A number of biological hazards for population of the Russian Federation especially coming from countries with high incidence of cholera, poliomyelitis, avian influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome, typhoid fever and measles was shown after evaluation of risk of cross-border spread of infectious diseases as a part of analysis of current epidemiological situation in the world.
Risk of importation of such infections as HIV-infection, tuberculosis, STI, pneumonia, measles, chicken pox, salmonellosis from different countries was demonstrated through medical evaluation of foreign citizens that entered Amur oblast and Khabarovsk krai.
Increased migration flows across the border of our country also contribute to cross-border spread of pathogens of infectious diseases including those that have a high epidemic potential.
Genomic epidemiological surveillance that is widely implemented in Russia including the Far Eastern Federal district allows to identify genetic changes of pathogens that influence epidemic process of diseases which is needed in order to make management decisions of priority and scale of needed preventive measures. Taking abovementioned in to account, current scientific and practical measures of combat against biological hazards and challenges becomes more pressing and effective.

Epidemiological surveillance over HIV/chronic viral hepatitis coinfection is a pressing issue due to absence of centralized surveillance over this type of mixed infection.
Objective of the study – to perform a retrospective analysis of HIV-infection, chronic viral hepatitis and HIV/ chronic viral hepatitis coinfection incidence and to perform integration analysis of epidemic situation of HIV/ chronic viral hepatitis coinfection in the Far Eastern Federal district during 2007-2022.
HIV-infection incidence as well as HIV/ chronic viral hepatitis coinfection incidence had uprising trend. Chronic viral hepatitis incidence was decreasing.
Primorsky krai had highest HIV/chronic viral hepatitis incidence among the territories of the Far Eastern Federal district. Ranking of HIV/chronic viral hepatitis incidence showed that Kamchatsky, Khabarovsky krais, Republic Sakha (Yakutia) and Magadan oblast had lowest indices. However, after integration analysis was performed Republic Sakha (Yakutia) and Magadan oblast were revealed as constituent entities with latent potential of epidemic situation deterioration due to high spread of chronic viral hepatitis among people living with HIV, high increase rate of HIV/chronic viral hepatitis coinfection incidence. Should be noted that Magadan oblast also had the highest HIV/chronic viral hepatitis prevalence rate.
HIV/chronic viral hepatitis coinfection should be singled out in a separate route of surveillance in the system of HIV monitoring. Integration analysis allows to reveal territories with latent potential of epidemic situation deterioration.

The development of drug resistance of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) determines the relevance of the search for alternative agents capable of inhibiting the replication of this virus. The anti-HIV-1 activity of fucoidans from the brown algae Alaria marginata, Alaria ochotensis, Laminaria longipes, Saccharina cichorioides, Saccharina gurianovae, and Tauya basicrassa was studied. It was found that all fucoidans exhibited significant antiviral activity, affecting the early stages of virus-cell interaction. Fucoidan from S. cichorioides demonstrated the highest virus-inhibitory activity, blocking the attachment and penetration of the virus into host cells.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in situ differs significantly from classical PCR in that it occurs not in solution, but in a thin surface section of a histological preparation, which allows not only to specifically amplify a specific sequence of nucleic acid (DNA – or after reverse transcription – RNA), but also to determine its localization inside the cell. The paper provides examples of the effective use of PCR in situ. The results of the analysis of the bibliographic databases elibrary and PubMed are presented, which indicate that this method is rarely used in scientific research, which clearly does not correspond to its potential. Promising areas of in situ PCR application in solving the most pressing problems for the Russian Far East are discussed.

A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of two commercial sets of PCR test systems has been carried out: "Polyvir HCV genotype" and "AmpliSens HCV-genotype-FL" designed for genotyping hepatitis C virus (Amarillovirales: Flaviviridae, Hepacivirus). The work uses blood serum samples obtained from patients who are registered with chronic hepatitis C in the Primorsky krai.

Mutations in the amino acid sequences of the spike protein were analyzed in 16 SARS-CoV-2 virus strains isolated in Primorsky Krai in 2020-2024. The analysis showed the presence of 1 to 40 amino acid substitutions, deletions or insertions. All samples had both typical mutations for their lines and atypical, rare mutations. Analysis of atypical mutations showed that there was a relative diversity of individual mutations in the spike protein for Wuhan variant, which is typical for the stage of epidemic transformation of the virus population. For Delta and Omicron variants, relative homogeneity was observed even among atypical mutations, which is typical for the phase of epidemic spread of the virus.

The paper presents an analysis of data on the phenomenon of natural focality of severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus and sensitive animal models that can be used to reproduce the process of infection with this virus in the laboratory conditions.

Metabolic syndrome is one of the most significant risk factors for death in COVID-19. The paper provides data from the scientific literature revealing this thesis. Approaches to reducing the glycemic index of food are described.

The report presents a brief analysis of acute intestinal infections incidence in constituent entities of the Far Eastern Federal district during 2021 – 2023. It is noted that incidence of acute infectious gastroenteritis in the district territories exceeds the index of the Russian Federation. A decline of shigellosis and salmonellosis incidence was revealed. Rota- and norovirus infections are most prevalent among intestinal infectious diseases of known origin. Molecular-genetic investigation of intestinal infections outbreaks were conducted in several territories of the district and allowed to reveal etiological agents such as GII.4_Sydney[P16], GII.17[P17], GII.7[P7] и GII.6[P7], GII.3[P12].

Management and interpretation of the results of microbiological diagnostics, as well as methodological issues of microbiological monitoring remain crucial issues of interest. The objective of the study was to evaluate efficiency of microbiological diagnostics of various types of biological material obtained from patients suffering from community-acquired pneumonia. Materials and methods: microbiological examination (cultural, molecular-diagnostic assays) of 60 children aged from 1 up to 7 years diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia confirmed with radiological methods that were undergoing treatment in clinics of Vladivostok was performed. Results: 53 cultures were obtained from 60 patients, among them S. pneumoniae was detected in 90.56% (48 strains), H. influenzae in 22.64% (12 strains) and S. aureus in 5.6% (3 strains) of the tested samples. Bacterial and viral coinfection was revealed in 19% of the samples. Should be noted, bacterial-bacterial associations were more prevalent and were found in 40% of the samples. Among them S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were detected in 21% of the samples. Interestingly, detection of solely viral pathogens totaled up to 2% and was extremely low compared to the estimates of children with nasopharyngeal carriage. Conclusions: Interpretation of the presence of these potentially pathogenic organisms in the lungs of children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia confirmed with radiological methods remains challenging as pathogen detection alone cannot confirm causality. In this regard, we can gain greater insight and interpretation of clinical specimen studies with a growing understanding of the pulmonary microbiome using molecular diagnostic techniques.

Zabaykasky province that includes Republic Buryatia and Zabaykalsky krai is located in territories endemic for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).A retrospective epidemiological analysis of the situation and evaluation of introduced preventive measures against TBE was conducted in territories of interest during 2009-2023. Distribution of municipal units (MU) of the Zabaykalsky province (Zabaykalsky krai – 32 MU and Republic Buryatia – 22 MU) according with groups of epidemiological risk was performed based on analysis of long-term average incidence rate calculated for 2014-2023.

Numerous studies of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) over the past 80 years have established significant intraspecific genetic diversity of TBEV, which increases as the volume of strains studied increases. The amount of information accumulated to date on the genetic diversity of TBEV requires continued study of its genetic structure and biological mechanisms that ensure both the formation of new virus variants and the stabilization of their natural circulation in nature.

The territory of Primorsky Krai is a natural hotbed of tick-borne infections. Due to optimal natural and environmental conditions, a high number of vectors and feeders are maintained in the territory of the region, which creates an opportunity for the circulation of pathogens and contributes to the formation and functioning of well-known and widespread natural foci of infections transmitted by ticks, tick-borne borreliosis, Siberian tick-borne typhus, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis.

The paper describes the modern genotypic structure of the West Nile virus (WNV). Hypotheses are formulated about the possibility of the spread of various WNV genotypes in the territory of the south of the Russian Far East. It is concluded that genotype 1a is the most likely candidate for distribution in this region.

Outbreak of pseudotuberculosis in the Kamchatka region made it possible to note the need to improve epidemiological surveillance methods for this infection. The purpose of this study was to assess the epidemic situation regarding the incidence of pseudotuberculosis in the Kamchatka Territory according to data from 2023-2024. Materials and methods: data from our own research and results of analysis of reporting forms.Results: despite the fact that in the Kamchatka Territory in 2024 (January-June) compared to the same period in 2023, there was a decrease in the incidence of acute intestinal infections with an identified pathogen, the estimated long-term average level (SMU) of the incidence of yersiniosis in the Kamchatka Territory for the period from 2010 to 2019 amounted to 5.1 per 100 thousand population.Conclusions: the outbreak of morbidity in the Kamchatka Territory shows a change in the dynamics of morbidity, characteristic of regions with a cold climate, which confirms the importance of the cyclical nature of infectious diseases, expressed in long-term ups and downs, the causes of which are still unclear.

The paper describes the sequence of stages of the life cycle of Schizophyllum commune (Basidiomycota, Agaricales: Schizophyllaceae): monokaryon → plasmogamy → dikaryon → fruit body → karyogamy → sporulation → monokaryon. Special attention is paid to the molecular mechanisms of genetic control of mating. The derivation of the formulae for the "number of sexes" of S. commune and the justification of the method of experimental contouring of mycelium are explained in detail.

The penetration of the water deer (Hydropotes inermis) into the territory of the South of the Russian Far East and the formation of its stable areal here with the prospect of further expansion require an analysis of possible risks to the biological safety of the Russian Federation. For this purpose, the paper provides a list of pathogens associated with H. inermis, which are presented in the scientific literature.