Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Avian cholera causes mass mortality at penguin mega-colonies amid H5N1 HPAI outbreaks in Antarctica

The characterization of pathogens affecting Antarctic wildlife has been historically limited and sporadic. With the introduction of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) in Antarctica in the austral summer 2023/2024, concerns about the health of Antarctic seabirds...

A multiregional serosurvey of RNA virus-reactive antibodies in bats and rodents reveals the enzootic presence of flavi- and paramyxoviruses in African Pteropodidae

Bats and rodents have been identified as reservoir hosts of diverse RNA viruses that pose potential risks to humans. However, overall virus prevalence in wildlife and underlying factors determining the zoonotic potential of reservoir-borne viruses remain poorly characterized. Vir...

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia: a review and gap analysis of its impact, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and control

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae ( Mccp ), remains one of the most important small ruminant diseases and a major transboundary disease. Although primarily affecting goats, infections have also been reported in sheep...

Deciphering the genomic signatures of climate vulnerability across 77 sheep breeds

Abstract Among domesticated species, sheep ( Ovis aries ) have achieved a wide geographic distribution due to their mobility, rusticity and ability to adapt to diverse environments and climatic conditions. Here, we characterise the genome-wide diversity of >1,000 sheep representi...

Winter activity and virus infection of Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in German livestock housing before and during the 2024 BTV-3 outbreak

BACKGROUND: Despite its importance for Culicoides-borne disease risk assessment, the winter activity of species of this biting midge genus remains poorly characterized. Moreover, information on virus circulation in winter-active Culicoides vectors, both under endemic conditions a...

Building a One Health mobile laboratory workforce: strengthening public health preparedness across Europe and Africa

Abstract The emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases remain a major public health threat in Europe. The Horizon Europe-funded MOBILISE project addresses this challenge by establishing a One Health Mobile Laboratory capable of handling risk group 3 and 4 pathogens, while...

An evolutionarily conserved N-terminal domain of RRF-3 governs GTSF-1 binding in nematodes

Abstract GTSF1 is an essential activating cofactor for PIWI proteins in many metazoans. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans , however, GTSF-1 does not bind PIWI, but is associated with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase RRF-3, supporting endo-siRNA (26G-RNA) biogenesis. Here, we...

Viral dissemination and diagnostic insights from experimental infection of sheep with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus

Abstract Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne orthonairovirus widely distributed across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Southern Europe, causing severe illness and hemorrhagic fever in humans. While sheep usually show no clinical symptoms, they develop...

DVE-1 is a telomere-binding protein and links the NuRD complex to telomere regulation in C. elegans

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of linear chromosomes bound by specialized proteins. In our previous quantitative proteomics screen for telomere-binding proteins of Caenorhabditis elegans , we identified DVE-1, a homolog of mammalian SATB proteins and a transcr...

Development of a multi-species luciferase-based double-antigen ELISA for the detection of antibodies against influenza A virus H5 clade 2.3.4.4b

ABSTRACT The highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of subtype H5N1 represent a major threat to animal and public health. The current panzootic with H5 clade 2.3.4.4b has caused numerous, widespread outbreaks in various domestic and wild avian species with high mortalities, ma...

Completion of the 5′ end of the porcine teschovirus genome reveals a functional S-segment and enables reverse genetics

Porcine teschoviruses (PTVs) are swine-specific picornaviruses associated with neurological and systemic disease, ranging from severe paralytic Teschen disease to milder forms of porcine encephalomyelitis, known as Talfan disease. Despite their global distribution and veterinary...