Search

Disease transmission via semen is an extremely adversarial situation in terms of animal husbandry and reproductive productivity. Artificial insemination is the most widely used method in reproductive biotechnology. The main purpose of artificial insemination is to make genetic improvement. Millions of semen doses produce and distributed throughout the world. With this method, semen obtained both domestically and abroad affects animal husbandry throughout the country. Therefore, absolutely semen should be free from all kinds of disease factors. Control strategies should be determined and implemented in the entire process, from semen procurement to storage. Serious measures should be taken in semen production facilities; breeding animals should be checked regularly. Semen obtained from breeding animals in sperm stations should be investigated for various pathogens. Care should be taken to vaccinate the animals, and disease-free herds should be created. The purpose of this review is to review the importance of diseases via semen and the determination of control strategies.

Sharp medical waste is infectious and hazardous because of their high potential diseases transmission and injury. It poses serious threats to environmental health. A cross sectional study was done to assess the level of knowledge and practices of health workers on safe disposal of sharp medical wastes. This study was done in Pirojpur Sadar Hospital, Nazirpur Upazilla Health Complex and Zia Nagar Upazilla Health Complex. Sample size was 200 Health Workers. A Semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were processed and analyzed with the help of SPSS (Version 20) software on the basis of different variables. The period of study was from January to December 2016. The study result shows that among 200 respondent mean age was 44.05 (±7.01) years. The designation varieties were nurses (70.0%), doctor (10.0%), Aya/ward boy (15.0%). This study found that, majority of the respondents had knowledge about the concept of medical waste and sharp medical waste. Among the respondents (90.0%) respondents knew the correct color bin to segregate sharp medical waste. Multiple responses of the respondents (80%) mentioned that they got information from Course curriculum. Knowledge of the respondents on sharp medical waste disposal (64.5%) had Good knowledge, (23%) had Fair Knowledge and (12.5%) had Poor Knowledge. Most of the respondents (47.5%) had Good practices, (33%) had Fair and (20%) had Poor practices regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste disposal. Adequate supply of equipment’s and strict monitoring system should be established to improvement the practice of the health care providers regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste. Training on sharp medical waste disposal will help the participants to improve their knowledge and practices. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2020, 6(4): 802-808

Background: The vector borne diseases pose an immense public health concern and also a growing urban and rural problem. The aim of this study was to findout the perception and practices among the rural households regarding vector related diseases in some selected villages of Dhamrai Upazila. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among 1380 respondents by purposive sampling technique during the period from 6th to 8th January, 2018 in different villages of Dhamrai Upazila, Dhaka.. Results: Then study revealed that majority of the respondents 89% were Muslims by religion and about 65% respondents were found within the age 25-55 years. (mean age 37.81±14.72 years). Out of 1380 respondents, majority 87% & 86% mentioned Mosquitos and Houseflies as vectors transmitting the diseases followed by 48% Itch mite, 45% Louse and 27% Sandflies. About 85% & 88% mentioned Malaria & Dengue fever transmitted by vectors followed by 58% Chikungunya, 42% Kala azar, 13% Filariasis and 44% Typhoid fever. However, 71%, 83%, 59% & 3% respondents mentioned Mosquito bite as the mode of transmission of Malaria, Chikungunya and Filariasis respectively. About 88%, 75%, 44% and 39% respondents mentioned Personal protection, Avoidance of water collection, Fogging and Insecticidal spraying as the vector control measures. Nevertheless, 92%, 81% and 30% respondents are found practiced Mosquito net, Mosquito coil and Screening of windows as their usual vector control measures. Conclusion: In this study community awareness in terms of perceptions, knowledge and practices regarding vector borne diseases are found deficient. There should be intensified efforts in promoting personal protective measures through creating public awareness towards prevention of vector borne diseases in the locality. Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal Vol. 10, No. 1: Jan 2019, P 32-37

Waste pickers are the riskiest group for diseases transmission through waste. Waste pickers have no sufficient knowledge about Personal Protective Equipment usage at work. Likewise, several waste pickers at Temporary Shelters located in Kelurahan Bukit Tunggal, Jekan Raya, Palangka Raya, Indonesia. This community service aimed to provide education and training about the reduction of disease transmission risks through waste at Temporary Shelters. These activities involved field surveys, interviews, education and outreach, training and demonstrations, and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment for waste pickers. The solution offered to solve the problems is to educate on disease transmission risks through waste, education, training and demonstration of PPE usage at work, and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment for waste pickers. The community service for 27 waste pickers in several TPS located in Bukit Tunggal was well implemented. The survey result shows the level of usage of Personal Protective Equipment on waste pickers, which is Not Wear 36.25%, Use Non-Routine 16.03% and Use Routine 47.5%. This series of activities can improve the scavenger's insights into the dangers and prevention of transmitting disease through waste.

Surveillance and control activities for virus-transmitting mosquitoes have primarily focused on dwellings. There is little information about viral circulation in heavily trafficked places such as schools. We collected and analyzed data to assess the presence and prevalence of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses in mosquitoes, and measured Aedes indices in schools in Medellín (Colombia) between 2016–2018. In 43.27% of 2632 visits we collected Aedes adults, creating 883 pools analyzed by RT-PCR. 14.27% of pools yielded positive for dengue or Zika (infection rates of 1.75–296.29 for Aedes aegypti). Ae. aegypti was more abundant and had a higher infection rate for all studied diseases. Aedes indices varied over time. There was no association between Aedes abundance and mosquito infection rates, but the latter did correlate with cases of arboviral disease and climate. Results suggest schools are important sources of arbovirus and health agencies should include these sites in surveillance programs, it is essential to know the source for arboviral diseases transmission and the identification of the most population groups exposed to these diseases to research and developing new strategies.

Filarioid worms infecting dogs have recently received increased attention globally because of their zoonotic potential. In Africa and, particularly, in Nigeria, however, where there is preponderance of the risk factors for vector-borne diseases transmission, there are few reports of the disease in the canid and felid definitive hosts, the wild/domestic reservoirs and humans. Thus, the epidemiology of the disease in Nigeria remains sketchy and needs to be investigated. A retrospective analysis of reported canine filarioids in Nigeria was undertaken with the view to highlight what has been done and reported, existing gaps in knowledge, what needs to be done to bridge the gap and possibly how it could be done. Thirteen published works on canine filarioids using classical laboratory methods in Nigeria, reported the finding of Dirofilaria immitis (0.4–15.1%), Dirofilaria repens (0.1–9.4%), Acanthocheilonema reconditum (0.4–9.2%) and a case of A. dracunculoides in an unspecified dog population. In most instances, the species identification of the filarioids reported was not conclusive due to limitation of the diagnostic methods employed. No human infection due to any zoonotic canine filarioid has been reported in Nigeria. Suggestions for prospective filarioids research in Nigeria were made. Keywords: Filarioids, dog, zoonosis, diagnosis, Nigeria

In as much as the increasing number of diabetic patients and due to the painful manner of measuring blood glucose levels (BGL), so the need arises to study a noninvasive glucose sensing method. The present study aims to design and implementation a device to measure BGL noninvasively. Patients monitoring of blood Glucose and judgment supports is essential in averting probable disease complications. Mainly the traditional devices are invasive, these are not comfortable and painful manners, cannot be used more than four times a day, and can cause skin inflammation or infectious diseases transmission. The methodology of this study depends on the relationship between the SPO2 finger sensor and glucose level. A modified SPO2 finger sensor contains an infrared (IR) LED of 880nm wavelength and a sensitive IR detector and Uno Arduino microcontroller. The experimental results were satisfactory for many cases in different times of the two types of diabetic patients due to comparison with the invasive glucose detection device.

In this chapter, we have discussed about the synthesis of antibacterial textile dressings using sodium alginate (SA)-coated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in hospital clothing, surgical scrubs, and linens for protection against clinical bacterial pathogens. Cotton fabric embedded with sodium alginate capped silver nanoparticles (SA@AgNPs) was tested for antibacterial activity against clinical pathogens. To optimize the experimental condition for the synthesis of SA@AgNPs, the parameters were varied by fixing a range, such as different concentration of SA (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%), volume by reducing agent aniline (50 μL, 100 μL, 150 μL), and heat treatment (30–240 s). The synthesized nanoparticles were subsequently fabricated on cotton textile and characterized using SEM, XRD, and FTIR. Further, the antibacterial efficacy of SA@AgNPs-coated cotton fabrics was tested for antibacterial activity against different clinical pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aureus. These results proved that the SA@AgNPs-treated cotton fabrics exhibit excellent antibacterial activity which can be used for medical application.

The swimming pool particularly has been considered in tropical area and warm seasons in order to recreational actives and also different exercises. Therefore, poor management and unhealthy behavior of swimmers could be a cause of fungal diseases transmission among swimmers. The present study has addressed the literatures on the topic of fungal contamination of indoor/outdoor swimming pools in Iran. Based on the literature review, most common fungal contaminations were on the list of sporophytes fungus. The majority of the reported and isolated fungal were Aspergillus spp.(50 %), Rhizopus spp., Cladosporium spp.kand Penicillium spp. In addition, E. flucosom and T. mentagrophytes were the most abundant dermatophytes. Meta-analyzing of the results showed that dermatophytes, yeasts and saprophytes can be found in the swimming pool samples with a percent of 2.78 %, 14.29 and 73.73 %, respectively. High heterogeneity rate between studies was found for all types of fungal categories by I(2), and a p-value

The complex and changeable environment is a brand-new living condition for the viruses and pathogens released by the infected people to the indoor air or deposited on the surface of objects, which is an important external condition affecting the decay and transmission risk of the viruses. Exposure to contaminated surfaces is one of the main routes of respiratory diseases transmission. Therefore, it is very important for epidemic prevention and control to study the law of virus decay and the environmental coupling effect on various surfaces. Based on the analysis of the influencing mechanism, a large amount of experimental evidence on the survival of viruses on the surface of objects were excavated in this paper, and the effects of various factors, such as surface peripheral temperature, relative humidity, virus-containing droplet volume, surface materials and virus types, on the decay rate constants of viruses were comprehensively analyzed. It was found that although the experimental methods, virus types and experimental conditions varied widely in different experiments, the virus concentrations on the surface of objects all followed the exponential decay law, and the coupling effect of various factors was reflected in the decay rate constant k. Under different experimental conditions, k values ranged from 0.001 to 100 h−1, with a difference of 5 orders of magnitude, corresponding to the characteristic time t99 between 500 and 0.1 h when the virus concentration decreased by 99%. This indicates a large variation in the risk of virus transmission in different scenarios. By revealing the common law and individuality of the virus decay on the surface of objects, the essential relationship between the experimental observation phenomenon and virus decay was analyzed. This paper points out the huge difference in virus transmission risk on the surface at different time nodes, and discusses the prevention and control strategies to grasp the main contradictions in the different situations., Highlights • The effects of different environmental factors on the virus decay constants k were analyzed. • k values ranged from 0.001 to 100 h−1, with a difference of 5 orders of magnitude. • In moderate relative humidity environments (30–60% RH) the k values were higher. • A quantitative expression of the decay rate constant k and each characteristic time was provided. • Prevention and control should focus on the initial stage after surface were contaminated.

Surgical treatment of glioma is used in surgery where there is need to puncture the human body specifically the brain. However, it results in the patients losing too much blood and consequently causing death or other unwanted complications. Haemorrhage also known as bleeding is defined as any profuse external or internal loss of blood from the blood vessels. The most common cause of haemorrhage is injury or trauma to the blood vessel. During a glioma surgical procedure not only does the manual blood removal delay the duration of the operation but also causes a 40 percent mortality rate due to blood clots formation. In this project we develop a robotic system that is made up of a blood detection unit and a robotic arm with 2 degrees of freedom that removes the blood in a few seconds and this system can effectively and safely evacuate considerable haemorrhage volume. The system is designed in a way that no damage or hurt will be caused to the surrounding tissue during blood removal. Also, the design ensures the use of non-corrosive material as well as the use of disposable cotton that soaks up blood to avoid reuse that can cause blood diseases transmission

Studies directed to investigate ecological parameters of mosquitoes populations allows to establish the risk of vector borne diseases transmission and to bring recommendations for health authorities about prevention, surveillance and control. We report some ecological aspects of mosquitoes populations in a region of Colombia. Quarterly sampling was done. For mosquito catching CDC and Shannon traps were used. Diversity and abundance indexes estimation was done. A total of 1071 mosquitoes belonging to four genera and 10 species were collected. The most abundant species were Cx quinquefasciatus (22.6%), Ae. aegypti (20.08%), Ae. scapularis (12.3%), Ae. angustivittatus (9%) and An. albimanus (8.0%). The finding of Cx pedroi, Ae. scapularis,, Cx. nigripalpus, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. declarator, Ma. titillans, and Ps. ferox previously reported as arbovirus vectors warns about the possibility of transmission in the zone and the finding of An. albimanus, also warns about the risk for malaria transmission in the area.

Bekerja di rumah sakit dapat menimbulkan risiko untuk tertular penyakit dari pasien. Risiko ini tidak hanya berpotensi bagi tenaga medis saja, namun juga terhadap tenaga non medis seperti petugas kebersihan. Saat bekerja risiko yang selalu dihadapi oleh petugas kebersihan adalah terpapar faktor biologi dan terpapar bahan kimia atau obat pembersih. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis risiko keselamatan dan kesehatan kerja apa saja yang dapat terjadi pada petugas kebersihan di RSUD Tugurejo Semarang. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif analitik. Identifikasi risiko menggunakan JSA (Job Safety Analysis), pengambilan data dilakukan dengan cara observasional dan wawancara. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa risiko yang dihadapi petugas kebersihan adalah risiko terpapar kuman, bakteri dan virus dan terpapar obat kemoterapi, dengan tingkat risiko termasuk dalam high risk (36,6%). Risiko tertusuk jarum suntik atau tergores benda tajam, terpeleset atau jatuh karena lantai licin, gangguan muskuloskeletal, terjatuh dari tangga, dan tersengat listrik merupakan risiko dengan tingkatan moderate risk (45,1%). Risiko alergi atau iritasi terhadap penggunaan bahan kimia merupakan risiko dengan tingkatan low risk (18,3%). Untuk mengendalikan risiko tersebut, disarankan kepada petugas kebersihan agar selalu menggunakan alat pelindung diri yang baik dan benar dimana pun dan kapan pun saat melakukan pekerjaan. Selain itu juga sebaiknya dilakukan evaluasi tentang jenis APD yang digunakan petugas kebersihan, terutama mengenai kesesuaian jenis APD dengan pekerjaan yang dilakukan.

Summary Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) may be the inadvertent interface between the healthcare setting and the community for infectious diseases transmission. Aim To investigate HCWs' contacts during a work day and compare these against working adults from the general population. Methods Prospective survey of contacts through 24 h self-reported diary in three public sector tertiary care hospitals and community-based working adults in Singapore. Participants were HCWs and working adults from the community. Findings In all, 211 HCWs and 1028 working adults reported a total of 4066 and 9206 contacts. HCWs reported more work-related contacts than community-based working adults (median of 13 versus 4), and more contacts that were neither household nor work-related (1 versus 0) but fewer household contacts (2 versus 3). HCWs reported more work-related contacts involving physical contacts, and more new contacts particularly with short duration (≤15 min) compared to community-based working adults. Among different HCW types, doctors reported the highest whereas ward-based nurses reported the lowest total work-related contacts. Around half of ward-based and clinic-based nurses' contacts involved physical touch. Work-related contacts reported by clinic-based nurses, doctors, and assorted HCWs were shorter than in ward-based nurses, with a substantial number effectively occurring with new contacts. Institutional effects significant on univariate analyses were much reduced and non-significant after adjusting for confounding by HCW type. Conclusion HCWs' contacts differ substantially from those of community-based working adults. HCWs may thus be at higher risk of acquiring and spreading contact-transmissible and respiratory infections due to the nature of their work. Whereas total number of contacts was fairly similar between HCW types, the characteristics of their contacts differed substantively.

Various studies have shown that swimming pool mismanagement could serve as medium for water-borne diseases transmission. The research aimed to assess the biological quality of public swimming pool water in Tangerang city. One public swimming pool at the center of Tangerang city was assessed during November – December 2016 by adding two parameters to routine bacteriological indicators assessed by Tangerang city Heath Official in publicfacilities. Nine samples taken from three points in the swimming pool at three time periods, i.e. before, after, and during operational hours were analysed in the laboratory for detection and quantificaton of bacteriological indicators of swimming pool water, i.e. coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results showed that the number of total coliform and Escherichia coliof the public swimming pool exceeded WHO guidelines but not Peudomonas and Staphylococcus. Therefore,the disinfection, cleaning, and monitoring procedures need to be improved as well as increasing public swimming pool users education about the risk of potential transmissible diseases in public swimming pool.

Peting is an age-old habit of keeping either domestic or wild animals as man’s companion. In Makurdi metropolis, residents also keep pets. This study was conducted with the objectives of assessing the Domestic and Wild Animal pets owned by residents of Makurdi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used and structured into 2 sections namely, socio- demographic characteristics of residents and ownership of domestic and wild animals pets. Simple and systematic random samplings were used to select sample locations in which a total of 250 questionnaires were administered; Descriptive statistics, Students t-test and chi-square analysis were used to analyzed data. Result showed that, out of the 250 respondents; 144 were male respondents while 106 were female respondents. Residents of Makurdi Metropolis owned both domestic and wild animal’s pets. The commonest domestic animal pet was the Dog. While the commonest wild animal pet was the Red Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas). It was therefore recommended that more Enlightenment campaigns on the danger of zoonotic diseases transmission associated with pets and their preventive measures should be given to residents of Makurdi metropolis to forestall future public health hazards.

Summary Infectious disease models can be of great use for understanding the underlying mechanisms that influence the spread of diseases and predicting future disease progression. Modeling has been increasingly used to evaluate the potential impact of different control measures and to guide public health policy decisions. In recent years, there has been rapid progress in developing spatio-temporal modeling of infectious diseases and an example of such recent developments is the discrete-time individual-level models (ILMs). These models are well developed and provide a common framework for modeling many disease systems; however, they assume the probability of disease transmission between two individuals depends only on their spatial separation and not on their spatial locations. In cases where spatial location itself is important for understanding the spread of emerging infectious diseases and identifying their causes, it would be beneficial to incorporate the effect of spatial location in the model. In this study, we thus generalize the ILMs to a new class of geographically dependent ILMs, to allow for the evaluation of the effect of spatially varying risk factors (e.g., education, social deprivation, environmental), as well as unobserved spatial structure, upon the transmission of infectious disease. Specifically, we consider a conditional autoregressive (CAR) model to capture the effects of unobserved spatially structured latent covariates or measurement error. This results in flexible infectious disease models that can be used for formulating etiological hypotheses and identifying geographical regions of unusually high risk to formulate preventive action. The reliability of these models is investigated on a combination of simulated epidemic data and Alberta seasonal influenza outbreak data ($2009$). This new class of models is fitted to data within a Bayesian statistical framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.

The exact transmission route of many respiratory infectious diseases remains a subject for debate to date. The relative contribution ratio of each transmission route is largely undetermined, which is affected by environmental conditions, human behaviour, the host and the microorganism. In this study, a detailed mathematical model is developed to investigate the relative contributions of different transmission routes to a multi-route transmitted respiratory infection. The following transmission routes are considered: long-range airborne transmission, short-range airborne transmission, direction inhalation of medium droplets or droplet nuclei, direct deposition of droplets of all sizes, direct and indirect contact route. It is illustrated that all transmission routes can dominate the total transmission risk under different scenarios. Influential parameters considered include the dose-response rate of different routes, droplet governing size that determines pathogen content in droplets, exposure distance, and pathogen dose transported to the hand of infector. Our multi-route transmission model provided a comprehensive but straightforward method to evaluate the probability of respiratory diseases transmission via different routes. It also established a basis for predicting the impact of individual-level intervention methods such as increasing close-contact distance and wearing protective masks., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Droplet evaporation is considered. • Each transmission route may dominate and the influential factors are revealed. • Short-range airborne route and inhalation of medium droplets are highlighted.

Serial interval (SI), defined as the time between symptom onset in an infector and infectee pair, is commonly used to understand infectious diseases transmission. Slow progression to active disease, as well as the small percentage of individuals who will eventually develop active disease, complicate the estimation of the SI for tuberculosis (TB). In this paper, we showed via simulation studies that when there is credible information on the percentage of those who will develop TB disease following infection, a cure model, first introduced by Boag in 1949, should be used to estimate the SI for TB. This model includes a parameter in the likelihood function to account for the study population being composed of those who will have the event of interest and those who will never have the event. We estimated the SI for TB to be approximately 0.5 years for the United States and Canada (January 2002 to December 2006) and approximately 2.0 years for Brazil (March 2008 to June 2012), which might imply a higher occurrence of reinfection TB in a developing country like Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The transmission of infectious diseases is dependent on the amount and nature of contacts between infectious and healthy individuals. Confined and crowded environments that people visit in their day-to-day life (such as town squares, business districts, transport hubs, etc) can act as hot-spots for spreading disease. In this study we explore the link between the use of public transport and the spread of airborne infections in urban environments.METHODS: We study a large number of journeys on the London Underground, which is known to be particularly crowded at certain times. We use publically available Oyster card data (the electronic ticket used for public transport in Greater London), to infer passengers' routes on the underground network. In order to estimate the spread of a generic airborne disease in each station, we use and extend an analytical microscopic model that was initially designed to study people moving in a corridor.RESULTS: Comparing our results with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) data collected by Public Health England (PHE) in London boroughs, shows a correlation between the use of public transport and the spread of ILI. Specifically, we show that passengers departing from boroughs with higher ILI rates have higher number of contacts when travelling on the underground. Moreover, by comparing our results with other demographic key factors, we are able to discuss the role that the Underground plays in the spread of airborne infections in the English capital.CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests a link between public transport use and infectious diseases transmission and encourages further research into that area. Results could be used to inform the development of non-pharmacological interventions that can act on preventing instead of curing infections and are, potentially, more cost-effective.

L’appauvrissement de la biodiversité globale est devenu une préoccupation croissante pour notre société. Ce déclin, d’origine multifactorielle, de la diversité des organismes touche également la communauté des pollinisateurs qui assure la reproduction des plantes. Les pollinisateurs fournissent aussi un excellent service écosystémique à l\'humanité, en particulier pour la sécurité alimentaire et le bien-être humain. La transmission de maladies intra- et interspécifique des pollinisateurs est un des facteurs du déclin de plus en plus étudié. L\'objectif de cette revue est d’offrir une mise à jour des causes principales du déclin en se concentrant particulièrement sur l’impact de la transmission des maladies. Outre les effets synergiques de la dégradation du paysage, des pesticides, des changements climatiques et d’espèces invasives, une relation existe entre l’introduction de pollinisateurs domestiques dans de nouveaux milieux et l’émergence de nouvelles maladies. Via la globalisation des échanges commerciaux, certains agents pathogènes sont devenus des menaces importantes concernant la santé des pollinisateurs. Cependant, il subsiste encore des lacunes importantes dans la connaissance des mécanismes de transmission. Des avancées scientifiques et technologiques dans ce domaine permettraient aux autorités d’établir une réglementation sanitaire plus adaptée et ainsi contribuer à la sauvegarde à l’ensemble de la communauté des pollinisateurs., The loss of global biodiversity has become a growing concern for our society. This multifactorial decline also affects pollinator community that ensures plants reproduction in our environment. Pollinators also provide an excellent ecosystem service to humankind, especially for food security and human well-being. The transmission of intra- and interspecific pollinator diseases is considered as factor of pollinator decline which is increasingly studied. The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the main causes of decline, with a particular focus on the impact of disease transmission. In addition to the synergetic effects of landscape degradation, pesticides, climate changes and invasive species, a relationship exists between the introduction of commercial pollinators into new environments and the emergence of new diseases. Through globalization of commercial trades, some pathogens have become substantial threats to pollinators community health. However, there are still significant gaps in knowledge of transmission mechanisms. Scientific and technological advances in this area would enable the authorities to establish more appropriate health regulations and thereby contribute to the protection of pollinators diversity as a whole.

Aiming at the great impact of the complex transportation network on the spread of infectious diseases, a propagation model of infectious disease dynamics in complex social traffic network based on Markov chain model is proposed. The model is based on the common traffic network of highway, high-speed railway, self-driving and aviation as the breakthrough point of the study of infectious disease transmission model, and establishes the social traffic network topology under the real environment and constructs the infectious disease risk index model. In this paper, nearly a decade of new influenza virus infection as an example, the number of severe cases of infection to verify the number of validated standards. The experimental results show that the model has a positive correlation with the actual case data, so the model has a certain value in predicting the potential infectious risk degree of infectious diseases.

Infectious disease control and prevention relies on a thorough understanding of the factors determining transmission. This article summarizes the fundamental principles of infectious disease transmission while highlighting many of the agent, host, and environmental determinants of these diseases that are of particular import to public health professionals. Basic principles of infectious disease diagnosis, control, and prevention are also reviewed.

Interferons (IFNs) are pivotal regulators of immunological processes. This paper describes mainly type I interferons -α and -β and their recently recounted signaling pathways, especially connected with ISGs - interferon stimulated genes, having a crucial role in regulating IFN recruitment. Moreover, the paper shows the data on the role of interferons -α and -β in infections - not only commonly known viral infections, but also bacterial, fungal and parasitic.

Fundamentos: El primer caso confirmado de gripe pandémica (H1N1) 2009 adquirida en la Comunidad de Madrid (CM) se detectó el 20 de mayo, siendo el caso índice del primer brote escolar de la CM. Los objetivos son describir los brotes escolares ocurridos en la primavera de 2009, las medidas de control implementadas, así como el inicio de la transmisión comunitaria de este virus en la región. Métodos: Estudio observacional descriptivo de los brotes escolares de gripe pandémica (H1N1) 2009 ocurridos en la CM entre el 20 de mayo y el 27 de junio de 2009, y de los casos totales estudiados en ese periodo. Se utiliza la definición de agrupación de casos de gripe adoptada a nivel nacional (3 o más casos). Se analizan los datos clínicos, epidemiológicos y microbiológicos de los casos. Resultados: Se investigaron 1.349 casos asociados a 77 centros escolares de la CM con tres o más casos de gripe notificados durante la primavera de 2009, 47,4% del total de casos en ese periodo (n=2.844). Se detectaron 36 brotes en Leganés (más de un tercio de los centros del municipio), generando las mayores tasas de incidencia acumulada en la Zona Básica de referencia. Se detectaron diferencias en la sintomatología según la edad. Se analizaron 949 muestras por RT-PCR, resultando positivas 555 (58,5%). Conclusiones: La transmisión del virus pandémico en la CM ocurrió de manera sostenida durante la primavera de 2009 a consecuencia de los brotes en centros escolares, significando el inicio de la transmisión comunitaria en España.

The objective of this study was the characterisation of the traditional milk chain in Western Region (The Gambia) and Kolda (Southern Senegal); and the analysis of milk chain actors' risk behaviours for milk-borne diseases transmission. For this purpose, cattle herds involved in milk production, milk collectors, milk vendors and small-scale milk processing units were surveyed in the two study sites. A similar general milk chain organisation was found in the two sites with some particularities in farm management, compliance with hygienic measures at different levels, treatment of milk and milk consumption patterns. This results in a variable degree of risk of consumers' exposure to milk-borne diseases. Although the quality of the milk has been improved with the development of small-scale milk processing units, serious efforts are still needed with respect to pasteurisation procedure and to change the mindset of consumers who prefer in their majority drinking raw milk, fresh or soured, without any prior treatment.

International audience; Enteric and respiratory diseases are the most frequent health disorders of calves. They are associated with mortality or lower growth rate and induce treatment costs. Enteric and respiratory pathogens can be transmitted via contacts between calves, which depend on calf housing systems and management. This study aimed at describing the main calf housing systems across Europe and at assessing the consequences of such housing facilities in terms of risk for calf infectious diseases. This was done through the use of a questionnaire distributed to experts in epidemiology and cattle farming systems in each European country. A literature review was performed on the risk factors associated with calf infectious diseases transmission and targeted in the questionnaire. Answers from 14 countries were obtained. A wide range of housing systems were described. However, four main systems could be identified and ranked in ascending order of risk for neonatal diarrhoea and respiratory infectious diseases: individual pen until weaning, individual pen for 4 weeks, individual pen for 2 weeks, and collective pen from the separation of the calf with its dam. Although the housing systems are known to play a role in disease transmission, they are currently not fully described in literature concerning risk factors for calf infectious diseases. In a given farm, the risk assessment for calf infectious diseases should consider classical risk factors such as hygiene, feeding practices and air conditioning, on top of a precise description of the housing system.

The treatment of sewer pipes of small cities using waste stabilization ponds is a simple, efficient, and low cost option. Sewer pipes area fountain of water and ground contamination and consequently they contribute to diseases transmission, besides being a threat to the preservationof the environment. It is thus necessary to investigate the conditions of effluents going to water courses. The present work aims to carryout an investigation on the quality of residual waters treated by stabilization ponds of a sewer pipe treatment facility located in Sao Lourencoda Serra, Vale do Ribeira, State Sao Paulo and examine the sanitary risks and the local aquatic community. Samples were taken for evaluating theseveral anaerobic and facultative ponds of sewer pipe of the treatment facility of Sao Lourenco da Serra. Parameters used were pH, air and watertemperature, climatic conditions, biochemical demand of oxygen and ammoniac nitrogen, thermo-tolerant bacteria, photosynthetic pigments andzooplanktonic community. We observed that the anaerobic and optional pond systems were efficient in the production of effluent and presentedvalues in accordance with the Resolution Conama no 357, which establish limits for waste disposal in water sources. Sao Lourenco River is located inan area of environmental protection, and data were compared to limits established in Class 1 and 2 and demonstrate a process of euthrophization,putting in risk aquatic biodiversity and the health of the population.

We extend some results of Itai Benjamini and Yuri Lima (see \href{http://arxiv.org/pdf/1305.2610.pdf}{\cite{Benjamini}}). In this paper they consider a binary tree $\mathbb T_n$ of height $n$, each leaf is either infected by one of $k$ diseases or not infected at all. In other words, $x$ at generation $n$ is infected by the $i$-th infection with probability $p_i$ and sane with $p_{k+1}$. Moreover the infections are independently distributed for each leaf. Infections spread along the tree based on specific rules. In their paper they study the limit distribution of the root of $\mathbb T_n$ as $n$ goes to infinity. Here we want to study the more general case of a Galton-Watson tree and a $z$-ary tree., 22 pages, 7 figures

Medical waste has a dangerous effect on environment. The mismanagement of it may be a significant risk factor for diseases transmission, in developing countries. This factor rose up with the increasing generation rate of medical waste. The study was conducted from October to December 2012 on one public hospital, twelve private hospitals and clinic and seven diagnostic centres of Jessore municipality of Bangladesh, where there has been no rigorous estimation of medical waste generation on the basis of scientific way. The study includes generation rate, existing management system and problem of medical waste. A convenience random sampling technique was followed to collect data. Actual measurement was done by digital weight machine to know about waste generation from the different sections of HCE’s and a pre - structured questionnaire about the existing medical waste management. Visual field observation was also done to acquire the actual information. The research focused on the average generation rate of the studied HCE’s was 1.59 kg/bed/day, 0.49 kg/patient/day and 0.11 kg/test/day. The generation rate in public hospital was 2.02 kg/ bed/ day, 0.49 kg/patient/day and 0.133 kg/test/day. The generation rate was 1.36 kg/bed/ day, 0.54 kg/patient/ day and 0.086 kg/test/day and 0.33 kg/patient/day and 0.168 kg/test/day in private clinic and diagnostic centre respectively. Result prevailed that unsat isfactory management practice observed on the basis of environmental safety. Adequate amount of selected colored dust bin, regular monitoring, arrangement of training, regular assessment of HCEs by government through the specialist, implementing of rules and regulations will be needed for improving existing medical waste management in the study area. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v6i2.22115 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 6(2): 181-189 2013

Health care is necessary for the sustenance of human life and well-being. But the waste generated from medical activities can be hazardous, toxic and even lethal because of their high potential for diseases transmission. The wastes generated from the healthcare units are hazardous and can cause delirious biological effects. In India there are an estimate of 2.7 lacs small scale healthcare units (which includes nursing homes, pathological laboratories, etc.).The waste generated collectively nears 63% of the total biomedical waste generated in India (On an annual basis). Most of the small scale units, do not have many departments/divisions and the generation of waste is small and normally they do not have treatment facility for the bio-medical waste due to financial incapability. Thus most of the units dump the waste along the municipal wastes. This can cause adverse effects such as providing waste dumping sites as breeding grounds for the microorganisms contained in the wastes (Biological test sample wastes). This issue calls for a Common Integrated facility for treatment of these wastes.

Recently, most notably after the appearance of the article by Keesing et al., Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases in Nature in 2010, there has been a growing interest in understanding the relationship between biodiversity and epidemiology. On the one hand, regions with high biodiversity may be sources of new pathogens; on the other hand, biodiverse ecological communities may buffer the transmission by “diluting” the disease. Using mathematical epidemiology, we provide a framework to measure and interpret how a change in the abundance and richness of species of an ecosystem could affect the prevalence and the incidence of a disease. Moreover, we are able to quantify the effect of such a change on the incidence of an infectious disease in a specific species of the ecosystem, making this framework highly relevant for assessing the impact on humans.

Influenza is associated with substantial disease burden [ 1]. Development of a climate-based early warning system for in fluenza epidemics has been recommended given the signi fi - cant association between climate variability and influenza activity [2]. Brisbane is a subtropical city in Australia and offers free in fluenza vaccines to residents aged ≥65 years considering their high risks in developing life-threatening complications, especially for in fluenza A predominant seasons. Hong Kong is an international subtropical city in Eastern Asia and plays a crucial role in global infectious diseases transmission dynamics via the international air transportation network [3, 4]. We hypothesized that Hong Kong in fluenza surveillance data could provide a signal for in fluenza epidemics in Brisbane [ 4]. This study aims to develop an epidemic forecasting model for influenza A in Brisbane elders, by combining climate variability and Hong Kong in fluenza A surveillance data. Weekly numbers of laboratoryconfirmed influenza A positive isolates for people aged ≥65 years from 2004 to 2009 were obtained for Brisbane from Queensland Health, Australia, and for Hong Kong from Queen Mary Hospital (QMH). QMH is the largest public hospital located in Hong Kong Island, and in fluenza surveillance data from this hospital have been demonstrated to be representative for influenza circulation in the entirety of Hong Kong [ 5]. The Brisbane in fluenza A epidemics occurred during July –September, whereas the Hong Kong in fluenza A epidemics occurred during February –March and May –August.

L’Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE) est l’institution internationale responsable de la mise en place des mesures sanitaires associées aux échanges commerciaux d’animaux vivants. Le zonage est une méthode de contrôle recommandée par l’OIE pour certaines maladies infectieuses, dont l’influenza aviaire. Les éclosions d’influenza aviaire été extrêmement coûteuses pour l’industrie avicole partout dans le monde. Afin d’évaluer la possibilité d’user de cette approche en Ontario, les données sur les sites de production avicole ont été fournies par les fédérations d’éleveurs de volailles ce cette province. L’information portant sur les industries associées à la production avicole, soit les meuneries, les abattoirs, les couvoirs, et les usines de classification d’œufs, a été obtenue par l’entremise de plusieurs sources, dont des représentants de l’industrie avicole. Des diagrammes de flux a été crée afin de comprendre les interactions entre les sites de production et les industries associées à ceux-ci. Ces industries constituaient les éléments de bas nécessaires au zonage. Cette analyse a permis de créer une base de données portant sur intrants et extrants de production pour chaque site d’élevage avicole, ainsi que pour les sites de production des industries associées à l’aviculture. À l’aide du logiciel ArcGIS, cette information a été fusionnée à des données géospatiales de Statistique Canada de l’Ontario et du Québec. La base de données résultante a permis de réaliser les essais de zonage. Soixante-douze essais ont été réalisés. Quatre ont été retenus car celles minimisaient de façon similaire les pertes de production de l’industrie. Ces essais montrent que la méthode utilisée pour l’étude du zonage peut démontrer les déficits et les surplus de production de l’industrie avicole commerciale en Ontario. Ceux-ci pourront servir de point de départ lors des discussions des intervenants de l’industrie avicole, étant donné que la coopération et la communication sont essentielles au succès du zonage., The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is the international reference body for international trade standards for live animals. Zoning is a method of controlling certain infectious diseases, including avian influenza, recommended by the OIE for use when appropriate. Avian influenza outbreaks have been extremely costly to the poultry industry throughout the world. In order to assess whether this approach was possible in Ontario, data on poultry industry production sites were provided by the Ontario poultry marketing boards. Zone borders were formed based on two criteria. The first criterion was the supply of essential products and services such that within-zone commercial poultry production could be maintained. The second was the contiguity of the zone’s territory. Four associated industries were identified which provide essential products and services: feed mills, abattoirs, hatcheries, and egg grading stations. A product flow analysis was completed to understand the direction of product movements between the poultry production sites and the sites of the four associated industries. This analysis was used to create a database of input requirements and output production capacity from each type of poultry production site. Using ArcGIS, this information was merged with geospatial data from Statistics Canada on Ontario and Quebec to create the database used for zoning scenarios. Seventy-two scenarios were completed; of these, four were chosen which minimized production loss over the whole industry. These scenarios demonstrate that the method used for the zoning study can identify the production deficits and surpluses of the commercial poultry industry in Ontario. These scenarios can serve as a starting point for discussion among industry stakeholders, as cooperation and communication are essential to the success of zoning.

Fundamentos: El primer caso confirmado de gripe pandémica (H1N1) 2009 adquirida en la Comunidad de Madrid (CM) se detectó el 20 de mayo, siendo el caso índice del primer brote escolar de la CM. Los objetivos son describir los brotes escolares ocurridos en la primavera de 2009, las medidas de control implementadas, así como el inicio de la transmisión comunitaria de este virus en la región. Métodos: Estudio observacional descriptivo de los brotes escolares de gripe pandémica (H1N1) 2009 ocurridos en la CM entre el 20 de mayo y el 27 de junio de 2009, y de los casos totales estudiados en ese periodo. Se utiliza la definición de agrupación de casos de gripe adoptada a nivel nacional (3 o más casos). Se analizan los datos clínicos, epidemiológicos y microbiológicos de los casos. Resultados: Se investigaron 1.349 casos asociados a 77 centros escolares de la CM con tres o más casos de gripe notificados durante la primavera de 2009, 47,4% del total de casos en ese periodo (n=2.844). Se detectaron 36 brotes en Leganés (más de un tercio de los centros del municipio), generando las mayores tasas de incidencia acumulada en la Zona Básica de referencia. Se detectaron diferencias en la sintomatología según la edad. Se analizaron 949 muestras por RT-PCR, resultando positivas 555 (58,5%). Conclusiones: La transmisión del virus pandémico en la CM ocurrió de manera sostenida durante la primavera de 2009 a consecuencia de los brotes en centros escolares, significando el inicio de la transmisión comunitaria en España. Background: The first pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 confirmed case acquired in the Madrid Region was diagnosed in May 20th. This was the index case of the first outbreak in a school in the Madrid Region (MR). The aim of this paper is to describe school outbreaks that took place during the spring in 2009, the control measures implemented and the beginning of the community transmission of this virus in the Region. Methods: Descriptive observational study of school outbreaks due to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus reported between May 20th and June 27th, and total investigated cases in this period. It was used the definition of cluster of influenza cases adopted by National Authority (three or more cases). Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological data of cases were analyzed. Results: There were identified 1.349 cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009. They were associated with 77 school centres with three or more reported cases, 47,4% of total cases in this period (n = 2.844). 36 outbreaks were detected in Leganés (more than one third of all schools in the municipality), generating the highest cumulative incidence rates in the Basic Health Zone. There were differences by symptoms according to age. During this period, 949 samples were analyzed and 555 (58.5%) tested positive. Conclusions: The transmission of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus in the MR occurred steadily during the spring of 2009 due to schools outbreaks, meaning the onset of community transmission in Spain.

Aim: The host-response to hematophagus insects is still an important parameter in understanding disease transmission patterns. We investigated the feeding and mortality rates of three mosquito species, namely Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles arabiensis against three different hosts. Materials and Methods: Unfed three to five-day-old female mosquitoes were released in a tunnel box that had a rabbit or guinea pig or mice as a host. The feeding succession patterns of mosquitoes in different hosts were An. arabiensis, Cx. quinquefasciatus and A. aegypti. Results: Mosquito mortality rate was 54.9% for mosquitoes introduced in mice as a host, 34.3% in the Guinea pig and 10.8% for those that introduced in the rabbit. Conclusion: The presence of defensive and tolerable hosts in environment emphasizes the relevance of studying epidemiological impact of these behaviors in relation to diseases transmission.

Prevention of infectious diseases transmission in swimming and bathing pools requires that sufficient disinfection capability is constantly maintained in the bathing water. Accordingly, German regulations make mandatory that any procedure for the treatment and disinfection of those waters must guarantee a certain minimum capability to inactivate human pathogens in the water. We describe here a simple method to evaluate the disinfection capability of pool water, expressed as the inactivation rate of selected microorganisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Escherichia coli and Legionella pneumophila). The test might be carried out right onsite in the pool area using simple standard laboratory equipment normally present in microbiological laboratories and might be used for the evaluation of standard disinfectants and of others to be developed in the future. Results achieved with this test show good agreement with those obtained using a sophisticated stopped flow apparatus, developed exclusively for the evaluation of disinfection capability.

In the past years, research in embryo technologies is moving to the establishment of preimplantation genetic typing or also denominated preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The objectives of these tests are the prevention of genetic diseases transmission and the prediction of phenotypic characteristics, as well as sex determination, genetic disorders and productive and reproductive profiles, prior to the embryo transfer or freezing, during early stages of development. This paper points out the state-of-the-art of PGD, mainly in cattle and discuss the perspectives of multiloci genetic analysis of embryos.

Prion diseases in humans show considerable clinical and pathological heterogeneity. The identification of a new variant of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and its interpretation as evidence of transmission of mad cow disease to man, rely critically on our understanding of the epidemiology of prion diseases.

This paper formalizes the process of averaging the mixing patterns of behaviorally distinct individuals or groups. This averaging process is shown to decrease or leave unaltered the basic reproduction ratio R0 in epidemiological models with symmetric transmission between groups.

Con base en el estudio de las condiciones estructurales que caracterizaron a la España imperial de los siglos XVI y XVII, este artículo analiza sus repercusiones en el proceso poblacional de la misma época. Así pues, se explican las contradicciones políticas, económicas y sociales que definieron esta nación, tales como la expansión imperial, el fortalecimiento del régimen señorial y de la Iglesia, las fuertes cargas fiscales, la declinación agrícola, entre otras más, las cuales provocaron su rezago en la acumulación originaria de capital. La suma de contradicciones sirve para definir la fácil propagación de epidemias y el alto índice de mortalidad en territorio español.