Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is endemic in India and three serotypes viz, O, A, and Asia-1are prevalent in the country. In the current study a total of 7923 serum samples were collected randomly from 4639 cattle, 1363 buffaloe, 1187 sheep and 734 goats from different districts of Karnataka state, India. The samples were screened for antibodies against Non-Structural Proteins (NSPs) and Structural Proteins (SPs) of FMD virus to gather evidence with respect to the FMD virus circulation. The study revealed NSP antibodies in 33% bovines and 16% small ruminants. Higher level of NSP antibodies was observed in cattle (35%), buffaloes (27%), goats (23%) and lower prevalence in sheep (12%).The antibodies against SP was observed in 78% bovines and 18% small ruminants. The study reiterates the importance of strengthening of FMD surveillance in small ruminants as they could pose a potential risk of virus transmission to cattle.

RNA silencing is a general surveillance system in plants and animals which could protect hosts from virus infection. However, many virus species survived by expressing a series of proteins named as RNA Silencing Suppressors (RSSRs) to counteract this defense system. This review elaborated the newly discovered RSSRs encoded by virus including the recently discovered polymerase slippage product and some newly-identified RSSRs in mammalian cells. This review will also provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of RSSRs during the virus infection, especially with regard to its newly identified function in epidemic modification in hosts.

Zika virus came to known to public in 1947, when it was first isolated from a Rhesus monkey from Uganda [1-3]. Due to its unremitting spread in past decade, zika virus created havoc and gained its recognition as one of the prominent threat in public health across the globe [4-7]. In the March of 2015, Brazil confirmed its first zika infection. Following the zika cases, country had to face erupted increment in microcephaly cases [8]. In next nine month span, the cases of microcephaly increased from 150 cases to 400. After observing this trend, PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) issued an epidemiological alert on December 1st 2015, warning a suspected link between Zika and microcephaly [9].

Background: The Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) level is considered as a risk factor for the progression to liver cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) in patients infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and remains a subject of debate.

Methods: We prospectively compared the incidence of HCC between HBV infected patients with normal ALT and those with elevated ALT.

Result: A total of 378 HBV-infected patients (102 with normal ALT and 276 with elevated ALT) were included. The median follow-up period was 8.2 years. The incidence rates of HCC development were significantly lower in the normal ALT patients than in patients with elevated ALT (0.55 vs 2.20 per 100 person-years, P = 0.021, while the incidence rates of hepatic decompensation (0.43 vs 1.23 per 100 person-years) and survival (53.8% vs 47.4% at 10 years) did not significantly differ between the two groups (Kaplan-Meir analysis). The main causes of death were on-hepatic diseases in patients with normal ALT. Multivariate Cox analyses model revealed that the risk of HCC was lower in patients with normal ALT than in patients with elevated ALT (hazard ratio (HR), 0.28, Confidence intervals (CI) (0.14-0.78)), while the risk of hepatic decompensation and mortality was the same in the two groups of patients.

Conclusion: The risk for HCC and liver decompensation normal ALT was markedly reduced in HBV-patients with normal ALT. Aged patients with HBV with normal ALT should therefore maintain long-term surveillance for HCC. Future studies aimed to better identify those with remaining long-term risk for HCC are needed.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that has been aroused worldwide concern, due to its chronic and persistent infection, ultimately leading to a causal result of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein coding transcript longer than 200 Base Pairs (bp) and being considered to be key regulators that involved in various biological processes, such as chromatin modification, transcriptional regulation, post-transcriptional regulation, intracellular trafficking and etc. What deserves to be noticed is that lncRNAs are recently being reported to link with viruses closely, and lncRNAs are differentially expressed after a variety of virus infections, including HIV-1 infection. In this paper, we review the rapidly advancing field of lncRNAs, focus on the current progress of lncRNAs in HIV-1 infection, and briefly discuss their different roles in host gene regulation and viral replication during the establishment or maintenance of viral latency. Interestingly, lncRNAs may emerge as novel biomarkers of antiviral drugs and provide potential targets for new therapeutics of AIDS.