scholarly journals Co-Circulation of Multiple Serotypes of Bluetongue Virus in Zambia

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 963
Author(s):  
Herman M. Chambaro ◽  
Michihito Sasaki ◽  
Edgar Simulundu ◽  
Isaac Silwamba ◽  
Yona Sinkala ◽  
...  

Bluetongue (BT) is an arthropod-borne viral disease of ruminants with serious trade and socio-economic implications. Although the disease has been reported in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, there is currently no information on circulating serotypes and disease distribution in Zambia. Following surveillance for BT in domestic and wild ruminants in Zambia, BT virus (BTV) nucleic acid and antibodies were detected in eight of the 10 provinces of the country. About 40% (87/215) of pooled blood samples from cattle and goats were positive for BTV nucleic acid, while one hartebeest pool (1/43) was positive among wildlife samples. Sequence analysis of segment 2 revealed presence of serotypes 3, 5, 7, 12 and 15, with five nucleotypes (B, E, F, G and J) being identified. Segment 10 phylogeny showed Zambian BTV sequences clustering with Western topotype strains from South Africa, intimating likely transboundary spread of BTV in Southern Africa. Interestingly, two Zambian viruses and one isolate from Israel formed a novel clade, which we designated as Western topotype 4. The high seroprevalence (96.2%) in cattle from Lusaka and Central provinces and co-circulation of multiple serotypes showed that BT is widespread, underscoring the need for prevention and control strategies.

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S127-S129
Author(s):  
Samuel Kariuki ◽  
Ellis Owusu-Dabo

Abstract During the 11th International Conference on Typhoid and Other Invasive Salmonelloses held in Hanoi, Vietnam, a number of papers were presented on the burden of disease, epidemiology, genomics, management, and control strategies for invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella (iNTS) disease, which is increasingly becoming an important public health threat in low- and middle-income countries, but especially in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA). Although there were minor variations in characteristics of iNTS in different settings (urban vs rural, country to country), it was observed that iNTS has gained greater recognition as a major disease entity in children younger than 5 years. Renewed efforts towards greater understanding of the burden of illness, detection and diagnostic strategies, and management and control of the disease in communities in sSA through the introduction of vaccines will be important.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mavianis Pinilla ◽  
Julio C. Giraldo ◽  
Lucy M. Villafañe ◽  
Jaime Lorduy ◽  
Sandy Rocha ◽  
...  

Cysticercosis is a parasitic infection caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. It is acquired through fecal-oral contamination, and it can affect humans and pigs. In Colombia, this is an endemic infection especially in locations where breeding and commercialization of pigs are performed under poorly hygienic conditions, such as in Maria La Baja, Department of Bolívar. However, seroprevalence of anti-cysticercus antibodies in pigs or pig breeders at these locations has not been determined. Thus, using indirect immunoassays we quantified anti-cysticercus antibodies in serum samples of pigs (n=254) and pig breeders (n=121) in Maria La Baja. Furthermore, a questionnaire was applied in order to determine environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic variables. Anti-cysticercus antibodies were detected in 36.6% (93/254) of pigs and 44.6% (54/121) of pig breeders. A significant causal association was identified for daily cleaning of pigsties and having anti-cysticercus antibodies with an aOR = 15.16 (CI 95%: 2.13 - 107.86; p = 0.0002). No significant associations were identified between the evaluated variables and seroprevalence of anti-cysticercus antibodies in pigs. Our study indicates that there is a high seroprevalence of anti-cysticercus antibodies in humans and pigs in locations where handling of pigs is performed under poor hygienic conditions. Our results suggest that there is a need to design and implement prevention and control strategies in Maria La Baja in order to reduce transmission of this disease.      


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. e0009630
Author(s):  
Rebecca F. Bodenham ◽  
Stella Mazeri ◽  
Sarah Cleaveland ◽  
John A. Crump ◽  
Folorunso O. Fasina ◽  
...  

Background Brucellosis is a neglected zoonosis endemic in many countries, including regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Evaluated diagnostic tools for the detection of exposure to Brucella spp. are important for disease surveillance and guiding prevention and control activities. Methods and findings Bayesian latent class analysis was used to evaluate performance of the Rose Bengal plate test (RBT) and a competitive ELISA (cELISA) in detecting Brucella spp. exposure at the individual animal-level for cattle, sheep, and goats in Tanzania. Median posterior estimates of RBT sensitivity were: 0.779 (95% Bayesian credibility interval (BCI): 0.570–0.894), 0.893 (0.636–0.989), and 0.807 (0.575–0.966), and for cELISA were: 0.623 (0.443–0.790), 0.409 (0.241–0.644), and 0.561 (0.376–0.713), for cattle, sheep, and goats, respectively. Sensitivity BCIs were wide, with the widest for cELISA in sheep. RBT and cELISA median posterior estimates of specificity were high across species models: RBT ranged between 0.989 (0.980–0.998) and 0.995 (0.985–0.999), and cELISA between 0.984 (0.974–0.995) and 0.996 (0.988–1). Each species model generated seroprevalence estimates for two livestock subpopulations, pastoralist and non-pastoralist. Pastoralist seroprevalence estimates were: 0.063 (0.045–0.090), 0.033 (0.018–0.049), and 0.051 (0.034–0.076), for cattle, sheep, and goats, respectively. Non-pastoralist seroprevalence estimates were below 0.01 for all species models. Series and parallel diagnostic approaches were evaluated. Parallel outperformed a series approach. Median posterior estimates for parallel testing were ≥0.920 (0.760–0.986) for sensitivity and ≥0.973 (0.955–0.992) for specificity, for all species models. Conclusions Our findings indicate that Brucella spp. surveillance in Tanzania using RBT and cELISA in parallel at the animal-level would give high test performance. There is a need to evaluate strategies for implementing parallel testing at the herd- and flock-level. Our findings can assist in generating robust Brucella spp. exposure estimates for livestock in Tanzania and wider sub-Saharan Africa. The adoption of locally evaluated robust diagnostic tests in setting-specific surveillance is an important step towards brucellosis prevention and control.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-665
Author(s):  
Jian Zhou ◽  
◽  
Xiaohui Lu ◽  
Liang Ye ◽  
Yu Shao ◽  
...  

This study evaluates COVID-19 prevention and control policies. Based on the simulation, we compare the effects of two major policies: contact restriction and active treatment. Through regression and cluster analysis, we classified 169 countries and regions in the world into 10 groups, among which five groups accounted for the major proportion: the ones with the labels “CHN (China) mode,” “SE (South Europe) mode,” “ENE-SSA (East & North Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa) mode,” “US (United States) mode,” and “DEU (Germany) mode”). Differences in the effects of the prevention and control of COVID-19 in typical countries in each mode are comprehensively investigated. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows: First, contact restriction outperforms active treatment in curbing the spread of COVID-19. Second, “CHN mode” ranks the highest level of epidemic control and emphasizes epidemic prevention and control more than economic stimulus, which is the opposite of the “US mode”. Regression analysis reveals that the differences in epidemics worldwide are caused by policy differences among modes.


BMJ ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 344 (mar02 1) ◽  
pp. e586-e586 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Chisholm ◽  
R. Baltussen ◽  
D. B. Evans ◽  
G. Ginsberg ◽  
J. A. Lauer ◽  
...  

Oncology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Okuku ◽  
Abrahams Omoding ◽  
Victoria Walusansa ◽  
Martin Origa ◽  
Gerald Mutungi ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Rina Das ◽  
Md. Ahshanul Haque ◽  
Mohammod Jobayer Chisti ◽  
Tahmeed Ahmed ◽  
Abu Syed Golam Faruque

Factors associated with nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) infection have not been well characterized to date. We aimed to compare the associated factors among children under age 5 years with NTS infection in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Data from children having moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) and asymptomatic children with NTS isolated from fecal specimens were extracted from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS), conducted from December 2007 to March 2011. Compared with NTS-negative children, NTS-associated MSD cases in South Asia were associated with the presence of goat in the house (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25–3.70) and handwashing after handling an animal (aOR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.36–3.74). In sub-Saharan Africa, children with NTS associated MSD had a greater association with stunting (1.21 95% CI: 1.01–1.45), longer duration of diarrhea (aOR: 1.25 95% CI: 1.19–1.31); presence of cow in house (aOR: 1.54 95% CI: 1.09–2.16), handwashing after handling animal (aOR: 2.41 95% CI: 1.74–3.33). Drinking tube well water (aOR: 0.54 95% CI: 0.32–0.91), availability of toilet facility (aOR: 0.58 95% CI: 0.53–0.65), and handwashing before eating (aOR: 0.76 95% CI: 0.57–1.00) and after defecation (aOR: 0.80 95% CI: 0.69, 0.94) were found to be protective. The differentials between children of both regions having fecal NTS are distinct and underscore the need for policymaking for preventive and control strategies targeting stunted children.


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