Publications

Metagenome-assembled genomes of papillomaviruses from mallard and northern pintail cloacal swabs

Microbiol Resour Announc. 2026 Aug 5:e0072626. doi: 10.1128/mra.00726-26. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThere is little known about papillomavirus diversity in waterfowl. From cloacal swabs of one mallard and three northern pintails sampled in New Mexico (USA), we identified four papillomavirus genomes. These papillomaviruses share >92.7% genome-wide nucleotide pairwise identity with Anas platyrhynchos papillomavirus 3 (AplaPV3) identified … Read more

Rapid Expansion of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Clade 2.3.4.4b Genotype D1.1 Virus across Flyway Regions, North America, Fall 2024

Emerg Infect Dis. 2026 Jul 13;32(8). doi: 10.3201/eid3208.260205. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Highly pathogenic avian influenza clade 2.3.4.4b virus continues to circulate in North America and has caused severe human disease. That clade includes genotype D1.1, which became dominant in birds in late 2024. Recent phylodynamic reconstructions place D1.1 emergence in mid-2024 but differ … Read more

ORAL AND GASTRIC PLAQUES, PAPILLOMAS, SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMAS AND PAPILLOMAVIRUSES IN SLENDER-HORNED GAZELLES (GAZELLA LEPTOCEROS )

J Zoo Wildl Med. 2026 Jun;57(2):393-405. doi: 10.1638/2024-0055. ABSTRACT The slender-horned gazelle (SHG, Gazella leptoceros) is a small, sand-colored antelope native to northern Africa. It is endangered due to poaching and habitat loss. Limited reports describe health or disease in wild or zoo populations. Mucosal plaques in the oral cavity (n = 2), papillomas in … Read more

Divergent poxvirus identified in a non-native black rat from Madagascar

Virology. 2026 Jun 30;623:111021. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2026.111021. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Non-native rodents serve as bridges between anthropogenic and natural landscapes. They have expanded across the planet alongside humans while bringing competition, predation, and pathogens, such as poxviruses, to naïve ecosystems. Although rodents serve as reservoirs for multiple zoonotic poxviruses, limited research has focused on … Read more

Population ecology and biogeochemical implications of ssDNA and dsDNA viruses along a permafrost thaw gradient

Nat Commun. 2025 Dec 11;17(1):375. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67057-0. ABSTRACT Anthropogenic-driven climate change is accelerating permafrost thaw, threatening to release vast carbon stores through increased microbial activity. While microbial roles are increasingly studied, the contributions of viruses remain largely unexplored, in part due to soil-associated technical challenges that have hindered their detection and characterization. Here, we applied … Read more

Canine Parvovirus and Vaccine-Origin Feline Panleukopenia Virus in Wastewater, Arizona, USA: July 2022-June 2023

Microorganisms. 2025 Sep 11;13(9):2124. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13092124. ABSTRACT Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a virus of veterinary health significance and a member of the Parvoviridae family. Despite its clinical significance and global distribution, surveillance is often limited to cases serious enough to result in veterinary visit and/or hospitalization, thereby limiting our understanding of its evolution and diversity. … Read more

Age-stratified Data Highlight Worldwide Variability in Organ Donation Rates and the Potential Increase in Organ Donation

Transplantation. 2026 Mar 1;110(3):e707-e714. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005564. Epub 2025 Nov 6. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Ongoing shortages of organs for transplantation have prompted the critical question of which countries have the highest organ donation rates and how each can increase those rates. The existing metric of donors per million population is flawed because it does not sufficiently account … Read more

Identification and characterization of a novel papillomavirus in thornback skate (Raja clavata)

Microb Genom. 2025 Nov;11(11):001541. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.001541. ABSTRACT Papillomaviruses are non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA viruses capable of infecting a wide range of vertebrates, from chondrichthyans to mammals. In this study, we report for the first time the identification and complete genome of a papillomavirus in the thornback skate (Raja clavata), named Raja clavata papillomavirus 1 (RclaPV1). The … Read more

Diversity of polyomaviruses and papillomaviruses in penguins from eastern and western Antarctica

Microb Genom. 2025 Nov;11(11):001580. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.001580. ABSTRACT Polyomaviruses and papillomaviruses are icosahedral viruses with small circular dsDNA genomes. Limited information on their diversity and evolution in avian hosts is available, with even less known regarding Antarctic penguins. Prior to this study, only one polyomavirus and two papillomaviruses had been identified in Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae). … Read more

Three Distinct Circovirids Identified in a Tapeworm Recovered from a Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Three Distinct Circovirids Identified in a Tapeworm Recovered from a Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Žuštra, A., Howard, A., Schwartz, K., Day, R., Dietrich, J., Sobotyk, C., Kraberger, S. & Varsani, A., Jun 2025, In: Viruses. 17, 6, 745. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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