An important transmission route for foodborne pathogens is the contact of processed meat with contaminated surfaces. In our study, E. coli isolates from slaughterhouses in Benin City, Nigeria were characterized for biocide and antimicrobial susceptibility, biofilm formation capability, curli fimbriae and cellulose expression. In addition, whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed to analyse...
In Germany, in 2022, AMR in E. coli from ducks and duck meat was investigated in a monitoring program based on Commission Implementing Decision (CID) (EU) 2020/1729. Boot sock samples were randomly collected at farm and meat samples were collected at retail. E. coli* was isolated from the samples using routine methods. Isolates were submitted to the NRL for Antimicrobial Resistance for...
Clostridioides difficile is an anaerobic enteropathogen of noted clinical importance in hospital and community settings. Its ubiquitous presence in pets, animals, food products and the environment -together with its ability to form spores- favor its survival and dissemination. Some strains with possible zoonotic implications have been described over the years, and its dynamic is still under...
The genus Burkholderia contains in part human-pathogenic species. Among them, the zoonotic disease-causing Burkholderia pseudomallei, B. mallei, and the avirulent B. thailandensis are genetically closely related. The intracellular lifestyle of these Burkholderia species involves different virulence factors which enable host cell invasion, phagosome escape, and actin-based...
Human lice Pediculus humanus can transmit various pathogens comprising Bartonella quintana, Borrelia recurrentis and Rickettsia prowazekii. Xenosurveillance is an epidemiological approach of assessing human infection risks by screening vectors of infectious diseases. In the proof-of-principle study conducted here, 23 human lice collected from the cloths of 30 homeless Ethiopian individuals...
Current antiviral drugs mainly target viral proteins, resulting in resistance development and the need for new antivirals. In particularly, broad-spectrum are urgently needed to combat zoonotic spillover events. Generating host-directed antivirals may constitute a strategy to combat both issues and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins may represent suitable targets. We assessed the potential of...
Endogenous bornavirus-like genetic elements (EBL) are molecular fossils of bornaviruses in host genomes and thought to be a consequence of long-term virus-host interactions. Recent studies suggested antiviral properties of EBL in squirrels, but studies on known natural reservoir hosts of bornaviruses are sparse. The objective of this study was to identify EBL in insectivores (order...
Streptococcus canis (S. canis) is known as opportunistic pathogen colonizing dogs and cats, but also causes zoonotic diseases such as endocardites and septicaemiae in humans.
In the course of infection, S. canis enters the bloodstream and adheres to the endocardium as well as to the vasculature thereby inducing cell damage.
We aim to determine the impact of S. canis in...
AMR is on a rise and challenges global One Health. The emergence of different antimicrobial-/biocide resistances in the individual One Health compartments is usually associated with an adaption of the bacteria against prevailing selection pressures. MGEs carrying transmissible resistance determinants are common and are widely spread among bacteria. Because of their localization on plasmids,...
Secondary abiotic (SAB) IL-10-/- mice constitute a valuable Campylobacter jejuni-induced enterocolitis model. Given that the host-specific gut microbiota plays a key role in susceptibility of the vertebrate host towards or resistance against enteropathogenic infection, we surveyed immunopathological sequelae of C. jejuni infection in human microbiota-associated (hma) and SAB IL-10-/- mice....
Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (SEZ) is a zoonotic pathogen that colonises as commensal the equine tonsils and can cause respiratory tract infections in horses. It is also associated with endocarditis, meningitis, and severe systemic diseases in humans. When SEZ strain MF1397 was cultivated on solid media, colonies showed apparent differences in colony morphology and appeared both,...
Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) producing Staphylococcus (S.) aureus can cause recurrent, large skin abscesses, which can lead to severe human infections and stigmatization. Although food is not considered a relevant source for human S. aureus colonization, the potentially grave consequences of infection with PVL-positive S. aureus require monitoring of food for this kind of...
SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19 with varying disease manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to severe symptoms. Especially age is one of the main factors for people at risk. The SARS-CoV-2 virus primarily attacks pulmonary tissues and impairs gas exchange leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with systemic hypoxia. Importantly, the level of tissue oxygen level affects...
The drivers of emergence and evolution of antimicrobial resistances include antimicrobial use and abuse in human, animal and environmental sectors. Their interconnection allows the spread of resistant bacteria and resistance determinants between sectors. One such example is the transmissible plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr) first discovered in 2016. Since then, the main determinant...
Zoonotic respiratory viruses crossing the species barrier to humans like SARS-CoV-2 or highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (HPAIV) often lead to a rapid clinical deterioration in late disease stages, correlating with systemic hyperinflammation and requiring new immunomodulatory therapeutic approaches. We suggest that the key inflammatory MAPK p38 substantially drives the development of...
Until recently, rubella virus (RuV; Rubivirus rubellae), exclusively infecting humans, was the only known virus of the genus Rubivirus (family: Matonaviridae). In 2020, two relatives of RuV were discovered in Africa and Europe: ruhugu virus (RuhV; Rubivirus ruteetense), the closest relative of rubella virus, found in oral swabs of presumably healthy bats, and rustrela virus (RusV;...
Schistosomiasis (Bilharziasis) is a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), which is caused by trematodes (flukes). One of the main species causing urogenital Schistosomiasis in humans is Schistosoma haematobium, which is highly endemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
S. haematobium has a complex life cycle. Humans are the final hosts and freshwater snails are the intermediate hosts. After a prepatent...
C. burnetii is a gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of the disease Q fever. Its primary reservoir are ruminants. Human infection can occur via the inhalation of contaminated aerosols. After infection, Q fever often is either asymptomatic or manifests as a mild flu-like illness, but pneumonia or hepatitis might also occur. In the majority of cases, the...
SARS-CoV-2 utilizes host proteins to facilitate its own viral growth. In this study, we found that SARS-CoV-2 infection in Huh7 and Huh7.5 cells results in protein accumulation of Makorin Ring Fiinger Protein 2 (MKRN2). Yeast two-hybrid screening revealed that MKRN2 interacts with several SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins including nonstructural protein 3 (Nsp3). MKRN2 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase...
Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an arboviral infection of the central nervous system and is considered as an important zoonosis in an area ranging from Europe to various parts in Asia. In Germany, between 250 and 700 human cases are reported annually. As no causative treatment exists, the most critical preventive measure is vaccination, but awareness among HCPs as well as lay...
Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is nosocomial pathogen in horse clinics where it also frequently colonizes veterinary staff. Therefore, it was of interest to know about its probable spread of MRSA to healthy horses, into community and transmission to associated humans. The study reported here was based on samples from 254 horses and 156 humans in contact with them in 103 equestrian...
Bacillus anthracis is capable of invading the central nervous system in both animals and humans. It can elicit meningitis, a severe complication of systemic anthrax, with a mortality rate nearing 100 %. In the past two decades, it has become evident that anthrax can be caused by bacteria distinct from B. anthracis. One such bacterium is Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis (Bcbva), which...
Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) E. coli (EC) increasingly occurs in human medical, veterinary, and environmental settings. The World Health Organization categorized extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacterales among the top-priority pathogens for prospective antibiotic (AB) development. It has been shown that not only AB residues but also heavy metals/metalloids (HM)...
Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-producing Staphylococcus aureus (PVL-SA) causes severe skin abscesses in humans. We report on an affected family experiencing recurrent PVL-SA infections despite multiple decolonization events. The family-cats were found to be colonized by S. aureus (SA). A protocol for outpatient decolonization using systemic antibiotic treatment of cats was...
Xenotransplantation of pig organ, tissue or cells depends on the microbial safety. Here the early detection of porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) a HHV6 related roseolovirus is immanent as it is easily transmitted and does possibly contribute to early graft failure. PCMV detection faces two hurdles. One is latency of the virus, the other high transmissibility and infectivity within the pig...
Low concentrations of antimicrobials are known to increase the conjugation frequency (CF) of E. coli, facilitating the spread of antimicrobial resistance, while the impact of biocides on plasmid conjugation is still unclear. CFs were analyzed for suitable donor-recipient combinations of E. coli from livestock, food and human sources using liquid mating and subsequent enumeration of...
Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL)-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae are classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as pathogens of critical priority for development of new antibiotics because of their clinical importance. Companion animals may act as reservoirs of ESBL; however, data on prevalence is still scarce. To assess the situation in Vienna, 89 fecal samples...
Background: SARS-CoV-2 infections can result in imbalanced immune responses facilitating inflammations in severe COVID-19 cases. Glucocorticoids (GCs), such as dexamethasone, have become a standard therapy for controlling the inflammatory response. The immunosuppressive features of GCs resulted in controversies about whether GC treatment should be implemented during virus infections....
Chicken manure is commonly utilized as fertilizer in agriculture due to its rich nutrient content, which benefits plant growth. However, if the manure originates from a flock carrying bacteria resistant to antimicrobials, it can contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in agricultural produce, potentially affecting human health. To quantify the extended spectrum...
The sensing of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) by dsRNA binding proteins (dsRBP) is one of the key innate immune responses in eukaryotes. In arthropods, for example, RNA interference (RNAi) is the main antiviral defense mechanism triggered by dsRBP. In this study, we aim on the determination of the interactome of dsRNA as well as the involvement during viral infection and mechanistic...
Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) belong to the most prevalent causes of infectious diarrheal disease in humans and pigs worldwide, but also contribute to invasive infections in infants. The pathogenicity of NTS is conferred by horizontally acquired chromosomal regions, called Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs), encoding sets of effector proteins delivered into the host cell via specific...
During COVID-19, neutrophils are activated and massively release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), contributing to disease severity. Yet, the exact mechanism of NET formation is not fully understood. Since patients suffer from acute hypoxia during severe cases, it is necessary to study neutrophil biology at low oxygen level. Thus, we compared NET formation of human neutrophils as response...
Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever. Aside from acute fever, few patients can develop chronic Q fever months or years after primary infection, mainly characterized as endocarditis. The clinical picture of chronic Q fever suggests that C. burnetii establishes a persistent state. Yet, information about the induction of persistence is rare. STAT3 is...
South American camelids (SAC) are popular in Europe, frequently kept with other livestock species and in close contact with humans. They represent a potential transmission source of epizootic and zoonotic bacteria to livestock and humans. Therefore, SAC were included as livestock species in the revised European Animal Health Law. However, knowledge on bacterial pathogens in SAC is too sparse...
Flaviviruses are arthropod-borne RNA viruses that include one of the major tick-borne viral pathogens of humans, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). The flavivirus non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a conserved 46–55 kDa protein that exists in different glycoforms and multifunctional oligomeric complexes. Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) chaperones are cellular protein folding catalysts. Part of...
Arthropod-borne flaviviruses cause important human diseases, including encephalitis and meningitis with long-term neurological sequelae. The flavivirus non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is secreted from cells in infected individuals and known to play a role in viral pathogenesis. We recently showed that sNS1 of different flaviviruses dampen the immune response of dendritic cells upon stimulation....
Streptococcus canis is an opportunistic pathogen that predominantly infects cats and dogs. Although, through contact with companion animals, human infections can also occur. S. canis colonizes the skin and mucosa of the host and can cause a variety of invasive diseases.
IdeC is an IgG specific protease of S. canis. A secreted protein acts on IgG by cleaving at the hinge region. IdeC contains...
While most Zika virus (ZIKV) infections are asymptomatic or mild, several cases of congenital malformations and microcephaly have been reported in newborns and fetuses of ZIKV-infected pregnant women. To date, no effective vaccine or specific drug is available, highlighting the need of identyfing antiviral drug targets for the treatment of ZIKV infection. Src family kinases (SFKs) and Pim...
Although hepatitis e virus (HEV) is a common cause of acute viral hepatitis, prevention and treatment options remain scarce. Our recent work has identified cholesterol metabolism as druggable target to combat viral infection by interfering with the viral release pathway. We aimed to dissect metabolism-regulating signaling cascades, focusing on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)...
Wild birds, primarily waterfowl, and shorebirds are the natural host and reservoir for influenza A viruses (IAV). Infections with low pathogenic avian IAV (LPIAV) in wild birds are usually asymptomatic, with virus replication primarily in intestinal enterocytes and significant virus shedding in faeces. Transmission to other hosts causes high morbidity and low mortality. Proteases that cleave...
Genome sequencing became an indispensable tool to characterize the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We present a benchmark data set of 54 patient samples, sequenced with several different in-vitro approaches on two sequencing platforms, a comprehensive benchmark of existing workflows and introduce UnCoVar, an open-source bioinformatics workflow for analyzing SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data for patient...
Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a major clinical and public health challenge worldwide. However, infections of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) have been increasing frequently and bacterium is also developing resistance to a wide range of antibiotics such as erythromycin, oxacillin, and fluoroquinolones. In order to develop the reliable solution to global issue of antimicrobial...
