Preexposure and Postexposure Prophylaxis of Rabies With Adeno-Associated Virus Expressing Virus-Neutralizing Antibody in Rodent Models

Rabies knowledge and prevention practices in Gombe state, Nigeria: a community-based comparative cross-sectional study of rabies hotspot and non-hotspot areas

BACKGROUND

Rabies remains a significant public health concern in Nigeria, particularly in rural areas with limited awareness and resources. Gombe State is recognized as a rabies hotspot, facing challenges in controlling the spread of the disease. This study aimed to assess and compare the knowledge and prevention practices related to rabies among community members in hotspot and non-hotspot areas of Gombe State.

METHODS

A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Gombe State. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 816 eligible respondents from selected households with pet dogs or cats (408 each from hotspot and non-hotspot areas). A semi-structured, pre-tested digital interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographics, rabies knowledge, and prevention practices. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. The univariate and bivariate analysis compared rabies knowledge and prevention practices at p value < 0.05. Logistic regression identified predictors of good practice.

RESULTS

Respondents from hotspot areas demonstrated better overall knowledge of rabies compared to those from non-hotspot areas. However, a higher proportion of respondents from non-hotspot areas exhibited better rabies prevention practices, particularly in terms of vaccinating their dogs within the previous year. Factors such as older age (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.27- 0.84), farming occupation (AOR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.27 - 0.84), and good overall rabies knowledge (AOR: 3.04, 95% CI: 1.37 - 6.73) were significant predictors of rabies prevention practices in the hotspot area.

CONCLUSION

Targeted educational interventions and tailored prevention strategies are needed to improve rabies awareness and practices, especially among specific demographic groups like older individuals and farmers. Enhancing overall knowledge of rabies and promoting consistent vaccination practices for pets are crucial steps towards reducing the incidence of rabies in both hotspot and non-hotspot areas.

Rabies in a postpandemic world: resilient reservoirs, redoubtable riposte, recurrent roadblocks, and resolute recidivism

Rabies is an ancient disease. Two centuries since Pasteur, fundamental progress occurred in virology, vaccinology, and diagnostics-and an understanding of pathobiology and epizootiology of rabies in testament to One Health-before common terminological coinage. Prevention, control, selective elimination, and even the unthinkable-occasional treatment-of this zoonosis dawned by the twenty-first century. However, in contrast to smallpox and rinderpest, eradication is a wishful misnomer applied to rabies, particularly post-COVID-19 pandemic. Reasons are minion. Polyhostality encompasses bats and mesocarnivores, but other mammals represent a diverse spectrum of potential hosts. While rabies virus is the classical member of the genus, other species of lyssaviruses also cause the disease. Some reservoirs remain cryptic. Although global, this viral encephalitis is untreatable and often ignored. As with other neglected diseases, laboratory-based surveillance falls short of the notifiable ideal, especially in lower- and middle-income countries. Calculation of actual burden defaults to a flux within broad health economic models. Competing priorities, lack of defined, long-term international donors, and shrinking local champions challenge human prophylaxis and mass dog vaccination toward targets of 2030 for even canine rabies impacts. For prevention, all licensed vaccines are delivered to the individual, whether parenteral or oral-essentially 'one and done'. Exploiting mammalian social behaviors, future 'spreadable vaccines' might increase the proportion of immunized hosts per unit effort. However, the release of replication-competent, genetically modified organisms selectively engineered to spread intentionally throughout a population raises significant biological, ethical, and regulatory issues in need of broader, transdisciplinary discourse. How this rather curious idea will evolve toward actual unconventional prevention, control, or elimination in the near term remains debatable. In the interim, more precise terminology and realistic expectations serve as the norm for diverse, collective constituents to maintain progress in the field.

MicroRNA let-7f-5p regulates PI3K/AKT/COX2 signaling pathway in bacteria-induced pulmonary fibrosis via targeting of PIK3CA in forest musk deer

Background

Recent studies have characterized that microRNA (miRNA) is a suitable candidate for the study of bleomycin/LPS-induced pulmonary fibrosis, but the knowledge on miRNA in bacteria-induced pulmonary fibrosis (BIPF) is limited. Forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii, FMD) is an important endangered species that has been seriously affected by BIPF. We sought to determine whether miRNA exist that modulates the pathogenesis of BIPF in FMD.

Methods

High-throughput sequencing and RT-qPCR were used to determine the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) in the blood of BIPF FMD. The DEmiRNAs were further detected in the blood and lung of BIPF model rat by RT-qPCR, and the targeting relationship between candidate miRNA and its potential target gene was verified by dual-luciferase reporter activity assay. Furthermore, the function of the candidate miRNA was verified in the FMD lung fibroblast cells (FMD-C1).

Results

Here we found that five dead FMD were suffered from BIPF, and six circulating miRNAs (miR-30g, let-7f-5p, miR-27-3p, miR-25-3p, miR-9-5p and miR-652) were differentially expressed in the blood of the BIPF FMD. Of these, let-7f-5p showed reproducibly lower level in the blood and lung of the BIPF model rat, and the expression levels of PI3K/AKT/COX2 signaling pathway genes (PIK3CA, PDK1, Akt1, IKBKA, NF-κB1 and COX2) were increased in the lung of BIPF model rats, suggesting that there is a potential correlation between BIPF and the PI3K/AKT/COX2 signaling pathway. Notably, using bioinformatic prediction and experimental verification, we demonstrated that let-7f-5p is conserved across mammals, and the seed sequence of let-7f-5p displays perfect complementarity with the 3' UTR of PIK3CA gene and the expression of the PIK3CA gene was regulated by let-7f-5p. In order to determine the regulatory relationship between let-7f-5p and the PI3K/AKT/COX2 signaling pathway in FMD, we successfully cultured FMD-C1, and found that let-7f-5p could act as a negative regulator for the PI3K/Akt/COX2 signaling pathway in FMD-C1. Collectively, this study not only provided a study strategy for non-invasive research in pulmonary disease in rare animals, but also laid a foundation for further research in BIPF.