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Measles, a highly contagious disease primarily affecting children, carries serious health risks, including complications and mortality. Vaccination remains the most effective preventive measure against measles transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges in surveillance and immunization efforts, leaving millions of people exposed to preventable diseases such as measles. Globally accelerated immunization campaigns are critical for achieving regional elimination goals and mitigating the risk of outbreaks. Our team has developed an open-access database for global measles monitoring, facilitating standardized data collection and analysis. The analysis of measles cases from 2011 to 2023 reveals fluctuating trends, with notable increases in Africa in 2019 and 2023, indicating potential gaps in control strategies. Using an automated signal detection tool developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) team, we identified significant variations between World Health Organization (WHO) regions, underscoring the importance of continuous monitoring to detect epidemiological changes early. These results underscore the need for robust surveillance systems and accelerated vaccination efforts to safeguard public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are well-known to be natural reservoirs of various zoonotic coronaviruses, which have caused outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2002 and 2019, respectively. In late 2020, two new Sarbecoviruses were found in Russia, isolated in Rhinolophus bats, i.e., Khosta-1 in R. ferrumequinum and Khosta-2 in R. hipposideros. The potential danger associated with these new species of Sarbecovirus is that Khosta-2 has been found to interact with the same entry receptor as SARS-CoV-2. Our multidisciplinary approach in this study demonstrates that Khosta-1 and -2 currently appear to be not dangerous with low risk of spillover, as confirmed by prevalence data and by phylogenomic reconstruction. In addition, the interaction between Khosta-1 and -2 with ACE2 appears weak, and furin cleavage sites are absent. While the possibility of a spillover event cannot be entirely excluded, it is currently highly unlikely. This research further emphasizes the importance of assessing the zoonotic potential of widely distributed batborne CoV in order to monitor changes in genomic composition of viruses and prevent spillover events (if any). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early February 2023, the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, also known as "Kraken", accounted for more than 44% of new COVID-19 cases worldwide, whereas a relatively new Omicron subvariant named CH.1.1, deemed "Orthrus", accounted for less than 6% of new COVID-19 cases during the subsequent weeks. This emerging variant carries a mutation, L452R, previously observed in the highly pathogenic Delta and the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 variants, necessitating a shift to active surveillance to assure adequate preparedness for likely future epidemic peaks. We provide a preliminary understanding of the global distribution of this emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant by combining genomic data with structural molecular modeling. In addition, we shield light on the number of specific point mutations in this lineage that may have functional significance, thereby increasing the risk of disease severity, vaccine resistance, and increased transmission. This variant shared about 73% of the mutations with Omicron-like strains. Our homology modeling analysis revealed that CH.1.1 may have a weakened interaction with ACE2 and that its electrostatic potential surface appears to be more positive than that of the reference ancestral virus. Finally, our phylogenetic analysis revealed that this likely-emerging variant was already cryptically circulating in European countries prior to its first detection, highlighting the importance of having access to whole genome sequences for detecting and controlling emerging viral strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]