Trematode infections cause serious economic losses to livestock worldwide. Global production losses due to fasciolosis alone exceed US$3 billion annually. Many trematode infections are also zoonotic ...and thus a public health concern. The World Health Organization has estimated that about 56 million people worldwide are infected by at least one zoonotic trematode species, and up to 750 million people are at risk of infection. Fasciolosis caused by the fluke Fasciola gigantica is endemic in Nigeria and is one of the most common causes of liver condemnation in abattoirs. Total cattle losses from Fasciola infection in Nigeria have been estimated to cost £32.5 million. Other trematode infections of cattle, including paramphistomosis, dicrocoeliasis and schistosomiasis, have all been reported in various parts of Nigeria, with varying prevalence. Most publications on trematode infections are limited to Nigerian local and national journals, with very few international reports. This paper therefore summarized the current data on distribution, control and zoonotic trematode infections in Nigeria and other African countries. We also identified research gaps and made recommendations for future research and areas for funding for policy/planning.
We investigated three bovine respiratory pathobionts in healthy cattle using qPCR optimised and validated to quantify Histophilus somni, Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida over a wide ...dynamic range. A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the carriage and density of these bacteria in the nasal passages of healthy beef calves (N = 60) housed over winter in an experimental farm setting. The three pathobiont species exhibited remarkably different carriage rates and density profiles. At housing, high carriage rates were observed for P. multocida (95%), and H. somni (75%), while fewer calves were positive for M. haemolytica (13%). Carriage rates for all three bacterial species declined over the 75-day study, but not all individuals became colonised despite sharing of environment and airspace. Colonisation patterns ranged from continuous to intermittent and were different among pathobiont species. Interval-censored exponential survival models estimated the median duration of H. somni and P. multocida carriage at 14.8 (CI
: 10.6-20.9) and 55.5 (CI
: 43.3-71.3) days respectively, and found higher density P. multocida carriage was associated with slower clearance (p = 0.036). This work offers insights into the dynamics of pathobiont carriage and provides a potential platform for further data collection and modelling studies.
Abstract Background Periprosthetic osteolysis by polyethylene wear-debris-triggered osteoclastsis viewed as the main pathophysiological pathway in aseptic loosening in total hip arthroplasty. The ...current aim was to study osteoclast occurrence in osteolytic lesions in early and late revisions of the Charnley low-friction-torque-arthroplasty(CLFA). Methods Biopsies of the soft interface membrane and adjacent bone were taken from osteolytic lesions during revision of 16 loose CLFA;early (2–6 years) or late (> 10 years) after primary surgery. By light microscopy (LM), cell-dense regions with signs of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption were selected for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Three additional patients were studied in LM for osteoclast markers (TRAP and CathK). Results LM disclosed a low-grade chronic inflammation and birefringent particles in most sections. Multiple conglomerates of TRAP+ and CathK+ mononuclear and multi-nucleated cells were found deep in the fibrous interface membrane. TEM showed traces of polyethylene-like particles in 67%–100% of the cells. Osteoclast-like cells exhibiting resorptive activity were few (mean 0.7%, SD 0.2%) and multinucleated cells, possibly osteoclast precursor cells, located immediately on the bone were also scarce (mean 2.7%, SD 5.3%). Multinucleated (OR 3.0; CI95% 1.7—5.5) and macrophage-like cells (OR 3.6, 2.2—5.6) were typically located deeper in the inflammatory interface membrane and had a pathological appearance with distension and abundance of phagocytic vacuoles. There were no systematic differences in cell populations between early or late revisions. Conclusion Despite probable ongoing osteoclastogenesis in the osteolytic lesions, there were few sites of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. These findings attach a contributing biological explanation to the longevity of the CLFA.
Tick abundance and seroconversion rates of 640 indigenous cattle in a mixed crop-livestock system in Uganda were investigated in a 14 months longitudinal study. Up to 100% of the cattle in Buyimini, ...Kubo, Nanjeho, Ojilai and Sitengo villages (high tick challenge zone) were consistently infested with Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, whereas on average 50% of the cattle in Bunghaji, Hitunga and Magoje villages (low tick challenge zone) were inconsistently infested. Likewise, up to 50% of the cattle in Buyimini, Kubo, Nanjeho, Ojilai and Sitengo villages were consistently infested with R. (Boophilus) decoloratus ticks, while on average 30% of the cattle in Bunghaji, Hitunga and Magoje were inconsistently infested. Seroconversion rates of cattle to Anaplasma marginale infection under low tick challenge were higher than those under high tick challenge, but the reverse was true for Babesia bigemina infection. For Theileria parva infection, seroconversion rates of cattle older than 6 months under low tick challenge were significantly higher than those under high tick challenge (P < 0.05). However, the likelihood of occurrence of theileriosis cases among calves (0–6 m) under high tick challenge was 6 times (Odds ratio = 5.82 1.30–36.37) higher than under low tick challenge. The high density of anti-tick plants Lantana camara and Ocimum suave that were widespread in villages with low tick challenge, among other factors, was probably the cause for unfavourable tick survival.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons now lists 'How to evaluate evidence' as a day one competence for newly qualified vets. In this article, representatives from each of the veterinary schools in ...the UK discuss how the challenge of delivering and assessing the concepts of evidence-based veterinary medicine in a crowded undergraduate curriculum can be met.
Tick- and tsetse-borne diseases cost Africa ∼US$4–5 billion per year in livestock production-associated losses. The use of pyrethroid-treated cattle to control ticks and tsetse promises to be an ...increasingly important tool to counter this loss. However, uncontrolled use of this technology might lead to environmental damage, acaricide resistance in tick populations and a possible exacerbation of tick-borne diseases. Recent research to identify, quantify and to develop strategies to avoid these effects are highlighted.
In developing countries, cities are rapidly expanding and urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has an important role in feeding these growing urban populations; however such agriculture also ...carries public health risks such as zoonotic disease transmission. It is important to assess the role of UPA in food security and public health risks to make evidence-based decisions on policies. Describing and mapping the peri-urban interface (PUI) are the essential first steps for such an assessment. Kampala, the capital city of Uganda is a rapidly expanding city where the PUI has not previously been mapped or properly described. In this paper we provide a spatial representation of the entire PUI of Kampala economic zone and determine the socio-economic factors related with peri-urbanicity using a population-dynamics focussed rapid rural mapping. This fills a technical gap of rapid rural mapping and offers a simple and rapid methodology for describing the PUI which can be applied in any city in developing countries for wide range of studies.
There is an urgent need for cost-effective strategies for the sustainable control of
Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (Rhodesian) sleeping sickness, which is a fatal zoonotic disease that has caused ...devastating epidemics during the past century. Sleeping sickness continues to be controlled by crisis management, using active case detection, treatment and vector control – activities that occur only during major epidemics; during the intervening periods, farmers and communities must fend for themselves. There are several methods for assessing the burden of this disease and there is a series of farmer-led methodologies that can be applied to reduce the burden of human and animal trypanosomiases.
PDF
