First Zika virus (ZIKV) positive case from North India was detected on routine surveillance of Dengue-Like Illness in an 85-year old female. Objective of the study was to conduct an investigation for epidemiological, clinical and genomic analysis of first ZIKV outbreak in Rajasthan, North India and enhance routine ZIKV surveillance. Outbreak investigation was performed in 3 Km radius of the index case among patient contacts, febrile cases, and pregnant women. Routine surveillance was enhanced to include samples from various districts of Rajasthan. Presence of ZIKV in serum and urine samples was detected by real time PCR test and CDC trioplex kit. Few ZIKV positive samples were sequenced using the next-generation sequencing method for genomic analysis. On outbreak investigation 153/2043 (7.48%) cases were found positive: 1/153 (0.65%) among contacts, 90/153 (58.8%) in fever cases, 62/153(40.5%) in pregnant females. In routine surveillance, 6/4722 (0.12%) serum samples were ZIKV positive.Majority of patients had mild signs and symptoms, no case of microcephaly and Guillain- Barre Syndrome was seen, 25 (40.3%) pregnant females delivered healthy babies, four (6.4%) reported abortion and three (4.8%) had intrauterine death, one (1.6%) child had colorectal malformation and died after few days of birth. ZIKV was found to belong to Asian lineage, mutation related to enhanced neuro-virulence and transmission in animal models was not found. ZIKV was endogenous to India belonging to Asian Lineage. Disease profile of the ZIKV was asymptomatic to mild. No major anomaly was observed in infants born to ZIKV positive mothers; however, long term follow up of these children is required. There is need to scale up surveillance in the virology lab network of India for early detection and control. Zika virus infection was endogenous due to Asian Lineage with mild disease, no case of microcephaly or Guillain- Barre Syndrome was seen but children need to be followed for anomalies and surveillance of ZIKV needs to be enhanced in the country.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a complex and increasingly prevalent malignancy with significant challenges in its treatment and prognosis. This study aims to explore the role of the SLC4A4 transporter as a biomarker in CRC progression and its potential as a therapeutic target, particularly in relation to tumor acidity and immune response. Methods: The study utilized computational approaches, including receptor-based virtual screening and high-throughput docking, to identify potential SLC4A4 inhibitors. A model of the human SLC4A4 structure was generated based on CryoEM data (PDB ID 6CAA), and drug candidates from the DrugBank database were evaluated using two computational tools (DrugRep and CB-DOCK2). Results: The study identified the compound (5R)-N-[(1r)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)butanoyl]-2-decanamide (DB07991) as the best ligand, demonstrating favorable binding affinity and stability. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed strong protein–ligand interactions with consistent RMSD (~0.25 nm), RMSF (~0.5 nm), compact Rg (4.0–3.9 nm), and stable SASA profiles, indicating that the SLC4A4 structure remains stable upon ligand binding. Conclusions: The findings suggest that DB07991 is a promising drug candidate for further investigation as a therapeutic agent against CRC, particularly for targeting SLC4A4. This study highlights the potential of computational drug repositioning in identifying effective treatments for colorectal cancer.

Genome availability has made possible to compare the codon and amino acid usage strategies among different extremophiles. Correspondence analysis was used to characterise various patterns present in 200 genes encoding 10 key enzymes of citric acid cycle from 20 organisms surviving at varying temperature. The study has shown that the different extremophiles follow a specific trend of codon usage and amino acid composition which is affected by temperature variation and base composition which is vital for functional and structural stability of enzymes and hence for their adaptive survival in such harsh environmental conditions. It was found that higher temperature favours high aromaticity score which can be linked to its thermal behaviour. The results and statistical analysis of various parameters of codon usage shows a level of preference in synonymous codons and indicates towards a kind of anonymous selection pressure which help stabilising the genetic material at varying degree of temperature.