Person:
Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía

First Name

Estefanía

Last Name

Cadenas Fernández

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/82483

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Veterinaria

Department

Sanidad Animal

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

The Role of Interleukine-10 and Interferon-γ as Potential Markers of the Evolution of African Swine Fever Virus Infection in Wild Boar
(Pathogens, 2021) Barroso Arévalo, Sandra; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel
African swine fever virus (ASFv) is one of the most challenging pathogens to affect both domestic and wild pigs. The disease has now spread to Europe and Asia, causing great damage to the pig industry. Although no commercial vaccine with which to control the disease is, as yet, available, some potential vaccine candidates have shown good results in terms of protection. However, little is known about the host immune mechanisms underlying that protection, especially in wild boar, which is the main reservoir of the disease in Europe. Here, we study the role played by two cytokines (IL-10 and IFN-γ) in wild boar orally inoculated with the attenuated vaccine candidate Lv17/WB/Rie1 and challenged with a virulent ASFv genotype II isolate. A group of naïve wild boar challenged with the latter isolate was also established as a control group. Our results showed that both cytokines play a key role in protecting the host against the challenge virus. While high levels of IL-10 in serum may trigger an immune system malfunctioning in challenged animals, the provision of stable levels of this cytokine over time may help to control the disease. This, together with high and timely induction of IFN-γ by the vaccine candidate, could help protect animals from fatal outcomes. Further studies should be conducted in order to support these preliminary results and confirm the role of these two cytokines as potential markers of the evolution of ASFV infection.
Adenovirus-vectored African Swine Fever Virus Antigens Cocktail Is Not Protective against Virulent Arm07 Isolate in Eurasian Wild Boar
(Pathogens, 2020) Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; Kosowska, Aleksandra; Rivera Arroyo, Belén; Mayoral Alegre, Francisco José; Rodríguez Bertos, Antonio Manuel; Yao, Jianxiu; Bray, Jocelyn; Lokhandwala, Shehnaz; Mwangi, Waithaka; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel
African swine fever (ASF) is a viral disease of domestic and wild suids for which there is currently no vaccine or treatment available. The recent spread of ASF virus (ASFV) through Europe and Asia is causing enormous economic and animal losses. Unfortunately, the measures taken so far are insufficient and an effective vaccine against ASFV needs to be urgently developed. We hypothesized that immunization with a cocktail of thirty-five rationally selected antigens would improve the protective efficacy of subunit vaccine prototypes given that the combination of fewer immunogenic antigens (between 2 and 22) has failed to elicit protective efficacy. To this end, immunogenicity and efficacy of thirty-five adenovirus-vectored ASFV antigens were evaluated in wild boar. The treated animals were divided into different groups to test the use of BioMize adjuvant and different inoculation strategies. Forty-eight days after priming, the nine treated and two control wild boar were challenged with the virulent ASFV Arm07 isolate. All animals showed clinical signs and pathological findings consistent with ASF. This lack of protection is in line with other studies with subunit vaccine prototypes, demonstrating that there is still much room for improvement to obtain an effective subunit ASFV vaccine.
First Oral Vaccination of Eurasian Wild Boar Against African Swine Fever Virus Genotype II
(Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2019) Gallardo, Carmina; Arias, Marisa; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Jurado Díaz, Cristina; Rivera Arroyo, Belén; Rodríguez Bertos, Antonio Manuel; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
African swine fever (ASF), the most significant threat to the pig industry worldwide, has spread to more than 55 countries on three continents, and it affects more than 77% of the world swine population. In the European Union, wild boar (Sus scrofa) is the most severely affected host. The main reasons for the unprecedented and constant spread of ASF in Europe are the trade activities, the continuous movement of infected-wild boar populations among regions and the lack of vaccine to prevent ASF infection. In this study, we demonstrate that oral immunization of wild boar with a non-hemadsorbing, attenuated ASF virus of genotype II isolated in Latvia in 2017 (Lv17/WB/Rie1) conferred 92% protection against challenge with a virulent ASF virus isolate (Arm07). This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a promising vaccine against ASF virus in wild boar by oral administration. Further studies should assess the safety of repeated administration and overdose, characterize long-term shedding and verify the genetic stability of the vaccine virus to confirm if Lv17/WB/Rie1 could be used for free-ranging wild boar in ASF control programs.
Safety of African Swine Fever Vaccine Candidate Lv17/WB/Rie1 in Wild Boar: Overdose and Repeated Doses
(2021) Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Kosowska, Aleksandra; Barroso Arévalo, Sandra; Rivera Arroyo, Belén; Sánchez, Rocío; Porras, Néstor; Gallardo, Carmina; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal infectious disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boar. Outbreaks of ASF have grown considerably in the last decade causing important economic consequences for the swine industry. Its control is hampered by the lack of an effective treatment or vaccine. In Europe, the wild boar is a key wild reservoir for ASF. The results of the oral vaccination trial of wild boar with Lv17/WB/Rie1 are hope for this problem. However, this vaccine candidate has certain safety concerns, since it is a naturally attenuated vaccine. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate the safety of this vaccine candidate in terms of overdose (high dose) and repeated doses (revaccination) in wild boar. Low-dose orally vaccinated animals developed only a slight transient fever after vaccination and revaccination. This was also the case for most of the high-dose vaccinated wild boar, except for one of them which succumbed after revaccination. Although this fatality was related to hierarchical fights between animals, we consider that further studies are required for clarification. Considering these new results and the current epidemiological situation of ASF in wild boar, this vaccine prototype is a promising tool for the control of the disease in these wild populations, although further studies are needed.
Accelerometer-based detection of African swine fever infection in wild boar
(Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2023) Morelle, Kevin; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel; Bosch López, Jaime Alfonso; Heine, Georg; Daim, Andreas; Arnold, Janosch; Bauch, Toralf; Kosowska, Aleksandra; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Martínez Avilés, Marta; Zúñiga, Daniel; Wikelski, Martin; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; Safi, Kamran
Infectious wildlife diseases that circulate at the interface with domestic animals pose significant threats worldwide and require early detection and warning. Although animal tracking technologies are used to discern behavioural changes, they are rarely used to monitor wildlife diseases. Common disease-induced behavioural changes include reduced activity and lethargy (‘sickness behaviour’). Here, we investigated whether accelerometer sensors could detect the onset of African swine fever (ASF), a viral infection that induces high mortality in suids for which no vaccine is currently available. Taking advantage of an experiment designed to test an oral ASF vaccine, we equipped 12 wild boars with an accelerometer tag and quantified how ASF affects their activity pattern and behavioural fingerprint, using overall dynamic body acceleration. Wild boars showed a daily reduction in activity of 10–20% from the healthy to the viremia phase. Using change point statistics and comparing healthy individuals living in semi-free and free-ranging conditions, we show how the onset of disease-induced sickness can be detected and how such early detection could work in natural settings. Timely detection of infection in animals is crucial for disease surveillance and control, and accelerometer technology on sentinel animals provides a viable complementary tool to existing disease management approaches.
Low transmission risk of African swine fever virus between wild boar infected by an attenuated isolate and susceptible domestic pigs
(Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2023) Kosowska, Aleksandra; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel; Barroso Arévalo, Sandra; Blondeau León, Luisa; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel
African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal infectious disease that affects domestic and wild pigs. This complex virus has already affected five continents and more than 70 countries and is considered to be the main threat to the global swine industry. The disease can potentially be transmitted directly through contact with infectious animals, or indirectly by means of contaminated feed or environments. Nevertheless, the knowledge regarding the transmission patterns of different ASF virus isolates at the wildlife-livestock interface is still limited. We have, therefore, assessed the potential transmission of an attenuated ASF virus isolate between infectious wild boar and directly exposed domestic pig. We registered 3,369 interspecific interactions between animals, which were brief and mostly initiated by wild boar. The major patterns observed during the study were head-to-head contact owing to sniffing, thus suggesting a high probability of pathogen transmission. However, only one of the five domestic pigs had a short period of viremia and became serologically positive for ASF virus antibodies. It was additionally discovered that the wild boar did not transmit the virulent virus isolate to the domestic pigs, which suggests that the presence of attenuated ASF virus isolates in affected areas may control the spreading of other more virulent isolates. These outcomes may help make decisions related to large-scale targeted management actions against ASF in field conditions.
High Doses of Inactivated African Swine Fever Virus Are Safe, but Do Not Confer Protection against a Virulent Challenge
(Vaccines, 2021) Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; van den Born, Erwin; Kosowska, Aleksandra; van Kilsdonk, Emma; Fernández-Pacheco, Paloma; Gallardo, Carmina; Arias, Marisa; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel
African swine fever (ASF) is currently the major concern of the global swine industry, as a consequence of which a reconsideration of the containment and prevention measures taken to date is urgently required. A great interest in developing an effective and safe vaccine against ASF virus (ASFV) infection has, therefore, recently appeared. The objective of the present study is to test an inactivated ASFV preparation under a vaccination strategy that has not previously been tested in order to improve its protective effect. The following have been considered: (i) virus inactivation by using a low binary ethyleneimine (BEI) concentration at a low temperature, (ii) the use of new and strong adjuvants; (iii) the use of very high doses (6 × 109 haemadsorption in 50% of infected cultures (HAD50)), and (iv) simultaneous double inoculation by two different routes of administration: intradermal and intramuscular. Five groups of pigs were, therefore, inoculated with BEI- Pol16/DP/OUT21 in different adjuvant formulations, twice with a 4-week interval. Six weeks later, all groups were intramuscularly challenged with 10 HAD50 of the virulent Pol16/DP/OUT21 ASFV isolate. All the animals had clinical signs and pathological findings consistent with ASF. This lack of effectiveness supports the claim that an inactivated virus strategy may not be a viable vaccine option with which to fight ASF.
Free-Ranging Pig and Wild Boar Interactions in an Endemic Area of African Swine Fever
(Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2019) Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; Pintore, Antonio; Denurra, Daniele; Cherchi, Marcella; Jurado Díaz, Cristina; Vicente, Joaquín; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is spreading throughout Eurasia and there is no vaccine nor treatment available, so the control is based on the implementation of strict sanitary measures. These measures include depopulation of infected and in-contact animals and export restrictions, which can lead to important economic losses, making currently African swine fever (ASF) the greatest threat to the global swine industry. ASF has been endemic on the island of Sardinia since 1978, the longest persistence of anywhere in Eurasia. In Sardinia, eradication programs have failed, in large part due to the lack of farm professionalism, the high density of wild boar and the presence of non-registered domestic pigs (free-ranging pigs). In order to clarify how the virus is transmitted from domestic to wild swine, we examined the interaction between free-ranging pigs and wild boar in an ASF-endemic area of Sardinia. To this end, a field study was carried out on direct and indirect interactions, using monitoring by camera trapping in different areas and risk points. Critical time windows (CTWs) for the virus to survive in the environment (long window) and remain infectious (short window) were estimated, and based on these, the number of indirect interactions were determined. Free-ranging pigs indirectly interacted often with wild boar (long window = 6.47 interactions/day, short window = 1.31 interactions/day) and these interactions (long window) were mainly at water sources. They also directly interacted 0.37 times per day, especially between 14:00 and 21:00 h, which is much higher than for other interspecific interactions observed in Mediterranean scenarios. The highly frequent interactions at this interspecific interface may help explain the more than four-decade-long endemicity of ASF on the island. Supporting that free-ranging pigs can act as a bridge to transmit ASFV between wild boar and registered domestic pigs. This study contributes broadly to improving the knowledge on the estimation of frequencies of direct and indirect interactions between wild and free-ranging domestic swine. As well as supporting the importance of the analysis of interspecific interactions in shared infectious diseases, especially for guiding disease management. Finally, this work illustrates the power of the camera-trapping method for analyzing interspecific interfaces.
Histopathologic evaluation system of African swine fever in wild boar infected with high (Arm07) and low virulence (Lv17/WB/Riel) isolates
(Veterinary Pathology, 2024) Porras González, Néstor; Sánchez-Vizcaíno Rodríguez, José Manuel; Barasona García-Arévalo, José Ángel; Gómez Buendía, Alberto; Cadenas Fernández, Estefanía; Rodríguez Bertos, Antonio Manuel
To understand the clinicopathological forms of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar, it is crucial to possess a basic knowledge of the biological characteristics of the currently circulating ASF virus isolates. The aim of this work is to establish an accurate and comprehensive histopathologic grading system to standardize the assessment of the ASF lesions in wild boar. The study evaluated the differences between animals infected with a high virulence genotype II isolate (Arm07) (HVI) through intramuscular (IM) (n = 6) and contact-infected (n = 12) routes, alongside those orally infected with a low virulence isolate (Lv17/WB/Riel) (LVI) (n = 6). The assessment included clinical (CS), macroscopic (MS), and histopathologic (HS) scores, as well as viral loads in blood and tissues by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Tissues examined included skin, lymph nodes, bone marrow, palatine tonsil, lungs, spleen, liver, kidneys, thymus, heart, adrenal glands, pancreas, urinary bladder, brain, and gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts. The HVI group exhibited a 100% mortality rate with elevated CS, MS, and HS values. Animals infected by contact (CS = 12; MS = 58.5; HS = 112) and those intramuscularly infected (CS = 14.8; MS = 47; HS = 104) demonstrated similar values, indicating that the route of infection does not decisively influence the severity of clinical and pathological signs. The LVI group showed a 0% mortality rate, an inconspicuous clinical form, minimal lesions (CS = 0; MS = 12; HS = 29), and a lower viral load. Histopathologic evaluation has proven valuable in advancing our comprehension of ASF pathogenesis in wild boar and paves the groundwork for further research investigating protective mechanisms in vaccinated animals.