Analysis of avian disease transmission risk and prevention measures in China

Many zoonotic diseases are found in wild animals and present a serious risk to human health, in particularly the virus carried by birds flying freely around the world is hard to control. There are three main bird migration routes which cover the most areas of China. It is important to investigate and fully understand the types of avian transmitted diseases in key areas on the bird migration routines and its impacts on both birds and human health. However, no literature is available in how about the risk of virus carried by migrating birds, and how to predict and reduce this risk of virus spreading to human being so far. In this paper, we first reviewed the main pathogen types carried by birds, including coronaviruses, influenza viruses, parasites, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), etc., and then discussed the spread risk of avian viruses to human being and animals in key areas of biosafety prevention. We also analyzed and discussed the risk of cross-spread of diseases among different bird species in nature reserves located on bird migration routes which provide sufficient food sources for migratory birds and attract numerous birds. Diseases transmitted by wild birds pose a serious threat to poultry farms, where high density of poultry may become avian influenza virus (AIV) reservoirs, cause a risk of avian influenza outbreaks. Airports are mostly built in suburban areas or remote areas with good ecological environment. There are important transit places for bird migration and densely populated areas, which have serious risk of disease transmission. Finally, this paper puts forward the following prevention suggestions from three aspects. First, establish and improve the monitoring and prediction mechanism of migratory birds, and use laser technology to prevent contact between wild birds and poultry. Second, examine and identify virus types carried by birds in their habitats and carry out vaccination. Third, protect the ecological environment of bird habitat, and keep wild birds in their natural habitat, so as to reduce the contact between wild birds and human and poultry, and thus reduce the risk of virus transmission.

Evaluation of animal biosafety webinar series for professionals working in animal facilities across Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Experimental research with animals can help the prevention, cure, and alleviation of human ailments. Animal research facilities are critical for scientific advancement, but they can also pose a higher risk than other biomedical laboratories. Zoonosis, allergic reactions, bites, cuts, and scratches by animals are all substantial concerns that can occur in animal facilities. Furthermore, human error and unexpected animal behavior pose a risk not just to humans, but also to the environment and the animals themselves. The majority of biosafety and biosecurity training programs focus on clinical and biomedical laboratories dealing with human safety factors, with little emphasis on animal biosafety. The current virtual training was designed to improve biosafety and biosecurity capabilities of animal laboratory personnel, researchers, and veterinarians from different regions of Pakistan. The results revealed that understanding was improved regarding triggers for risk assessment in addition to annual and regular reviews (56% to 69%), biosecurity (21% to 50%), decontamination (17% to 35%), safe handling of sharps (21% to 35%), Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC) (17% to 40%), Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) usage by waste handlers (60.9% to 75%), waste management (56% to 85%), animal biosafety levels (40.57% to 45%), and good microbiological practices and procedures (17% to 35%). To bring human and animal laboratories up to the same level in terms of biosafety and biosecurity, it is critical to focus on areas that have been overlooked in the past. Training programs focusing on animal biosafety should be conducted more frequently to strengthen bio risk management systems in animal research facilities.Copyright © 2021

Ethical and social insights into synthetic biology: predicting research fronts in the post-COVID-19 era.

As a revolutionary biological science and technology, synthetic biology has already spread its influence from natural sciences to humanities and social sciences by introducing biosafety, biosecurity, and ethical issues to society. The current study aims to elaborate the intellectual bases and research front of the synthetic biology field in the sphere of philosophy, ethics, and social sciences, with knowledge mapping and bibliometric methods. The literature records from the Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index in the Web of Science Core Collection from 1982 to 2021 were collected and analyzed to illustrate the intellectual structure of philosophical, ethical, and social research of synthetic biology. This study profiled the hotspots of research focus on its governance, philosophical and ethical concerns, and relevant technologies. This study offers clues and enlightenment for the stakeholders and researchers to follow the progress of this emerging discipline and technology and to understand the cutting-edge ideas and future form of this field, which takes on greater significance in the post-COVID-19 era.

Factors Associated with the Level of Knowledge about Biosafety against COVID-19 in Peruvian Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study under a Multivariable Regression Model.

AIM: Biosafety is a set of preventive measures aimed at controlling risk factors arising from biological, physical, and/or chemical agents. This topic is particularly important in the dental field since saliva is the main biological agent of the transmission of coronavirus. The present study aimed to determine the factors associated with the level of knowledge about biosafety against COVID-19 in Peruvian dentistry students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present observational, cross-sectional, and analytical study evaluated 312 Peruvian dentistry students. A validated 20-question questionnaire was used to measure the level of knowledge. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare levels of knowledge between categories of each variable. A logit model was used to evaluate associated factors such as sex, age, marital status, place of origin, academic year of study, being in the academic upper third, history of COVID-19, and living with vulnerable family members. A significance level of p < 0.05 was considered. RESULTS: 36.2%, 31.4%, and 32.4% presented poor, fair, and good knowledge levels, respectively. Students under 25 years of age were 64% less likely to pass the biosafety against COVID-19 questionnaire than students 25 years of age and older (OR = 0.36; CI: 0.20-0.66). Students in the academic upper third were nine times more likely to pass the test than other students (OR = 9.38; CI: 4.61-19.07). Finally, third-year students were 52% less likely to pass the exam than fifth-year students (OR = 0.48; CI: 0.28-0.83). CONCLUSION: Only a minority of dentistry students had a good level of knowledge about biosafety against COVID-19. Younger and less educated students were more likely to fail the questionnaire. On the other hand, those students with outstanding academic performance were more likely to pass the questionnaire.

The Biosafety Research Road Map: The Search for Evidence to Support Practices in the Laboratory-SARS-CoV-2.

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged as a novel virus and is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. It spreads readily human-to-human through droplets and aerosols. The Biosafety Research Roadmap aims to support the application of laboratory biological risk management by providing an evidence base for biosafety measures. This involves assessing the current biorisk management evidence base, identifying research and capability gaps, and providing recommendations on how an evidence-based approach can support biosafety and biosecurity, including in low-resource settings. Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify potential gaps in biosafety and focused on five main sections, including the route of inoculation/modes of transmission, infectious dose, laboratory-acquired infections, containment releases, and disinfection and decontamination strategies. Results: There are many knowledge gaps related to biosafety and biosecurity due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus's novelty, including infectious dose between variants, personal protective equipment for personnel handling samples while performing rapid diagnostic tests, and laboratory-acquired infections. Detecting vulnerabilities in the biorisk assessment for each agent is essential to contribute to the improvement and development of laboratory biosafety in local and national systems.

Applications of the One Health concept: Current status in the Middle East

Background: The One Health concept (OHC) seeks to improve the health of plants, animals, and humans because improving animal and plant health will increase the capacity for improving human health. Many risks such as plant and animal biotechnology applications have the potential to generate new diseases that can be transmitted to humans. In this way, the health of humans, animals, and plants is interrelated and depends on one another. However, it has been difficult to apply the OHC in some countries, such as those in the Middle East. The absence of financial support in the region is a major hindrance to applying this concept in the region. The application of the OHC requires the support of specialists who can advocate the government for support in launching OHC-related projects. Here, we discuss the OHC in the context of antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, and biosafety/biosecurity, which are important public health issues. Furthermore, we describe the current status of the OHC in the Middle East and recent research conducted related to this concept. There has been recent international solidarity in the application of the OHC to reduce risks that threaten the health of organisms. Several countries jointly launched the Global Health Security Agenda in 2014 with the aim of realizing a world that is free of infectious disease-related health risks. However, no previous review articles have examined the applications of the OHC in the Middle East region. This article discusses the OHC in terms of its needs and current applications in the Middle East. Methodology: The following keywords were used in the search: "One Health," "Middle East," "medicinal plants," "viruses," "rabies," "MERS," and "antimicrobial resistance." Related papers were obtained by searching for these keywords using available search engines, such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google search, as well as international organization websites. Conclusion(s): The concept of One Health is relatively new and has not been applied in most countries, possibly because the value of this concept for improving human health is not well understood. The key principle defining this concept and its importance is the interdependency of plants, animals, and human health. By applying the OHC, humans can benefit from healthy plants and animals by enhancing their growing conditions, medications, and environments. This would in turn improve general human health by allowing the safe extraction of therapeutics and food resources.Copyright © 2023

Highly synergistic combinations of nanobodies that target SARS-CoV-2 reduce viral load in hACE2 transgenic mice

The ongoing emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants threatens current vaccines and renders current therapeutic antibodies obsolete, demanding powerful new treatments that can resist viral escape. We therefore generated a large nanobody repertoire to saturate the distinct and highly conserved available epitope space of SARS-CoV-2 spike, including the S1 receptor binding domain, N-terminal domain, and the S2 subunit, to identify new nanobody binding sites that may reflect novel mechanisms of viral neutralization. Structural mapping and functional assays show that these highly stable monovalent nanobodies potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection, display numerous neutralization mechanisms, are effective against past and present emerging variants of concern, and are resistant to mutational escape. Rational combinations of these nanobodies that bind dissimilar sites within and between spike subunits exhibit extraordinary synergy and suggest multiple tailored therapeutic and prophylactic strategies. All mouse involved experiments were performed in compliance with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and mice were housed and maintained in a specific pathogen-free conditions at Seattle Children's Research Institute. Infected mice with SARSCoV- 2 were housed in a Biosafety Level 3 facility in an Animal Biohazard Containment Suite. Prophylactic intranasal application of a synergistic pair of unmodified nanobodies in 10-12 week-old female K18-hACE2 transgenic mice, a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, showed significant reduction in viral load after 3 days post-challenge with SARS-CoV-2, the first demonstration of synergy in vivo. In summary, our results show that our diverse repertoire of nanobodies can neutralize current variants of live SARS-CoV-2, pairs of nanobodies that bind distinct sites on spike show tremendous synergy in neutralizing efficacy in vitro, and the application of synergizing pair of nanobodies translates to an in vivo mouse model of SARSCoV- 2. Research funded by the Mathers Foundation, Robertson Foundation, NIH P41GM109824.Copyright © 2023 The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Pandemic Autopsy Biosafety Considerations

At autopsy, prosectors have always risked exposure to a wide array of infectious agents. With the recent advent of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic, such exposure concerns have increased dramatically. Careful assessment of facility infrastructure and appropriate biosafety training, however, can minimize risks and allow for safe autopsy performance. As with other disease outbreaks, the living have much to learn from the dead. To date, autopsy studies have been critical in elucidating the mechanisms by which COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) may critically compromise not only pulmonary but also cerebral, cardiac, and renal function. Much remains unknown, though, and further tissue-based research is called for. The following review is intended to detail best practices and principles for autopsy biosafety, with a focus on issues specific to the current pandemic. Copyright © Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

Global Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Equipment Management and Sustainability and Implications for Pandemic Preparedness Priorities1.

Substantial investments into laboratories, notably sophisticated equipment, have been made over time to detect emerging diseases close to their source. Diagnostic capacity has expanded as a result, but challenges have emerged. The Equipment Management and Sustainability Survey was sent to the Veterinary Services of 182 countries in mid-2019. We measured the status of forty types of laboratory equipment used in veterinary diagnostic laboratories. Of the 68,455 items reported from 227 laboratories in 136 countries, 22% (14,894/68,455) were improperly maintained, and 46% (29,957/65,490) were improperly calibrated. Notable differences were observed across World Bank income levels and regions, raising concerns about equipment reliability and the results they produce. Our results will advise partners and donors on how best to support low-resource veterinary laboratories to improve sustainability and fulfill their mandate toward pandemic prevention and preparedness, as well as encourage equipment manufacturers to spur innovation and develop more sustainable products that meet end-users' needs.

Water bath is more efficient than hot air oven at thermal inactivation of coronavirus.

BACKGROUND: Thermal inactivation is a conventional and effective method of eliminating the infectivity of pathogens from specimens in clinical and biological laboratories, and reducing the risk of occupational exposure and environmental contamination. During the COVID-19 pandemic, specimens from patients and potentially infected individuals were heat treated and processed under BSL-2 conditions in a safe, cost-effective, and timely manner. The temperature and duration of heat treatment are optimized and standardized in the protocol according to the susceptibility of the pathogen and the impact on the integrity of the specimens, but the heating device is often undefined. Devices and medium transferring the thermal energy vary in heating rate, specific heat capacity, and conductivity, resulting in variations in efficiency and inactivation outcome that may compromise biosafety and downstream biological assays. METHODS: We evaluated the water bath and hot air oven in terms of pathogen inactivation efficiency, which are the most commonly used inactivation devices in hospitals and biological laboratories. By evaluating the temperature equilibrium and viral titer elimination under various conditions, we studied the devices and their inactivation outcomes under identical treatment protocol, and to analyzed the factors, such as energy conductivity, specific heat capacity, and heating rate, underlying the inactivation efficiencies. RESULTS: We compared thermal inactivation of coronavirus using different devices, and have found that the water bath was more efficient at reducing infectivity, with higher heat transfer and thermal equilibration than a forced hot air oven. In addition to the efficiency, the water bath showed relative consistency in temperature equilibration of samples of different volumes, reduced the need for prolonged heating, and eliminated the risk of pathogen spread by forced airflow. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the proposal to define the heating device in the thermal inactivation protocol and in the specimen management policy.

Biosafety Practices When Working with Bats: A Guide to Field Research Considerations.

Introduction: Field work with bats is an important contribution to many areas of research in environmental biology and ecology, as well as microbiology. Work with bats poses hazards such as bites and scratches, and the potential for exposure to infectious pathogens such as rabies virus. It also exposes researchers to many other potential hazards inherent to field work, such as environmental conditions, delayed emergency responses, or challenging work conditions. Methods: This article discusses the considerations for a thorough risk assessment process around field work with bats, pre- and post-occupational health considerations, and delves into specific considerations for areas related to biosafety concerns-training, personal protective equipment, safety consideration in field methods, decontamination, and waste. It also touches on related legal and ethical issues that sit outside the realm of biosafety, but which must be addressed during the planning process. Discussion: Although the focal point of this article is bat field work located in northern and central America, the principles and practices discussed here are applicable to bat work elsewhere, as well as to field work with other animal species, and should promote careful considerations of how to safely conduct field work to protect both researchers and animals.

Accelerating Biosafety Capacity Building to Ensure National Biosecurity

Biosafety is an essential part of the national security system, which is related to people's lives and health, the country's longterm stability, and sustainable development, which is the bottom line that must be guaranteed. The international biosafety situation is grim and complex, while domestic biosafety faces challenges. Therefore, biosafety capacity building has become an international hot spot, among which scientific and technological innovation, talent training, and infrastructure platform construction are the top priorities. Although China has achieved strategic results in the rapid identification of pathogens, research, and development of specific vaccines and medicine in fighting against COVID-19 by relying on scientific research, it has shown the urgency for scientific and technological innovation in biosafety. Therefore,China has developed a strategic plan on "promoting the modernization of the national security system and capabilities, resolutely safeguarding national security and social stability" included in the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Hence, it is suggested to promote biosafety capacity building further to improve China's biosecurity system, protect people's health, ensure national security, and maintain long-term peace and stability by improving the layout of scientific and technological frontiers, promoting the construction of biosafety discipline, training of more special talents, and infrastructure platform construction.

Infectious viruses from transfected SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA.

SARS-CoV-2 emerged at the end of 2019, and like other novel pathogens causing severe symptoms, WHO recommended heightened biosafety measures for laboratories working with the virus. The positive-stranded genomic RNA of coronaviruses has been known to be infectious since the 1970s, and overall, all experiments with the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 propagation are carried out in higher containment level laboratories. However, as SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been routinely handled in BSL-2 laboratories, the question of the true nature of RNA infectiousness has risen along with discussion of appropriate biosafety measures. Here, we studied the ability of native SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA to produce infectious viruses when transfected into permissive cells and discussed the biosafety control measures related to these assays. In transfection assays large quantities of genomic vRNA of SARS-CoV-2 was required for a successful production of infectious viruses. However, the quantity of vRNA alone was not the only factor, and especially when the transfected RNA was derived from infected cells, even small amounts of genomic vRNA was enough for an infection. Virus replication was found to start rapidly after transfection, and infectious viruses were detected in the cell culture media at 24 h post-transfection. In addition, silica membrane-based kits were shown to be as good as traditional TRI-reagent based methods in extracting high-quality, 30 kb-long genomic vRNA. Taken together, our data indicates that all transfection experiments with samples containing genomic SARS-CoV-2 RNA should be categorized as a propagative work and the work should be conducted only in a higher containment BSL-3 laboratory.

Strategic Planning and Economic Recovery in the Post-Pandemic of the Automotive Sector

This research analyzes from three indicators the impact suffered by the automotive sector in Ecuador after the pandemic and proposes a generic model for the design and creation of strategic planning that helps companies in the sector to adapt to the new context and reactivate their activities in the face of new consumption habits,o maintain its validity in the market. The methodology used was quantitative, the method was deductive of explanatory scope with a non-experimental cross-sectional design, since historical documentary sources published by the Association of Automotive Companies of Ecuador (AEADE) were used. According to the results obtained with this study, it was determined that in 2022, after the pandemic, there was an increase in the number of imported vehicles, a decrease in the number of vehicles sold that were assembled in the country, and there is no significant difference in the number of imported vehicles marketed in the country. In any of these cases, the implementation or updating of appropriate strategic planning in organizations that develop activities in the automotive field will allow the best performance of these and their greater validity in the market. Given these effects, the Government needs to support policies for the preservation of capacities and resources, as well as their subsequent strengthening to promote post-pandemic recovery. The model proposed as a product of the study is composed of 9 phases that allow to develop and apply strategic planning in companies in the automotive sector, this model arises from the review and adoption of the best practices found in four of the most used modelsto the global novel.Copyright © 2023, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

Modern Mortuary Complex Plan in Covid-19 Era

The COVID-19 pandemicis the most burning health emergency worldwide now a days and all health professionals are called to give support in the diagnosis, treatment of patients and management of dead bodies affected by this disease. Different modes of transmission of corona virus is well established, however aerosol generating procedure has significant importance for mortuary during autopsy. The risk of infection can be minimized by using standard universal precautions for autopsy dissection procedure, applying high bio-safety levels, using negative pressure and laminar flow system for ventilation, UV irradiation for sterilization, virtual autopsy etc. The aim can be achieved by constructing the mortuary complex in more planned way like area division, ventilation planning, environmental disinfection, individual protection, autopsy procedure, virtual autopsy, preservation and transportation of dead body and waste disposal management. The present manuscript describes in detail about modern mortuary complex during the pandemic era of covid-19 © 2022, Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine.All Rights Reserved.