I am an Austrian-born virologist with a broad research and teaching interest and experience in all aspects of viral infectious diseases. I was educated at the University of Vienna and conducted my Ph.D. studies at the University of Vienna Medical School. I graduated to PhD sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae in January 1982. My research interests include virus infections at the environment / animal / human interface, emerging viral infections, viral zoonoses, and vector-borne virus infections. My international reputation is in the areas of West Nile virus, Usutu virus and Borna disease virus research. I authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.
Clinical cases of ‘staggering disease’, a nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis associated with gait a... more Clinical cases of ‘staggering disease’, a nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis associated with gait abnormalities in cats, have been documented for decades in Sweden. In Austria, an increased incidence was observed in the 1990s. Only recently, rustrela virus (RusV) was identified as the causative agent of this clinicopathologic disease entity. In this retrospective study, we analyzed a total of 23 brain and spinal cord samples from Austrian cats with the pathohistological diagnosis of nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis and clinical signs consistent with staggering disease from 1994 to 2016 using reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and in situ hybridization. We were able to detect RusV nucleic acids in seven of the examined samples. Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) could be excluded in all cases via immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR. This study confirms that RusV has been a relevant etiological agent of nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis of cats in a geographical...
The main mode of transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) ... more The main mode of transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) between dromedaries is likely via the respiratory route. However, there must be other modes to explain how the infection is brought to MERS-CoV-negative closed herds, such as transmission by ticks. Here, we present a study performed at three different locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involving 215 dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) and the ticks attached to them. We tested the camels and ticks via RT-(q)PCR for the presence of MERS-CoV nucleic acids, as well as flaviviruses that may be present in the region (e.g., Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus). Camel sera were additionally analyzed for evidence of previous exposure to MERS-CoV. In total, 8 out of 242 tick pools were positive for MERS-CoV RNA (3.3%; Ct 34.6–38.3), 7 of which contained Hyalomma dromedarii ticks, and one contained a Hyalomma sp. tick (species not identified). All of the virus-positive ticks’ host camels w...
The majority of emerging viral infectious diseases in humans originate from wildlife reservoirs, ... more The majority of emerging viral infectious diseases in humans originate from wildlife reservoirs, such as rodents and bats. We investigated a possible reservoir, namely wild gerbils and mice trapped in a desert reserve within the emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In total, 52 gerbils and 1 jird (Gerbillinae), 10 house mice (Mus musculus), and 1 Arabian spiny mouse (Acomys dimidiatus) were sampled. Oro-pharyngeal swabs, fecal samples, attached ticks, and organ samples (where available) were screened by (RT-q)PCR for the following viruses: Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever orthonairovirus, Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus, hantaviruses, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis mammarenavirus, Rustrela virus, poxviruses, flaviviruses, and herpesviruses. All of the samples were negative for all investigated viruses, except for herpesviruses: 19 gerbils (35.8%) and seven house mice (70.0%) were positive. The resulting sequences were only...
Urban environments represent unique ecosystems where dense human populations may come into contac... more Urban environments represent unique ecosystems where dense human populations may come into contact with wildlife species, some of which are established or potential reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens that cause human diseases. Finding practical ways to monitor the presence and/or abundance of zoonotic pathogens is important to estimate the risk of spillover to humans in cities. As brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are ubiquitous in urban habitats, and are hosts of several zoonotic viruses, we conducted longitudinal sampling of brown rats in Vienna, Austria, a large population center in Central Europe. We investigated rat tissues for the presence of several zoonotic viruses, including flaviviruses, hantaviruses, coronaviruses, poxviruses, hepatitis E virus, encephalomyocarditis virus, and influenza A virus. Although we found no evidence of active infections (all were negative for viral nucleic acids) among 96 rats captured between 2016 and 2018, our study supports the findings of others,...
Using molecular techniques and bioinformatics tools, we studied the vector-host interactions and ... more Using molecular techniques and bioinformatics tools, we studied the vector-host interactions and the molecular epidemiology of West Nile virus (WNV) in western Iran. Mosquitoes were collected during 2017 and 2018. DNA typing assays were used to study vector-host interactions. Mosquitoes were screened by RT-PCR for the genomes of five virus families. WNV-positive samples were fully sequenced and evolutionary tree and molecular architecture were constructed by Geneious software and SWISS-MODEL workspace, respectively. A total of 5028 mosquito specimens were collected and identified. The most prevalent species was Culex (Cx.) pipiens complex (57.3%). Analysis of the blood-feeding preferences of blood-fed mosquitoes revealed six mammalian and one bird species as hosts. One mosquito pool containing non-blood-fed Cx. theileri and one blood-fed Culex pipiens pipiens (Cpp.) biotype pipiens were positive for WNV. A phylogram indicated that the obtained WNV sequences belonged to lineage 2, su...
<p>The average numbers of substitutions per site between nucleotide and amino acid sequence... more <p>The average numbers of substitutions per site between nucleotide and amino acid sequences are indicated below and above the diagonal, respectively. Estimation of evolutionary distances was conducted in MEGA6 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.ref019" target="_blank">19</a>] using the MCL and p-distance algorithms for nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. Group 2d-1 contains the Central/Southern European viruses including Austrian strains, and group 2d-5 consists of the Eastern European WNVs.</p><p>Abbreviations used: At-bd = strain Blood donor/Vienna/2014Austria (KP109691), SMB<sub>1</sub> = first passage of the suckling mouse brain isolate from the Austrian blood donor’s plasma, Cz 329 = strain Cz 13–329 (KM203861), Cz 479 = strain Cz 13–479 (KM203862), At-Cx = strain Cx pipiens/Vienna/2014Austria (KP109692), It AN2 = isolate Italy/2011/AN-2 (JN858070), It 32.1 = strain Italy/2013/Rovigo/32.1 (KF588365), It 33.2 = strain Italy/2013/Rovigo/33.2 (KF647249), It 34.1 = strain Italy/2013/Padova/34.1 (KF647251), Cz 104 = s train CZ 13–104 (KM203860), Cz 502 = strain Cz 13–502 (KM203863), At-gh = WNV strain Austria/2008_goshawk (KF179640).</p><p>Estimates of evolutionary pairwise distances A. over the Austrian strains (including the SMB<sub>1</sub> plasma isolate) and their nine closest relatives, B. five major groups (clades), and C. six minor groups (clusters) among clade 2d, all defined according to the clustering in the phylogenetic tree (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>).</p
<p>The sequences determined in this study are marked with a red diamond (Viennese blood don... more <p>The sequences determined in this study are marked with a red diamond (Viennese blood donor-derived WNV) and a black diamond (Viennese <i>Culex pipiens</i>-derived WNV), respectively. The Austrian goshawk-derived sequence from 2008 is marked with a contoured diamond. Five major clades and six clusters among clade 2d are indicated. Group 2d-1 contains the Central/Southern European viruses including Austrian strains, and group 2d-5 consists of the Eastern European WNVs. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using the NJ method with MCL algorithm of MEGA6 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.ref019" target="_blank">19</a>] with 1,000-fold bootstrap analysis. GenBank accession numbers, strain names, and (if known) species, countries of origins and years of isolations are indicated at the branches. Supporting bootstrap values >80% (the percentage of replicates in the bootstrap analysis) are displayed next to the nodes. The horizontal scale bar indicates genetic distances (here 2% nucleotide sequence divergence).</p
Dromedaries are an important livestock, used as beasts of burden and for meat and milk production... more Dromedaries are an important livestock, used as beasts of burden and for meat and milk production. However, they can act as an intermediate source or vector for transmitting zoonotic viruses to humans, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). After several outbreaks of CCHFV in the Arabian Peninsula, recent studies have demonstrated that CCHFV is endemic in dromedaries and camel ticks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There is no apparent disease in dromedaries after the bite of infected ticks; in contrast, fever, myalgia, lymphadenopathy, and petechial hemorrhaging are common symptoms in humans, with a case fatality ratio of up to 40%. We used the in-solution hybridization capture of 100 annotated immune genes to genotype 121 dromedaries from the UAE tested for seropositivity to CCHFV. Through univariate linear regression analysis, we identified two candidate genes belonging to the innate immune system: F...
Sequences comprising the “mid-G ” region of the glycoprotein (G) gene of Austrian isolates of inf... more Sequences comprising the “mid-G ” region of the glycoprotein (G) gene of Austrian isolates of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) form two lineages within European isolates and are clearly separated from American and Asian lineages
Viral contamination of edible bivalves is a major food safety issue. We studied the virucidal eff... more Viral contamination of edible bivalves is a major food safety issue. We studied the virucidal effect of a cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) source on two virologically different surrogate viruses [a double-stranded DNA virus (Equid alphaherpesvirus 1, EHV-1), and a single-stranded RNA virus (Bovine coronavirus, BCoV)] suspended in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM). A 15 min exposure effectuated a statistically significant immediate reduction in intact BCoV viruses by 2.8 (ozone-dominated plasma, “low power”) or 2.3 log cycles (nitrate-dominated, “high power”) of the initial viral load. The immediate effect of CAP on EHV-1 was less pronounced, with “low power” CAP yielding a 1.4 and “high power” a 1.0 log reduction. We observed a decline in glucose contents in DMEM, which was most probably caused by a Maillard reaction with the amino acids in DMEM. With respect to the application of the virucidal CAP treatment in oyster production, we investigated whether salt water could be sani...
Ocellatins are peptides produced in the skins of frogs belonging to the genus Leptodactylus that ... more Ocellatins are peptides produced in the skins of frogs belonging to the genus Leptodactylus that generally display weak antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria only. Peptidomic analysis of norepinephrine-stimulated skin secretions from Leptodactylus insularum Barbour 1906 and Leptodactylus nesiotus Heyer 1994, collected in the Icacos Peninsula, Trinidad, led to the purification and structural characterization of five ocellatin-related peptides from L. insularum (ocellatin-1I together with its (1–16) fragment, ocellatin-2I and its (1–16) fragment, and ocellatin-3I) and four ocellatins from L. nesiotus (ocellatin-1N, -2N, -3N, and -4N). While ocellatins-1I, -2I, and -1N showed a typically low antimicrobial potency against Gram-negative bacteria, ocellatin-3N (GIFDVLKNLAKGVITSLAS.NH2) was active against an antibiotic-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae and reference strains of Escherichia coli, K. pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhimurium (minim...
International travel played a significant role in the early global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Understa... more International travel played a significant role in the early global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Understanding transmission patterns from different regions of the world will further inform global dynamics of the pandemic. Using data from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a major international travel hub in the Middle East, we establish SARS-CoV-2 full genome sequences from the index and early COVID-19 patients in the UAE. The genome sequences are analysed in the context of virus introductions, chain of transmissions, and possible links to earlier strains from other regions of the world. Phylogenetic analysis showed multiple spatiotemporal introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into the UAE from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East during the early phase of the pandemic. We also provide evidence for early community-based transmission and catalogue new mutations in SARS-CoV-2 strains in the UAE. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the global transmission network of SARS-CoV-2.
Between 28 June and 17 September 2018, 27 cases of human West Nile virus infections were recorded... more Between 28 June and 17 September 2018, 27 cases of human West Nile virus infections were recorded in Austria; four cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease, 11 cases of West Nile fever, six infections detected by blood donation screening and six imported cases. In addition, 18 cases of human Usutu virus infections (all blood donors) were recorded. This is the highest number of annual infections recorded in Austria since the introduction of both viruses.
Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift
The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to... more The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to propose preventive measures and to obtain more information about the occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in local wild animal populations. From 146 male and 3 female hunters originating from the south-eastern Austrian federal states of Styria and Burgenland blood samples were taken and anamnestic data were obtained using a questionnaire. The serological investigations included the following viral, bacterial and parasitic zoonotic agents or zoonoses, respectively (antibody-seroprevalences in brackets): encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV, 15%), Puumala-Hantavirus (10%), Newcastle Disease virus (NDV, 4%), borreliosis (IgG 42%, IgM 7%), brucellosis (1%), chlamydiosis (3%), ehrlichiosis (IgG 15%, IgM 3%), leptospirosis (10%), tularaemia (3%), Q fever (0%), Echinococcus multilocularis/E. granulosus (5%/11%), toxocariasis (17%). Out of a control group of 50 persons (urban population, no hunters) on...
Clinical cases of ‘staggering disease’, a nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis associated with gait a... more Clinical cases of ‘staggering disease’, a nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis associated with gait abnormalities in cats, have been documented for decades in Sweden. In Austria, an increased incidence was observed in the 1990s. Only recently, rustrela virus (RusV) was identified as the causative agent of this clinicopathologic disease entity. In this retrospective study, we analyzed a total of 23 brain and spinal cord samples from Austrian cats with the pathohistological diagnosis of nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis and clinical signs consistent with staggering disease from 1994 to 2016 using reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and in situ hybridization. We were able to detect RusV nucleic acids in seven of the examined samples. Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) could be excluded in all cases via immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR. This study confirms that RusV has been a relevant etiological agent of nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis of cats in a geographical...
The main mode of transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) ... more The main mode of transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) between dromedaries is likely via the respiratory route. However, there must be other modes to explain how the infection is brought to MERS-CoV-negative closed herds, such as transmission by ticks. Here, we present a study performed at three different locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involving 215 dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) and the ticks attached to them. We tested the camels and ticks via RT-(q)PCR for the presence of MERS-CoV nucleic acids, as well as flaviviruses that may be present in the region (e.g., Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus). Camel sera were additionally analyzed for evidence of previous exposure to MERS-CoV. In total, 8 out of 242 tick pools were positive for MERS-CoV RNA (3.3%; Ct 34.6–38.3), 7 of which contained Hyalomma dromedarii ticks, and one contained a Hyalomma sp. tick (species not identified). All of the virus-positive ticks’ host camels w...
The majority of emerging viral infectious diseases in humans originate from wildlife reservoirs, ... more The majority of emerging viral infectious diseases in humans originate from wildlife reservoirs, such as rodents and bats. We investigated a possible reservoir, namely wild gerbils and mice trapped in a desert reserve within the emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In total, 52 gerbils and 1 jird (Gerbillinae), 10 house mice (Mus musculus), and 1 Arabian spiny mouse (Acomys dimidiatus) were sampled. Oro-pharyngeal swabs, fecal samples, attached ticks, and organ samples (where available) were screened by (RT-q)PCR for the following viruses: Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever orthonairovirus, Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus, hantaviruses, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis mammarenavirus, Rustrela virus, poxviruses, flaviviruses, and herpesviruses. All of the samples were negative for all investigated viruses, except for herpesviruses: 19 gerbils (35.8%) and seven house mice (70.0%) were positive. The resulting sequences were only...
Urban environments represent unique ecosystems where dense human populations may come into contac... more Urban environments represent unique ecosystems where dense human populations may come into contact with wildlife species, some of which are established or potential reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens that cause human diseases. Finding practical ways to monitor the presence and/or abundance of zoonotic pathogens is important to estimate the risk of spillover to humans in cities. As brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are ubiquitous in urban habitats, and are hosts of several zoonotic viruses, we conducted longitudinal sampling of brown rats in Vienna, Austria, a large population center in Central Europe. We investigated rat tissues for the presence of several zoonotic viruses, including flaviviruses, hantaviruses, coronaviruses, poxviruses, hepatitis E virus, encephalomyocarditis virus, and influenza A virus. Although we found no evidence of active infections (all were negative for viral nucleic acids) among 96 rats captured between 2016 and 2018, our study supports the findings of others,...
Using molecular techniques and bioinformatics tools, we studied the vector-host interactions and ... more Using molecular techniques and bioinformatics tools, we studied the vector-host interactions and the molecular epidemiology of West Nile virus (WNV) in western Iran. Mosquitoes were collected during 2017 and 2018. DNA typing assays were used to study vector-host interactions. Mosquitoes were screened by RT-PCR for the genomes of five virus families. WNV-positive samples were fully sequenced and evolutionary tree and molecular architecture were constructed by Geneious software and SWISS-MODEL workspace, respectively. A total of 5028 mosquito specimens were collected and identified. The most prevalent species was Culex (Cx.) pipiens complex (57.3%). Analysis of the blood-feeding preferences of blood-fed mosquitoes revealed six mammalian and one bird species as hosts. One mosquito pool containing non-blood-fed Cx. theileri and one blood-fed Culex pipiens pipiens (Cpp.) biotype pipiens were positive for WNV. A phylogram indicated that the obtained WNV sequences belonged to lineage 2, su...
<p>The average numbers of substitutions per site between nucleotide and amino acid sequence... more <p>The average numbers of substitutions per site between nucleotide and amino acid sequences are indicated below and above the diagonal, respectively. Estimation of evolutionary distances was conducted in MEGA6 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.ref019" target="_blank">19</a>] using the MCL and p-distance algorithms for nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. Group 2d-1 contains the Central/Southern European viruses including Austrian strains, and group 2d-5 consists of the Eastern European WNVs.</p><p>Abbreviations used: At-bd = strain Blood donor/Vienna/2014Austria (KP109691), SMB<sub>1</sub> = first passage of the suckling mouse brain isolate from the Austrian blood donor’s plasma, Cz 329 = strain Cz 13–329 (KM203861), Cz 479 = strain Cz 13–479 (KM203862), At-Cx = strain Cx pipiens/Vienna/2014Austria (KP109692), It AN2 = isolate Italy/2011/AN-2 (JN858070), It 32.1 = strain Italy/2013/Rovigo/32.1 (KF588365), It 33.2 = strain Italy/2013/Rovigo/33.2 (KF647249), It 34.1 = strain Italy/2013/Padova/34.1 (KF647251), Cz 104 = s train CZ 13–104 (KM203860), Cz 502 = strain Cz 13–502 (KM203863), At-gh = WNV strain Austria/2008_goshawk (KF179640).</p><p>Estimates of evolutionary pairwise distances A. over the Austrian strains (including the SMB<sub>1</sub> plasma isolate) and their nine closest relatives, B. five major groups (clades), and C. six minor groups (clusters) among clade 2d, all defined according to the clustering in the phylogenetic tree (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>).</p
<p>The sequences determined in this study are marked with a red diamond (Viennese blood don... more <p>The sequences determined in this study are marked with a red diamond (Viennese blood donor-derived WNV) and a black diamond (Viennese <i>Culex pipiens</i>-derived WNV), respectively. The Austrian goshawk-derived sequence from 2008 is marked with a contoured diamond. Five major clades and six clusters among clade 2d are indicated. Group 2d-1 contains the Central/Southern European viruses including Austrian strains, and group 2d-5 consists of the Eastern European WNVs. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using the NJ method with MCL algorithm of MEGA6 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126381#pone.0126381.ref019" target="_blank">19</a>] with 1,000-fold bootstrap analysis. GenBank accession numbers, strain names, and (if known) species, countries of origins and years of isolations are indicated at the branches. Supporting bootstrap values >80% (the percentage of replicates in the bootstrap analysis) are displayed next to the nodes. The horizontal scale bar indicates genetic distances (here 2% nucleotide sequence divergence).</p
Dromedaries are an important livestock, used as beasts of burden and for meat and milk production... more Dromedaries are an important livestock, used as beasts of burden and for meat and milk production. However, they can act as an intermediate source or vector for transmitting zoonotic viruses to humans, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) or Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). After several outbreaks of CCHFV in the Arabian Peninsula, recent studies have demonstrated that CCHFV is endemic in dromedaries and camel ticks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There is no apparent disease in dromedaries after the bite of infected ticks; in contrast, fever, myalgia, lymphadenopathy, and petechial hemorrhaging are common symptoms in humans, with a case fatality ratio of up to 40%. We used the in-solution hybridization capture of 100 annotated immune genes to genotype 121 dromedaries from the UAE tested for seropositivity to CCHFV. Through univariate linear regression analysis, we identified two candidate genes belonging to the innate immune system: F...
Sequences comprising the “mid-G ” region of the glycoprotein (G) gene of Austrian isolates of inf... more Sequences comprising the “mid-G ” region of the glycoprotein (G) gene of Austrian isolates of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) form two lineages within European isolates and are clearly separated from American and Asian lineages
Viral contamination of edible bivalves is a major food safety issue. We studied the virucidal eff... more Viral contamination of edible bivalves is a major food safety issue. We studied the virucidal effect of a cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) source on two virologically different surrogate viruses [a double-stranded DNA virus (Equid alphaherpesvirus 1, EHV-1), and a single-stranded RNA virus (Bovine coronavirus, BCoV)] suspended in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM). A 15 min exposure effectuated a statistically significant immediate reduction in intact BCoV viruses by 2.8 (ozone-dominated plasma, “low power”) or 2.3 log cycles (nitrate-dominated, “high power”) of the initial viral load. The immediate effect of CAP on EHV-1 was less pronounced, with “low power” CAP yielding a 1.4 and “high power” a 1.0 log reduction. We observed a decline in glucose contents in DMEM, which was most probably caused by a Maillard reaction with the amino acids in DMEM. With respect to the application of the virucidal CAP treatment in oyster production, we investigated whether salt water could be sani...
Ocellatins are peptides produced in the skins of frogs belonging to the genus Leptodactylus that ... more Ocellatins are peptides produced in the skins of frogs belonging to the genus Leptodactylus that generally display weak antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria only. Peptidomic analysis of norepinephrine-stimulated skin secretions from Leptodactylus insularum Barbour 1906 and Leptodactylus nesiotus Heyer 1994, collected in the Icacos Peninsula, Trinidad, led to the purification and structural characterization of five ocellatin-related peptides from L. insularum (ocellatin-1I together with its (1–16) fragment, ocellatin-2I and its (1–16) fragment, and ocellatin-3I) and four ocellatins from L. nesiotus (ocellatin-1N, -2N, -3N, and -4N). While ocellatins-1I, -2I, and -1N showed a typically low antimicrobial potency against Gram-negative bacteria, ocellatin-3N (GIFDVLKNLAKGVITSLAS.NH2) was active against an antibiotic-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae and reference strains of Escherichia coli, K. pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhimurium (minim...
International travel played a significant role in the early global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Understa... more International travel played a significant role in the early global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Understanding transmission patterns from different regions of the world will further inform global dynamics of the pandemic. Using data from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a major international travel hub in the Middle East, we establish SARS-CoV-2 full genome sequences from the index and early COVID-19 patients in the UAE. The genome sequences are analysed in the context of virus introductions, chain of transmissions, and possible links to earlier strains from other regions of the world. Phylogenetic analysis showed multiple spatiotemporal introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into the UAE from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East during the early phase of the pandemic. We also provide evidence for early community-based transmission and catalogue new mutations in SARS-CoV-2 strains in the UAE. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the global transmission network of SARS-CoV-2.
Between 28 June and 17 September 2018, 27 cases of human West Nile virus infections were recorded... more Between 28 June and 17 September 2018, 27 cases of human West Nile virus infections were recorded in Austria; four cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease, 11 cases of West Nile fever, six infections detected by blood donation screening and six imported cases. In addition, 18 cases of human Usutu virus infections (all blood donors) were recorded. This is the highest number of annual infections recorded in Austria since the introduction of both viruses.
Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift
The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to... more The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to propose preventive measures and to obtain more information about the occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in local wild animal populations. From 146 male and 3 female hunters originating from the south-eastern Austrian federal states of Styria and Burgenland blood samples were taken and anamnestic data were obtained using a questionnaire. The serological investigations included the following viral, bacterial and parasitic zoonotic agents or zoonoses, respectively (antibody-seroprevalences in brackets): encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV, 15%), Puumala-Hantavirus (10%), Newcastle Disease virus (NDV, 4%), borreliosis (IgG 42%, IgM 7%), brucellosis (1%), chlamydiosis (3%), ehrlichiosis (IgG 15%, IgM 3%), leptospirosis (10%), tularaemia (3%), Q fever (0%), Echinococcus multilocularis/E. granulosus (5%/11%), toxocariasis (17%). Out of a control group of 50 persons (urban population, no hunters) on...
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Papers by Norbert Nowotny