Excessive antimicrobial usage and deficiencies in hygiene in meat production systems may result in undesirable human health hazards, such as the presence of antimicrobial drug residues and ...non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), including antimicrobial resistant (AMR) NTS. Recently, Vietnam has witnessed the emergence of integrated intensive animal production systems, coexisting with more traditional, locally-sourced wet markets. To date no systematic studies have been carried out to compare health hazards in beef, pork and chicken in different production systems. We aimed to: (1) estimate the prevalence of antimicrobial residues in beef, pork and chicken meat; (2) investigate the prevalence and levels of NTS contamination; and (3) investigate serovar distribution and AMR against critically important antimicrobials by animal species and type of retail (wet market vs. supermarket) in Vietnam. Fresh pork, beef and chicken meat samples (N=357) sourced from wet markets and supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Hanoi and Dong Thap were screened for antimicrobial residues by PremiTest, and were further investigated by Charm II. Samples from HCMC (N=113) were cultured using ISO 6579:2002/Amd 1:2007. NTS bacteria were quantified using a minimum probable number (MPN) technique. NTS isolates were assigned to serovar by Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST), and were investigated for their phenotypic susceptibility against 32 antimicrobials. A total of 26 (7.3%) samples tested positive by PremiTest (9.5% beef, 4.1% pork and 8.4% chicken meat). Sulfonamides, tetracyclines and macrolides were detected by Charm in 3.1%, 2.8% and 2.0% samples, respectively. Overall, meat samples from wet markets had a higher prevalence of residues than those from supermarkets (9.6% vs. 2.6%) (p=0.016). NTS were isolated from 68.4% samples from HCMC. Chicken samples from wet markets had by far the highest NTS counts (median 3.2 logMPN/g). NTS isolates displayed high levels of resistance against quinolones (52.2%) and β-lactams (49.6%), but low levels against 3rd generation cephalosporins (4.4%) and aminoglycosides (0.8%). The highest adjusted prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR) corresponded to isolates from chicken meat and pork (OR 8.3 and 1.8, respectively) (baseline=beef). S. Kentucky was the most common serovar identified (11 from chicken, 1 from beef) and 91.7% isolates was MDR. 11/12 isolates corresponded to ST198, a worldwide-disseminated multi-resistant NTS clone. We recommend stepping up policy measures to promote responsible antimicrobial use in animal production, as well as awareness about withdrawal periods to limit the hazard of residues in animal products, and improving slaughtering/hygiene procedures to limit cross-contamination with NTS, particularly in poultry wet markets.
•Antimicrobial residues were found in 7.3% meat samples (9.6% in meat from wet markets and 2.6% in meat from supermarkets).•Over two thirds (68.4%) of meat samples were contaminated with non-typhoidal Salmonella; 52.2% of isolates were multidrug resistant.•Chicken meat from wet markets had the highest loads of contamination with non-typhoidal Salmonella (median 3.2logMPN/g in positive samples).•Multidrug resistance was highest in Salmonella from chicken meat, and lowest in beef; the type of retail was not linked to increased resistance.•The most commonly identified serovar was multidrug resistant Salmonella Kentucky ST198, with high levels resistance against β-lactams and quinolones.
We sampled nasal-pharyngeal throat swabs from 96,123 asymptomatic individuals at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and generated 22,290 pools at collection, each containing samples from two to seven ...individuals. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in 24 pools, and confirmed the infection in 32 individuals after resampling and testing of 104 samples from positive pools. We completed the testing within 14 days. We would have required 64 days to complete the screening for the same number of individuals if we had based our testing strategy on individual testing. There was no difference in cycle threshold (Ct) values of pooled and individual samples. Thus, compared with individual sample testing, our approach did not compromise PCR sensitivity, but saved 77% of the resources. The present strategy might be applicable in settings, where there are shortages of reagents and the disease prevalence is low, but the demand for testing is high.
We report a superspreading event of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection initiated at a bar in Vietnam with evidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission, based on ...ministry of health reports, patient interviews, and whole-genome sequence analysis. Crowds in enclosed indoor settings with poor ventilation may be considered at high risk for transmission.
Mpox was diagnosed in 2 women returning to Vietnam from the United Arab Emirates. The monkeypox viruses belonged to an emerging sublineage, A.2.1, distinct from B.1, which is responsible for the ...ongoing multicountry outbreak. Women could contribute to mpox transmission, and enhanced genomic surveillance is needed to clarify pathogen evolution.
A second cluster of COVID-19 cases imported from Europe occured in Vietnam from early March 2020. We describe 44 SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive patients (cycle threshold value <30) admitted to the ...National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi between March 6 and April 15 2020. Whole SARS-CoV-2 genomes from these patients were sequenced using Illumina Miseq and analysed for common genetic variants and relationships to local and globally circulating strains. Results showed that 32 cases were Vietnamese with a median age of 37 years (range 15-74 years), and 23 were male. Most cases were acquired outside Vietnam, mainly from the UK (n = 15), other European countries (n = 14), Russia (n = 6) and countries in Asia (n = 3). No cases had travelled from China. Forty-one cases had symptoms at admission, typically dry cough (n = 36), fever (n = 20), sore throat (n = 14) and diarrhoea (n = 12). Hospitalisation was long with a median of 25 days, most commonly from 20-29 days. All SARS-CoV-2 genomes were similar (92-100% sequence homology) to the reference sequence Wuhan_1 (NC_045512), and 32 strains belonged to the B.1.1 lineage. The three most common variants were linked, and included C3037T, C14408T (nsp12: P323L) and A23403G (S: D614G) mutations. This group of mutations often accompanied variant C241T (39/44 genomes) or GGG 28881..28883 AAC (33/44 genomes). The prevalence of the former reflected probable European origin of viruses, and the transition D614G was dominant in Vietnam. New variants were identified; however, none could be associated with disease severity.
Accurate profiling of population‐specific recessive diseases is essential for the design of cost‐effective carrier screening programs. However, minority populations and ethnic groups, including ...Vietnamese, are still underrepresented in existing genetic studies. Here, we reported the first comprehensive study of recessive diseases in the Vietnamese population. Clinical exome sequencing data of 4503 disease‐associated genes obtained from a cohort of 985 Vietnamese individuals was analyzed to identify pathogenic variants, associated diseases and their carrier frequencies in the population. A total of 118 recessive diseases associated with 164 pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were identified, among which 28 diseases had carrier frequencies of at least 1% (1 in 100 individuals). Three diseases were prevalent in the Vietnamese population with carrier frequencies of 2–12 times higher than in the world populations, including beta‐thalassemia (1 in 23), citrin deficiency (1 in 31), and phenylketonuria (1 in 40). Seven novel pathogenic and two likely pathogenic variants associated with nine recessive diseases were discovered. The comprehensive profile of recessive diseases identified in this study enables the design of cost‐effective carrier screening programs specific to the Vietnamese population.
Prevalent recessive diseases in Vietnam.
An enormous volume of electronic waste (e-waste) is currently being generated in Vietnam, threatening to render this country as an e-waste dumping region. Although the residents play an indispensable ...role in the e-waste management system, there is presently no or very limited studies available which involve public perceptions on the e-waste recycling in Vietnam. In this study, based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the key factors influencing e-waste recycling behavioral intention of residents in Danang city, Vietnam. Data analyzed from 520 questionnaires revealed that environmental awareness and attitude toward recycling, social pressure, laws and regulations, cost of recycling, and inconvenience of recycling significantly directly affected residents’ behavioral intention, with laws and regulations being the strongest construct significantly to predict individuals’ intention. Of the five above-listed constructs, only inconvenience of recycling had a negative impact on residents’ recycling behavioral intention. Moreover, past experience showed the statistically significant negative effect on the inconvenience of recycling while it had no significant impact on behavioral intention. The influences of demographic variables on recycling behavioral intention were also discussed in this paper. The findings from this research may help policy-makers have a better understanding of residents’ e-waste recycling intention. That is very useful in paving the way for a successful e-waste recycling and management system not only in Vietnam, but also in other countries which are suffering from the same problems of e-waste.
Chloroquine (CQ) is the first-line treatment for Plasmodium vivax malaria in most countries where malaria is endemic. Monitoring P. vivax CQ resistance (CQR) is critical but remains challenged by the ...difficulty to distinguish real treatment failure from reinfection or liver relapse. The therapeutic efficacy of CQ against uncomplicated P. vivax malaria was evaluated in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam. Sixty-seven patients were enrolled and followed for 42 days using microscopy and quantitative PCR. Adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) was 100% (66/66) on day 28 but 75.4% (49/65) on day 42. Eighteen recurrences (27.7%) were detected, with a median time to recurrence of 42 days (interquartile range IQR, 35 to 42) and blood CQ concentration of <100 ng/ml. Primary infections leading to recurrence occurred in younger individuals (median age for ACPR = 25 years IQR, 20 to 28; recurrences = 18 16 to 21;
= 0.002) had a longer parasite clearance time (PCT for ACPR
47.5 h IQR, 36.2 to 59.8 h; recurrences = 54.2 48.4 to 62.0;
= 0.035) and higher
gene expression (median relative expression ratio for ACPR
0.09 IQR, 0.05 to 0.22; recurrences = 0.20 0.15 to 0.56;
= 0.002), but showed no differences in
CQ sensitivity. Parasite genotyping by microsatellites, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcoding, and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) identified a majority of homologous recurrences, with 80% (8/10) showing >98% identity by descent to paired day 0 samples. This study shows that CQ remained largely efficacious to treat P. vivax in Gia Lai; i.e., recurrences occurred late (>day 28) and in the presence of low blood CQ concentrations. However, the combination of both WGS and gene expression analysis (
) data with clinical data (PCT) allowed us to identify potential emergence of low-grade CQR, which should be closely monitored. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02610686.).
The mosquito
is a transmission vector for dangerous epidemic diseases in humans. Insecticides have been used as the most general vector control method in the world. However,
have developed many ...resistant mechanisms such as reduced neuronal sensitivity to insecticides (target-site resistance), enhanced insecticide metabolism (metabolic resistance), altered transport, sequestration, and other mechanisms. It has become a major problem for vector control programs. Transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were used to compare transcription levels between a susceptible strain (Bora7) and a resistant strain (KhanhHoa7) collected from the field. A total of 161 million Illumina reads, including 66,076,678 reads from the Bora7 strain and 69,606,654 reads from the KhanhHoa7 strain, were generated and assembled into 11,174 genes. A comparison of the KhanhHoa7 transcriptome to that of Bora7 showed 672 upregulated genes and 488 downregulated genes. We identified the highly upregulated genes: cytochrome P450
,
,
,
,
isoform X2,
,
isoform X2,
,
,
,
, and
; Glutathione S transferase (GST1), UGT1-3, 1-7, 2B15, and 2B37; binding cassette transporter (ABC) transporter F family member 4 and ABC transporter G family member 20. Interestingly, there was a significant increase in the expression of the genes such as
(8.3-fold),
(5.9-fold),
(5.4-fold),
(5.4-fold),
(5.2-fold),
(3.5-fold), and ABC transporter 4 (2.1-fold). Our results suggested a potential relationship between the expression of the genes in metabolic processes and insecticide resistance in the studied strain. These results may contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of insecticide resistance in
.
Unsubstituted and methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (22 PAHs and 17 Me-PAHs) were examined in surface sediments collected from the Red River and four inner-city rivers of Hanoi City, ...Vietnam. Concentrations of total PAHs and Me-PAHs ranged from 52 to 920 (median 710) and from 70 to 2600 (median 1000) ng/g dry weight in samples of dry and wet seasons, respectively. Significant correlation was observed between total PAHs and organic carbon contents (Spearman's
ρ
= 0.782;
p
< 0.05). PAHs were more abundant than Me-PAHs in all samples and dominated by 4–6 ring compounds. The most predominant PAHs were benzo
ghi
perylene, benzo
b/j
fluoranthene, chrysene, pyrene, fluoranthene, and phenanthrene. Methylated derivatives of naphthalene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and benz
a
anthracene were frequently detected. The patterns of PAHs indicated principal pyrogenic sources (notably gasoline exhaust) in this highly urbanized area. The occurrence of several PAHs were occasionally associated with adverse effects on benthic organisms of the inner-city rivers.
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