Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity最新文献

The United Nations Secretary-General Mechanism (UNSGM) for investigation of the alleged use of chemical and biological weapons is the only established international mechanism of this type under the UN. The UNGSM may launch an international investigation, relying on a roster of expert consultants, qualified experts, and analytical laboratories nominated by the member states. Under the framework of the UNSGM, we organized an external quality assurance exercise for nominated laboratories, named the Disease X Test, to improve the ability to discover and identify new pathogens that may cause possible epidemics and to determine their animal origin. The “what-if” scenario was to identify the etiological agent responsible for an outbreak that has tested negative for many known pathogens, including viruses and bacteria. Three microbes were added to the samples, Dabie bandavirus, Mammarenavirus, and Gemella spp., of which the last two have not been taxonomically named or published. The animal samples were from Rattus norvegicus, Marmota himalayana, New Zealand white rabbit, and the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis. Of the 11 international laboratories that participated in this activity, six accurately identified pathogen X as a new Mammarenavirus, and five correctly identified the animal origin as R. norvegicus. These results showed that many laboratories under the UNSGM have the capacity and ability to identify a new virus during a possible international investigation of a suspected biological event. The technical details are discussed in this report.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to conduct an objective assessment of the routine decontamination practices at a medical microbiology research laboratory (MRL) a year after a biosafety training was provided to all laboratory staff. Between March 28th and June 28th, 2021, unobtrusive observations were carried out to identify-three high-touch surfaces at the MRL during different working hours. Swabbing was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the disinfectant used in the laboratory. All three high-touch surfaces were sampled before and after decontamination with 200 ppm of 5 % sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) to quantify the microbial load and identify the types of organisms residing on the laboratory surfaces. A higher concentration (500 ppm) of 5 % sodium hypochlorite was employed after refresher training was provided to housekeeping staff, and resampling of the three surfaces was carried out during a 4-week follow-up period using the same procedure. The three high-touch surfaces identified were the two sides of the workbench (22 %–24 %) and the front surface of one incubator (14 %). Anthracoid bacilli and Staphylococcus aureus were the most commonly found organisms on laboratory surfaces pre-intervention (100 % and 89 %, respectively) and post-intervention (56 % and 44 %, respectively). Other microorganisms detected included Salmonella spp. (27.7 %), Proteus spp. (5.6 %), Escherichia coli (5.6 %), and Klebsiella spp. (33.3 %). Employing a higher concentration (500 ppm) of sodium hypochlorite significantly (p ≤ 0.000) reduced the total aerobic colony count from an average of 15–250 cfu/cm² to 10–60 cfu/cm². This study demonstrated suboptimal decontamination practices at the MRL and the need to apply a higher concentration (500 ppm) of sodium hypochlorite to reduce the overall microbial load. It also demonstrated the importance of quantitative assessment to monitor decontamination practices and ensure staff compliance. More studies are needed to identify bacterial communities within the laboratory, which will help provide guidance regarding the types, proper concentrations, and appropriateness of the in -use disinfectants. Furthermore, large-scale studies on the acceptable level of residual contamination following any decontamination process are urgently recommended.

Different kinds of media spiked with monkeypox virus (MPXV) were subjected to heat inactivation at different temperatures for various periods of time. The results showed that MPXV was inactivated in less than 5 min at 70 °C and less than 15 min at 60 °C, with no difference between viruses from the West African and Central African clades. The present findings could help laboratory workers to manipulate MPXV in optimal biosafety conditions and improve their protocols.

Background

COVID-19 has had a considerable impact on society since 2019, and the disease has high mortality and infection rates. There has been a particular focus on how to best manage COVID-19 and how to analyze and predict the epidemic status of infectious diseases in general.

Methods

The present study analyzed the COVID-19 epidemic patterns and made predictions of future trends based on the statistics obtained from a global infectious disease network data monitoring and early warning system (OBN, http://27.115.41.130:8888/OBN/). The development trends of other major infectious diseases were also examined.

Results

The global COVID-19 pandemic showed periodic increases throughout 2021. At present, there is a high incidence in European countries, especially in Eastern Europe, followed by in Africa. The risk of contracting COVID-19 was divided into high, medium–high, medium, medium–low, and low grades depending on the stage of the epidemic in each examined region over the current period. The occurrence and prevalence of major infectious diseases throughout the world did not significantly change in 2021.

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted people’s lives and the economy. The effects of global infectious diseases can be ameliorated by strengthening monitoring and early warning systems and by facilitating the international exchange of information.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on July 23, 2022, their highest level of alert. This raised concerns about the management of the global monkeypox outbreak, as well as the scientific analysis and accurate prediction of the future course of the epidemic. This study used EpiSIX (an analysis and prediction system for epidemics based on a general SEIR model) to analyze the monkeypox epidemic and to forecast the major tendencies based on data from the USA CDC (https://www.cdc.gov) and the WHO (https://www.who.int/health-topics/monkeypox). The global outbreak of monkeypox started in the UK on May 2, 2022, which marked the beginning of an epidemic wave. As of October 28, 2022, the cumulative number of reported cases worldwide was 77,115, with 36 deaths. EpiSIX simulations predict that the global monkeypox epidemic will enter a low epidemic status on March 1, 2023 with the cumulative number of confirmed cases ranging from 85,000 to 124,000, and the total number of deaths ranging from 60 to 87. Our analysis revealed that the basic reproduction number (R0) of monkeypox virus (MPXV) is near to 3.1 and the percentage of asymptomatic individuals is 13.1 %–14.5 %, both of which are similar to the data for SARS. The vaccination efficiency against susceptibility (VEs) of individuals who have had monkeypox is ∼ 79 %, and the vaccination efficiency against infectiousness (VEi) of individuals who have had monkeypox is ∼ 76 %–82 %. The mean incubation period for monkeypox is 8 days. In total, 94.7 % of infected individuals develop symptoms within 20 days and recover within 2 weeks after the confirmation of symptoms. Simulation results using EpiSIX showed that ring vaccination was remarkably effective against monkeypox. Our findings confirmed that a 20-day isolation for close contacts is necessary.

It’s urgently needed to assess the COVID-19 epidemic under the “dynamic zero-COVID policy” in China, which provides a scientific basis for evaluating the effectiveness of this strategy in COVID-19 control. Here, we developed a time-dependent susceptible-exposed-asymptomatic-infected-quarantined-removed (SEAIQR) model with stage-specific interventions based on recent Shanghai epidemic data, considering a large number of asymptomatic infectious, the changing parameters, and control procedures. The data collected from March 1st, 2022 to April 15th, 2022 were used to fit the model, and the data of subsequent 7 days and 14 days were used to evaluate the model performance of forecasting. We then calculated the effective regeneration number (R_t) and analyzed the sensitivity of different measures scenarios. Asymptomatic infectious accounts for the vast majority of the outbreaks in Shanghai, and Pudong is the district with the most positive cases. The peak of newly confirmed cases and newly asymptomatic infectious predicted by the SEAIQR model would appear on April 13th, 2022, with 1963 and 28,502 cases, respectively, and zero community transmission may be achieved in early to mid-May. The prediction errors for newly confirmed cases were considered to be reasonable, and newly asymptomatic infectious were considered to be good between April 16th to 22nd and reasonable between April 16th to 29th. The final ranges of cumulative confirmed cases and cumulative asymptomatic infectious predicted in this round of the epidemic were 26,477 ∼ 47,749 and 402,254 ∼ 730,176, respectively. At the beginning of the outbreak, R_t was 6.69. Since the implementation of comprehensive control, R_t showed a gradual downward trend, dropping to below 1.0 on April 15th, 2022. With the early implementation of control measures and the improvement of quarantine rate, recovery rate, and immunity threshold, the peak number of infections will continue to decrease, whereas the earlier the control is implemented, the earlier the turning point of the epidemic will arrive. The proposed time-dependent SEAIQR dynamic model fits and forecasts the epidemic well, which can provide a reference for decision making of the “dynamic zero-COVID policy”.

With the rapid development of intelligent technology, the smart heightened-containment biological laboratory (sHCBL) has moved from concept to reality. Experimental activities and laboratory construction, operation, and management will undoubtedly lead to disruptive changes. Conventional laboratories are increasingly being replaced by smart laboratories; however, the key technologies involved in this transition remain at an exploratory stage. It is necessary for HCBLs to absorb the advanced ideas of smart laboratories to guarantee the establishment of biosafety and biosecurity in a more automated way. This study examines in detail sHCBL module structures, the functions of each module, laboratory operation processes, and the advanced nature of smart laboratories. It may provide a theoretical foundation for the future transformation and smart construction of sHCBLs.

Biosafety issues have become a major threat to the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems worldwide. As problems with food production and the food supply chain have become of greater concern to consumers, issues involving biosafety and food safety from a developmental perspective need to be urgently addressed. The term, food biosafety, is the combination of the core concepts of biosafety and food safety. It refers to the effective prevention of biological threats to food production and the food supply chain by controlling foodborne diseases arising from the consumption of edible plants and animal products, by preventing the establishment of invasive species, by strictly controlling the use of antibiotics, agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs in the food supply chain, and by initiating food defense and anti-terrorism measures to protect the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems, thereby maintaining sustainable development in China. This article provides theoretical support for the extension of food biosafety to propose an innovative plan for the international co-governance of food safety.

Microbiology Research Laboratory (MRL) is a biosafety level-2 (BSL-2) research laboratory located at the main campus of Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University (ASU) in Cairo. With the objective of strengthening the departmental capacities of biosafety, a series of activities were carried out between October 2019, and January 2020 to raise awareness, along with instilling standard biosafety practices and procedures among laboratory staff including non-health professions. MRL staff were categorized according to their biosafety knowledge into three tiers: tier (1): with zero to minimal knowledge, tier (2): with basic knowledge, tier (3): with satisfactory knowledge. Tier based activities were designed to align with their job responsibilities. Results: 44 selected laboratory staff were trained on biosafety practices: 12 from tier (1), 19 from tier (2) and 13 constituted tier (3). Through regular follow-ups, the impact of the implemnted training plan was reflected on the practices and knowledge of all laboratory staff. Knowledge among health professions has increased by 60%. Furthermore, 6 staff members have granted a biosafety certification by International Federation of Biosafety Association (IFBSA). Conclusion: establishing a culture of biosafety within microbiology research laboratories is integral to safe research practices. Together with developing local and national biosafety regulations and policies will ensure research advancement without compromising public health or environmental safety.