Experimental infectivity of Theileria luwenshuni and Theileria uilenbergi in Chinese Kunming mice

Theileria luwenshuni and Theileria uilenbergi are important tick-borne pathogens and cause substantial losses to the sheep industry in China. The improvement in detection techniques has allowed the identification of multi-homing parasitism in Theileria parasites. Herein we evaluated the experimental infectivity of T. luwenshuni and T. uilenbergi in Chinese Kunming mice by screening blood samples of experimentally inoculated mice by microscopic examination（ME） and PCR. T. luwenshuni infected Chinese Kunming mice and 20 mice inoculated with this parasite were positive by ME and PCR. In addition, T. uilenbergi infected mice and 20 mice inoculated with this species were positive by ME and PCR. However, the number of red blood cells and the levels of hemoglobin of 40 infected mice had no obvious changes in the course of infection. Our results demonstrated the multi-homing parasitism of T. luwenshuni and T. uilenbergi, which were believed to be parasites of sheep and goats. This study was the first to demonstrate the infection of T. luwenshuni and T. uilenbergi in Kunming mice.

Detection of congenital cytomegalovirus in newborns using nucleic acid amplification techniques and its public health implications

Human cytomegalovirus(HCMV), a herpesvirus, is an important human pathogen that causes asymptomatic infections in healthy or immunocompetent individuals but can lead to severe and potentially life-threatening complications in immune-immature individuals such as neonates or immune-compromised patients such as organ-transplant recipients and HIV-positive individuals.Congenital HCMV infection represents a significant public health issue and poses substantial healthcare and economic burden to society. This virus causes the most common viral congenital infection worldwide, and is the leading non-genetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children in developed countries. Congenital HCMV infection is believed to fulfill the criteria of the American College of Medical Genetics to be considered as a condition targeted for a newborn screening program. This is because congenital HCMV infection can be identified during a time(within 2 days after birth) at which it would not ordinarily be detected clinically, and there are demonstrated benefits of early detection, timely intervention, and efficacious treatment of the condition. Recent progresses in developing polymerase chain reaction-based approaches to detect HCMV in samples obtained from newborns have generated much excitement in the field. In this review, we highlight the recent progress in diagnostic techniques that could potentially be used for the detection of HCMV infection in neonates and its direct implications in public health settings for diagnosing congenital HCMV infection.