scholarly journals Serological and RT-PCR surveillance for COVID-19 in an asymptomatic U.S. Army trainee population

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilpa Hakre ◽  
Aaron D Sanborn ◽  
Stephen W Krauss ◽  
Jennifer L Burns ◽  
Kenya N Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Training Environment ◽  
Combat Training ◽  
Current Test ◽  
Basic Combat Training ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
New Recruits

Abstract Background Significant variability exists in the application of infection control policy throughout the United States (U.S.) Army initial entry training environment. To generate actionable information for the prevention of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission among new recruits, active enhanced surveillance was conducted for evidence of and exposure to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. Methods We serially tested recruits with a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 and/or total antibody to SARS-CoV-2 tests at day 0, 14, and week 10 upon arrival for basic combat training at a location in the southern U.S. Results Among 1,403 recruits who were enrolled over a 6 week period from August 25 through October 11, 2020, 84 recruits tested positive by RT-PCR with more than half (55%, 46/84) testing positive at arrival and almost two-thirds (63%, 53/84) also testing seropositive at arrival. Similarly, among an overall 146 recruits who tested seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 during the period of observation, a majority (86%) of tested seropositive at arrival; no hospitalizations were observed among seropositive recruits and antibody response increased at week 10. Conclusions These findings suggest serological testing may complement current test-based measures and provide another tool to incorporate in COVID-19 mitigation measures among trainees in the U.S. Army.

scholarly journals Limited Genetic Variability Among American Isolates of Grapevine virus E from Vitis spp.

Plant Disease ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Vargas-Asencio ◽  
M. Al Rwahnih ◽  
A. Rowhani ◽  
F. Celebi-Toprak ◽  
J. R. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
New York ◽  
Protein Gene ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nucleic Acid Binding ◽  
Grapevine Virus ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Viral Cdna ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Binding Protein Gene

A survey for the presence of Grapevine virus E (GVE, genus Vitivirus, family Betaflexiviridae) in vineyards in New York and California was conducted using macroarray hybridization or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. In New York, GVE was detected in 10 of 46 vines of Vitis labrusca, one V. riparia, and one Vitis hybrid. All GVE-infected New York vines were coinfected with Grapevine leafroll-associated virus-3. In California, GVE was detected in 8 of 417 vines of V. vinifera. All GVE-infected California vines were also coinfected by one of the leafroll-associated viruses and other vitiviruses. In order to assess the genetic diversity among GVE isolates, a viral cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR, and a 675-nucleotide region that included the 3′ terminus of the coat protein gene, a short intergenic region, and the 5′ terminus of the putative nucleic acid binding protein gene was sequenced. All 20 GVE isolates sequenced in this study were very closely related, with >98% nucleotide identity to the SA94 isolate from South Africa. These findings confirm the presence of GVE in major grape-growing regions of the United States and indicate a very low level of genetic diversity.

Torovirus detection in faecal specimens of calves and pigs in Hungary: Short communication

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin Matiz ◽  
S. Kecskeméti ◽  
I. Kiss ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Aetiological Agent ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Weaned Piglets ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Specific Primers ◽  
Porcine Torovirus ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Bovine torovirus is an established aetiological agent of disease in cattle, while porcine torovirus has only been isolated from healthy animals. Evidence for the presence of torovirus has been described in several European countries and also in the United States. A survey was performed to detect toroviruses in Hungary by means of sampling ten swine and nine bovine herds. Rectal swabs and faecal specimens were collected from diarrhoeic calves and from weaned piglets. The samples were tested by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using torovirus-specific primers and the positive samples were further examined by electron microscopy (EM). Torovirus was detected in 4 diarrhoeic calves (out of 111) and in 10 healthy weaned pigs (out of 200 tested), representing two of the 9 calf herds and two of the 10 pig herds tested. This is the first report of exact diagnosis of torovirus in Hungary.

TURKEY CORONAVIRUS: AN UPDATED REVIEW

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Ning Chen ◽  
Ching Ching Wu ◽  
Tsang Long Lin
Keyword(s):  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Infectious Bronchitis ◽  
Turkey Coronavirus ◽  
Cellular Immune Responses ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Cellular Immune ◽  
S Genes

Turkey coronavirus (TCoV) causes acute atrophic enteritis and uneven flock growth in turkey farms leading to economic loss. Since 1990's, turkey flocks have kept experiencing coronaviral enteritis sporadically in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Brazil. Poult enteritis and mortality syndrome (PEMS) caused by the co-infection of TCoV, astrovirus, and other viruses or bacteria resulted in significantly high mortality. Diagnosis of TCoV depends on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescent antibody assay and virus isolation (VI). Genomic organization of TCoV is as follows: 5′ UTR-1a-1b-S-3a-3b-E-M-5a-5b-N-UTR 3′. Genomic analysis suggests the emergence of TCoV from infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) through the recombination of spike (S) gene. Both TCoV and IBV belong to species Avian coronavirus in genus Gammacoronavirus and have a single stranded RNA genome with a size about 27 kb. High similarity of S genes has been found between TCoV isolates in contrast to low similarity between IBV strains. TCoV infection induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses, characterized by high levels of antibody and interferon gamma. The fragment containing neutralizing epitopes in the S protein has been identified. Vaccines conferring protection against TCoV have not been developed and used in the fields but live attenuated, killed, DNA, and fowlpox virus vectored vaccines have been generated and their efficacies were evaluated. Molecular epidemiology of TCoV in recent outbreaks sheds more information on the evolution and transmission of TCoV, which will aid in developing effective vaccines or treatment to prevent, control, or eliminate TCoV infection.

Expectations, Affect Change, and Military Performance in the Army Recruit

1969 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 855-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Datel ◽  
Stephen T. Lifrak
Keyword(s):  
Affective Response ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Military Performance ◽  
Adjective Check List ◽  
Combat Training ◽  
Training Film ◽  
Basic Combat Training ◽  
New Recruits

Previous study at Fort Dix of the distressful affective response of Army recruits to basic combat training (BCT) was extended to Fort Ord. Several features of the inverted-U BCT distress curve were replicated on 2 companies ( N — 400) measured repeatedly with the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL). Ss' expectations of BCT distress, measured upon arrival, were much lower than the actual distress levels later reported in the midst of BCT. Then, an experiment consisting of 8 groups ( N = 839) was conducted to test (a) the immediate effect upon distress expectancy of a training film edited to prepare new recruits for the stress of BCT and (b) the later effect of such stress preparation on distress levels actually reported midway through BCT. The results indicated an increase in expected distress after viewing the film, but failed to confirm the Janis hypothesis that stress preparation reduces emotional distress. Extremely low and mostly non-significant Pearson rs resulted from correlational analysis of BCT performance scores and MAACL measures. Methodological problems, theoretical issues, practical applications, and suggestions for future research were discussed. A list of conclusions was drawn to update the current status of BCT distress research with the MAACL.

scholarly journals Development of a Molecular Tool for the Diagnosis of Leprosis, a Major Threat to Citrus Production in the Americas

Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 1317-1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane Cristina Locali ◽  
Juliana Freitas-Astua ◽  
Alessandra Alves de Souza ◽  
Marco Aurélio Takita ◽  
Gustavo Astua-Monge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
South American ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Citrus Industry ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Citrus Production ◽  
Tentative Member ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Genomic Regions

Citrus leprosis virus (CiLV), a tentative member of the Rhabdoviridae family, affects citrus trees in Brazil, where it is transmitted by mites Brevipalpus spp. It also occurs in other South American countries and was recently identified in Central America. This northbound spread of CiLV is being considered a serious threat to the citrus industry of the United States. However, despite its importance, difficulties related to the biology of CiLV have hindered much of the progress regarding its accurate detection, leaving both the analyses of symptoms and electron microscopy as the only tools available. An attempt to overcome this problem was made by constructing a cDNA library from double-stranded RNA extracted from leprosis lesions of infected Citrus sinensis (sweet orange) leaves. After cloning and sequencing, specific primers were designed to amplify putative CiLV genome regions with similarity to genes encoding the movement protein and replicase of other plant viruses. RNA from infected citrus plants corresponding to different varieties and locations were amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the two pairs of primers. Amplified products were purified, cloned in pGEM-T, and sequenced. The sequences confirmed the genomic regions previously associated with CiLV. The results demonstrate that RT-PCR was specific, accurate, rapid, and reliable for the detection of CiLV.

scholarly journals Resumption of Sport at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110027
Author(s):  
Ankit B. Shah ◽  
Dustin Nabhan ◽  
Robert Chapman ◽  
George Chiampas ◽  
Jonathan Drezner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Polymerase Chain Reaction Test ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Positive Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Polymerase Chain

In this brief report, we describe the safety of reopening US Olympic and Paralympic Training facilities (USOPTFs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from July 2020 through October 2020. We evaluated the prevalence of COVID-19 infection at the time of reentry and cardiopulmonary sequelae of COVID-19 in elite athletes. All athletes returning to a USOPTF were required to go through a reentry protocol consisting of an electronic health history, a 6-day quarantine including twice-daily symptom surveys, COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction and antibody testing, physical examination, 12-lead electrocardiogram, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I, and pulmonary function testing. Athletes with current or prior COVID-19 infection also underwent an echocardiogram, cardiology consultation, and additional testing as indicated. All athletes followed rigorous infection prevention measures and minimized contact with the outside community following reentry. At the time of this report, 301 athletes completed the reentry protocol among which 14 (4.7%) tested positive for active (positive polymerase chain reaction test, n = 3) or prior (positive antibody test, n = 11) COVID-19 infection. During the study period, this cohort accrued 14,916 days living and training at USOPTFs. Only one (0.3%) athlete was subsequently diagnosed with a new COVID-19 infection. No cardiopulmonary pathology attributable to COVID-19 was detected. Our findings suggest that residential elite athlete training facilities can successfully resume activity during the COVID-19 pandemic when strict reentry and infection prevention measures are followed. Dissemination of our reentry quarantine and screening protocols with COVID-19 mitigation measures may assist the global sports and medical community develop best practices for reopening of similar training centers.

scholarly journals First Report of Tomato infectious chlorosis virus in Tomato in Indonesia

Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (7) ◽  
pp. 872-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Th. J. Verhoeven ◽  
T. M. Willemen ◽  
J. W. Roenhorst ◽  
R. A. A. van der Vlugt
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
First Report ◽  
Tomato Seedlings ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Lateral Shoots ◽  
Young Leaves ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Tomato Chlorosis Virus ◽  
Tomato Infectious Chlorosis Virus

In 2002, a breeding company submitted several samples of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) for diagnosis. Samples originated in Indonesia and were taken from protected and nonprotected crops. Plants exhibited severe chlorosis on fully expanded leaves, while young leaves were symptomless. Symptoms resembled those of the criniviruses Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and Tomato infectious chlorosis virus (TICV). Moreover, large numbers of whiteflies, potential vectors of these viruses, had been observed at the plots with symptomatic plants. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with specific primers for TICV (1) yielded amplicons of the expected size of approximately 500 bp for all samples. One of the amplicons was sequenced (Genbank Accession No. AY221097) and revealed more than 98.9% identity to six isolates of TICV in NCBI Genbank. cDNA synthesis using the universal crinivirus primer HSP_M2-DW (5′ -TCRAARGTWCCKCCNCCRAA-3′) followed by PCR with a ToCV specific primerset (ToCV-UP 5′-TCATTAAAACTCAATGGGACCGAG-3′ and ToCV-DW 5′-GCGACGT AAATTGAAACCC-3′) was negative in all cases. Grafting of symptomatic shoots onto healthy tomato seedlings of cv. Money-maker showed transmission of the virus, as chlorosis appeared on fully expanded leaves of lateral shoots after 6 weeks. The presence of TICV in the graft-inoculated plants was confirmed by RT-PCR. Furthermore, mechanical inoculation to a range of herbaceous test plants did not evoke any virus symptoms, indicating the absence of mechanically transmissible viruses. Although other nonmechanically transmissible viruses cannot be fully excluded, the results together with the symptoms observed, indicate that TICV is the cause of the disease. TICV has been reported from Greece, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United States, but to our knowledge, this is the first report of TICV in Indonesia. Reference: (1) A. M. Vaira et al. Phytoparasitica 30:290, 2002.

scholarly journals Prevalence and Neighborhood Geomapping of COVID-19 in an Underserved Chicago Pregnant Population

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (04) ◽  
pp. e413-e416
Author(s):  
Catalin S. Buhimschi ◽  
Gloria L. Elam ◽  
Stephen R. Locher ◽  
Doreen Norris-Stojak ◽  
Hayfaa Aldasoqi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Polymerase Chain Reaction Test ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Chain Reaction Test

Abstract Objective The Chicago area is known to harbor some of the deepest racial and ethnic socioeconomic inequalities in the United States. We studied the prevalence and neighborhood distribution of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 after implementation of universal screening at an academic hospital providing obstetrical services to an underserved Chicago population. Study Design From April 16 to June 16, 2020, a total of 369 patients were screened for COVID-19 at University of Illinois at Chicago with either the Abbott Point-of-Care (POC, n = 266) or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR, n = 101). Patient residential data mapped using ESRI ArcGIS Pro was integrated in ESRI's Living Atlas with the Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Index (NSEI). Results Precisely, 7.9% (29/369) of screened patients tested positive; 69% (17/29) with the POC test and 31% (12/29) by RT-PCR. The prevalence of an outpatient RT-PCR positive result was 8.9% (9/101). All but one of the 29 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive patients were either Hispanic or Black, and the majority resided in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusion The disproportionate hit of COVID-19 pandemic on the Hispanic and Black communities reflects in SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates in the obstetrical population. Our report provides data that may be useful to policy makers when prioritizing resources to communities in need.

scholarly journals Discriminating Between Isolates of PSbMV Using Nucleotide Sequence Polymorphisms in the HC-Pro Coding Region

Plant Disease ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 490-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. A. Torok ◽  
J. W. Randles
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Molecular Diagnostic ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Reference Isolate ◽  
Length Polymorphisms ◽  
Pcr Rflp ◽  
Pcr Products ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Pea Seed

The molecular diversity of 14 isolates of Pea seed-borne mosaic virus (PSbMV) from southern Australia, 13 previously described isolates from Pakistan, and a reference isolate from the United States have been studied to determine whether a relatively simple molecular diagnostic assay and classification scheme could be developed for this virus. The Australian isolates were placed into either pathotype P1 or pathotype P4 by bioassay on differential genotypes of Pisum sativum. The Pakistani isolates represented pathotypes P1, P4, U1, and U2, and an undetermined pathotype. The reference US isolate was pathotype P1. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay based on an amplicon from the variable HC-Pro coding region of potyviruses was shown to distinguish PSbMV from seven other legume infecting potyviruses. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) generated from the HC-Pro RT-PCR products of all 28 isolates using seven restriction endonucleases placed them into eight groups. A phylogenetic tree based on a Bray-Curtis similarity comparison placed the groups into three clusters. The groups and clusters had no clear association with either pathotype or geographic source. It is concluded that within the range of viruses and isolates tested, the RT-PCR-RFLP method will both specifically identify PSbMV and provide a simple, qualitative, and rapid means for placing PSbMV isolates into groups. Applications could include mapping and tracking isolates in space and time.

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