Malachy Ifeanyi Okeke

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Verified

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at American University of Nigeria

Orthopoxviruses (OPXVs) not only infect their natural hosts, but some OPXVs can also cause disease in humans. Previously, we partially characterized an OPXV isolated from an 18-year-old male living in Northern Norway. Restriction enzyme analysis and partial genome sequencing characterized this virus as an atypical cowpox virus (CPXV), which we name...

Cowpox virus (CPXV; genus Orthopoxvirus; family Poxviridae) is the causative agent of cowpox, a self-limiting zoonotic infection. CPXV is endemic in Eurasia, and human CPXV infections are associated with exposure to infected animals. In the Fennoscandian region, five CPXVs isolated from cats and humans were collected and used in this study. We repo...

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is the etiological agent of monkeypox (mpox), a zoonotic disease. MPXV is endemic in the forested regions of West and Central Africa, but the virus has recently spread globally, causing outbreaks in multiple non-endemic countries. In this paper, we review the characteristics of the virus, including its ecology, genomics, infe...

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) has been widely tested in clinical trials as recombinant vector vaccine against infectious diseases and cancers in humans and animals. However, one biosafety concern about the use of MVA vectored vaccine is the potential for MVA to recombine with naturally occurring orthopoxviruses in cells and hosts in which it...

Phylogenetic analysis based on whole-genome sequences is the gold standard for monkeypox virus (MPXV) phylogeny. However, genomic epidemiology capability and capacity are lacking or limited in resource poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, these make real-time genome surveillance of MPXV virtually impossible. We hypothesized that phyloge...

Background The risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in conflict and post-conflict settings in Northeastern Nigeria has not been evaluated to date. As this region undergoes recovery, understanding the prevalence of NCDs, such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, and obesity, and the associated behavioral coping mechanisms, is crucial for devel...

We previously demonstrated that the overall number of regulatory T (Treg) cells decrease proportionately with helper CD4⁺ T cells and their frequencies increase in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infected individuals. The question now is whether the discrepancies in Treg cell numbers and frequencies ar...

Monkeypox (mpox), a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), poses a significant public health threat with the potential for global dissemination beyond its endemic regions in Central and West Africa. This study explores the multifaceted aspects of monkeypox, covering its epidemiology, genomics, travel-related spread, mass gathering i...

Introduction in areas with intense perennial malaria transmission, limited data is available on the impact of environmental conditions especially rainfall on naturally acquired immunity against promising malaria vaccine candidates. For this reason, we have compared IgG antibody responses specific to Plasmodium spp. derived MSP3 and UB05 vaccine can...

Gene editing and mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) are biotechnologies used to modify the host nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, respectively. Gene editing is the modification of a region of the host genome using site-specific nucleases, in particular the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas system. Heritable an...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1066589.].

Background Monkeypox (MPX) is endemic in Nigeria, but it was first reported in Adamawa state, North-Eastern Nigeria, in January 2022. There are currently 172 cases of MPX in Nigeria, with four reported deaths, and Adamawa has the second-highest case count. Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate the epidemiological profile of this viral di...

The ongoing monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries is likely to be a consequence of the failure to curtail the spread of the disease in endemic regions of Africa despite decades of constant outbreaks. A globally driven one health approach to prevention and treatment of the disease is essential to control present and future outbreaks.

Objectives: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates are low in Nigeria compared to global trends. This research mapped the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Nigeria and globally to determine whether the Nigerian isola...

Currently, there is no effective therapy against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, there is crucial requirement for effective therapy against COVID-19. To our knowledge, few investigations have been conducted on AT2 progenitor cells as target for the (SARS-CoV-2). Hence, alveolar type 2 progenitor cells may be a possible therapeutic agent...

Background The first wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began when the first index case was reported in Nigeria on the 27th of February 2020, and since then, more than 68,000 cases of the disease were confirmed, with 1173 deaths as of November 30, 2020. Main body Daily situation reports from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Con...

Highlights:-Adenocarcinoma lung cancer is common but difficult to diagnose. - Little is known for its proteome when methanol extract of Calotropis procera was used for the treatment groups. -In the treatment versus control groups, about 413 proteins were upregulated while about 626 proteins were downregulated. -Some of the proteins are potential di...

Background Cluster of Differentiation 80 and CD 86 can also be called B7-1 and B7-2 respectively. They are proteins fundamentally expressed on antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including induced dendritic cells (IDCs), langerhans cells, germinal center dendritic cells (GCDCs), activated monocytes, macrophages and B-cells. They are considered to be a...

Background In 2018, the total number of Lassa fever cases in Nigeria was significantly higher than that observed in previous years. Hence, studies had attempted to determine the underlying cause. However, reports using phylogenetic methods to analyze this finding ruled out the emergence of potentially more transmissible Lassa virus strains or an in...

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV), which is a member of orthopoxvirus genus. The reemergence of MPXV in 2017 (at Bayelsa state) after 39 years of no reported case in Nigeria, and the export of travelers' monkeypox (MPX) from Nigeria to other parts of the world, in 2018 and 2019, respectively, have raised concern that...

BACKGROUND In 2018, the total number of Lassa fever cases in Nigeria was significantly higher than that observed in previous years. Hence, studies had attempted to determine the underlying cause. However, reports using phylogenetic methods to analyze this finding ruled out the emergence of potentially more transmissible Lassa virus strains or an in...

Background: Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection (APFI) resulting from partial immunity is beneficial to individuals living in malaria hyper endemic regions like Cameroon. However APFI sustains not only persistent malaria transmission in the general population but equally accounts for complications related to untreated malaria such as anemi...

Background Immunoglobulin G (IgG)-specific responses against Plasmodium falciparum merozoite antigens such as the merozoite surface protein 3 (MSP3) and UBO5 are known to play critical roles in parasitaemia control and protection from symptomatic illness. However, when there is intense perennial malaria transmission coupled with concurrent infectio...

CITATIONS 0 READS 81 12 authors, including: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Gout, hyperuricemia and associated diseases View project Development of Feed safety plan and feed factory inspection programme in Cameroon View project Abel Lissom

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology is revolutionizing genome editing approaches. Its high efficiency, specificity, versatility, flexibility, simplicity and low cost have made the CRISPR/Cas9 system preferable to other guided site-specific nuclease-based systems such as TALENs...

Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is the vector of choice for human and veterinary applications due to its strong safety profile and immunogenicity in vivo. The use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines against human and animal diseases must comply with regulatory requirements as they pertain to environmental risk assessment, particularly the charact...

This report provides a detailed discussion of uncertainties, knowledge gaps and research needs related to the potential use and introduction of GMOs. It covers GM plants, antibiotic resistance marker genes, GM vaccines, gene therapy and medicinal products containing or consisting of GMOs, as well as GM microorganisms, GM trees and GM salmon. GMOs a...

The fruit juice extract of Citrus limonum was investigated for antibacterial activity. The antibacterial activity of the extract on ten strains of bacteria was determined by both agar well diffusion and macro-broth dilution methods. The extract was variously bacteriostatic and bactericidal against Bacillussubtilis ATCC 6051, Staphylococcus aureus A...

Background Cowpox virus (CPXV), a rodent-borne Orthopoxvirus (OPV) that is indigenous to Eurasia can infect humans, cattle, felidae and other animals. Molecular characterization of CPXVs isolated from different geographic locations is important for the understanding of their biology, geographic distribution, classification and evolution. Our aim wa...

Unvaccinated laboratory-raised, five week old cockerels were fed V4 newcastle disease vaccine in cassava once, twice or thrice; and tested for hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody response. They were subsequently challenged with a local isolate of velogenic newcastle disease virus (NDV). Immune status of the chicken flocks improved with number...

Human orthopoxvirus (OPV) infections in Europe are usually caused by cowpox virus (CPXV). The genetic heterogeneity of CPXVs may in part be due to recombination with other OPV species. We describe the characterization of an atypical CPXV (CPXV-No-H2) isolated from a human patient in Norway. CPXV-No-H2 was characterized on the basis of A-type inclus...

Cowpox virus, which has been used to protect humans against smallpox but may cause severe disease in immunocompromised persons, has reemerged in humans, domestic cats, and other animal species in Europe. Orthopoxvirus (OPV) DNA was detected in tissues (lung, kidney, spleen) in 24 (9%) of 263 free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Sweden. Thymi...

Cowpox virus (CPXV), a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus (OPV), has reservoirs in small mammals and may cause disease in humans, felidae and other animals. In this study we compared CPXVs isolated from humans and cats in Fennoscandia by restriction enzyme and DNA sequence analysis. The HindIII restriction profiles clearly distinguished geographical...

Some orthopoxviruses produce large proteinaceous intracellular bodies, known as A-type inclusions (ATIs) during infection of host cells. Virions associate with ATIs resulting in distinct phenotypes referred to as V+, V+/ and V⁻. The phenotype V+ has the virions embedded in the ATI matrix; V⁻ has no virions embedded within or on the surface of the A...

Poxvirus-vectored vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer are currently under development. We hypothesized that the extensive use of poxvirus-vectored vaccine in future might result in co-infection and recombination between the vaccine virus and naturally occurring poxviruses, resulting in hybrid viruses with unpredictable characteristics....

Recombinant viruses based on modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) are vaccine candidates against infectious diseases and cancers. Presently, multiplication of MVA has been demonstrated in chicken embryo fibroblast and baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells only. The multiplication and morphogenesis of a recombinant (MVA-HANP) and non-recombinant MVA st...

Some poxviruses are very attractive as transgenic vaccine vectors for humans, domestic animals and wildlife. Poxviridae family members circulate in different ecosystems and parts of the world, providing a pool of possible recombination partners for released or escaped genetically modified poxviruses. We performed in vitro double infections with a v...

Avipoxviruses from different geographic regions of the world have been characterized to study their genetic and biological properties, but so far, no such work has been performed on Norwegian isolates. Lesions suggestive of avian pox, found on a Norwegian wild sparrow (Passer domesticus) and wood pigeon (Palumbus palumbus), were obtained in 1972 an...

Aqueous extracts of the leaf of Harungana madagascariensis were analysed phytochemically and evaluated for antimicrobial activity against strains of Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Glycosides, tannins, saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids were detected in the plant material. B....

Ethanolic and aqueous (cold and hot) extracts of Landolphia owerrience root parts (whole-root, root-bark and root-wood) were tested for activity against ten bacterial strains using agar-well diffusion and macro-broth dilution methods, respectively. The ethanolic extracts of the whole-root and root-wood were active against 100 and 80% of the test or...

Ethanol extracts of two Nigerian spices, Piper guineense (fruits) and Xylopia aethiopica (seeds), were tested for anti-microbial activity against a fungus and seven bacterial strains by the agar diffusion technique. Piper guineense, but not Xylopia aethiopica, was active against Candida albicans. Extracts of both spices were variously bactericidal...