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Background: Campylobacter is associated with environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) and malnutrition in children. Campylobacter infection could be a linchpin between livestock fecal exposure and health outcomes in low-resource smallholder settings., Methods: We followed a birth cohort of 106 infants in rural smallholder households in eastern Ethiopia up to 13 months of age. We measured anthropometry, surveyed sociodemographic determinants, and collected stool and urine samples. A short survey was conducted during monthly visits, infant stool samples were collected, and Campylobacter spp. was quantified using genus-specific qPCR. In month 13, we collected stool and urine samples to assay for EED biomarkers. We employed regression analyses to assess the associations of household determinants with Campylobacter colonization, EED, and growth faltering., Results: The Campylobacter load in infant stools increased with age. The mean length-for-age Z -score (LAZ) decreased from -0.45 at 3-4 months of age to -2.06 at 13 months, while the prevalence of stunting increased from 3 to 51%. The prevalence of EED at 13 months of age was 56%. A higher Campylobacter load was associated with more frequent diarrhea. Prelacteal feeding significantly increased Campylobacter load in the first month of life. Over the whole follow-up period, Campylobacter load was increased by keeping chickens unconfined at home and unsanitary disposal of infant stools while decreased by mothers' handwashing with soap. Longitudinally, Campylobacter load was positively associated with food insecurity, introduction of complementary foods, and raw milk consumption. There were no significant associations between Campylobacter load, EED, and LAZ., Conclusion: This study found that most determinants associated with increased Campylobacter infection were related to suboptimal feeding practices and hygiene. The findings related to livestock-associated risks were inconclusive. Although stunting, EED, and Campylobacter prevalence rates all increased to high levels by the end of the first year of life, no significant association between them was identified. While additional research is needed to investigate whether findings from this study are replicable in other populations, community efforts to improve infant and young child feeding practices and food hygiene, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) at the household level, could reduce (cross-)contamination at the point of exposure., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Chen, McKune, Yang, Usmane, Ahmed, Amin, Ibrahim, Seran, Shaik, Ojeda, Hassen, Deblais, Ahmedo, Hassen, Bhrane, Li, Singh, Roba, French, Rajashekara, Manary, Hassen, Havelaar and on behalf of the CAGED Research Team.)

Objective: Recent studies have shown that inclusion of eggs in young children's diet can help meet nutritional requirements associated with cognitive development. This study aims to investigate the effect of egg consumption on Early Childhood Development (ECD) using Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3(ASQ-3) in Burkina Faso., Design: The study presented here uses data collected during a follow-up of the Un Oeuf -a 3 arm clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT), conducted roughly four months after the end of the RCT., Setting: This research was conducted in 18 rural villages within the Kaya Department of the Sanmatenga Province in Burkina Faso., Participants: Participants of this study include a total of 244 children aged between 18-33 months, with 78 children in the full intervention group, 83 in the partial group, and 83 in the control group., Results: Results show that children with consistent egg consumption (in all months) had a lower odd of falling below the cut-off scores in gross motor ( OR = 0.13, p = 0.02) and personal social skills ( OR = 0.34, p = 0.05). And a dose response was established; for each additional egg/week, a 1.9% increase in scores for problem-solving skills was observed., Conclusions: Findings from this study contribute to a growing body of evidence that increasing egg consumption among children in LMICs can improve growth and development. The study highlights the need for additional research in LMICs to better understand the multifactorial relationship between diet and childhood development.

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed social and economic systems globally, including fisheries systems. Decreases in seafood demand, supply chain disruptions, and public safety regulations required numerous adaptations to maintain the livelihoods and social resilience of fishing communities. Surveys, interviews, and focus groups were undertaken to assess impacts from and adaptive responses to the pandemic in commercial fisheries in five U.S. regions: the Northeast, California, Alaska, the U.S. Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. Fishery adaptation strategies were categorized using the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework, a novel application to understand social transformation in a social-ecological system in response to a disturbance. A number of innovations emerged, or were facilitated, that could improve the fisheries' resilience to future disruptions. Fishers with diversified options and strategic flexibility generally fared better, i.e., had fewer disruptions to their livelihoods. Using the RAD framework to identify adaptation strategies from fishery system actors highlights opportunities for improving resilience of fisheries social-ecological systems to future stressors., (© 2022 The Authors. Fisheries Management and Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Commercial fisheries globally experienced numerous and significant perturbations during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the livelihoods of millions of fishers worldwide. In the Northeast United States, fishers grappled with low prices and disruptions to export and domestic markets, leaving many tied to the dock, while others found ways to adapt to the changing circumstances brought about by the pandemic. This paper investigates the short-term impacts of the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-June 2020) on commercial fishers in the Northeast U.S. to understand the effects of the pandemic on participation in the fishery and fishers' economic outcomes, using data collected from an online survey of 258 Northeast U.S. commercial fishers. This research also assesses characteristics of those fishers who continued fishing and their adaptive strategies to the changing circumstances. Analysis of survey responses found the majority of fishers continued fishing during the early months of the pandemic, while a significant number had stopped fishing. Nearly all reported a loss of income, largely driven by disruptions of export markets, the loss of restaurant sales, and a resulting decline in seafood prices. Landings data demonstrate that while fishing pressure in 2020 was reduced for some species, it remained on track with previous years for others. Fishers reported engaging in a number of adaptation strategies, including direct sales of seafood, switching species, and supplementing their income with government payments or other sources of income. Many fishers who had stopped fishing indicated plans to return, suggesting refraining from fishing as a short-term adaptation strategy, rather than a plan to permanently stop fishing. Despite economic losses, fishers in the Northeast U.S. demonstrated resilience in the face of the pandemic by continuing to fish and implementing other adaptation strategies rather than switching to other livelihoods., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Childhood stunting and malnutrition condemn millions of people globally to a life of disadvantage and cognitive and physical impairment. Though increasing egg consumption is often seen as an important solution for low and middle income countries (including Ethiopia), emerging evidence suggests that greater exposure to poultry feces may also inhibit child growth due to the effects of enteric bacteria, especially Campylobacter , on gut health., Methods: In this rapid ethnographic study, we explored village poultry production, child dietary practices, and environmental hygiene conditions as they relate to Campylobacter risk and intervention in 16 villages in Haramaya Woreda, Eastern Ethiopia., Results: In the study area, we found that women assumed primary responsibility to care for both chickens and children: in feeding, housing, and healthcare. Most chickens were free-range local indigenous breeds, and flock sizes were small and unstable due to epidemics, seasonal trends, reproductive patterns, and lack of food. Generally, eggs were seen as "too luxurious" to be eaten, and were predominantly sold at local markets for scarce cash, despite high malnutrition rates. Local narratives of extreme poverty, social dietary norms, parental fatalism, and lack of "dietary consciousness" (as it was called) were invoked to explain this. We found that homesteads were highly contaminated with human and animal feces. Although community members viewed chicken feces and poultry gastrointestinal contents as particularly noxious in comparison to other animals because of their feeding behaviour, they did not relate them to any particular disease. Shared human-animal housing and childcare practices place children at high risk of exposure to enteric bacteria from animal manure, despite daily routines designed to manage the domestic landscape., Conclusions: Addressing childhood stunting and malnutrition through egg production in rural landscapes like Haramaya must navigate three distinct health and care regimes: for children, chickens, and home environments. Interventions should be based on a holistic approach to social and economic empowerment, one that considers both women and men and integrates nutrition, health, and community change as its overarching goal., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Climate change is driving shifts in the abundance and distribution of marine fish and invertebrates and is having direct and indirect impacts on seafood catches and fishing communities, exacerbating the already negative effects of unsustainably high fishing pressure that exist for some stocks. Although the majority of fisheries in the world are managed at the national or local scale, most existing approaches to assessing climate impacts on fisheries have been developed on a global scale. It is often difficult to translate from the global to regional and local settings because of limited relevant data. To address the need for fisheries management entities to identify those fisheries with the greatest potential for climate change impacts, we present an approach for estimating expected climate change-driven impacts on the productivity and spatial range of fisheries at the regional scale in a data-poor context. We use a set of representative Mexican fisheries as test cases. To assess the implications of climate impacts, we compare biomass, harvest, and profit outcomes from a bioeconomic model under contrasting management policies and with and without climate change. Overall results show that climate change is estimated to negatively affect nearly every fishery in our study. However, the results indicate that overfishing is a greater threat than climate change for these fisheries, hence fixing current management challenges has a greater upside than the projected future costs of moderate levels of climate change. Additionally, this study provides meaningful first approximations of potential effects of both climate change and management reform in Mexican fisheries. Using the climate impact estimations and model outputs, we identify high priority stocks, fleets, and regions for policy reform in Mexico in the face of climate change. This approach can be applied in other data-poor circumstances to focus future research and policy reform efforts on stocks now subject to additional stress due to climate change. Considering their growing relevance as a critical source of protein and micronutrients to nourish our growing population, it is urgent for regions to develop sound fishery management policies in the short-term as they are the most important intervention to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on marine fisheries., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The goal of this study was to assess morbidity, mortality, and health-seeking behaviours during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia. This study examined commonly reported symptoms of illness, pre-clinical diagnostic practices, typical healthcare-seeking strategies, and health resources available to populations, in order to identify salient needs and gaps in healthcare that would inform local emergency response efforts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with household members in four Monrovia neighbourhoods. Researchers used a multi-stage cluster approach to recruit participants. Within 555 households sampled, 505 individuals were reported sick (69%) or recently sick (38%) or deceased (7%). Common self-diagnoses included malaria, hypertension, influenza, typhoid, and Ebola. The most cited health-seeking strategy was to purchase medications from the private sector. Respondents also obtained healthcare from community members known to have medical experience. Findings suggest that non-formal healthcare systems played an important role in managing morbidity during the West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak. Lay community members engaged in complex assessments of health symptoms and sought biomedical care at rates perhaps higher than anticipated during the response. This study highlights how informal networks of healthcare providers can play an important role in preventing and curbing future emerging disease outbreaks.

This study analyzes findings from a rapid-response community-based qualitative research initiative to study the content of Ebola-related communications and the transmission of Ebola-related behaviors and practices through mass media communications and social learning in Monrovia, Liberia during August-September 2014. Thirteen neighborhoods in the common Monrovia media market were studied to appraise the reach of health communications and outreach regarding Ebola prevention and response measures. A World Health Organization (WHO) research team collected data on social learning and Ebola knowledge, attitudes, and practices through focus group-based discussions and key informant interviews over a 14-day period to assess the spread of information during a period of rapidly escalating crisis. Findings show that during a 2-week period, Monrovia neighborhood residents demonstrated rapid changes in beliefs about the source of Ebola, modes of contagion, and infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, discarding incorrect information. Changes in practices tended to lag behind the acquisition of learning. Findings also show that many continued to support conspiracy theories even as correct information was acquired. The implications for community engagement are substantial: (1) Under conditions of accelerating mortality, communities rapidly assimilate health information and abandon incorrect information; (2) Behavior change is likely to lag behind changes in beliefs due to local physical, structural, sociocultural, and institutional constraints; (3) Reports of "resistance" in Monrovia during the Ebola response were overstated and based on a limited number of incidents, and failed to account for specific local conditions and constraints.

Background: The West African Ebola epidemic has demonstrated that the existing range of medical and epidemiological responses to emerging disease outbreaks is insufficient, especially in post-conflict contexts with exceedingly poor healthcare infrastructures. In this context, community-based responses have proven vital for containing Ebola virus disease (EVD) and shifting the epidemic curve. Despite a surge in interest in local innovations that effectively contained the epidemic, the mechanisms for community-based response remain unclear. This study provides baseline information on community-based epidemic control priorities and identifies innovative local strategies for containing EVD in Liberia., Methodology/principal Findings: This study was conducted in September 2014 in 15 communities in Monrovia and Montserrado County, Liberia--one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak. Findings from 15 focus group discussions with 386 community leaders identified strategies being undertaken and recommendations for what a community-based response to Ebola should look like under then-existing conditions. Data were collected on the following topics: prevention, surveillance, care-giving, community-based treatment and support, networks and hotlines, response teams, Ebola treatment units (ETUs) and hospitals, the management of corpses, quarantine and isolation, orphans, memorialization, and the need for community-based training and education. Findings have been presented as community-based strategies and recommendations for (1) prevention, (2) treatment and response, and (3) community sequelae and recovery. Several models for community-based management of the current Ebola outbreak were proposed. Additional findings indicate positive attitudes towards early Ebola survivors, and the need for community-based psychosocial support., Conclusions/significance: Local communities' strategies and recommendations give insight into how urban Liberian communities contained the EVD outbreak while navigating the systemic failures of the initial state and international response. Communities in urban Liberia adapted to the epidemic using multiple coping strategies. In the absence of health, infrastructural and material supports, local people engaged in self-reliance in order to contain the epidemic at the micro-social level. These innovations were regarded as necessary, but as less desirable than a well-supported health-systems based response; and were seen as involving considerable individual, social, and public health costs, including heightened vulnerability to infection.

Background: Human and animal studies have produced conflicting results with regard to the effect of soy isoflavones on breast cancer risk. This may be due to differences in isoflavone metabolism., Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether soy isoflavone phase II metabolism differs between humans and rodents., Design: Circulating total and unconjugated isoflavone concentrations were determined by mass spectrometry in plasma samples from 7 separate studies: 1) in Sprague-Dawley rats and in 3 strains of mice fed commercial soy-containing diets; 2) in Sprague-Dawley rats gavaged with genistein; 3) in healthy adults who consumed single servings of soy nuts, soy milk, and tempeh; 4) in healthy adults subchronically given soy milk; 5) in healthy women orally administered 50 mg genistein; 6) in healthy women orally administered 20 mg pure S-(-)equol; and 7) in 6-mo-old infants fed soy infant formula and later, at age 3 y, a soy germ isoflavone supplement., Results: The proportion of unconjugated genistein in plasma from adults and infants who consumed different soy foods, pure genistein, or an isoflavone supplement was <1% in steady state and <2% at peak concentrations. By contrast, rodents fed soy-containing diets conjugate isoflavones less efficiently. The plasma percentages of unconjugated genistein concentrations in Sprague-Dawley rats and C57BL/6, nude, and transgenic AngptL4B6 mice were 4.0 ± 0.6%, 4.6 ± 0.6%, 11.6 ± 0%, and 30.1 ± 4.3%, respectively, which represent 20, 23, 58, and 150 times that in humans., Conclusion: The markedly higher circulating concentrations of biologically active (unconjugated) genistein in certain strains of mice cast doubt on the value of the use of these rodents for gaining insight into the effects of isoflavones in humans, especially with regard to the effects on breast tissue.

There is now considerable interest in the intestinally derived soy isoflavone metabolite, equol, which occurs in the enantiomeric forms, S-(-)equol and R-(+)equol, both differing in biological actions. Little is known about effects of either enantiomer on reproductive development, yet such knowledge is fundamental because of the recent commercialization of S-(-)equol as a dietary supplement. S-(-)equol and R-(+)equol were therefore investigated to determine their effects on reproductive development and fertility in the Sprague-Dawley rat. Neither enantiomer affected fertility, number of litters produced, number of pups per litter, number of male and female pups born, birth weight, anogenital distance, testicular descent or vaginal opening. Histological analysis showed no major abnormalities in ovary, testis, prostate or seminal vesicle tissue with dietary exposure to S-(-)equol or R-(+)equol, but both enantiomers triggered hyperplasia of uterine tissue. With R-(+)equol this stimulatory effect subsided after exposure was discontinued, but the effect of S-(-)equol was prolonged., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The role of soy in reducing breast cancer risk has been suggested to be associated with early exposure to isoflavones, which alter mammary gland morphology. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of dietary exposure to the enantiomers of a key soy isoflavone metabolite, equol, on mammary gland development and later chemoprotection using the DMBA-induced animal model of breast cancer. Animals were exposed to S-(-)equol or R-(+)equol (250 mg/kg diet) during the neonatal (0-21 days) or prepubertal (21-35 days) periods only. Histological evaluation of the mammary glands showed that both enantiomers fed neonatally via the dam led to significant precocial mammary gland differentiation. By day 50, early S-(-)equol or R-(+)equol exposure resulted in a decrease in immature terminal end structures and an increase in mature lobules, suggesting an early 'imprinting' effect. Despite these morphological changes to the mammary gland, neonatal and prepubertal exposure to equol had no long-term chemoprevention against mammary tumors induced by DMBA, although for R-(+)equol there was a trend to delaying tumor formation. In summary, early exposure to equol was not chemopreventive, but neither did it increase tumor formation in response to DMBA, suggesting exposure in early life does not influence breast cancer risk., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We describe for the first time the chemopreventive effects of S-(-)equol and R-(+)equol, diastereoisomers with contrasting affinities for estrogen receptors (ERs). S-(-)equol, a ligand for ERbeta, is an intestinally derived metabolite formed by many humans and by rodents consuming diets containing soy isoflavones. Whether the well-documented chemopreventive effect of a soy diet could be explained by equol's action was unclear because neither diastereoisomers had been tested in animal models of chemoprevention. Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 40-41 per group) were fed a soy-free AIN-93G diet or an AIN-93G diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg of S-(-)equol or R-(+)equol beginning day 35. On day 50, mammary tumors were induced by dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and thereafter, animals were palpated for number and location of tumors. On day 190, animals were killed and mammary tumors were removed and verified by histology, and the degree of invasiveness and differentiation was determined. S-(-)equol and R-(+)equol plasma concentrations measured on days 35, 100 and 190 by tandem mass spectrometry confirmed diet compliance and no biotransformation of either diastereoisomer. In this model, S-(-)equol had no chemopreventive action, nor was it stimulatory. In contrast, R-(+)equol compared with Controls reduced palpable tumors (P = 0.002), resulted in 43% fewer tumors (P = 0.004), increased tumor latency (88.5 versus 66 days, P = 0.003), and tumors were less invasive but showed no difference in pattern grade or mitosis. Both enantiomers had no effect on absolute uterine weight but caused a significant reduction in body weight gain. In conclusion, the novel finding that the unnatural enantiomer, R-(+)equol, was potently chemopreventive warrants investigation of its potential for breast cancer prevention and treatment.