable for one year, which is reassuring in terms of protection against reinfection. Moreover, a moderate correlation between the duration of disease and Nabs titers was observed, whereas age was negatively correlated with Nabs titers. On the other hand, compared with other VOCs, the Omicron variant was able to escape the defenses of the immune system more significantly, and the convalescent serum infected with the Omicron variant played a critical part in protection against different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Recovery serum from individuals vaccinated with inactivated vaccine preceding infection with the Omicron strain had a high efficacy against the original strain and the VOCs variants, whereas the convalescent serum of persons vaccinated by inactivated vaccine prior to infection with the Delta variant was only potent against the wild-type strain.

Objective The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been engendering enormous hazards to the world. We obtained the complete genome sequences of SARSCoV-2 from imported cases admitted to the Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, which was appointed by the Guangdong provincial government to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The SARS-CoV-2 diversity was analyzed, and the mutation characteristics, time, and regional trend of variant emergence were evaluated. Methods In total, 177 throat swab samples were obtained from COVID-19 patients (from October 2020 to May 2021). High-throughput sequencing technology was used to detect the viral sequences of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analyses were used to evaluate the mutation characteristics and the time and regional trends of variants. Results We observed that the imported cases mainly occurred after January 2021, peaking in May 2021, with the highest proportion observed from cases originating from the United States. The main lineages were found in Europe, Africa, and North America, and B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 were the two major sublineages. Sublineage B.1.618 was the Asian lineage (Indian) found in this study, and B.1.1.228 was not included in the lineage list of the Pangolin web. A reasonably high homology was observed among all samples. The total frequency of mutations showed that the open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) protein had the highest mutation density at the nucleotide level, and the D614G mutation in the spike protein was the commonest at the amino acid level. Most importantly, we identified some amino acid mutations in positions S, ORF7b, and ORF9b, and they have neither been reported on the Global Initiative of Sharing All Influenza Data nor published in PubMed among all missense mutations. Conclusion These results suggested the diversity of lineages and sublineages and the high homology at the amino acid level among imported cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China.

目的 将从世界卫生组织发布的人兽共患病报告,以及PubMed、中国知网、和万方等数据库中检索到的全球自2016-2021年人感染H9N2的相关报道进行整理和汇总,再结合H9N2禽流感病毒的血清学监测结果对其感染人的风险进行评估,从基因学的角度探索H9N2禽流感病毒跨屏障感染人的原因.研究发现人感染H9N2禽流感的病例呈上升趋势,环境中和人群中的血清学监测结果也呈现较高的阳性率;H9N2禽流感病毒基因组中病毒表面结构蛋白血凝素基因突变和聚合酶基因突变对于其感染人具有重要意义.

Objective:To describe the characteristics of avian influenza virus contamination in farmers’ markets in Zengcheng district form January 2019 to June 2020, and to analyze the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on contamination of the markets by avian influenza virus.Methods:Random sampling and testing of avian influenza virus nucleic acids were carried out for farmers’ markets in Zengcheng district. Influenza A virus positive samples were further detected for subtypes of H5, H7 and H9. SPSS 26.0 was used for statistical analysis of the data.Results:A total of 1 978 samples were tested and the overall positive rate was 31.24% (618/1 978), while H9 subtype accounted for 92.07% (569/618). The difference of the positive rates in 2019 and 2020 was not statistically significant ( x2=0.052, P=0.082). Among different types of samples, the positive rate of samples collected from the inner wall of feather removal machines was the highest (44.08%), while the positive rate of samples collected from inner wall of freezers was the lowest (13.33%). Conclusions:H9 was dominant subtype of avian influenza virus responsible for contamination of farmers’ markets in Zengcheng district. Samples collected from the sites with direct contact with live poultry were more likely to detect avian influenza virus. The positive rates of avian influenza virus before and after the COVID-19 pandemics showed no statistically significant difference. Strengthened regulatory management of the farmers’ markets is recommended.

Background: A lot of recent researches have focused on the duration of the nature immunity elicited by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. An improved understanding of the immunity offered by the antibodies developed against SARS-CoV-2 in recovered patients is critical for the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines. Methods: We enrolled 114 donors, which providing blood samples after discharge for half a year and one year. Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) were tested using a micro-neutralization assay. Results: In two tests, 82 of 114 recovered patients completed the first test half a year after discharge and NAbs remained detectable in the vast majority of patients (75/82, 91.46%). In the comparison of the two intervals, 50% (27/54) of individuals had increased NAbs titers. when 31.48% (17/54) of patients remained unchanged. Conclusion: Our results suggest that immune ability is acquired in most individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 and is sustained in a majority of patients for up to a year after recovery.

The increasing prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with spike mutations has raised concerns owing to higher transmission rates, disease severity, and escape from neutralizing antibodies. Rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants provides crucial information concerning the outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 variants and possible lines of transmission. This information is vital for infection prevention and control. We used a Cas12a-based RT-PCR combined with CRISPR on-site rapid detection system (RT-CORDS) platform to detect the key mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as 69/70 deletion, N501Y, and D614G. We used type-specific CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) to identify wild-type (crRNA-W) and mutant (crRNA-M) sequences of SARS-CoV-2. We successfully differentiated mutant variants from wild-type SARS-CoV-2 with a sensitivity of 10-17 M (approximately 6 copies/μL). The assay took just 10 min with the Cas12a/crRNA reaction after a simple RT-PCR using a fluorescence reporting system. In addition, a sensitivity of 10-16 M could be achieved when lateral flow strips were used as readouts. The accuracy of RT-CORDS for SARS-CoV-2 variant detection was 100% consistent with the sequencing data. In conclusion, using the RT-CORDS platform, we accurately, sensitively, specifically, and rapidly detected SARS-CoV-2 variants. This method may be used in clinical diagnosis.