Effect of Isosporiasis Prevention with Toltrazuril on Long-Term Pig Performance

The efficacy of toltrazuril treatment was assessed in two experiments in Polish swine herds. Experiment 1 included a toltrazuril treatment group, Group A (n = 410), and untreated control, Group B (n = 386). Time to sale in Group A was 108 days versus 120 days for Group B, with average body weights at sale of 114.2 kg and 108.8 kg, respectively (P < 0.05). In experiment 2, the health status and body weight gain of 238 piglets treated with toltrazuril (Group D) were compared to 235 untreated piglets (Group K). A similar difference was observed in average body weights of slaughtered animals, being on average 104 kg in Group D and 101 kg in Group K (P < 0.01). Animals from Group D were slaughtered 5 days earlier than animals from Group K (day 166 versus day 171). Data from clinical trials suggest treatment of coccidiosis with toltrazuril offering potential for improved animal welfare and yields, however this has remained unproven in field conditions in large swine production facilities. The present study confirms the efficacy of toltrazuril treatment when used in the field and the subsequent positive impact on time to weaning, time to market, and on weight gain at all time points

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: The Role of Left Atrial Posterior Wall Isolation and Ablation Strategies.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a global disease with rapidly rising incidence and prevalence. It is associated with a higher risk of stroke, dementia, cognitive decline, sudden and cardiovascular death, heart failure and impairment in quality of life. The disease is a major burden on the healthcare system. Paroxysmal AF is typically managed with medications or endocardial catheter ablation to good effect. However, a large proportion of patients with AF have persistent or long-standing persistent AF, which are more complex forms of the condition and thus more difficult to treat. This is in part due to the progressive electro-anatomical changes that occur with AF persistence and the spread of arrhythmogenic triggers and substrates outside of the pulmonary veins. The posterior wall of the left atrium is a common site for these changes and has become a target of ablation strategies to treat these more resistant forms of AF. In this review, we discuss the role of the posterior left atrial wall in persistent and long-standing persistent AF, the limitations of current endocardial-focused treatment strategies, and future perspectives on hybrid epicardial-endocardial approaches to posterior wall isolation or ablation

Contribution à la dépollution d’un rejet textile par adsorption sur un coagulant à base du mélange fer/aluminium préparé par électrocoagulation

L&#8217;industrie textile consomme une grande quantit&#233; d&#8217;eau, g&#233;n&#233;rant ainsi des rejets liquides &#224; charge &#233;lev&#233;e en divers types de polluants. Ces derniers produisent des effets nocifs sur l&#8217;environnement. Ce travail s&#8217;int&#233;resse &#224; la d&#233;pollution d&#8217;un rejet d&#8217;une industrie textile, par addition d&#8217;un coagulant synth&#233;tique &#224; base de fer et d&#8217;aluminium, pr&#233;par&#233; par le proc&#233;d&#233; d&#8217;&#233;lectrocoagulation. Les r&#233;sultats ont montr&#233; que le traitement de ce rejet par ce coagulant, a permis d&#8217;atteindre un rendement d&#8217;&#233;limination des mati&#232;res colorantes de 83.37% en terme de demande chimique en oxyg&#232;ne (DCO).Mots cl&#233;s: traitement, hydroxyde, coagulation, demande chimique en oxyg&#232;n

Contribution à la dépollution des eaux usées de textile par électrocoagulation et par adsorption sur des composés à base de fer et d’aluminium

Les ressources hydriques au monde sont rares et la demande en eau conna&icirc;t une croissance continue en liaison avec l&rsquo;&eacute;volution d&eacute;mographique et les activit&eacute;s consommatrices en eau, notamment les industries de textiles se voient dans l&rsquo;obligation de recycler les eaux r&eacute;siduaires et en particulier celles color&eacute;es. Dans ce travail, nous nous sommes int&eacute;ress&eacute;s &agrave; l&rsquo;&eacute;tude de l&rsquo;&eacute;limination des mati&egrave;res organiques et colorantes de deux rejets provenant des industries de textile, un de teinture du tissu de polyester &agrave; pH acide et l&rsquo;autre de teinture du tissu de coton &agrave; pH basique. Ces rejets ont &eacute;t&eacute; trait&eacute;s de deux mani&egrave;res. La premi&egrave;re est par &eacute;lectrocoagulation en utilisant des plaques de fer et/ou d&rsquo;aluminium. La deuxi&egrave;me est par adsorption sur des compos&eacute;s synth&eacute;tiques &agrave; base de fer et d&rsquo;aluminium pr&eacute;par&eacute;s par &eacute;lectrocoagulation. Dans le cas du traitement par le proc&eacute;d&eacute; d&rsquo;&eacute;lectrocoagulation, nous avons constat&eacute; que le rendement d&rsquo;&eacute;limination en demande chimique en oxyg&egrave;ne (DCO) du rejet de polyester atteint un rendement de DCO de 60% pour un temps de 7 min de r&eacute;action. Pour le rejet de coton, le rendement d&rsquo;&eacute;limination, par les plaques de fer/aluminium et l&rsquo;&eacute;limination des mati&egrave;res colorantes, atteint une valeur de 45% en terme de DCO, et ceci en utilisant des plaques d&rsquo;aluminium seul et de fer/aluminium pour un temps de 12 et 15 min respectivement. Dans le cas du traitement par ajout des coagulants synth&eacute;tiques pr&eacute;par&eacute;s au laboratoire, nous pouvons observer que le meilleur rendement d&rsquo;&eacute;limination en DCO du rejet de polyester est obtenu pour une valeur de 48%, pour la faible granulom&eacute;trie avec une concentration de 5 g/l du compos&eacute; &agrave; base de fer /aluminium. Le rendement d&rsquo;&eacute;limination en DCO du rejet de coton augmente jusqu'&agrave; une valeur de 60% avec une concentration de 5 g/l de coagulants appliqu&eacute;s &agrave; base d&rsquo;aluminium seul. Les r&eacute;sultats de la d&eacute;pollution de ces rejets, ont montr&eacute; que le rendement d'&eacute;limination des mati&egrave;res organiques et colorantes par le proc&eacute;d&eacute; d'&eacute;lectrocoagulation est important, et la dur&eacute;e de traitement est courte, mais l'inconv&eacute;nient de ce proc&eacute;d&eacute; c'est la salet&eacute; des plaques apr&egrave;s chaque utilisation et la fabrication d'une grande quantit&eacute; des boues par rapport &agrave; l&rsquo;adsorption sur des compos&eacute;s &agrave; base de fer /aluminium o&ugrave; on utilise des poudres peu solubles et stables avec un bon rendement d&rsquo;&eacute;limination et faibles quantit&eacute;s de fer et d'aluminium dans le surnageant trait&eacute;.Keywords: Colorant textile, &eacute;lectrocoagulation, adsorption, d&eacute;pollution, fer, aluminiu

Detection and identification of pathogenic trypanosome species in tsetse flies along the Comoe River in Cote d'Ivoire

In order to identify pathogenic trypanosomes responsible for African trypanosomiasis, and to better understand tsetse-trypanosome relationships, surveys were undertaken in three sites located in different eco-climatic areas in Cote d'Ivoire during the dry and rainy seasons. Tsetse flies were caught during five consecutive days using biconical traps, dissected and microscopically examined looking for trypanosome infection. Samples from infected flies were tested by PCR using specific primers for Trypanosoma brucei s.l., T. congolense savannah type, T. congolense forest type and T. vivax. Of 1941 tsetse flies caught including four species, i.e. Glossina palpalis palpalis, G. p. gambiensis, G. tachinoides and G. medicorum, 513 (26%) were dissected and 60 (12%) were found positive by microscopy. Up to 41% of the infections were due to T. congolense savannah type, 30% to T. vivax, 20% to T. congolense forest type and 9% due to T. brucei s.l. All four trypanosome species and subgroups were identified from G. tachinoides and G. p. palpalis, while only two were isolated from G. p. gambiensis (T. brucei s.l., T. congolense savannah type) and G. medicorum (T. congolense forest, savannah types). Mixed infections were found in 25% of cases and all involved T. congolense savannah type with another trypanosome species. The simultaneous occurrence of T. brucei s.l., and tsetse from the palpalis group may suggest that human trypanosomiasis can still be a constraint in these localities, while high rates of T. congolense and T. vivax in the area suggest a potential risk of animal trypanosomiasis in livestock along the Comoe River

Hepatitis E in pig-derived food products in Cape Town, South Africa, 2014

Background. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 3 and 4 are zoonoses, with domestic pigs being the most important reservoir. A high anti- HEV IgG seroprevalence of 26 - 28% has been found in humans in Cape Town, South Africa (SA). Studies in industrialised countries have indicated a high prevalence of HEV in pigs and their associated food products.Objectives. To determine whether HEV could be found in pig-derived food products in Cape Town.Methods. Pork-containing food products were purchased from supermarkets and butcheries around the Cape Town metropolitan area. HEV detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed, and an amplified viral genome fragment was sequenced from positive samples. Phylogenetic analysis was done on the sequenced fragment.Results. HEV was detected by PCR in 2/144 food samples – both were liver spread samples. One genome fragment sequence was obtained, which was closely related to HEV sequences obtained from humans in Cape Town.Conclusions. HEV can be found in pork-containing meat products available for sale in Cape Town, suggesting that these products could be a potential source of HEV transmission in our geographical area. Meat of pig origin should be thoroughly cooked before being consumed

Prospects for the development of odour baits to control the tsetse flies Glossina tachinoides and G. palpalis s.l.

Field studies were done of the responses of Glossina palpalis palpalis in Côte d'Ivoire, and G. p. gambiensis and G. tachinoides in Burkina Faso, to odours from humans, cattle and pigs. Responses were measured either by baiting (1.) biconical traps or (2.) electrocuting black targets with natural host odours. The catch of G. tachinoides from traps was significantly enhanced (~5×) by odour from cattle but not humans. In contrast, catches from electric targets showed inconsistent results. For G. p. gambiensis both human and cattle odour increased (>2×) the trap catch significantly but not the catch from electric targets. For G. p. palpalis, odours from pigs and humans increased (~5×) the numbers of tsetse attracted to the vicinity of the odour source but had little effect on landing or trap-entry. For G. tachinoides a blend of POCA (P = 3-n-propylphenol; O = 1-octen-3-ol; C = 4-methylphenol; A = acetone) alone or synthetic cattle odour (acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol and 3-n-propylphenol with carbon dioxide) consistently caught more tsetse than natural cattle odour. For G. p. gambiensis, POCA consistently increased catches from both traps and targets. For G. p. palpalis, doses of carbon dioxide similar to those produced by a host resulted in similar increases in attraction. Baiting traps with super-normal (~500 mg/h) doses of acetone also consistently produced significant but slight (~1.6×) increases in catches of male flies. The results suggest that odour-baited traps and insecticide-treated targets could assist the AU-Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) in its current efforts to monitor and control Palpalis group tsetse in West Africa. For all three species, only ~50% of the flies attracted to the vicinity of the trap were actually caught by it, suggesting that better traps might be developed by an analysis of the visual responses and identification of any semiochemicals involved in short-range interaction