Authors
Liu Pengfei, Lin Chenyu, Li Ting, Hou Runyu, Xie Lixin
Published in
Frontiers in microbiology. Volume 17. Pages 1849489. Epub Jul 01, 2026.
Abstract
To address the serious threat posed by emerging viral pathogens in the human upper respiratory tract against the backdrop of global epidemics of various viruses, particularly the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in recent years, this study aimed to identify previously undetected in the human upper respiratory tract viruses in febrile patients, clarify their clinical and epidemiological characteristics, and analyze virus-host interactions through multi-omics approaches, thereby providing a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of newly discovered upper respiratory tract viruses.
This was a single-center cross-sectional study conducted at the fever clinic of the Eighth Medical Center of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital in Beijing, China, from April 2025 to May 2025. Two years after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), throat swab samples were collected from 218 febrile patients. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed, and the obtained sequences were comprehensively analyzed using the Global Pathogen Analysis System (GPAS). Samples that tested positive for Nairobi sheep disease virus (NSDV) were further subjected to serum antigen verification, followed by serological antibody follow-up at 4 months post-diagnosis. Additionally, multi-omics approaches were employed, along with intergroup comparisons of multicategorical ordinal variables and logistic regression analysis, to assess virus-host correlations.
Among the 218 patients, NSDV, a tick-borne virus, was detected in the throat swab samples of 10 patients, of whom 2 remained seropositive for NSDV antibodies 4 months after diagnosis. Further correlation analysis among NSDV positive patients revealed that tumor was the most significant and statistically meaningful risk factor for NSDV positivity, with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.330 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.352-8.199; p = 0.0089). Increased age was associated with a decreased risk of NSDV positivity (OR = 0.949; 95% CI: 0.913-0.987; p = 0.0085). Smoking and positive imaging findings may constitute potential risk factors.
NSDV can be detected in the human upper respiratory tract and may contribute to febrile illness in the post-pandemic era. Persistent seropositivity suggests possible long-term immune engagement, and multi-omics analyses help further elucidate host susceptibility and viral adaptation mechanisms.
PMID:
42459880
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Jul 2026.
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