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The 2006 outbreak of bluetongue in northern Europe: the entomological perspective
No full textAfter bluetongue (BT) appeared in northern Europe in August 2006 entomological studies were implemented in all five affected Member States (MSs) to establish which species of Culicoides had acted as vectors. The findings can be summarised as follows: (i) C. imicola the principal southern European/African vector of BTV has not penetrated into northern Europe, (ii) three pools of C. obsoletus/C. scoticus and one of C. dewulfi assayed RT-PCR-positive to BTV-8, (iii) in support of these results it was found that both potential vectors had also high parity rates (approximately 40%) indicating increased longevity favouring BTV virogenesis and transmission, (iv) furthermore, C. obsoletus/C. scoticus and C. dewulfi occurred also widely and abundantly on sheep and cattle holdings across the entire affected region, (v) and during the latter part of the season showed strong endophily readily entering livestock buildings in significant numbers to bite the animals inside (endophagy), (vi) which demonstrates that housing at best offers only limited protection to livestock from Culicoides attacks, (vii) in contrast the potential vector C. pulicaris sensu stricto was restricted geographically, was captured rarely, had a low parity rate (10%) and was exophilic indicating it played no role in the outbreak of BT, (viii) the incrimination of C. dewulfi as a novel vector is significant because it breeds in cattle and horse dung this close association raising its vectorial potential, but (ix) problems with its taxonomy (and that of the Obsoletus and Pulicaris species complexes) illustrates the need for morphological and molecular techniques to become more fully integrated to ensure progress in the accurate identification of vector Culicoides, (x) midge densities (as adjudged by light traps) were generally low indicating northern European Culicoides to have a high vector potential and/or that significant numbers of midges are going undetected because they are biting (and transmitting BTV) during the day when light traps are not effective, and (xi) the sporadic capture of Culicoides in the winter of 2007 invites re-examination of the current definition of a vector-free period. The re-emergence of BT over a wide front in 2007 raises anew questions as to precisely how the virus overwinters and asks also that we scrutinise our monitoring systems in terms of their sensitivity and early warning capability
A comparative analysis of public social assistance systems in Belgium and Health Equity Funds in Cambodia: an overview of lessons learned
No full textImpact of baseline health and community support on antiretroviral treatment outcomes in HIV patients in South Africa
No full textNot the final published versionThe importance of community support when scaling-up antiretroviral treatment (ART) in resource-limited settings is poorly understood. We assessed the impact of baseline health, patient characteristics and community support on ART outcomes at 6 and 12 months in a representative sample of 268 patients enrolled in the Free State public sector ART program (South Africa). Delayed ART initiation reduced ART response, whereas support from treatment buddies, community health workers and support groups significantly improved treatment outcomes
Un nouveau programme de primes conditionnelles en espèces pour les familles pauvres en Inde pour favoriser l'accouchement dans les centres de santé: évaluation du processus
No full textRefinement recommendations for intravenous injection and body heat conservation in Mongolian gerbils used in SPECT studies
No full textThis paper describes two aspects of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) which have been refined for use in small animals, as demonstrated by a study on Mongolian gerbils: intravenous injection of radiotracers in the femoral vein and body heat conservation in animals anaesthetized at the time of scanning. Elaborating on recommendations made by other authors, we have combined chemical and physical restraint to optimize injection efficiency as well as to reduce handling time of the animals. Finally, we provide a detailed description of a SPECT compatible water-heated scanning bed, the application of which we believe is not limited to scintigraphic studies
Mixed Giardia duodenalis assemblage A and E infections in calves
No full textA molecular epidemiological study was conducted on 100 dairy (499 calves) and 50 beef (333 calves) farms in Belgium to estimate the prevalence of different Giardia duodenalis assemblages in calves younger than 10 weeks of age. Positive samples from the epidemiological study and from a previous clinical study were selected and genotyped based on the amplification of the beta-giardin gene. To investigate the occurence of mixed assemblage A and E infections in calves, a novel assemblage-specific PCR was developed based on the triose-phosphate isomerase gene. The prevalence was 22% (95% Probability Interval (PI): 12-34%) in dairy calves and 45% (95% PI: 30-64%) in beef calves. In total, 120 Giardia-positive samples from dairy and beef calves collected in the epidemiological study and from clinically affected calves were identified based on the amplification of the beta-giardin gene. Overall G. duodenalis assemblage E was more prevalent (in 64% of the samples), although the majority (59%) of the dairy calves were infected with G. duodenalis assemblage A. Furthermore, mixed G. duodenalis assemblage A and E infections were identified in 31% of the calf samples (n=101) using the assemblage-specific PCR. We believe this is the first report of mixed infections in calves, and the results of the present study indicate that calves, although mainly infected with the host-specific G. duodenalis assemblage E, are frequently infected with the zoonotic assemblage A, either as a mixed or mono-infection, suggesting that calves might be underestimated as a potential zoonotic reservoir for human infections