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© 2022 The Author(s)Background: Development of safe and effective vaccine options is crucial to the success of fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we report interim safety and immunogenicity findings of the phase 1&2 trials of ERUCoV-VAC, an inactivated whole virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Methods: Double-blind, randomised, single centre, phase 1 and 2 trials included SARS-CoV-2 seronegative healthy adults aged 18–55 years (18–64 in phase 2). All participants, except the first 4 in phase 1 who received ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg or 6 μg unblinded and monitored for 7 days for safety purposes, were assigned to receive two intramuscular doses of ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg or 6 μg (an inactivated vaccine containing alhydrogel as adjuvant) or placebo 21 days apart (28 days in phase 2) according to computer-generated randomisation schemes. Both trials are registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (phase 1, NCT04691947 and phase 2, NCT04824391). Results: Forty-four participants (3 μg [n:17], 6 μg [n:17], placebo [n:10]) in phase 1 and 250 (3 μg [n:100], 6 μg [n:100], placebo [n:50]) in phase 2 received ≥1 dose. In phase 1 trial, 25 adverse events AEs (80 % mild) occured in 15 participants (34.1 %) until day 43. There was no dose-response relationship noted in safety events in ERUCoV-VAC recipients (p = 0.4905). Pain at injection site was the most common AE (9/44;20.5 %). Both doses of ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg and 6 μg groups were comparable in inducing SARS-CoV-2 wild-type neutralising antibody (MNT50): GMTs (95 %CI) were 8.3 (6.4–10.3) vs. 8.6 (7.0–10.2) at day 43 (p = 0.7357) and 9.7 (6.0–13.4) vs. 10.8 (8.8–12.8) at day 60 (p = 0.8644), respectively. FRNT50 confirmed MNT50 results: SARS-CoV-2 wild-type neutralising antibody GMTs (95 %CI) were 8.4 (6.3–10.5) vs. 9.0 (7.2–10.8) at day 43 (p = 0.5393) and 11.0 (7.0–14.9) vs. 12.3 (10.3–14.5) at day 60 (p = 0.8578). Neutralising antibody seroconversion rates (95 %CI) were 86.7 % (59.5–98.3) vs 94.1 % (71.3–99.8) at day 43 (p = 0.8727) and 92.8 % (66.1–99.8) vs. 100 % (79.4–100.0) at day 60 (p = 0.8873), in ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg and 6 μg groups, respectively. In phase 2 trial, 268 AEs, (67.2 % moderate in severity) occured in 153 (61.2 %) participants. The most common local and systemic AEs were pain at injection site (23 events in 21 [8.4 %] subjects) and headache (56 events in 47 [18.8 %] subjects), respectively. Pain at injection site was the only AE with a significantly higher frequency in the ERUCoV-VAC groups than in the placebo arm in the phase 2 study (p = 0.0322). ERUCoV-VAC groups were comparable in frequency of AEs (p = 0.4587). ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg and 6 μg groups were comparable neutralising antibody (MNT50): GMTs (95 %CI) were 30.0 (37.9–22.0) vs. 34.9 (47.6–22.1) at day 43 (p = 0.0666) and 34.2 (23.8–44.5) and 39.6 (22.7–58.0) at day 60, (p = 0.2166), respectively. FRNT50 confirmed MNT50 results: SARS-CoV-2 wildtype neutralising antibody GMTs were 28.9 (20.0–37.7) and 30.1 (18.5–41.6) at day 43 (p = 0.3366) and 34.2 (23.8–44.5) and 39.6 (22.7–58.0) at day 60 (p = 0.8777). Neutralising antibody seroconversion rates (95 %CI) were 95.7 % (91.4–99.8) vs. 98.9 % (96.9–100.0) at day 43 (p = 0.8710) and 96.6 % (92.8–100.0) vs 98.9 % (96.7–100.0) at day 60 (p = 0.9129) in ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg and 6 μg groups, respectively. Conclusions: Two-dose regimens of ERUCoV-VAC 3 μg and 6 μg 28 days both had an acceptable safety and tolerability profile and elicited comparable neutralising antibody responses and seroconversion rates exceeding 95 % at day 43 and 60 after the first vaccination. Data availability Data will be made available on request.

© 2022 by the authors.We present the interim results of the efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety of the two-dose schedules of TURKOVAC versus CoronaVac. This was a randomized, observer-blinded, non-inferiority trial (NCT04942405). Volunteers were 18–55 years old and randomized at a 1:1 ratio to receive either TURKOVAC or CoronaVac at Day 0 and Day 28, both of which are 3 μg/0.5 mL of inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide. The primary efficacy outcome was the prevention of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at least 14 days after the second dose in the modified per-protocol (mPP) group. Safety analyses were performed in the modified intention-to-treat (mITT) group. Between 22 June 2021 and 7 January 2022, 1290 participants were randomized. The mITT group consisted of 915 participants, and the mPP group consisted of 732 participants. During a median follow-up of 90 (IQR 86–90) days, the relative risk reduction with TURKOVAC compared to CoronaVac was 41.03% (95% CI 12.95–60.06) for preventing PCR-confirmed symptomatic COVID-19. The incidences of adverse events (AEs) overall were 58.8% in TURKOVAC and 49.7% in CoronaVac arms (p = 0.006), with no fatalities or grade four AEs. TURKOVAC was non-inferior to CoronaVac in terms of efficacy and demonstrated a good safety and tolerability profile.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral infection caused by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Serological screening of CCHF is important and current ELISA use antigens prepared from virus which is expensive due to requirement of high bio-containment facilities. in this study, we aimed to develop a new recombinant ELISA. For this purpose, CCHFV genome were expressed as 13 proteins in E. coli and among them abundantly purified recombinant Nucleocapsid protein (rNP) and Mucin-like variable domain (rMLD) were used as antigen in ELISA (Rec-ELISA). Rec-ELISA using rNP, rMLD and a combination of both (rNP/rMLD) were probed with acute (n=64; collected between days 1 and 7 after onset of symptoms), convalescent (n=35; collected 8 days after onset of symptoms), consecutive sera (n=25) of confirmed CCHF cases and control sera (n=43). The sensitivity and specificity of Rec-ELISA using rNP/rMLD were 73% and 98% in acute cases and 97% and 98% in convalescent cases. The median interquartile absorbance value to discriminate the acute and convalescent phases of CCHF was significantly higher with ELISA using rNP/rMLD (P0.05) and rMLD (P=0.001). These results indicate that the Rec-ELISA using rNP/rMLD may be very useful to diagnose convalescent CCHF cases especially in field studies., Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK), The authors would like to acknowledge Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) for supporting Sultan Gulce-z by a 2219 post-doctoral research fellowship programme to conduct part of the studies at Department of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Irvine.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel and highly pathogenic coronavirus, which has caused an outbreak in Wuhan City, China, in 2019 and then spread rapidly throughout the world. Although several COVID-19 vaccines are currently available for mass immunization, they are less effective against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially the Omicron (B.1.1.529). Recently, we successfully produced receptor-binding domain (RBD) variants of spike (S) protein of SARC-CoV-2 and an antigen cocktail in Nicotiana benthamiana, which are highly produced in plants and elicited high-titer antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we demonstrate that these protein-based vaccine candidates are highly effective against Delta and Omicron variants. These data support that plant produced RBD and cocktail-based antigens are most promising vaccine candidates and may protect against Delta and Omicron-mediated COVID-19. Based on the neutralization ability, plant produced RBD and cocktail-based vaccine candidates are highly effective against SARS-CoV-2, independently of its emerging variants.

© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Protective neutralizing antibody titers reduce in time after COVID-19 vaccinations, as in individuals who have had COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of CoronaVac and TURKOVAC vaccines used as a booster dose after CoronaVac primary vaccination. This double-blind, randomized, controlled, phase II, multicenter study included healthy male and female adults (18–60 years) who were vaccinated with two doses of CoronaVac vaccine and did not exceed the duration of at least 90 days and a maximum of 270 days from the second dose of vaccination. Among 236 eligible volunteers, 222 were recruited for randomization between July 12, 2021 and September 10, 2021; 108 and 114 were randomized to the TURKOVAC and CoronaVac arms, respectively. The primary endpoint was adverse events (AEs) (ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT04979949). On day 28, at the neutralizing antibody threshold of 1/6, the positivity rate reached 100% from 46.2% to 98.2% from 52.6% in the TURKOVAC and CoronaVac arms, respectively, against the Wuhan variant and the positivity rate reached 80.6% from 8.7% in the TURKOVAC arm vs. 71.9% from 14.0% in the CoronaVac arm against the Delta variant. IgG spike antibody positivity rate increased from 57.3% to 98.1% and from 57.9% to 97.4% in the TURKOVAC and CoronaVac arms, respectively. The TURKOVAC and CoronaVac arms were comparable regarding the frequency of overall AEs. Both vaccines administered as booster yielded higher antibody titers with acceptable safety profiles.

In 2019, the World Health Organization declared 3 billion to be at risk of developing Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). The causative agent of this deadly infection is CCHFV. The data related to the biology and immunology of CCHFV are rather scarce. Due to its indispensable roles in the viral life cycle, NP becomes a logical target for detailed viral immunology studies. In this study, humoral immunity to NP was investigated in CCHF survivors, as well as in immunized mice and rabbits. Abundant antibody response against NP was demonstrated both during natural infection in humans and following experimental immunizations in mice and rabbits. Also, cellular immune responses to recombinant NP (rNP) was detected in multispecies. This study represents the most comprehensive investigation on NP as an inducer of both humoral and cellular immunity in multiple hosts and proves that rNP is an excellent candidate warranting further immunological studies specifically on vaccine investigations., Author summary Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) is the most lethal human pathogen of medical importance after the dengue virus among arboviruses. The increasing geographic spread of Hyalomma ticks, which are responsible for viral transmission widespread, threatens billions of people. WHO currently declares the field of research on CCHFV as the second most urgently needed areas of investigations on emerging pathogens. About 10 to 40% of those infected with the virus lose their life due to the rapidly developing severe clinical manifestations. Pandemic potential and the lack of any approved treatment or vaccine make raise the studies on CCHFV as critical. The studies on CCHFV are challenging due to the necessities of BSL-4 facilities and the immunological characterization of individual structural proteins will lay the groundwork for the steps to be taken to treat and prevent this emerging disease. As is known from other RNA viruses, nucleoprotein (NP) has crucial roles in the viral life cycle, both in viral replication and transcription and in the formation of the virion structure. So far, detailed and comprehensive immunological characterizations on NP in multiple are not undertaken. Our study was set out to embark such detailed investigation. The strong humoral and cellular immune response to NP demonstrated by this study indicates that NP might be an excellent candidate for future scrutinies on vaccines and diagnostic reagents.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put global public health at high risk, rapidly spreading around the world. Although several COVID-19 vaccines are available for mass immunization, the world still urgently needs highly effective, reliable, cost-effective, and safe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus vaccines, as well as antiviral and therapeutic drugs, to control the COVID-19 pandemic given the emerging variant strains of the virus. Recently, we successfully produced receptor-binding domain (RBD) variants in the Nicotiana benthamiana plant as promising vaccine candidates against COVID-19 and demonstrated that mice immunized with these antigens elicited a high titer of RBD-specific antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we engineered the nucleocapsid (N) protein and co-expressed it with RBD of SARS-CoV-2 in Nicotiana benthamiana plant to produce an antigen cocktail. The purification yields were about 22 or 24 mg of pure protein/kg of plant biomass for N or N+RBD antigens, respectively. The purified plant produced N protein was recognized by N protein-specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies demonstrating specific reactivity of mAb to plant-produced N protein. In this study, for the first time, we report the co-expression of RBD with N protein to produce a cocktail antigen of SARS-CoV-2, which elicited high-titer antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, obtained data support that a plant-produced antigen cocktail, developed in this study, is a promising vaccine candidate against COVID-19.

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 with its mutating strains has posed a global threat to safety during this COVID-19 pandemic. Thus far, there are 123 candidate vaccines in human clinical trials and more than 190 candidates in preclinical development worldwide as per the WHO on 1 October 2021. The various types of vaccines that are currently approved for emergency use include viral vectors (e.g., adenovirus, University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Sputnik V, and Johnson &amp, Johnson), mRNA (Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech), and whole inactivated (Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm) vaccines. Amidst the emerging cases and shortages of vaccines for global distribution, it is vital to develop a vaccine candidate that recapitulates the severe and fatal progression of COVID-19 and further helps to cope with the current outbreak. Hence, we present the preclinical immunogenicity, protective efficacy, and safety evaluation of a whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate (ERUCoV-VAC) formulated in aluminium hydroxide, in three animal models, BALB/c mice, transgenic mice (K18-hACE2), and ferrets. The hCoV-19/Turkey/ERAGEM-001/2020 strain was used for the safety evaluation of ERUCoV-VAC. It was found that ERUCoV-VAC was highly immunogenic and elicited a strong immune response in BALB/c mice. The protective efficacy of the vaccine in K18-hACE2 showed that ERUCoV-VAC induced complete protection of the mice from a lethal SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Similar viral clearance rates with the safety evaluation of the vaccine in upper respiratory tracts were also positively appreciable in the ferret models. ERUCoV-VAC has been authorized by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency and has now entered phase 3 clinical development (NCT04942405). The name of ERUCoV-VAC has been changed to TURKOVAC in the phase 3 clinical trial.

Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an emerging zoonotic infectious disease caused by Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). The first clinical CCHF infection was described in 1944 in the Crimean Peninsula, exclusively in humans, with case-fatality rates exceeding 30%. The increasing number of cases, high mortality rate, and lack of effective therapy make CCHF a serious threat to public health and a potential bioterrorism agent. The present study evaluated the development, immunogenicity, and immune response durations for cell-culture-derived inactivated vaccine (CCVax) formulations in comparison with those of mouse-brain-derived vaccine (MBVax) formulations. In this study, the Kelkit06 CCHF virus strain was propagated in both suckling mice and Vero E6 cells, and purified with a sucrose gradient. Formalin-inactivated vaccine candidates were formulated at various doses [low dose (LD), 5 μg; medium dose (MD), 10 μg; high dose (HD), 20 μg)] and mixed with an alum adjuvant. BALB/c mice received the same doses of the vaccine formulations three times at 3-week intervals. The humoral endpoint IgG responses were evaluated and compared for the MBVax and CCVax treatments. The duration of the presence of IgG and neutralizing antibody (Ab) titers was evaluated and compared until up to 1 year after immunization. The humoral IgG responses indicated that the CCVax and MBVax candidates enhanced the IgG endpoint titers in a dose-dependent manner, which were induced more strongly in all the CCVax groups than in the MBVax mice. The fold changes in neutralizing Ab levels were also found to be higher in the CCVax groups: between 2- and 7.6-fold after the second week of the last immunization. The neutralization titers peaked 4 months after immunization in all the vaccine-receiving groups, but these were still comparable at the end of the first year. The CCVax formulations induced higher IgG and neutralizing Ab titers at all the measured time points. In this study, we showed that cell-culture-purified and formalin-inactivated vaccine candidates induced strong and robust immunity in vaccinated mice dose-dependently, more so than mouse-brain-derived vaccines., Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus; Bunyavirus; Hemorrhagic fever; Inactivated vaccine; Protective response; Long-term immunity; Humoral immune response.

Copyright: © 2020 Pavel et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated with severe respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The virus has been able to spread promptly across all continents in the world. The current pandemic has posed a great threat to public health concern and safety. Currently, there are no specific treatments or licensed vaccines available for COVID-19. We isolated SARS-CoV-2 from the nasopharyngeal sample of a patient in Turkey with confirmed COVID-19. We determined that the Vero E6 and MA-104 cell lines are suitable for supporting SARS-CoV-2 that supports viral replication, development of cytopathic effect (CPE) and subsequent cell death. Phylogenetic analyses of the whole genome sequences showed that the hCoV-19/Turkey/ERAGEM-001/2020 strain clustered with the strains primarily from Australia, Canada, England, Iran and Kuwait and that the cases in the nearby clusters were reported to have travel history to Iran and to share the common unique nucleotide substitutions.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated with severe respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The virus has been able to spread promptly across all continents in the world. The current pandemic has posed a great threat to public health concern and safety. Currently, there are no specific treatments or licensed vaccines available for COVID-19. We isolated SARS-CoV-2 from the nasopharyngeal sample of a patient in Turkey with confirmed COVID-19. We determined that the Vero E6 and MA-104 cell lines are suitable for supporting SARS-CoV-2 that supports viral replication, development of cytopathic effect (CPE) and subsequent cell death. Phylogenetic analyses of the whole genome sequences showed that the hCoV-19/Turkey/ERAGEM-001/2020 strain clustered with the strains primarily from Australia, Canada, England, Iran and Kuwait and that the cases in the nearby clusters were reported to have travel history to Iran and to share the common unique nucleotide substitutions.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne virus in the Nairoviridae family within the Bunyavirales order of viruses. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the most widespread among tick-borne human viral diseases. It is endemic in many areas of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, in the Balkans, Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union. The confirmed CCHF cases were seen in Spain in 2016 to signify expansion of the virus into new geographical areas. CCHFV causes a viral human disease characterized by sudden onset of fever, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, hypotension, hemorrhage, and hepatic dysfunction with fatality rates up to 30%. Currently, there are no spesific treatments or licensed vaccines available for CCHFV. The absence of a susceptible animal model for CCHFV infection was severely hindered work on the development of vaccines. However, several animal models of CCHFV infection have been recently developed and used to assess vaccine efficacy. In this study, we have used the transiently immune-suppressed (IS) mouse model that MAb-5A3 was used to block IFN-I signaling in immune intact, wild-type mice at the time of CCHFV infection to evaluate the immune response and efficacy of the cell culture based and the mouse brain derived inactivated vaccines against CCHFV. Both vaccine preparations have provided complete protection but the cell culture based vaccine more effectively induced to CCFHV spesific antibodies and T cell responses. This is the first comparison of the cell culture based and the mouse brain derived vaccines for assessing the protective efficacy and the immunogenicity in the IS mouse CCHFV model., Author summary Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is one of the most medically important tick-borne disease. CCHFV causes severe clinical signs in humans but not in its vertebrate animal hosts. Transmission of the virus to humans could be through the bite of infected ticks or by exposure to the tissues or blood of infected animals. Nosocomial infections have also been reported in endemic countries and are considered to be significant problems for health-care workers and family members. With the increasing number of the cases and expanding new foci of the CCHF endemic area, there is an urgent need to prioritize control strategies on the consideration of disease reduction. Recently, different approaches have been attempted towards the development of a CCHFV vaccine. We previously developed a cell culture based inactivated CCHFV vaccine that demonstrated protective efficacy in IFNAR-/- mice. To date, the only CCHFV vaccine tested in humans is the suckling mouse brain derived vaccine used only in Bulgaria. However, there are no experimental data to show whether this vaccine confers to protective efficacy in a mouse model. We have used the IS mouse model to explore the immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy of the cell culture based and the mouse brain derived inactivated vaccines against CCHFV. Both vaccine preparations have provided complete protection after challenge studies but the cell culture based vaccine more effectively induced to CCFHV spesific antibody and T cell responses.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has rapidly spread to more than 222 countries and has put global public health at high risk. The world urgently needs cost-effective and safe SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, antiviral, and therapeutic drugs to control it. In this study, we engineered the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and produced it in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana in a glycosylated and deglycosylated form. Expression levels of both glycosylated (gRBD) and deglycosylated (dRBD) RBD were greater than 45 mg/kg fresh weight. The purification yields were 22 mg of pure protein/kg of plant biomass for gRBD and 20 mg for dRBD, which would be sufficient for commercialization of these vaccine candidates. The purified plant-produced RBD protein was recognized by an S protein-specific monoclonal antibody, demonstrating specific reactivity of the antibody to the plant-produced RBD proteins. The SARS-CoV-2 RBD showed specific binding to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 receptor. In mice, the plant-produced RBD antigens elicited high titers of antibodies with a potent virus-neutralizing activity. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that mice immunized with plant-produced deglycosylated RBD form elicited high titer of RBD-specific antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, obtained data support that plant-produced glycosylated and in vivo deglycosylated RBD antigens, developed in this study, are promising vaccine candidates for the prevention of COVID-19.

Zoonotic infections are globally important diseases and lead to huge economic losses in both low- and middle-income and high-income countries. Global warming, environmental and ecological changes, illegal movement of animals and humans, regional civil wars, and poverty are predisposing factors for the emergence of zoonotic infections and their distribution worldwide; they are also a big threat for the future. In addition, environmental pollution and antimicrobial resistance are immense serious threats and dangers to prevent and control zoonotic infections. The natural location of Turkey allows many emerged or re-emerged infections with zoonotic characteristics by animal movements, such as bird immigrations, and by human movements due to civil wars as seen with regional refugees. Numerous zoonotic diseases, including 37 bacterial, 13 fungal, 29 viral, 28 parasitic (3 trematodes, 7 cestodes, 10 nematodes, and 8 protozoan), and totally 107 infections, have been reported from Turkey to date. Additionally, many ectoparasitic zoonoses within 15 different arthropod groups and one leech infestation have been reported from Turkey to date. The "One Health" initiative is particularly relevant for developing strategies to combat zoonotic diseases. In this article, we review the occurrence of zoonotic diseases in man and animals in Turkey in the light of the "One Health" perspective.

In Turkey, arthropod-borne diseases such as human babesiosis, dirofilariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, anthrax, bartonellosis, louse-borne relapsing fever, lyme disease, plague, trench fever, tularemia, epidemic typhus, tick-borne typhus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, phlebovirus infections, tick-borne encephalitis and west nile virus in humans; animal trypanosomiasis, avian haemosporidiasis, babesiosis, canine hepatozoonosis, canine lesihmaniosis, dipetalonemiasis, dirofilariosis, habronemiasis, onchocerciasis, parafilariasis, setariasis, theileriosis, thelaziasis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, feline infectious anemia, akabane, bluetongue, bovine ephemeral fever, equine infectious anemia, louping ill, west nile virus, colony collapse disorders (CCD) were reported in domestic animals and Wolbachia endobacteria infection was also reported in mosquitos so far. On the other hand, aphids (Aphididae), leafhoppers (Cicadellidae), white flies (Aleyrodidae), beetles (Coleoptera), trips (Thysanoptera), gal mites (Eriophyidae), and nematodes are also very important vectors of plant diseases in Turkey. Some of the most harmful plant viruses in the world such as tristeza, plum pox virus, and tomato ringspot viruses are also transmitted by arthropod vectors. In recent years, in spite of changes in ecological balance caused by abandoning agricultural land, use of natural areas to farm, release of rabbits, preventing water flooding, leaving the fields uncultivated, migration from urban to rural areas, hunting of wild animals, the dramatic drop in the number of farm animals, global warming and the strengthening of wild life was probably responsible for the increase of tick populations. The construction of ponds and dams, changes in riverbeds, drying out of swamps and marshes, dense ad-hoc and haphazard construction, changes in picnicking habits, wild irrigation in agriculture, and the use of unsuitable control measures by local authorities, resulted in an increase of flies. This led to an increase in infected vector populations and vector-borne diseases and a decrease in the potential for economic development. In conclusion, it is very important to initiate and develop integrated control programs targeting arthropod vectors, disease agents of human, animal and plants and natural reservoirs. These diseases have been caused high economic losses in Turkey, and therefore they should be further investigated, Türkiye’de insanlarda babesiosis, dirofilariasis, şark çıbanı, sıtma, lenfatik filariasis, onchocerciasis, şarbon, bartonellosis, bitle bulaşan dönemli ateş (louse-borne relapsing fever), lyme, veba, siper ateşi, tularemia, epidemik tifüs, tick-borne tifus, Kırım-Kongo kanamalı ateşi, phlebovirus enfeksiyonu, tick-borne encephalitis ve batı nil virusu; evcil hayvanlarda trypanasomiasis, kanatlı haemosporidiasisi, babesiosis, köpek hepatozoonosisi, köpek leishmaniosisi, dipetalonemiasis, dirofilariosis, yaz yarası, onchocerciasis, yaz kanaması, seteriasis, theileriosis, thelaziasis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, kedi enfeksiyöz anemisi, akabane, mavidil, üçgün hastalığı, loupingill, enfeksiyöz at anemisi, arıların colony collapse hastalığı (CCD) ve sivrisineklerde Wolbachia endobakteri enfeksiyonu şimdiye kadar rapor edilen artropod kaynaklı hastalıklardır. Diğer taraftan, Türkiye’de yaprak bitleri (Aphididae), yaprak zararlıları (Cicadellidae), beyazsinekler (Aleyrodidae), kın kanatlılar (Coleoptera), kirpik kanatlılar (Thysanoptera), gal akarları (Eriophyidae) ve nematodlar da bitki hastalıklarının önemli vektörleridirler. Tristeza, şarka, domates halkalı leke virüsleri gibi dünyadaki en zararlı bitki patojenlerinin de uygun vektörleri olmadan epidemi yapamadıkları bilinmektedir. Tarım alanlarının terk edilmesi, doğal alanların tarıma açılması, doğaya tavşan salınması, su taşkınlarının önlenmesi, yayla yasağı, av yasağı, tarlaların işlenmemesi, kırsal hayattan şehirlere göç, yırtıcı hayvanların öldürülmesi, çiftlik hayvanlarının sayısındaki dramatik düşüşe karşın yaban hayatının güçlenmesi ve küresel ısınma gibi son yıllarda ekolojik dengelerin değişmesine yol açan faktörler kene sayısında artışa yol açan olası nedenlerdir. Fizibilite yapılmadan gölet ve baraj inşası, nehir yataklarının değiştirilmesi, bataklık ve sazlıkların kurutulması, plansız ve gelişigüzel yoğun yapılaşma, piknik kültüründeki değişiklik, tarımda vahşi sulama, yerel yöneticilerin bilimsel yaklaşımdan yoksun, bilinçsiz vektör mücadelesi de sinek populasyonlarında artışa sebep olmuştur. Bu durum da vektör populasyonunda, vektörlerle bulaştırılan hastalıklarda artışa ve dolayısıyla ekonomik gelişmelerde azalmalara veya yavaşlamalara yol açmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, Türkiye’de insan, hayvan ve bitki sağlığını tehdit ederek ekonomik kayıplara yol açan vektörlere ve bu vektörlerin bulaştırdıkları hastalıklara karşı mücadele programları geliştirmek ve başlatmak, bu konuda daha ileri araştırmalar yapmak oldukça önemlidir

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is the causative agent of a tick-borne disease with high mortality Fates in humans. The distribution of CCHFV includes over 30 countries in Asia, the Middle East, southeastern Europe, and Africa. It was first recognized in Turkey in 2002, with an increasing number of cases reported between 2002 and 2009. Recent analysis of complete genome sequences of CCHFV isolates has revealed that the genomic plasticity of the virus is surprisingly high for an arthropod-borne virus. We have determined the complete nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of strain CCHFV Turkey-Kelkit06 isolated from the blood of a patient in an endemic region of Turkey in 2006. The complete sequence length of the CCHFV Turkey-Kelkit06 strain is 19,186 nt, consisting of a 1673 nt S segment, a 5364 nt M segment, and a 12,149 nt L segment. Based on the analysis of S, M, and L segments, CCHFV Turkey-Kelkit06 clustered in Group V, which represents the Europe/Turkey geographic lineage. Although glycoproteins encoded by the M gene are the most variable part of the CCHFV Turkey-Kelkit06 strain, some functional domains of the glycoproteins are well conserved. Here, we report the complete sequence and genome organization of the CCHFV Turkey-Kelkit06 strain and its phylogenetic relationship to other strains of CCHFV. Collecting data on viral sequences among isolates from CCHF epidemics may provide valuable information regarding the molecular basis of the epidemic potential of the virus. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus is member of the genus Nairovirus of the family Bunyaviridae. All members of the family Bunyaviridae are enveloped viruses containing tripartite, negative polarity, single-stranded RNA. CCHF is characterized by high case mortality, occurring in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. During recent years, outbreaks have been reported in Turkey. However, little information is available on the genetic diversity of CCHF virus in Turkey. In this study, a total of 1227 adult ticks were collected from domestic ruminants (796 specimens from cattle, 399 specimens from goats and 32 specimens from sheep). The presence of the M segment of CCHF virus was determined in 4 of 40 (10%) Hyalomma marginatum marginatum pools, in 2 of 38 (7.89%) Rhipicephalus bursa pools, and in 1 of 7 (7%) Boophylus annulatus pools. Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum pools gave negative RT-PCR result against CCHF virus. Serum samples from seven patients infected with CCHF were selected and subjected to RT-PCR to amplify partial M segment of CCHF virus. This report introduces the first data on partial nucleotide sequences of M RNA segments of CCHF virus strains circulating in Turkey, isolated from ticks.

Coronaviruses are positive-strand, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase-utilizing viruses that require a polymerase template switch, characterized as discontinuous transcription, to place a 5′-terminal genomic leader onto subgenomic mRNAs (sgmRNAs). The usually precise switch is thought to occur during the synthesis of negative-strand templates for sgmRNA production and to be directed by heptameric core donor sequences within the genome that match an acceptor core (UCUAAAC in the case of bovine coronavirus) near the 3′ end of the 5′-terminal genomic leader. Here it is shown that a 22-nucleotide (nt) donor sequence engineered into a packageable bovine coronavirus defective interfering (DI) RNA and made to match a sequence within the 65-nt virus genomic leader caused a template switch yielding an sgmRNA with only a 33-nt minileader. By changing the donor sequence, acceptor sites between genomic nt 33 and 97 (identical between the DI RNA and the viral genome) could be used to generate sgmRNAs detectable by Northern analysis (∼2 to 32 molecules per cell) by 24 h postinfection. Whether the switch was intramolecular only was not determined since a potentially distinguishing acceptor region in the DI RNA rapidly conformed to that in the helper virus genome through a previously described template switch known as leader switching. These results show that crossover acceptor sites for discontinuous transcription (i) need not include the UCUAAAC core and (ii) rest within a surprisingly wide 5′-proximal “hotspot.” Overlap of this hotspot with that for leader switching and with elements required for RNA replication suggests that it is part of a larger 5′-proximal multifunctional structure.

Objective: To determine the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the middle ear effusion of patients with otitis media with effusion (OME) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Study Design: A prospective study in patients with OME. Methods: The study was performed in 38 patients with OME who were admitted to the ENT Clinic, Firat University from June 2003 to April 2004. In all cases, a myringotomy operation (with or without placement of a ventilation tube) was carried out. The effusion samples aspirated from the middle ear were analyzed with PCR assay. Results: A total of 55 aspiration samples collected from 38 children ranging in age from 2 to 12 were included in the study. Fifteen of the subjects were girls, and 23 were boys. In 17 patients, both ears demonstrated effusions, whereas in 21 patients, only one ear had effusions. Nine (16.3%) of 55 the middle ear effusion samples were shown to be H. pylori positive by PCR. Conclusions:H. pylori was detected in the middle ear effusion of some patients with OME. These results may have interesting implications for a possible role of H. pylori in OME. In addition, these results suggest that further studies are needed to investigate the role of H. pylori in the etiology of OME.