By: Austin Weynand, MHS
A seasoned international journalist and scientist, Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff is intent on transcribing the complexities of One Health investigation and making its news available to all who want to listen. She visited UTMB in August 2022 to absorb knowledge from the institution’s infectious disease experts, and in turn shared her goals of effective science communication. Now, she discusses recent evidence for the true
volume of viral spillover that appears to be occurring globally.
In September 2022, Doucleff traveled to Sarawak, Malaysia to meet with Professor Greg Gray of UTMB and Pediatrician Dr. Teck-Hock Toh of Sibu Hospital. In Sarawak, Doucleff learned of UTMB’s One Health research projects and saw first-hand the challenges of providing healthcare to Sarawak’s rural population living in remote jungle settings. Doucleff hired a guide to help her find a family
whose son, in 2018, had suffered from severe pneumonia; the research team later learned his illness was likely caused by a never-before-detected canine-like coronavirus. Initially, the boy presented with a severe fever and breathing problems. He was
transported by car for three hours to Sibu Hospital where he gradually recovered with intensive hospital support. Doucleff interviewed the boy’s mother in 2022 and found the boy’s severe illness had eventually fully resolved. In her podcast,
she used this example to underscore the tremendous value of Gray and Toh’s research approach in discovering new viruses which may later cause epidemics.
The virus discovery was due to Toh and other hospital collaborators working with Gray in collecting nasal swab samples from pneumonia patients in Sarawak. The specimens, along with other information, were sent to Gray who found molecular signals of new
viruses. Gray shared specimens with his collaborator, Dr. Anastasia Vlasova of Ohio State University. Vlasova, a virologist who studies animal viruses, isolated and characterized the pathogen.2 Later, Vlasova and other scientists
realized the virus’s genetic lineage revealed that this particular family of coronaviruses had spilled over into human populations no less than four times in the 21st century – and likely more. Later, Dr. John Lednicky of the University of Florida characterized a virus that was 99.4% similar to the Sarawak virus, this time an ocean away in Haiti.3 Similar variants
have been identified in at least two other nations; Thailand and the United States (specifically Arkansas).4,5 These findings are puzzle-pieces giving way to a tremendous insight: Viruses are spilling over into humans all the time, all
over the world. “Spillovers aren’t like a needle in a haystack; they’re more like a rake sticking out of a haystack. Once researchers start looking – they find them,” reports Doucleff.
Dr. Doucleff ends on an assuaging note. The lucky truth is that the vast majority of viruses spreading from animal to person cause few or no symptoms and do not spread further to others. The concern lies in the miniscule chance that one of these viruses,
as we have seen in generational pandemics, will mutate such that it becomes clinically significant. Hence, the priority of One Health – to hunt for these viruses as they begin spilling over from animals to humans, but before they become efficient
at causing human disease, so we may be better prepared to stop their spread. This strategy in new virus detection that Gray and Toh have adopted is paramount for public health.
References:
Doucleff, M. (2023, February 15). How do pandemics begin? There’s a new theory — and a new strategy to thwart them. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/15/1152892721/how-to-stop-pandemics
Vlasova, A. N., Diaz, A., Damtie, D., Xiu, L., Toh, T.-H., Lee, J. S.-Y., Saif, L. J., & Gray, G. C. (2022). Novel Canine Coronavirus Isolated from a Hospitalized Patient With Pneumonia in East Malaysia. Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official
Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 74(3), 446–454. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab456
Lednicky, J. A., Tagliamonte, M. S., White, S. K., Blohm, G. M., Alam, M. M., Iovine, N. M., Salemi, M., Mavian, C., & Morris, J. G. (2022). Isolation of a Novel Recombinant Canine Coronavirus From a Visitor to Haiti: Further Evidence of Transmission
of Coronaviruses of Zoonotic Origin to Humans. Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 75(1), e1184–e1187. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab924
Piewbang, C., Jo, W. K., Puff, C., van der Vries, E., Kesdangsakonwut, S., Rungsipipat, A., Kruppa, J., Jung, K., Baumgärtner, W., Techangamsuwan, S., Ludlow, M., & Osterhaus, A. D. M. E. (2018). Novel canine circovirus strains from Thailand:
Evidence for genetic recombination. Scientific Reports, 8(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25936-1
Silva, C. S., Mullis, L. B., Pereira, O., Saif, L. J., Vlasova, A., Zhang, X., Owens, R. J., Paulson, D., Taylor, D., Haynes, L. M., & Azevedo, M. P. (2014). Human Respiratory Coronaviruses Detected In Patients with Influenza-Like Illness
in Arkansas, USA. Virology & Mycology: Infectious Diseases, 2014(Suppl 2), 004. https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0517.S2-004