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Abstract: We analyse chronologies of historical flash floods derived from searches of newspaper archives and other sources commencing before 1800 and recent gauged rainfall and stream flow data. Five key examples are chosen to illustrate specific features of flash floods. Pluvial flash floods arise from rainfall before it reaches a watercourse and may cause severe flooding of land and properties far from rivers. River flash floods, like pluvial floods, have the characteristic of rapid speed of response, a principal source of risk to life. Intense rainfall can generate ‘walls of water’ in river courses which can propagate long distances downstream and steepen, without upstream structural failure. Steeply rising wavefronts more commonly occur on steep upland catchments but, where intensities of extreme short period rainfall are sufficient, such wavefronts can also occur on lowland catchments. A definition of flash floods from intense rainfall, relevant to British landscape and climate, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are concerns that outbreaks of exotic or novel vector-borne viral diseases will increasingly occur within northern Europe and the UK in the future. African horse sickness (AHS) is a viral disease of equids that is transmitted by Culicoides and is associated with up to 95 percent mortality. AHS has never occurred in the UK; however, it has been suggested that appropriate Culicoides species and climatic conditions are present in northern Europe to support an outbreak. No data are currently available regarding the Culicoides species present on UK equine properties. This study demonstrates the presence of potential AHS virus vector Culicoides species on both urban and rural equine properties within the south-east UK. PCR analysis revealed that engorged members of these species contained equine DNA, proving a direct vector-host interaction. It is therefore possible that an AHS outbreak could occur in the UK if the virus were to be imported and, given the severe welfare and economic consequences of AHS, this would have devastating consequences to the naïve UK equine population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to compare the carbon intensity of higher education delivered on- and off-campus. This is attributed to governmental lockdown orders that have forced Universities to close their campuses, ban business travel and move all teaching and learning activities online. This study represents the first known attempt to compare the carbon footprint of a mid-sized UK University produced during the COVID-19 lockdown (April-June 2020) against that generated within the respective time period in previous years. Although the overall carbon footprint of the University decreased by almost 30% during the lockdown, the carbon intensity of online teaching and learning was found to be substantial and almost equal to that of staff and student commute in the pre-lockdown period. The study contributed to an emerging academic discourse on the carbon (dis)benefits of different models of higher education provision in the UK and beyond. The study suggested that policy and management decisions on transferring education online should carefully consider the carbon implications of this transfer., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: There has been no evidence of transmission of mosquito-borne arboviruses of equine or human health concern to date in the UK. However, in recent years there have been a number of outbreaks of viral diseases spread by vectors in Europe. These events, in conjunction with increasing rates of globalisation and climate change, have led to concern over the future risk of mosquito-borne viral disease outbreaks in northern Europe and have highlighted the importance of being prepared for potential disease outbreaks. Here we assess several UK mosquito species for their potential to transmit arboviruses important for both equine and human health, as measured by the presence of viral RNA in saliva at different time points after taking an infective blood meal., Results: The following wild-caught British mosquitoes were evaluated for their potential as vectors of zoonotic equine arboviruses: Ochlerotatus detritus for Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and Ross River virus (RRV), and Culiseta annulata and Culex pipiens for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Production of RNA in saliva was demonstrated at varying efficiencies for all mosquito-virus pairs. Ochlerotatus detritus was more permissive for production of RRV RNA in saliva than VEEV RNA. For RRV, 27.3% of mosquitoes expectorated viral RNA at 7 days post-infection when incubated at 21 °C and 50% at 24 °C. Strikingly, 72% of Cx. pipiens produced JEV RNA in saliva after 21 days at 18 °C. For some mosquito-virus pairs, infection and salivary RNA titres reduced over time, suggesting unstable infection dynamics., Conclusions: This study adds to the number of Palaearctic mosquito species that demonstrate expectoration of viral RNA, for arboviruses of importance to human and equine health. This work adds to evidence that native mosquito species should be investigated further for their potential to vector zoonotic mosquito-borne arboviral disease of equines in northern Europe. The evidence that Cx. pipiens is potentially an efficient laboratory vector of JEV at temperatures as low as 18 °C warrants further investigation, as this mosquito is abundant in cooler regions of Europe and is considered an important vector for West Nile Virus, which has a comparable transmission ecology.

Background: Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke) affects grazing animals including horses but the extent to which it affects UK horses is unknown., Objectives: To define how liver fluke affects the UK horse population., Study Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study., Methods: An F. hepatica excretory-secretory antibody detection ELISA with a diagnostic sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 97% was validated and used to analyse serum samples. An abattoir study was performed to determine prevalence. A case-control study of 269 horses compared fluke exposure between horses with liver disease and controls. Data on clinical signs and blood test results were collected for sero-positive horses. Genotyping of adult fluke was used to produce a multilocus genotype for each parasite., Results: Four (2.2%) of 183 horses registered in the UK, sampled in the abattoir, had adult flukes in the liver, and the sero-prevalence of F. hepatica was estimated as 8.7%. In the case-control study, horses showing signs consistent with liver disease had significantly higher odds of testing positive for F. hepatica on ELISA than control horses. In 23 sero-positive horses, a range of non-specific clinical signs and blood test abnormalities was reported, with a third of the horses showing no signs. Genotypic analysis of liver flukes from horses provided evidence that these came from the same population as flukes from sheep and cattle., Main Limitations: Bias could have arisen in the prevalence and case-control studies due to convenience sampling methods, in particular the geographic origin of the horses. Only a small number of horses tested positive so the data on clinical signs are limited., Conclusions: Exposure to liver fluke occurs frequently in horses and may be an under-recognised cause of liver disease. Flukes isolated from horses are from the same population as those found in ruminants. When designing and implementing parasite control plans, fluke should be considered, and horses should be tested if appropriate., (© 2019 The Authors. Equine Veterinary Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of EVJ Ltd.)