Richard Salvato
@richardsalvato.bsky.social
Genomic epidemiology of infectious diseases🦠🧬 Arboviruses 🦟 https://linktr.ee/Richardsalvato
Happy to share that I just started a position as Assistant Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at USP, Latin America’s top university. My lab will use advanced genomics & computational tools to track pathogens, understand their evolution, and help control public health threats.
1/ 🦟 Big news: #Pathoplexus now supports Dengue virus & Yellow Fever virus - two arboviruses responsible for over 400 million infections and up to 94,000 deaths per year. Here's what’s new in our latest update 👇🏻 Read the full update: pathoplexus.org/news/2026-03... 📰
Amazing work in bringing a new strategy to advance genomic surveillance for tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Congrats @chaneykalinich.bsky.social @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social and all team.
Nathan Grubaugh@nathangrubaugh.bsky.social · 7mo agoSomething very different and cool for my lab. Sequencing a 4.4mb TB genome using the Artic-style PCR amplicon method with >5128 primers in two reactions 🤯 Enables culture-free WGS for TB! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
1/📢 In our new publication, we estimate that in 2022, 134 million people worldwide had a recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and were at high risk of progressing to TB disease. Read the full paper in PLOS Medicine (tinyurl.com/mtbinfection). #TBSky
Estimating the global burden of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: A mathematical modelling study
Alvaro Schwalb and colleagues conducted a mathematical modelling study to estimate the global burden of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis--that which can cause disease and be transmitted--to help guid...
tinyurl.com
Variations in annual dengue intensities are explained by temperature anomalies Our new work led by Abbey Porzucek, @rafalpx.bsky.social, @colincarlson.bsky.social, Dan Weinberger to develop a method to compare relative dengue intensity between years and countries. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
@andersonfbrito.bsky.social and I are seeking input from the community on hosting/sharing arbovirus sequencing data (DENV, CHIKV, OROV, ZIKV, & YFV) on @pathoplexus.org. Please consider filling out this VERY SHORT survey about your interest and/or concerns. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Community survey on the addition of Dengue, Chikungunya, Oropouche, Zika and Yellow fever virus to Pathoplexus
Pathoplexus is a new platform for sharing pathogen sequence data, launched in August 2024 [1], with the primary aim of making sharing and accessing pathogen genomic data easier, faster, and more effic...
docs.google.com
Together with @katwalter.bsky.social, we recently published in @lancetrh-americ.bsky.social a piece highlighting the urgent need for coordinated genomic surveillance of tuberculosis as the situation worsens across the Americas. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Tuberculosis in the Americas: a worsening crisis amid genomic surveillance gaps
In 2023, tuberculosis (TB) returned as the leading infectious disease killer, after falling behind COVID-19 during the pandemic. An estimated 1.25 million lives were lost and 8.2 million new TB cases ...
thelancet.com
📢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...
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...
biorxiv.org
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/...
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....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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 🧵
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.
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...
biorxiv.org
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
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...
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…
sciencedirect.com
🦟🦠 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...
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...
journals.plos.org
New paper! How well did the 2022 WNV forecasting challenge do? Ensembles are the best, and improving! parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
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...
parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com
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...
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...
thelancet.com
Just out! Our recent work showing the factors leading dengue expansion to a non-endemic temperate region.
medRxivpreprint@medrxivpreprint.bsky.social · 2y agoIncreasing dengue outbreaks in temperate Brazil is linked to Aedes aegypti invasion and infestation level driving widespread virus transmission https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.24.25322773v1
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.
medRxivpreprint@medrxivpreprint.bsky.social · 2y agoOropouche virus importation in Southern Brazil and emerging concern calling for enhanced public health surveillance https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.19.25322570v1
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!
Otavio Ranzani@otavioranzani.bsky.social · 2y agoDoes heat have a short effect on Dengue, increasing risk for severe cases? We know meteorological factors affect dengue incidence, with lag effects on weeks/months. Here, led by @rafalpx.bsky.social, we found also a short effect of heat for Dengue Hospitalisation journals.lww.com/environepide...
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...
