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Reverse transmission of diverse zoonotic pathogens (bacteria, viruses, eukaryotic parasites, fungi) from humans to animals has been recognized and documented as a global concern for years (1). On July 6, [...]

Introduction: Inter- and transdisciplinary research (ITDR) is increasingly promoted to address "wicked problems", particularly in health sectors adopting approaches like Ecohealth. Our Ecohealth-inspired project on rodent-borne diseases, initiated just before the COVID-19 pandemic, provided an opportunity to evaluate ITDR implementation. Methods: We employed a recently developed semi-quantitative evaluation method to measure our project's success in achieving ITDR and analyzed factors influencing this achievement. Results: The project showed strengths in system description, team task allocation, and data sharing, but had lower scores in engaging societal actors throughout the project cycle. Discussion: We identified the underexplored influence of problem wickedness as a critical determinant of ITDR success. Addressing rodent-borne diseases, a less wicked problem, limited engagement potential but enabled constructive dialog with local actors. These insights are vital for addressing variably wicked problems in a polycrisis era. We propose recommendations to strengthen researchers' capacities, particularly in Ecohealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small rodents can cause problems on farms such as infrastructure damage, crop losses or pathogen transfer. The latter threatens humans and livestock alike. Frequent contacts between wild rodents and livestock favour pathogen transfer and it is therefore important to understand the movement patterns of small mammals in order to develop strategies to prevent damage and health issues. Miniaturised proximity loggers are a newly developed tool for monitoring spatial behaviour of small mammals. The strength of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal can be used as an indicator of close contacts between wild rodents and livestock feeding sites, which is relevant for identifying possible transmission routes. This method study focussed on the use of the technology in an agricultural setting as well as dry runs for testing and calibrating this technology in farming environments used for animal husbandry. Results show that the battery life of the loggers was mainly influenced by the pre-set scan interval. Short scan intervals resulted in reduced battery lifespan and should be maximised according to the activity patterns of the target species. Habitat affects BLE signal strength resulting in higher signal strength indoors than outdoors. The height of the location of the loggers positively affected signal strength in livestock stables. Signal reception generally decreased with increasing distance and differed among loggers making calibration necessary. Within habitat specific distances, BLE proximity logging systems can identify contacts among small mammals and between animals and particular structures of interest. These results support the use of BLE based systems in animal husbandry environments and contribute to a body of evidence of validated techniques. In addition, such approaches can provide valuable insights into possible pathogen transmission routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS‐CoV‐2 human‐to‐animal transmission can lead to the establishment of novel reservoirs and the evolution of new variants with the potential to start new outbreaks in humans. We tested Norway rats inhabiting the sewer system of Antwerp, Belgium, for the presence of SARS‐CoV‐2 following a local COVID‐19 epidemic peak. In addition, we discuss the use and interpretation of SARS‐CoV‐2 serological tests on non‐human samples. Between November and December 2020, Norway rat oral swabs, faeces and tissues from the sewer system of Antwerp were collected to be tested by RT‐qPCR for the presence of SARS‐CoV‐2. Serum samples were screened for the presence of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG antibodies using a Luminex microsphere immunoassay (MIA). Samples considered positive were then checked for neutralizing antibodies using a conventional viral neutralization test (cVNT). The serum of 35 rats was tested by MIA showing three potentially positive sera that were later negative by cVNT. All tissue samples of 39 rats analysed tested negative for SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA. This is the first study that evaluates SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in urban rats. We can conclude that the sample of rats analysed had never been infected with SARS‐CoV‐2. However, monitoring activities should continue due to the emergence of new variants prone to infect Muridae rodents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are a problematic pest in global sweet pepper cultivation. Control of aphids often relies on insecticides, leading to widespread resistance. Biological control of aphids is mainly based on releasing specialist natural enemies, but they often fail to control outbreaks. Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a zoophytophagous generalist which attacks several sweet pepper pests, including aphids. Previous research showed that M. pygmaeus is capable of strongly reducing aphid populations in sweet pepper, but complete control was seldom achieved. Sweet pepper plants continue to grow during the season, reaching > 3 m high in Belgian and Dutch greenhouses. Dense foliage and large vertical distance from the flowers to the lower leaves impede the search efficiency of the predator. Leaf pruning may improve aphid predation by M. pygmaeus by increasing the probability of encountering prey. RESULTS: Four and five treatments (foliage range: 100 cm to full length) respectively were tested in a semi‐commercial sweet pepper greenhouse in 2017 and 2018. Aphid populations in pruned treatments grew more slowly than in the control and M. pygmaeus was eventually able to control aphids in all pruned treatments in 2018. There was no difference in aphid control between the pruned treatments. Sweet pepper production was lower in the treatments with the shortest foliage lengths. CONCLUSION: Leaf pruning up to 160 or 190 cm foliage length improves aphid control by M. pygmaeus in sweet pepper without affecting production. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yellow sticky traps (YSTs) are commonly used in greenhouse crops to monitor flying pest species. Whiteflies like Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are typically monitored using YSTs in tomato and sweet pepper crops. By counting the whiteflies on a YST, growers get an idea of the pests density in space and time in the greenhouse and can take pest control measurements accordingly. The downside is that manual counting of whiteflies on a YST is very time‐consuming and thus costly. A protocol to semi‐automate counting and identification of whiteflies on YSTs using image analysis software was developed to speed up the monitoring process. Bemisia tabaci is on average smaller than T. vaporariorum and by discriminating by size based on the amount of pixels in digital images, ratios of both species in a mixed population on YSTs could be estimated accurately. At low densities, the countings of different YSTs should be pooled till a 200 density threshold is reached in order to get accurate ratio estimates of both species. This study provides a protocol to reliably count and identify whiteflies semi‐automatically on standardized pictures. More research is required to develop alternative techniques to make standardized pictures in the field (e.g., with smartphone). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]