Publications

BACKGROUND: Epidemic arbovirus transmission occurs among humans by mosquito bites and the sylvatic transmission cycles involving non-human primates (NHPs) still exists. However, limited data are available on the extent in NHPs infections and their role. In this study, we have developed and validated a high-throughput serological screening tool to study the circulation of multiple arboviruses that represent a significant threat to human ...

The variation in the speed and intensity of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and severity of the resulting COVID-19 disease are still imperfectly understood. We postulate a dose-response relationship in COVID-19, and that "the dose of virus in the initial inoculum" is an important missing link in understanding several incompletely explained observations in COVID-19 as a factor in transmission dynamics and severity of disease. We hypothesize that: (1) ...

Large-scale serosurveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) will only be possible if serological tests are sufficiently reliable, rapid and affordable. Many assays are either labour-intensive and require specialised facilities (e.g. virus neutralization assays), or are expensive with suboptimal specificity (e.g. commercial ELISAs and RDTs). Bead-based assays offer a cost-effective alternative and allow ...

We sequenced the envelope gene of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2-E) in samples from an outbreak reported in 2018, in Yurimaguas, Peru. The strain belongs to lineage 2 of the American/Asian genotype. We report a variant with two novel mutations (I379T and V484I) located in domain III of DENV2-E.

Infections with arthropod-borne viruses are increasing globally as a result of climate and demographic changes, global dispersion of insect vectors, and increased air travel. The similar symptomatology of arboviral diseases and the cocirculation of different arboviruses in Africa, Asia, and South America complicate diagnosis. Despite the high sensitivity and specificity of molecular diagnostic tests, their utility is limited to the short ...

After the 2017 Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak in Likati, a district in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we sampled small mammals from the location where the primary case-patient presumably acquired the infection. None tested positive for EBOV RNA or antibodies against EBOV, highlighting the ongoing challenge in detecting animal reservoirs for EBOV.

Most alphaviruses (family Togaviridae) including Sindbis virus (SINV) and other human pathogens, are transmitted by arthropods. The first open reading frame in their positive strand RNA genome encodes for the non-structural polyprotein, a precursor to four separate subunits of the replicase. The replicase interacts with cis-acting elements located near the intergenic region and at the ends of the viral RNA genome. A trans-replication assay ...

It is very exceptional that a new disease becomes a true pandemic. Since its emergence in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, has spread to nearly all countries of the world in only a few months. However, in different countries, the COVID-19 epidemic takes variable shapes and forms in how it affects communities. Until now, the insights gained on COVID-19 ...