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Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, caused by some species within the Brucella genus. The primary and secondary objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine the seroprevalence of Brucella antibodies in humans and cows and identify risk factors for exposure to Brucella spp. among people in Shahjadpur sub-district, Bangladesh. Twenty-five villages were randomly selected from the 303 milk-producing villages in the sub-district. We randomly selected 5% of the total households from each village. At each household, we collected demographic information and history of potential exposure to Brucella spp. in humans. In addition, we collected serum from household participants and serum and milk from cattle and tested to detect antibodies to Brucella sp. Univariate analysis was performed to detect associations between seropositivity and demographics, risk factors, and behaviors in households. We enrolled 647 households, 1313 humans, and 698 cows. Brucella antibodies were detected in sera from 27 household participants (2.1%, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.2-2.9%). Eleven (1.6%, 95%CI 0.6-2.4%) cows had detectable Brucella antibodies in either milk or serum. About half (53%) of the 698 cows exhibited more than one reproductive problem within the past year; of these, seven (2%) had Brucella antibodies. Households with seropositive individuals more frequently reported owning cattle (78% vs. 32%, P < 0.001). Despite a low prevalence of Brucella seropositivity in the study, the public health importance of brucellosis cannot be ruled out. Further studies would help define Brucella prevalence and risk factors in this region and nationally., (© 2023. EcoHealth Alliance.)

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), a chronic zoonotic disease in cattle, has a substantial socio-economic and public health impact. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and geographical distribution of bTB in the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study was conducted at all 12 upazilas of Sylhet district, which included 512 randomly selected cattle from 48 farms. Selected animals were tested with the Caudal Fold Tuberculin (CFT) test to identify bTB-positive cattle. Out of 512 cattle, only one animal was identified as a reactor, providing an estimated prevalence of 0.19% (95% Confidence Interval; 0-0.58%). The only positive reactor was found in Zakiganj upazila. As the prevalence of bTB in cattle in Sylhet appears to be low, it indicates that most of the upazilas of Sylhet district are free of the bTB infection. This prevalence is lower than the reported prevalence in other parts of Bangladesh. Thus, attempts should be made to maintain the current situation of bTB infection in cattle of Sylhet district., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has been an important public health concern in Bangladesh. The most common cause of human TB is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, while bovine TB is caused by Mycobacterium bovis., Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of TB in individuals with occupational exposure to cattle and to detect Mycobacterium bovis among cattle in slaughterhouses in Bangladesh., Methods: Between August 2014 and September 2015, an observational study was conducted in two government chest disease hospitals, one cattle market, and two slaughterhouses. [Correction added on 27 June 2023, after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, the year "2014" has been added after the word "August".] Sputum samples were collected from individuals who met the criteria for suspected TB and had been exposed to cattle. Tissue samples were collected from cattle that had low body condition score(s). Both humans and cattle samples were screened for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) by Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining and cultured for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). Region of difference (RD) 9-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was also performed to identify Mycobacterium spp. We also conducted Spoligotyping to identify the specific strain of Mycobacterium spp., Results: Sputum was collected from a total of 412 humans. The median age of human participants was 35 (IQR: 25-50) years. Twenty-five (6%) human sputum specimens were positive for AFB, and 44 (11%) were positive for MTC by subsequent culture. All (N = 44) culture-positive isolates were confirmed as Mycobacterium tuberculosis by RD9 PCR. Besides, 10% of cattle workers were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the cattle market. Of all TB (caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis) infected individuals, 6.8% of individuals were resistant to one or two anti-TB drugs. The majority of the sampled cattle (67%) were indigenous breeds. No Mycobacterium bovis was detected in cattle., Conclusions: We did not detect any TB cases caused by Mycobacterium bovis in humans during the study. However, we detected TB cases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in all humans, including cattle market workers., (© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Brucellosis is an emerging disease that causes a significant impact on productive and reproductive performance in dairy cattle. Though Brucella is a pivotal microorganism for dairy cattle, the scenario of brucellosis in Sylhet District is unknown., Objectives: A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the prevalence and determinants associated with brucellosis in dairy cattle of Sylhet District., Methods: A total of 386 sera and data on determinants from 63 dairy herds were collected from 12 sub-districts using simple random sampling. The sera were tested with Rose Bengal Brucella antigen test, Brucella abortus plate agglutination test and serum agglutination test to find out the sero-positivity., Results: Overall, 17.09% (95% CI: 13.67-21.18) prevalence in cows were calculated. Relatively higher prevalence (56.08%; 95% CI: 42.23-70.32) was recorded in cows having parity ≥4 and were at higher risk (OR = 7.28) than the other cows with parity 0-3. Prevalence was significantly higher in cows with history of abortion 90.63% (95% CI: 75.79-96.76), repeat breeding 79.17% (95% CI: 65.74-88.27) and reproductive abnormalities 48.54% (95% CI: 39.12-58.07). Farm-level prevalence was high in farms with the previous history of abortion 95.45% (95% CI: 78.20-99.19) and repeat breeding 90.00% (95% CI: 74.38-96.54)., Conclusions: The prevalence was high in Sylhet district, which might be a public health concern. Therefore, this study would represent the baseline information for guiding brucellosis control and prevention., (© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Bats, rodents and monkeys are reservoirs for emerging zoonotic infections. We sought to describe the frequency of human exposure to these animals and the seasonal and geographic variation of these exposures in Bangladesh. During 2013-2016, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in a nationally representative sample of 10,002 households from 1001 randomly selected communities. We interviewed household members about exposures to bats, rodents and monkeys, including a key human-bat interface-raw date palm sap consumption. Respondents reported observing rodents (90%), bats (52%) and monkeys (2%) in or around their households, although fewer reported direct contact. The presence of monkeys around the household was reported more often in Sylhet division (7%) compared to other divisions. Households in Khulna (17%) and Rajshahi (13%) were more likely to report drinking date palm sap than in other divisions (1.5-5.6%). Date palm sap was mostly consumed during winter with higher frequencies in January (16%) and February (12%) than in other months (0-5.6%). There was a decreasing trend in drinking sap over the three years. Overall, we observed substantial geographic and seasonal patterns in human exposure to animals that could be sources of zoonotic disease. These findings could facilitate targeting emerging zoonoses surveillance, research and prevention efforts to areas and seasons with the highest levels of exposure., (© 2023. EcoHealth Alliance.)

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a fulminant infectious disease that mostly affects cattle and causes considerable economic loss throughout the globe. This study was conducted to develop a new multi-epitope-based vaccine against LSD that can elicit immunological responses using an in silico reverse vaccinology approach. Initially, three antigenic proteins, protein E5, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase LAP and 62 kDa protein, were manipulated to recognize potential T-cell and B-cell epitopes. To identify superior epitopes, a variety of bioinformatic techniques including antigenicity testing, transmembrane topology screening, allergenicity assessment, conservancy analysis, and toxicity evaluation were used. Finally, three new subunit vaccines (construct V1, V2 and V3) were developed employing the most effective epitopes, suitable adjuvants, pan HLA DR-binding epitope (PADRE) and linkers. Then, based on the antigenicity, solubility, and validation score of the 3D structures, construct V2 was chosen as one of the best candidate vaccines. The results of the molecular dynamic simulation and disulphide engineering indicated that the vaccine (construct V2) was stable. Additionally, the immunological simulation findings supported the vaccine candidate's ability to trigger humoral and cellular immune responses. Further validation of the proposed vaccine candidate may necessitate additional in vitro and in vivo investigations., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Bovine eimeriosis is thought to be very important for the productivity and health of cattle all over the world. Despite the importance of cattle farming in Sylhet, little is known about the prevalence of bovine Eimeria spp. and the risk factors connected with it., Objectives: We conducted a study to evaluate the prevalence, species diversity and associated risk factors of Eimeria spp. in a population of 50 cattle farms from 12 upazilas (sub-district) in Sylhet district., Methods: Faecal samples were collected randomly from a total of 554 calves ranging in age from 1 month to 2 years old during a period of 7 months. We used Flotation and McMaster techniques for parasitological examination. Species identification was done by using their morphological and morphometric characteristics., Results: Out of 554 calves, 308 were found to be positive for Eimeria species (55.60%). Seven species of Eimeria were identified. Among the identified species, E. bovis (38.98%), E. zuernii (26.17%) and E. alabamensis (22.38%) were found to be the most prevalent species. Mixed and species-specific Eimeria infection were (24.73%; 95% CI 21.32-28.49) and (30.87%; 95% CI 27.17-34.84), respectively. In addition, the highest prevalence was observed at Zakigonj (68%; 95% CI 58.34-76.33) and the lowest at Companygonj (40%; 95% CI 30.94-49.80). Eimeria species intensity ranged between 50 and 76,550 oocyst per gram of faeces. Analysis of associated risk factors by using multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age, gender and body condition were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with Eimeria infection., Conclusions: Based on these present findings, it can be assumed that 'coccidia belong to the most prevalent pathogens in the population of calves in the study area'. Thus, the findings of this study could be used as tools for adoptive surveillance and effective control and prevention of the disease in cattle populations in this region., (© 2022 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Zoonotic and antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (hereafter, E. coli ) is a global public health threat which can lead to detrimental effects on human health. Here, we aim to investigate the antimicrobial resistance and the presence of mcr-1 gene in E. coli isolated from chicken feces. Ninety-four E. coli isolates were obtained from samples collected from different locations in Bangladesh, and the isolates were identified using conventional microbiological tests. Phenotypic disk diffusion tests using 20 antimicrobial agents were performed according to CLSI-EUCAST guidelines, and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for a subset of samples. E. coli isolates showed high resistance to colistin (88.30%), ciprofloxacin (77.66%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (76.60%), tigecycline (75.53%), and enrofloxacin (71.28%). Additionally, the pathotype eaeA gene was confirmed in ten randomly selected E. coli isolates using primer-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The presence of mcr-1 gene was confirmed using PCR and sequencing analysis in six out of ten E. coli isolates. Furthermore, sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed a similarity between the catalytic domain of Neisseria meningitidis lipooligosaccharide phosphoethanolamine transferase A (LptA) and MCR proteins, indicating that the six tested isolates were colistin resistant. Finally, the findings of the present study showed that E. coli isolated from chicken harbored mcr-1 gene, and multidrug and colistin resistance. These findings accentuate the need to implement strict measures to limit the imprudent use of antibiotics, particularly colistin, in agriculture and poultry farms.

The scientific community has been releasing whole genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 to facilitate the investigation of molecular features and evolutionary history. We retrieved 36 genomes of 18 prevalent countries of Asia, Europe and America for genomic diversity and mutational analysis. Besides, we studied mutations in the RBD regions of Spike (S) proteins to analyze the drug efficiency against these mutations. In this research, phylogenenetic analysis, evolutionary modeling, substitution pattern analysis, molecular docking, dynamics simulation, etc. were performed. The genomic sequences showed >99% similarity with the reference sequence of China.TN93 + G was predicted as a best nucleotide substitution model. It was revealed that effective transition from the co-existing SARS genome to the SARS-CoV-2 and a noticeable positive selection in the SARS-CoV-2 genomes occurred. Moreover, three mutations in RBD domain, Val/ Phe367, Val/ Leu 382 and Ala/ Val522, were discovered in the genomes from Netherland, Bangladesh and the USA, respectively. Molecular docking and dynamics study showed RBD with mutation Val/Leu382 had the lowest binding affinity with remdesivir. In conclusion, the SARS-CoV-2 genomes are similar, but multiple degrees of transitions and transversions occurred. The mutations cause a significant conformational change, which are needed to be investigated during drug and vaccine development., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite, the etiologic agent of Neosporosis-a common cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. Herd level prevalence of Neosporosis could be as high as 90%. However, there is no approved treatment and vaccines available for Neosporosis. MicroRNA (miRNA) based prophylaxis and therapeutics could be options for Neosporosis in cattle and other animals. The current study aimed to investigate the genome of Neospora caninum to identify and characterize the conserved miRNAs through Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) dependent homology search. A total of 1,041 mature miRNAs of reference organisms were employed against 336 non-redundant ESTs available in the genome of Neospora caninum . The study predicted one putative miRNA "nca-miR-9388-5p" of 19 nucleotides with MFEI value -1.51 kcal/mol and (A + U) content% 72.94% corresponding with its pre-miRNA. A comprehensive search for specific gene targets was performed and discovered 16 potential genes associated with different protozoal physiological functions. Significantly, the gene "Protein phosphatase" was found responsible for the virulence of Neospora caninum . The other genes were accounted for gene expression, vesicular transport, cell signaling, cell proliferation, DNA repair mechanism, and different developmental stages of the protozoon. Therefore, this study finding will provide pivotal information to future aspirants upon Bovine Neosporosis. It will also serve as the baseline information for further studies of the bioinformatics approach to identify other protozoal miRNAs., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Here, drug repurposing and molecular docking were employed to screen approved MPP inhibitors and their derivatives to suggest a specific therapeutic agent for the treatment of COVID-19. The approved MPP inhibitors against HIV and HCV were prioritized, while RNA dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) inhibitor remdesivir including Favipiravir, alpha-ketoamide were studied as control groups. The target drug surface hotspot was also investigated through the molecular docking technique. Molecular dynamics was performed to determine the binding stability of docked complexes. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion analysis was conducted to understand the pharmacokinetics and drug-likeness of the screened MPP inhibitors. The results of the study revealed that Paritaprevir (-10.9 kcal/mol) and its analog (CID 131982844) (-16.3 kcal/mol) showed better binding affinity than the approved MPP inhibitors compared in this study, including remdesivir, Favipiravir, and alpha-ketoamide. A comparative study among the screened putative MPP inhibitors revealed that the amino acids T25, T26, H41, M49, L141, N142, G143, C145, H164, M165, E166, D187, R188, and Q189 are at potentially critical positions for being surface hotspots in the MPP of SARS-CoV-2. The top 5 predicted drugs (Paritaprevir, Glecaprevir, Nelfinavir, and Lopinavir) and the topmost analog showed conformational stability in the active site of the SARS-CoV-2 MP protein. The study also suggested that Paritaprevir and its analog (CID 131982844) might be effective against SARS-CoV-2. The current findings are limited to in silico analysis and lack in vivo efficacy testing; thus, we strongly recommend a quick assessment of Paritaprevir and its analog (CID 131982844) in a clinical trial., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Cryptosporidium parvum , a predominant causal agent of a fatal zoonotic protozoan diarrhoeal disease called cryptosporidiosis, bears a worldwide public health concern for childhood mortality and poses a key threat to the dairy and water industries. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small but powerful posttranscriptional gene silencing RNA molecules, regulate a variety of molecular, biological, and cellular processes in animals and plants. As to the present date, there is a paucity of information regarding miRNAs of C. parvum ; hence, this study was used to identify miRNAs in the organism using a comprehensible expressed sequence tag-based homology search approach consisting of a series of computational screening process from the identification of putative miRNA candidates to the functional annotation of the important gene targets in C. parvum . The results revealed a conserved miRNA that targeted 487 genes in the model organism ( Drosophila melanogaste r) and 85 genes in C. parvum , of which 11 genes had direct involvements in several crucial virulence factors such as environmental oocyst protection, excystation, locomotion, adhesion, invasion, stress protection, intracellular growth, and survival. Besides, 20 genes showed their association with various major pathways dedicated for the ribosomal biosynthesis, DNA repair, transportation, protein production, gene expression, cell cycle, cell proliferation, development, immune response, differentiation, and nutrient metabolism of the organism in the host. Thus, this study provides a strong evidence of great impact of identified miRNA on the biology, virulence, and pathogenesis of C. parvum . Furthermore, the study suggests that the detected miRNA could be a potential epigenomic tool for controlling the protozoon through silencing those virulent and pathway-related target genes., Competing Interests: Declaration Of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Colistin (polymyxin E) is widely used in animal and human medicine and is increasingly used as one of the last-resort antibiotics against Gram-negative bacilli. Due to the increased use of colistin in treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, resistance to this antibiotic ought to be monitored. The study was undertaken to elucidate the molecular mechanisms, genetic relationships and phenotype correlations of colistin-resistant isolates. Here, we report the detection of the mcr-1 gene in chicken-associated Salmonella isolates in Bangladesh and its in-silico functional analysis. Out of 100 samples, 82 Salmonella spp. were isolated from chicken specimens (liver, intestine). Phenotypic disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay using different antimicrobial agents were performed. Salmonella isolates were characterized using PCR methods targeting genus-specific invA and mcr-1 genes with validation for the functional analysis. The majority of the tested Salmonella isolates were found resistant to colistin (92.68%), ciprofloxacin (73.17%), tigecycline (62.20%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (60.98%). When screened using PCR, five out of ten Salmonella isolates were found to carry the mcr-1 gene. One isolate was confirmed for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis, and other four isolates were confirmed for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed a divergent evolutionary relationship between the catalytic domain of Neisseria meningitidis lipooligosaccharide phosphoethanolamine transferase A (LptA) and MCR proteins, rendering them resistant to colistin. Three-dimensional homology structural analysis of MCR-1 proteins and molecular docking interactions suggested that MCR-1 and LptA share a similar substrate binding cavity, which could be validated for the functional analysis. The comprehensive molecular and in-silico analyses of the colistin resistance mcr-1 gene of Salmonella spp. of chicken origin in the present study highlight the importance of continued monitoring and surveillance for antimicrobial resistance among pathogens in food chain animals.

SARS-CoV-2, a new coronavirus strain responsible for COVID-19, has emerged in Wuhan City, China, and continuing its global pandemic nature. The availability of the complete gene sequences of the virus helps to know about the origin and molecular characteristics of this virus. In the present study, we performed bioinformatic analysis of the available gene sequence data of SARS-CoV-2 for the understanding of evolution and molecular characteristics and immunogenic resemblance of the circulating viruses. Phylogenetic analysis was performed for four types of representative viral proteins (spike, membrane, envelope and nucleoprotein) of SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, SARS-CoV, HCoV-NL63, HKU1, MERS-CoV, HKU4, HKU5 and BufCoV-HKU26. The findings demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 exhibited convergent evolutionary relation with previously reported SARS-CoV. It was also depicted that SARS-CoV-2 proteins were highly similar and identical to SARS-CoV proteins, though proteins from other coronaviruses showed a lower level of resemblance. The cross-checked conservancy analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antigenic epitopes showed significant conservancy with antigenic epitopes derived from SARS-CoV. Descriptive epidemiological analysis on several epidemiological indices was performed on available epidemiological outbreak information from several open databases on COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Satellite-derived imaging data have been employed to understand the role of temperature in the environmental persistence of the virus. Findings of the descriptive analysis were used to describe the global impact of newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, and the risk of an epidemic in Bangladesh., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In Bangladesh, live bird market environments are frequently contaminated with avian influenza viruses. Shop-level biosecurity practices might increase risk for environmental contamination. We sought to determine which shop-level biosecurity practices were associated with environmental contamination. We surveyed 800 poultry shops to describe biosecurity practices and collect environmental samples. Samples from 205 (26%) shops were positive for influenza A viral RNA, 108 (14%) for H9, and 60 (8%) for H5. Shops that slaughtered poultry, kept poultry overnight, remained open without rest days, had uneven muddy floors, held poultry on the floor, and housed sick and healthy poultry together were more frequently positive for influenza A viruses. Reported monthly cleaning seemed protective, but disinfection practices were not otherwise associated with influenza A virus detection. Slaughtering, keeping poultry overnight, weekly rest days, infrastructure, and disinfection practices could be targets for interventions to reduce environmental contamination.

Multidrug-resistant Vibrio parahaemolyticus has become a significant public health concern. The development of effective drugs and vaccines against Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the current research priority. Thus, we aimed to find out effective drug and vaccine targets using a comprehensive genome-based analysis. A total of 4822 proteins were screened from V. parahaemolyticus proteome. Among 16 novel cytoplasmic proteins, 'VIBPA Type II secretion system protein L' and 'VIBPA Putative fimbrial protein Z' were subjected to molecular docking with 350 human metabolites, which revealed that Eliglustat, Simvastatin and Hydroxocobalamin were the top drug molecules considering free binding energy. On the contrary, 'Sensor histidine protein kinase UhpB' and 'Flagellar hook-associated protein of 25 novel membrane proteins were subjected to T-cell and B-cell epitope prediction, antigenicity testing, transmembrane topology screening, allergenicity and toxicity assessment, population coverage analysis and molecular docking analysis to generate the most immunogenic epitopes. Three subunit vaccines were constructed by the combination of highly antigenic epitopes along with suitable adjuvant, PADRE sequence and linkers. The designed vaccine constructs (V1, V2, V3) were analyzed by their physiochemical properties and molecular docking with MHC molecules- results suggested that the V1 is superior. Besides, the binding affinity of human TLR-1/2 heterodimer and construct V1 could be biologically significant in the development of the vaccine repertoire. The vaccine-receptor complex exhibited deformability at a minimum level that also strengthened our prediction. The optimized codons of the designed construct was cloned into pET28a(+) vector of E. coli strain K12. However, the predicted drug molecules and vaccine constructs could be further studied using model animals to combat V. parahaemolyticus associated infections., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 in poultry occurred in Africa's poultry and 16 countries have reported human infections globally. Intensified human-animal interactions necessitate correct communication of health messages to reduce zoonotic infection. This work was done to determine differences between pictorial and literal health education communication. Cross-sectional survey using literal and pictorial questionnaires in LBMs and poultry farms was carried out among respondents based on matching criteria. Responses were scored and analysed with probability of independence using Chi square test and pairwise correlation. The degree of knowledge of clinical signs in birds, species affected, communication means and biosecurity were good, that of the post-mortem signs was poor with increasing potentials of human exposure to virus-rich visceral tissues from slaughtered sick birds. Marked differences exist for the various items listed within each knowledge field, the odds of having correct responses from pictorial were better than with literal respondents. Risky practices were still practised in the LBMs despite the good degree of knowledge of hygiene and biosecurity. Knowledge and implementation does not always correlate and pictorial representation out surpasses literal method in communicating potential zoonotic H5N1 influenza A infection to the undiscerning public.

We report a microfluidic paper based analytical device implementing ion concentration polarization (ICP) for rapid pre-concentration of Escherichia coli in water. The fabricated device consists of a paper channel with a Nafion ® membrane and in-built micro wire electrodes to supply electric voltage to induce the ICP effect. E. coli cells were stained with SYTO 9 and fluorescence was used as a sensing method. The device achieved high concentration factor up to 2 × 10 5 within minutes. The effect of total ion concentration, on ICP and fluorescence intensity was studied. The reported device and method are suitable and effective for detection of E. coli during ballast water quality monitoring, coastal water quality monitoring where high salinity water is present., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and devastating viral disease among all cloven-footed animals. In Bangladesh, the disease is endemic, with outbreaks occurring throughout the year in the haor regions. Thus, the FMD outbreaks impact livelihoods in the haor area and are of great concern. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence, distribution, and risk factors for clinical FMD in some selected areas of haor in Sylhet division of Bangladesh. We examined 1,388 cattle, of which 343 were clinically affected with FMD (prevalence 24.71%, CI95% = 22.44 - 26.98) during the period from July 2017 through June 2018. Though production loss was observed, no mortality was recorded in the infected animals. The data article shows the spatial distribution of FMD prevalence. The temporal pattern indicates a higher number of FMD cases in June (47.01%, CI95% = 38.97 - 55.07). The gender was found associated (OR = 2.98; p < 0.001) with the potential risk of FMD occurrence through univariate analysis. Besides, indigenous breeds of cattle (OR = 2.83; p < 0.001) are found to be more susceptible to FMD compared to exotic and crossbreeds. The risk factors identified in this article will serve as a baseline for the development of risk based FMD control program in future., (© 2019 The Author(s).)

We conducted benefit-cost analysis of outbreak and surveillance costs for HPAI H5N1in poultry in Nigeria. Poultry's death directly cost US$ 939,734.0 due to outbreaks. The integrated disease surveillance and response originally created for comprehensive surveillance and laboratory investigation of human diseases was adapted for HPAI H5N1 in poultry. Input data were obtained from the field, government documents and repositories and peer-reviewed publications. Actual/forecasted bird numbers lost were integrated into a financial model and estimates of losses were calculated. Costs of surveillance as alternative intervention were determined based on previous outbreak control costs and outputs were generated in SurvCost® with sensitivity analyses for different scenarios. Uncontrolled outbreaks will lead to loss of over US$ 2.2 billion annually in Nigeria with 47.8% of the losses coming from eggs. The annual cost of all animal related health activities was

Live bird market (LBM) is integral component in the perpetuation of HPAI H5N1, while biosecurity is crucial and key to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Biosecurity compliance level and risk factor assessments in 155LBMs was evaluated in Nigeria and Egypt through the administration of a 68-item biosecurity checklist, scored based on the modifications of previous qualitative data, and analysed for degree of compliance. LBMs were scored as "complied with a biosecurity item" if they had good-very good scores (4). All scores were coded and analysed using descriptive statistics and risk or protective factors were determined using univariable and multivariable logistic regression at p≤0.05. Trading of wild birds and other animal in the LBMs (Odd Ratio (OR)=34.90; p=0.01) and claims of hand disinfection after slaughter (OR=31.16; p=0.03) were significant risk factors while mandatory routine disinfection of markets (OR=0.13; p≤0.00), fencing and gates for live bird market (OR=0.02; p≤0.01) and hand washing after slaughter (OR=0.41; p≤0.05) were protective factors for and against the infection of Nigerian and Egyptian LBMs with the HPAI H5N1 virus. Almost all the LBMs complied poorly with most of the variables in the checklist (p≤0.05), but pathways to improved biosecurity in the LBMs existed. We concluded that the LBM operators play a critical role in the disruption of transmission of H5N1 virus infection through improved biosecurity and participatory epidemiology and multidisciplinary approach is needed., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)