Richard Salvato

Heterogeneity in inhibition of genetically diverse dengue virus strains by Wolbachia The release of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transinfected with the virus-inhibiting Wolbachia bacterium has the potential to reduce the burden caused by dengue virus (DENV). However, the robustness of thi...

📢New preprint on the impact of dengue virus genetic diversity on inhibition by Wolbachia 🦟🦠🧬

Project led by Afeez Sodeinde, @emiliefinch.bsky.social, and @keli5734.bsky.social! ✨

Key findings in thread below 👇

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In Brazil universities has little nicknames too, and usually we just called by them. Like: UFRGS (universidade federal do Rio Grande do Sul), USP (Universidade de São Paulo), UFRJ, PUC….
Just figure out now that for most universities worldwide this is not common 🤓

Beyond Oropouche virus, this strategy can also be applied to monitor other vector-borne diseases — such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya — which are increasing due to climate change. It remains effective even when laboratory capacity is strained by concurrent outbreaks.

Oropouche Virus Importation in Southern Brazil and Emerging Concern Calling for Enhanced Public Health Surveillance Oropouche virus (OROV), an arthropod-borne virus transmitted by Culicoides paraensis, is an endemic arbovirus that historically circulates mostly in the Amazon basin. Between 2022 and 2024, it reemer....

Very pleased to share our latest work on Oropouche virus 🦟🦠

We show that pooled-sample surveillance can detect arbovirus introductions even during low circulation — a cost-effective, scalable tool to strengthen preparedness in low- & middle-income countries.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Interested in using phylogenetics to study arboviruses? Our new review in @natrevgenet.nature.com‬ by @viralverity.bsky.social‬, @sdellicour.bsky.social‬, and Marta Giovanetti has you covered!

📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U

Short 🧵

Beyond temperature: Relative humidity systematically shifts the temperature dependence of population growth in a malaria vector Understanding ectotherm responses to environmental change is central to coping with many of humanity′s current and future challenges in public health, biodiversity conservation, and food security. Com...

New preprint out from our group! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We find that relative humidity systematically shifts the temperature dependence of a key malaria vector. These effects are also likely important for aquatic insects more generally, and for predicting their responses to climate change.

Amazing 👏👏👏

Final version just online now!

Re-emergence of #Oropouche virus as a novel global threat.

A novel reassortant OROV lineage drives the 2023–2025 outbreak in the Americas. Over 23,000 cases confirmed, with expansion into non-endemic regions.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #OpenAccess

A key concern with OROV reemergence is its potential to spread into previously unaffected regions, as we have seen with other arboviruses like dengue. This highlights the urgent need for strengthened surveillance and monitoring of both the virus and its vectors.

In this review, I explore the historical epidemiology of Oropouche fever, its growing public health relevance, and emerging clinical challenges. I also highlight key research gaps, especially in vector competence and the need for a standardizedm genomic lineage system.

Re-emergence of Oropouche virus as a novel global threat Oropouche fever is a viral infectious disease caused by the Oropouche virus (OROV), primarily transmitted by the biting midge Culicoides paraensis. Hi…

Just online now my review (uncorrected proof) on the current Oropouche virus reemergence.

“Re-emergence of Oropouche virus as a novel global threat”
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Vector competence for Oropouche virus: A systematic review of pre-2024 experiments Oropouche virus has recently become an urgent threat to public health in Central and South America. OROV is mainly transmitted by biting midges; however, some public health agencies and scientific sou...

🦟🦠 NEW! We looked at every experiment going back to the 1960s, and found that mosquitoes are almost certainly not primary or secondary vectors of Oropouche virus - a common claim in both the scientific literature and public health communication. #EpiSky #IDSky 😷🧪

journals.plos.org/plosntds/art...

Evaluation of the 2022 West Nile virus forecasting challenge, USA - Parasites & Vectors Background West Nile virus (WNV) is the most common cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental USA, with an average of ~1200 severe, neuroinvasive cases reported annually from 2005 to 2021 (ra...

New paper! How well did the 2022 WNV forecasting challenge do? Ensembles are the best, and improving!

parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Strengthening arbovirus surveillance: bridging gaps for global health preparedness Despite significant advancements in arbovirus research, contributions remain disproportionately focused on regions with reported major outbreaks of diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. This bias risks neglecting potentially critical properties in viral evolution, transmission dynamics, ecological drivers, and host–pathogen interactions that occur within the less-studied areas. Recent developments highlight the importance of incorporating data from underrepresented regions and from recent surveillance approaches to uncover novel insights that could enhance global preparedness and response strategies. This opinion explores frameworks for generating and integrating diverse geographical data, proposing equitable research approaches to better capture the global heterogeneities and properties of at-risk environments and populations. A geographically inclusive perspective is essential to address emerging arboviral challenges, particularly in the context of a changing environment and shifting land use patterns.

Strengthening arbovirus surveillance: bridging gaps for global health preparedness

Awesome! Congrats @isabelott.bsky.social 🎉👏👏👏

On the verge: outbreak risk after two years of record-breaking dengue epidemics in Brazil Over the last seasons of dengue, the disease has reached record-breaking numbers of confirmed cases both globally and in the Americas.1 That is speculated to be a consequence of two-fold climate drive...

Our comment on the risk of another big year in dengue in Brazil, this year Brazil already accumulated over than a million cases.

On the verge: outbreak risk after two years of record-breaking dengue epidemics in Brazil - The Lancet Regional Health – Americas www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Just out! Our recent work showing the factors leading dengue expansion to a non-endemic temperate region.

Just out our preprint on the concerning spread of Oropouche virus to non-endemic regions in Brazil. This shift could have significant public health implications.

Check out our latest paper: 'Severe dengue-related deaths among the elderly surged in Southern Brazil in 2024,' highlighting the ongoing rise in dengue cases and alarming lethality rates in this region. #Dengue #Brazil #PublicHealth

doi.org/10.1016/j.ij...

This a summary of last part o my Ph.D. We investigated how temperature can affect the outcome of dengue infection.

The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country

We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger!

Fantastic work @rafalpx.bsky.social ! Congrats!!!

Congrats @rafalpx.bsky.social @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social !!!

Our latest paper revealed Multiple introductions and sustained local transmission of Monkeypox virus in Southern Brazil between 2022–2023.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Happy to share our recently published work!

We've developed an all-in-one protocol for tiling sequencing and host identification of Rabies Virus Bat-Clade.

Check it out:

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGHsbm%7E...

Sharing our work expanding SARS-CoV-2 style tiled amplicon sequencing for whole bacteria genomes directly from clinical samples, showing examples with M.tb (>4 mb) and Strep pneumo (>2 mb).

Led by Chaney Kalinich, Freddy Gonzalez, & Seth Redmond
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...