African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic pigs caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). A sensitive and reliable serological diagnostic assay is required, so laboratories can effectively and quickly detect ASFV infection. The p30 protein is abundantly expressed early in cells and has excellent antigenicity. Therefore, this study aimed to produce and characterize p30 monoclonal antibodies with an ultimate goal of developing a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for ASFV antibody detection. Three monoclonal antibodies against p30 protein that were expressed in E. coli were generated, and their characterizations were investigated. Furthermore, a blocking ELISA based on a monoclonal antibody was developed. To evaluate the performance of the assay, 186 sera samples (88 negative and 98 positive samples) were analyzed and a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to determine the cutoff value. Based on the ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.997 (95% confidence interval: 99.2 to 100%). Besides, a diagnostic sensitivity of 97.96% (95% confidence interval: 92.82 to 99.75%) and a specificity of 98.96% (95% confidence interval: 93.83 to 99.97%) were achieved when the cutoff value was set to 38.38%. Moreover, the coefficients of inter- and intra-batches were <10%, indicating the good repeatability of the method. The maximum dilution of positive standard serum detected by this ELISA method was 1:512. The blocking ELISA was able to detect seroconversion in two out of five pigs at 10 Dpi and the p30 response increasing trend through the time course of the study (0–20 Dpi). In conclusion, the p30 mAb-based blocking ELISA developed in this study demonstrated a high repeatability with maximized diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. The assay could be a useful tool for field surveillance and epidemiological studies in swine herd.

Rotavirus infections cause severe gastroenteritis and dehydration in young children and animals worldwide, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries. In the past decade, substantial progress has been made in the development and implementation of rotavirus vaccines, which have been essential in alleviating the global burden of this disease, not only in human being but also in livestock species like calves and piglets, where these infections can cause significant economic losses. By synthesizing the latest research and real-world evidence, this review article is designated to provide deep insights into the current state of rotavirus vaccine technology and its global implementation as well as the application of rotavirus vaccines in veterinary settings and their importance in controlling zoonotic transmission and maintaining food security.

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging pathogen that can cause severe diarrhoea and high mortality in suckling piglets. Moreover, evidence of PDCoV infection in humans has raised concerns regarding potential public health risks. To identify potential therapeutic targets for PDCoV, we performed a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 library screening to find key host factors important to PDCoV infection. Several host genes in this screen were enriched, including ANPEP, which encodes the PDCoV receptor aminopeptidase N (APN). Furthermore, we discovered C16orf62, also known as the VPS35 endosomal protein sorting factor like (VPS35L), as an important host factor required for PDCoV infection. C16orf62 is an important component of the multiprotein retriever complex involved in protein recycling in the endosomal compartment and its gene knockout led to a remarkable decrease in the binding and internalization of PDCoV into host cells. While we did not find evidence for direct interaction between C16orf62 and the viral s (spike) protein, C16orf62 gene knockout was shown to downregulate APN expression at the cell surface. This study marks the first instance of a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9-based screen tailored for PDCoV, revealing C16orf62 as a host factor required for PDCoV replication. These insights may provide promising avenues for the development of antiviral drugs against PDCoV infection.

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) induced by rotavirus has been a major disease burden in Egypt since 1981 when rotavirus was first reported in humans and calves. Genome segmentation facilitates the emergence of new virus serotypes, which allows reassortment during mixed infections, and is a characteristic feature of the family Reoviridae to which rotavirus belongs. The rotavirus genome involves 11 double-stranded RNA gene segments encoding 6 non-structural (NSP1–6) and 6 structural (VP1–4, VP6, VP7) proteins. Rotavirus A has a zoonotic potential associated with diarrhea. The primary strategy for prevention and control of bovine and human rotavirus infections is vaccination; however, routine rotavirus vaccination has not been implemented in the National Immunization Program. We evaluated studies published over the last 30 years that pertained to the epidemiology of circulating rotavirus genotypes among children, calves, and environmental samples in Egypt. The analysis revealed a rotavirus prevalence of 15%–100%, with diarrhea occurring throughout the year, but generally peaking during the cold months. G1 was the predominant genotype in children, followed by G2, G3, G4, G8, G9, and G12 throughout the study duration. Mixed infections were also detected. G6 was the predominant genotype in calves, followed by G10. There are still gaps in knowledge regarding molecular data of rotavirus infections in humans, animals, and environmental samples in Egypt, as well as the zoonotic potential of rotavirus disease. Therefore, it is critical to continue rotavirus surveillance in Egypt to further understand the epidemiology of rotavirus infections and the emerging new genotypes.

Porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC), a respiratory disease caused by a variety of factors, is one of the most common problems in the intensive pig farms. To investigate the mixed infection incidence of wild‐type pseudorabies virus (WT PRV) and respiratory bacteria, a total of 1,293 clinical samples were collected from pigs with typical respiratory signs from 14 different provinces of China from September 2016 to February 2018. The WT PRV was detected by ELISA targeting gE antibody while the bacteria were detected by bacterial isolation and serotyping by PCR. The results revealed that the detection rate of A. pleuropneumoniae and B. bronchiseptica infection associated with WT PRV infection were 6.30% and 15.99%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those without WT PRV infection (3.41% and 4.41%) at the farm level (p < .05). There were no significant differences in the detection rate of H. parasuis, S. suis or P. multocida between WT PRV positive and negative farms (p > .05). However, the detection rate of attenuated H. parasuis and S. suis strains were 68.19% and 64.75%, respectively, in WT PRV infected farms, which were significantly higher than those (41.56% and 52.25%) in WT PRV free farms (p < .05). The prevalent serotypes of H. parasuis‐5/12 and S. suis‐2 were also investigated by multiplex PCR. These results indicated that the presence of WT PRV increased the chance of bacterial infection and the number of pathogenic strains in the respiratory system of pigs. Therefore, the eradication of pseudorabies is an effective approach to prevent and control the bacterial respiratory diseases in the intensive pig farms in China.