Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are two highly pathogenic RNA viruses with zoonotic potential, which can cause severe diseases with high mortality rates (50–100%) in humans and animals. Given this context, these viruses are classified as Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) pathogens, thus limiting research studies. Despite the high case fatalities, there are currently no human vaccines available for either virus, owing in part to the limitations in research and hesitancy in funding. In the absence of widespread vaccination, diagnostic tests are crucial for the rapid identification of cases and disease surveillance. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and pathogenesis of NiV and HeV to contextualize a detailed assessment of the available diagnostic tools. We examined molecular and serological assays, including RT-PCR, ELISA, and LAMP, highlighting sample sources, detection windows, and performance. Diagnostic considerations across human and animal hosts are discussed, with emphasis on outbreak applicability and field-readiness, given the need for diagnostic assays that are suitable for use in low-income areas. Further development of diagnostic assays, including isothermal amplification tests and other next-generation approaches, is recommended to fill the gap in rapid, point-of-care diagnostics.

Coronaviruses cause infections in humans and diverse species of animals and birds with a global distribution. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) produces predominantly two forms of disease in cattle: a respiratory form and a gastrointestinal form. All age groups of cattle are affected by the respiratory form of coronavirus, whereas the gastroenteric form causes neonatal diarrhea or calf scours in young cattle and winter dysentery in adult cattle. The tremendous impacts of bovine respiratory disease and the associated losses are well-documented and underscore the importance of this pathogen. Beyond this, studies have demonstrated significant impacts on milk production associated with outbreaks of winter dysentery, with up to a 30% decrease in milk yield. In North America, BCoV was identified for the first time in 1972, and it continues to be a significant economic concern for the cattle industry. A number of conventional and molecular diagnostic assays are available for the detection of BCoV from clinical samples. Conventional assays for BCoV detection include virus isolation, which is challenging from clinical samples, electron microscopy, fluorescent antibody assays, and various immunoassays. Molecular tests are mainly based on nucleic acid detection and predominantly include conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Isothermal amplification assays and genome sequencing have gained increased interest in recent years for the detection, characterization, and identification of BCoV. It is believed that isothermal amplification assays, such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification and recombinase polymerase amplification, among others, could aid the development of barn-side point-of-care tests for BCoV. The present study reviewed the literature on coronavirus infections in cattle from the last three and a half decades and presents information mainly on the current and advancing diagnostics in addition to epidemiology, clinical presentations, and the impact of the disease on the cattle industry.

African swine fever is a highly contagious and deadly disease of both domestic and wild pigs. In developing countries such as Ghana, the diagnosis and control of ASF are very challenging. In this paper, we discussed factors that account for ASF endemicity in many developing nations, with special focus on Ghana. We identified possible ASF spread via pig value chain through the transportation of live pigs across regions in Ghana. Major factors contributing to ASF spread in Ghana include lack of farmer compensation during ASF outbreaks, free range system of pig farming, porous country borders, lack of rapid on-site diagnostic test kits, unsafe sample collection and transportation to diagnostic laboratories, long diagnostic test turnaround, and improper carcass disposal. We also discuss available diagnostic options for ASF and their limitations. We propose a more holistic approach to ASF control in Ghana. These measures include applying a muti-sectoral approach, rehabilitation of inactive regional laboratories and expansion of services to six newly established regions, promoting point of care testing and developing and implementing farmer compensation plan during outbreaks. These proposed ASF control measures will provide field veterinarians with effective means to make informed decisions while awaiting laboratory confirmation of outbreaks.

Coronaviruses cause infections in humans and diverse species of animals and birds with a global distribution. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) produces predominantly two forms of disease in cattle, a respiratory form, and a gastrointestinal form. All age groups of cattle are affected by the respiratory form of coronavirus whereas the gastroenteric form causes neonatal diarrhea or calf scour in young cattle and winter dysentery in adult cattle. The tremendous impacts of bovine respiratory disease and the associated losses are well-documented and underscores the importance of this pathogen. Beyond this, studies have demonstrated significant impacts on milk production associated with outbreaks of winter dysentery, with up to a 30% decrease in milk yield. Research data so far have shown that the viral structure or strain is not a determinant of tissue tropism and clinical form of the disease. In North America, BCoV was identified for the first time in 1972, and it continues to be a significant economic concern for the cattle industry. The virus is classified under Coronaviridae family, Betacoronavirus genus and Betacorovirus 1 species. A number of conventional and molecular diagnostic assays are available for the detection of BCoV from clinical samples. Conventional assays for BCoV detection include virus isolation, which is challenging from clinical samples, electron microscopy, fluorescent antibody assays, and various immunoassays. Molecular tests are mainly based on nucleic acid detection and predominantly include conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Isothermal amplification assays and genome sequencing have also been used increasingly in recent years for the detection and identification of BCoV. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, helicase-dependent amplification, recombinase polymerase amplification, and multienzyme isothermal rapid amplification are some examples of the isothermal amplification assays for used BCoV. Point-of-care testing has gained some popularity recently as they can offer user-friendly testing on the farm (barn-side). The present study reviewed literature on coronavirus infections in cattle from the last three and a half decades and presents information mainly on the current and advancing diagnostics in addition to epidemiology, clinical presentations, and the impact of the disease on the cattle industry.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus in the genus Phlebovirus of the family Phenuviridae. It is an arbovirus transmitted mainly by mosquitoes. RVFV is an emerging zoonotic disease where humans can get infected via exposure of mucosa or broken skin to infected animals or through mosquito transmission. The disease was first detected in sheep in the Rift Valley region in Kenya in 1930, and since then, several outbreaks have been reported in northern and sub-Saharan Africa and Middle Eastern countries. North America is considered free of RVF, but the mosquito vectors involved in the transmission of RVF are present in many regions of the American and European continents. The virus causes disease in livestock characterized by hemorrhagic fever. The severity of the disease varies among different species, with sheep experiencing the most severe infection. Young as well as pregnant animals may also be severely affected by RVFV. For laboratory diagnosis, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most commonly used test. Other assays, including serological assays and nucleic acid-based point-of-care tests, are also available for RVF diagnosis. There is no specific treatment for RVFV infection. Control and preventive measures should include vaccination, vector control, and proper hygiene.

Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is one of the most economically significant multifactorial diseases affecting the global cattle industry, creating an urgent need for rapid, sensitive, and field-deployable diagnostic technologies. Here, we report a label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) platform integrated with machine learning (ML) for the simultaneous classification and quantification of five major BRDC viruses: bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine viral diarrhea virus types 1 and 2 (BVDV-1 and BVDV-2), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBRV), and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV-3). Reproducible SERS spectra were acquired from serially diluted virus specimens in deionized water using silica-coated silver nanorod substrates fabricated by oblique angle deposition, while spectra of deionized water and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) were collected separately as background controls. Despite shared biochemical components, distinct virus-specific spectral fingerprints were observed and analyzed using supervised machine learning. SVM classification achieved an overall accuracy of 99.57% with no misclassification between viral and background spectra. SVR enabled accurate viral concentration prediction over multiple orders of magnitude, yielding an overall R² of 0.9974, a MAE of 0.028, and a RMSE of 0.0373. For blind specimens measured at concentrations excluded from model training, virus identification based on majority-vote SVM achieved 100% accuracy, while SVR-based regression retained a concentration-dependent prediction trend for withheld dilution levels. Overall, these results establish a label-free SERS-ML framework for rapid BRDC virus identification and quantitative concentration prediction under controlled conditions, providing a proof-of-concept foundation for future veterinary diagnostic development.