Drawing on insights from Critical Race Theory and framing theory, as well as previous research, this study ties together and analyzes public opinions about two racialized and politicized sports-related issues: (1) the financial compensation of college athletes, and (2) athlete protests during the national anthem. Consequently, we highlight racial/ethnic identities, racial attitudes, and political identities as predictors of these public opinions. Data for our analyses come from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults who were surveyed just prior to the 2016 presidential election. Descriptive results suggest that well over half of U.S. adults opposed having the NCAA pay college athletes; also, about two-thirds of adults viewed athlete protests during the national anthem as unacceptable. Regression results reveal that Black and Latinx adults were more supportive of paying college athletes and athlete protests during the national anthem than White adults. Other people of color were also more likely than White adults to support paying college athletes. Racial attitudes such as a lack of recognition of racial/ethnic inequalities in education and support for Black Lives Matter also shaped public opinions about these issues in expected ways. Finally, we find that political identities were linked to public opinions about these issues even after accounting for racial/ethnic identities and racial attitudes. Overall, this study documents public opinions about these prominent sports-related issues just prior to the 2016 election of a President who particularly racialized and politicized sports issues. Even then, these sports-related issues had been similarly filtered through both a White racial frame that encourages colorblind racism and a counter frame that promotes antiracist activism. Altogether, the present study offers further evidence of how sports provide cultural terrain for individuals to enact and negotiate racialized and politicized views of sports and society and illustrates how these processes were reflected in public opinions in 2016.

The pestiviruses bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 (BVDV-1), 2 (BVDV-2), and HoBi-like (HoBiPeV) are endemic among Brazilian cattle, the world's largest commercial bovine herd. In the last two decades (1998–2018) over 300 bovine pestiviruses have been partially or fully sequenced in Brazil, including viruses from different regions, different epidemiological backgrounds, and associated with diverse clinical presentations. Phylogenetic analysis of these viruses demonstrated a predominance of BVDV-1 (54.4%), with subgenotypes −1a (33.9% of total) and −1b (16.3%) being more frequent and subgenotypes −1d, −1e, and −1i at very low frequencies. The overall BVDV-2 frequency was 25.7% but it varied largely by region, reaching up to 48% in Southern states. BVDV-2b was the predominant subgenotype (84.8% of BVDV-2), followed by BVDV-2a (8.86%). HoBiPeV accounted for 19.9% (61/307) of the genotyped viruses and were detected at high frequency in cattle from Northeastern states. These findings demonstrate a unique mix of pestivirus species and subgenotypes, unlike that seen in Europe or North America. The design of effective diagnostic tools, vaccines, and control programs for limiting bovine pestivirus infections in Brazil must take into consideration this unique mix of viruses. This article provides a critical review of two decades of genetic identification of pestiviruses in Brazil.

Mycobacterium marinum, a bacterium found in freshwater and saltwater, can infect persons with direct exposure to fish or aquariums. During December 2013, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene learned of four suspected or confirmed M. marinum skin or soft tissue infections (SSTIs) among persons who purchased whole fish from Chinese markets. Ninety-eight case-patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) SSTIs were identified with onset June 2013–March 2014. Of these, 77 (79%) were female. The median age was 62 years (range 30–91). Whole genome sequencing of clinical isolates revealed two main clusters and marked genetic diversity. Environmental samples from distributors yielded NTM though not M. marinum. We compared 56 case-patients with 185 control subjects who shopped in Chinese markets, frequency-matched by age group and sex. Risk factors for infection included skin injury to the finger or hand (odds ratio [OR]: 15·5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6·9–37·3), hand injury while preparing fish or seafood (OR 8·3; 95% CI 3·8–19·1), and purchasing tilapia (OR 3·6; 95% CI 1·1–13·9) or whiting (OR 2·7; 95% CI 1·1–6·6). A definitive environmental outbreak source was not identified.

The genesis for this special issue on pestiviruses was a joint meeting on pestiviruses organized by the US BVDV Symposia Committee and the European Society for Veterinary Virology that was held October 14 and 15, 2014 in Kansas City, MO. The theme of the meeting was “Pestiviruses: Old enemies and new challenges”. The impetus for this joint effort was the recognition that regional approaches to disease control are at odds with the worldwide traffic in animal products and biologics. Further, the control of newly recognized pestiviruses, such as HoBi-like viruses, is more effective when approached as a global challenge rather than any one nation's problem. The joint meeting featured talks by researchers from North America, South America, Australia and Europe. The papers in this issue arose from keynote talks presented at the joint meeting and are organized around the following themes; pestiviruses and the immune system, genetic variability, the emergence of new pestiviruses and pestivirus control programs.

HoBi-like viruses, also referred to as bovine viral diarrhea virus 3 (BVDV-3) and atypical pestivirus, have been proposed as a new putative bovine pestivirus species. These viruses were first identified in the last decade and are currently distributed in at least three continents. Published findings suggest that these viruses may be endemic at least in parts of South America and Asia. The clinical presentations in cattle, described in field outbreaks and controlled studies, are similar to those associated with BVDV and range from subclinical to mild clinical signs, sporadically associated with reproductive losses, respiratory illness and hemorrhagic syndrome. The complete host range of HoBi-like virus is unknown, but data suggest higher adaptation of HoBi-like viruses to ruminants than swine. Acute infections, characterized by mild clinical signs, such as low-grade pyrexia and leukopenia, have been observed in both cattle and sheep. Virus has been isolated from nasal swabs indicating that virus was being shed. While seroconversion has been observed in pigs, no clinical presentation or viral shedding was evident following inoculation. While some commercial BVDV diagnostic tests may detect HoBi-like viruses, these tests do not differentiate between BVDV and HoBi-like viruses. The differentiation of BVDV and HoBi-like viruses is critical to the design of surveillance programs for these viruses.

Until the early 1990s there were just three recognized species in the pestivirus genus, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), border disease virus (BDV) and classical swine fever virus (CSFV). Subsequently BVDV were divided into two different species, BVDV1 and BVDV2 and four additional putative pestivirus species have been identified, based on phylogenetic analysis. The four putative pestivirus specices, listed in chronological order of published reports, are Giraffe (isolated from one of several giraffes in the Nanyuki District of Kenya suffering from mucosal disease-like symptoms), HoBi (first isolated from fetal bovine serum originating in Brazil and later from samples originating in Southeast Asia), Pronghorn (isolated from an emaciated blind pronghorn antelope in the USA), and Bungowannah (isolated following an outbreak in pigs, resulting in still birth and neonatal death, in Australia). In addition to the emergence of putative new species of pestivirus, changes in host and virulence of recognized or ‘classic’ pestiviruses have led to reevaluation of disease control programs and management of domestic and wildlife populations.