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Following the identification of SARS-CoV-2, screening for air travel helped mitigate spread, yet lessons learned from a case study of air travel within Canada display enhanced techniques to better identify infected individuals, informing future responsive screening. While international travel bans limit infectious spread beyond a country's borders, such measures are hardly sustainable economically and infrequently address domestic travel. Here, we describe a case study from Canada, where a diagnostic laboratory at point of travel conducted real-time PCR-based detection of SARS-CoV-2 in support of existing interventions, including clinical and epidemiological questionnaires, and temperature checks. All mining workers departing from a populated urban area flying to one of two sites (Site A and B) in a remote northern Canadian region, which we deemed "at-risk", because healthcare services are limited and vulnerable to epidemics. Data collected between June and November 2020 on 15,873 clinical samples, indicate that molecular diagnosis allowed for identification of 13 infected individuals, who would have otherwise been missed by using solely nonpharmaceutical interventions. Overall, no outbreaks, COVID-19-related or other, were detected at the point of travel up to December 2021 since the implementation of the laboratory, suggesting this screening process is an effective means to protect at-risk communities. The success of this study suggests a process more practical than travel bans or an unfocused screening of air travelers everywhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This is the first work to analyze the host-feeding pattern of different mosquito species in Canada via molecular techniques. • We found 34 different mosquito taxa in Canada by combining morphological and molecular identification approaches. • Our data showed that the 201 blood-fed mosquitos were spread over 20 taxa who fed on 10 mammalian species, and three bird species. • The majority of all analysed mosquito taxa fed on humans (24.3%) followed by pigs (21.8%). • In our study, seven mosquito species with both ornithophilic and anthropophilic biting habit could function as potential bridge vectors. Several mosquito-borne viruses (mobovirus) cause infections in Canada. Ecological data on mosquito species and host range in Canada remains elusive. The main aim of the current study is to determine the host range and molecular systematics of mosquito species in Canada. Mosquitoes were collected using BG-Sentinel traps and aspirators at 10 trapping sites in Canada during 2018 and 2019. Mosquitoes collected were identified via morphology and molecular techniques. Mosquito sequences were aligned by MUSCLE algorithm and evolutionary systematics were drawn using MEGA and SDT software. Moreover, the source of blood meals was identified using a DNA barcoding technique. A total of 5,708 female mosquitoes over 34 different taxa were collected. DNA barcodes and evolutionary tree analysis confirmed the identification of mosquito species in Canada. Of the total collected samples, 201 specimens were blood-fed female mosquitoes in 20 different taxa. Four mosquito species represented about half (51.47%) of all collected blood-fed specimens: Aede cinereus (39 specimens, 19.11%), Aedes triseriatus (23, 11.27%), Culex pipiens (22, 10.78%), and Anopheles punctipennis (21, 10.29%). The most common blood meal sources were humans (49 mosquito specimens, 24% of all blood-fed mosquito specimen), pigs (44, 21.5%), American red squirrels (28, 13.7%), white-tailed deers (28, 13.7%), and American crows (16, 7.8%). Here, we present the first analysis of the host-feeding preference of different mosquito species in Canada via molecular techniques. Our results on mosquito distribution and behavior will aid in the development of effective mitigation and control strategies to prevent or reduce human/animal health issues in regards to moboviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging viral diseases include pathogens that can threaten the health of the Canadian swineherd. Anelloviruses and Circoviruses comprise of pathogens with veterinary significance. The aim of this study was to determine the genomic organization and phylogenetic relationships of Torque teno sus virus (TTsusV) and Porcine circovirus (PCV) from Canadian pig samples. Fecal and tissue specimens were collected during the winter, spring and summer of 2018. We utilized either virus- or genus-specific PCR assays to characterize the occurrence and genetic diversity of TTsusV and PCV in Canadian pigs. Pairwise comparison of all partial sequences and identity calculation was performed using MAFFT algorithm implemented in Sequence Demarcation Tool (SDT). The obtained full-length sequences were aligned using ClustalW, and phylogeny was inferred using a Maximum likelihood (ML) method by Geneious software. The PCR detection results revealed that the overall positive rate of TTsusV type-1 and type-2 was 45.6% and 32.6%, respectively. The TTsusV isolate MK990454 from Canada clustered in the subtype TTsusV1b, while the TTsusV isolate MK872392 fell in the subtype TTsusV2c, and all showed similarity to known American and Chinese isolates. In addition, our screening PCR showed that 2.7% of stool samples were positive for PCV1. Phylogenetic analysis using the full-length sequence demonstrated that PCV1 (MK872393) isolated from Quebec clustered with other Chinese PCV1 strains. Despite the far geographical distance between Canada and China, the close similarity between Canadian and Chinese TTsusV1 and 2, and PCV1 sequences may be explained by a considerable amount of pig trade between these two nations., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)