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Vibrio alginolyticus is a Gram-negative bacillus that causes vibriosis to human and aquatic products, including fish, shrimp and shellfish. It poses a threat to public health and causes enormous economic losses to the aquaculture industry. However, research on genetic diversity and pathogenicity-related genetic elements based on whole genome is still lacking. In this study, sixty-eight strains of V. alginolyticus were collected from four provinces of China and the whole genome sequences were obtained. Combined with 113 publicly available genome sequences downloaded from NCBI, we inferred the population structure of V. alginolyticus by using fineSTRUCTURE software, and identified the virulence and antibiotic resistance factors using the VFDB, CARD and ResFinder database. The results indicated that V. alginolyticus included two main lineages, named Lineage 1 and Lineage 2. Both lineages distributed in America and Asia, but all the European genomes were classified into Lineage 1. A single cross-ocean transmission event was inferred from one of the 12 identified clonal groups in our dataset. V. alginolyticus genome contains a variety of virulence factors, such as tlh, OmpU, and IlpA, etc. The distribution of virulence factors revealed no lineage-specificity, but some of which revealed differences in their geographical distribution. A lower frequency of VP1611, vcrD, vopD, fleR/flrC and a higher frequency of IlpA were observed in genomes of Europe than other continents. In China, a lower frequency of fleR/flrC, and no IlpA were observed in genomes from Guangxi province. Among the identified antibiotic resistance genes, TxR and fos are significantly enriched in Lineage 2. In addition, TxR is more common in genomes from Asia, compared with the American and European genomes. But in China, the frequency of TxR in Sichuan genomes is much lower than in other provinces. We also found that large fragments of plasmids or ICEs that carried multiple drug resistance genes were present in five V. alginolyticus genomes (VA24, VA28, 2014V-1011, ZJ-T and Vb1833). Based on population genomics analysis, our study delineated the population structure, distribution of virulence and antibiotic resistance related factors of V. alginolyticus, which lays a foundation for future study of genetic characters and pathogenesis mechanism of this pathogen and will improve the works on monitoring, prevention and control of this pathogen.

Importance: There is insufficient evidence on the efficacy of masks in the general population for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in public areas. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the association of mandatory mask-wearing policies with behaviors associated with the transmission of COVID-19., Objective: To assess the association of mask wearing with face-touching behavior among the general population in public areas., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used videos recorded in public transportation stations, streets, and parks among the general population in China, Japan, South Korea, Western Europe (ie, England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), and the US to analyze mask-wearing and face-touching behavior in public areas. Videos before the COVID-19 pandemic were defined as those recorded from January 2018 to October 2019, and those during the COVID-19 pandemic were defined as those recorded during February 2020 to March 2020 in China, Japan, and South Korea and during March 2020 in Western Europe and the US. Individuals who clearly displayed their face and face-touching behavior were included, and those whose behaviors were influenced by filming or public events were excluded., Exposures: Mandatory mask-wearing policies enacted at various time points in China, Japan, South Korea, Western Europe, and the US., Main Outcomes and Measures: Proportion of individuals wearing masks and incidence of face touching., Results: This study included 4699 individuals before the COVID-19 pandemic and 2887 individuals during the pandemic. During the periods studied, mask wearing increased in all regions except the US, from 20 of 1745 individuals (1.1%) to 1090 of 1097 individuals (99.4%) in mainland China (P < .001), 44 of 1422 individuals (3.1%) to 346 of 893 individuals (38.7%) in Japan (P < .001), 6 of 717 individuals (0.8%) to 277 of 324 individuals (85.5% ) in South Korea (P < .001), 1 of 546 individuals (0.2%) to 6 of 379 individuals (1.6%) in Western Europe (P = .02), and 1 of 269 individuals (0.4%) to 4 of 194 individuals (2.1%) in the US (P = .17). Surgical masks were predominant in China (989 masks [89.1%]), and fabric masks were predominant in the other regions (Japan: 371 masks [95.1%]; South Korea: 240 masks [84.8%]; Western Europe: 6 masks [85.7%]; US: 5 masks [100%]). Face-touching behaviors decreased from before COVID-19 to during COVID-19 among individuals in China (72 incidences of 1745 observations [4.1%] to 12 incidences of 1097 observations [1.1%]; P < .001), South Korea (80 incidences of 717 observations [11.2%] to 7 incidences of 324 observations [2.2%]; P < .001), and Europe (62 incidences of 546 observations [11.4%] to 23 incidences of 379 observations [6.1%]; P = .01). Logistic regression found that mask wearing was associated with a reduction in face touching in China (odds ratio [OR], 3.91; 95% CI, 2.11-7.24) and South Korea (OR, 6.69; 95% CI, 2.69-16.69) and of touching the nose, mouth, and eyes (China: OR, 8.60; 95% CI, 2.65-27.86; South Korea: OR, 29.27; 95% CI, 1.79-478.22)., Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that mandatory mask-wearing policies were associated with increased mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mask wearing was associated with reduced face-touching behavior, especially touching of the eyes, nose, and mouth, which may prevent contact transmission of COVID-19 among the general population in public areas.

Different countries have their own police reporting time standards for counting the number of fatalities in reported crashes. A rapid estimation method (such as adjustment factor) for the comparison is important. The data-linkage technique was used to combine police-reported crash data and vital registration data, in order to generate 30-day fatality adjustment factors for various reporting time standards, which could also shed light on the fatal injury trend over time. The major findings were as follows. Firstly, a conservative 30-day fatality adjustment factor for the first day (or 24 h) would be 1.54 (or 1.35) in an area with a large motorcycle population, like Taiwan. This produced 20-40% higher 30-day fatalities than UK Transport Research Laboratory predicted, and 15-25% higher fatalities than those in Europe/Japan. Secondly, after excluding motorcycle impacts, the Taiwanese factors suggested 8-14% higher fatalities within 30 days than those in Europe/Japan. Third, motorcycle fatalities influenced the overall 30-day fatality trend within 3 days. In the future, both the police under-reporting problem and the motorcycle/overall fatal injury pattern within 3 days after crashing in developing countries like Taiwan merit further investigation.