Green pit viper (Trimeresurus sp.) bite occurred throughout Myanmar, but there is no specific antivenom produced in the country for related envenomation. Instead, Myanmar Russell's viper antivenom (Anti-MRV) was often misused because of prolonged clotting time was observed from both species. Thai green pit viper antivenom (Anti-TGPV) raised against Trimeresurus albolabris was found to be effective against venoms of more than ten Trimeresurus sp. from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The present study compared the neutralization capacities of Anti-TGPV and Anti-MRV towards the venom from T. erythrurus from Myanmar. Anti-TGPV was more efficacious than Anti-MRV in cross-neutralizing the lethal and haemorrhagic activities of the venom by a potency of a least 1.4 times higher. Although Anti-TGPV effectively cross-neutralized the coagulation activity of the venom, Anti-MRV failed to do so. Immunodiffusion and immunoblot experiments showed that Anti-TGPV cross-reacted with more protein components of the venom than Anti-MRV. In conclusion, Anti-TGPV is a better choice for patients bitten by Myanmar green pit viper, but further clinical investigation is required. The current findings highlight the development of a specific antivenom against Myanmar green pit viper venom.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a major health concern globally. Genomic epidemiology is an important tool to assess the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several mutations have been reported by genome analysis of the SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, we investigated the mutational and phylogenetic analysis of 30 whole-genome sequences for the virus's genomic characteristics in the specimens collected in the early phase of the pandemic (March-June, 2020) and the sudden surge of local transmission (August-September, 2020). The four samples in the early phase of infection were B.6 lineage and located within a clade of the samples collected at the same time in Singapore and Malaysia, while five returnees by rescue flights showed the lineage B. 1.36.1 (three from India), B.1.1 (one from India) and B.1.80 (one from China). However, there was no evidence of local spread from these returnees. Further, all 19 whole-genome sequences collected in the sudden surge of local transmission showed lineage B.1.36. The surge of the second wave on SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to the single-introduction of a variant (B.1.36) that may result from the strict restriction of international travel and containment efforts. These genomic data provides the useful information to disease control and prevention strategy.