This study uses non-invasive fecal samples and chromosome 21 target capture sequencing to analyze bonobo population structure, identifying three subpopulations and river barriers influencing genetic differentiation.

Genome biology · Jul 21, 2026Peer-reviewedBioinformatics

Opportunity Drives Spillover: Serological Surveillance across Carnivores, Omnivores and Herbivores in an HPAIV H5 Hotspot in North-East Germany, 2023-2025

Anne Günther, Josefine Wassermann, Jonas Heck, Marin Bussi, Andrea Aebischer, Christoph Staubach, H Bergmann, Fabian Hubertus Leendertz, Martin Beer, Gereon Schares, Kerstin Wernike

The paper conducts serological surveillance of H5 HPAI in wildlife in North-East Germany, finding seropositivity in boar and carnivores but not ruminants, indicating avian-to-mammalian spillover.

bioRxiv · Sep 30, 2025 · PreprintEcology

Neuroinfectiology of an atypical anthrax-causing pathogen in wild chimpanzees

Tobias Gräßle, Carsten Jäger, Evgeniya P. Kirilina, Jenny E. Jaffe, Penelope Carlier, Andrea Isabel Pizarro, Anna Sophia Jauch, Katja Reimann, Ilona Lipp, Roman Martin Wittig, Catherine Crockford, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Fabian Hubertus Leendertz, Markus Morawski

This study investigates the neuroinfectiology of Bcbva in wild chimpanzees, finding it causes meningitis and breaches the blood-brain barrier more effectively than B. anthracis.

bioRxiv · Nov 21, 2023 · PreprintNeuroscience

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa

Eduan Wilkinson, Marta Giovanetti, Houriiyah Tegally, James Emmanuel San, Richard J. Lessells, Diego F. Cuadros, Darren Patrick Martin, David A. Rasmussen, Abdel‐Rahman N. Zekri, Abdoul Karim Sangaré, Abdoul–Salam Ouédraogo, Abdul Karim Sesay, Priscilla Abechi, Adedotun-Sulaiman Kemi, Adewunmi M. Olubusuyi, , Gabriel K. Mbunsu

This study uses genomic data from 8746 SARS-CoV-2 genomes across 33 African countries to show that most epidemics were initiated by European importations and later driven by local transmission and mobility, leading to the spread of variants of concern.

Science · Oct 9, 2021Peer-reviewedGenetic & Genomic Medicine

Genome-wide analysis of 944,133 individuals provides insights into the etiology of hemorrhoidal disease

Tenghao Zheng, David Ellinghaus, Simonas Juzėnas, François Cossais, Greta Burmeister, Gabriele Mayr B, Isabella Friis Jørgensen, Maris Teder‐Laving, Anne Heidi Skogholt, Sisi Chen, Peter R. Strege, Go Ito, Karina Banasik, Thomas Becker, Frank Bokelmann, , André Franke

This study performs a genome-wide association analysis of hemorrhoidal disease in 944,133 individuals, identifying 102 risk loci and linking them to vascular and tissue development pathways.

Gut · Apr 22, 2021Peer-reviewedGenetic & Genomic Medicine

Geographically structured genomic diversity of non-human primate-infecting Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue

Benjamin Mubemba, Jan F. Gogarten, Verena J. Schuenemann, Ariane Düx, Alexander K. Lang, Kathrin Nowak, Kamilla Pléh, Ella Reiter, Markus Ulrich, Anthony Agbor, Gregory Brazzola, Tobias Deschner, Paula Dieguez, Anne‐Céline Granjon, Sorrel C. Z. Jones, , Sébastien Calvignac‐Spencer

The paper characterizes the genomic diversity of Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue in non-human primates across sub-Saharan Africa, finding geographic clustering of strains rather than host or symptom-based clades.

Microbial Genomics · Oct 30, 2020Peer-reviewedGenomics