Islamic Shangri-La

"Islamic Shangri-La transports readers into the heart of the Himalayas by tracing the rise of the Tibetan Muslim (Khache) community from the early 17th century to the present. Over the past four centuries, the Tibetan Muslims advised several Dalai Lamas, contributed to Tibetan music and literature, and engaged in transregional trade with many of Tibet’s neighbors. Deftly blending contemporary media accounts and interviews with archival documents, this book brings the frustrations and hopes of Tibetan Muslims, and thus of Tibet, to life. Less a history of religion than a history of the Himalayas, the book explores the eddying currents of peoples and states generally excluded from traditional histories of Asia. Its focus on the Tibetan Muslims’ multifaceted role in Tibetan society highlights Tibet’s broader inter-Asian positioning and delves into the intertwined relationship between Tibet and Nepal, Kashmir, and other Himalayan states. The story of the Tibetan Muslims provides a new perspective on a history we thought we knew quite well. Illuminating their positioning within the dynamics of Asian state formation with a particular emphasis on the dramatic events of early to mid-20th century, the book opens an unparalleled examination of the long shadows of Tibet’s past on today’s Asia.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Feral Swine near Spinach Fields and Cattle, Central California Coast1

We investigated involvement of feral swine in contamination of agricultural fields and surface waterways with Escherichia coli O157:H7 after a nationwide outbreak traced to bagged spinach from California. Isolates from feral swine, cattle, surface water, sediment, and soil at 1 ranch were matched to the outbreak strain

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Vibrio spp. and Enterococcus spp. in retail shrimp in Northern California

Shrimp is one of the most consumed seafood products globally. Antimicrobial drugs play an integral role in disease mitigation in aquaculture settings, but their prevalent use raises public health concerns on the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms. Vibrio spp., as the most common causative agents of seafood-borne infections in humans, and Enterococcus spp., as an indicator organism, are focal bacteria of interest for the monitoring of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in seafood. In this study, 400 samples of retail shrimp were collected from randomly selected grocery stores in the Greater Sacramento, California, area between September 2019 and June 2020. The prevalence of Vibrio spp. and Enterococcus spp. was 60.25% (241/400) and 89.75% (359/400), respectively. Subsamples of Vibrio (n = 110) and Enterococcus (n = 110) isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Vibrio isolates had high phenotypic resistance to ampicillin (52/110, 47.27%) and cefoxitin (39/110, 35.45%). Enterococcus were most frequently resistant to lincomycin (106/110, 96.36%), quinupristin-dalfopristin (96/110, 87.27%), ciprofloxacin (93/110, 84.55%), linezolid (86/110, 78.18%), and erythromycin (58/110, 52.73%). For both Vibrio and Enterococcus, no significant associations were observed between multidrug resistance (MDR, resistance to ≥3 drug classes) in isolates from farm raised and wild caught shrimp (p > 0.05) and in isolates of domestic and imported origin (p > 0.05). Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of a subset of Vibrio isolates (n = 42) speciated isolates as primarily V. metschnikovii (24/42; 57.14%) and V. parahaemolyticus (12/42; 28.57%), and detected 27 unique antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) across these isolates, most commonly qnrVC6 (19.05%, 8/42), dfrA31 (11.90%, 5/42), dfrA6 (9.5%, 4/42), qnrVC1 (9.5%, 4/42). Additionally, WGS predicted phenotypic resistance in Vibrio isolates with an overall sensitivity of 11.54% and specificity of 96.05%. This study provides insights on the prevalence and distribution of AMR in Vibrio spp. and Enterococcus spp. from retail shrimp in California which are important for food safety and public health and exemplifies the value of surveillance in monitoring the spread of AMR and its genetic determinants

Islamic Shangri-La

"Islamic Shangri-La transports readers into the heart of the Himalayas by tracing the rise of the Tibetan Muslim (Khache) community from the early 17th century to the present. Over the past four centuries, the Tibetan Muslims advised several Dalai Lamas, contributed to Tibetan music and literature, and engaged in transregional trade with many of Tibet’s neighbors. Deftly blending contemporary media accounts and interviews with archival documents, this book brings the frustrations and hopes of Tibetan Muslims, and thus of Tibet, to life. Less a history of religion than a history of the Himalayas, the book explores the eddying currents of peoples and states generally excluded from traditional histories of Asia. Its focus on the Tibetan Muslims’ multifaceted role in Tibetan society highlights Tibet’s broader inter-Asian positioning and delves into the intertwined relationship between Tibet and Nepal, Kashmir, and other Himalayan states. The story of the Tibetan Muslims provides a new perspective on a history we thought we knew quite well. Illuminating their positioning within the dynamics of Asian state formation with a particular emphasis on the dramatic events of early to mid-20th century, the book opens an unparalleled examination of the long shadows of Tibet’s past on today’s Asia.

A Tibetan by Any Other Name: The Case of Muslim Tibetans and Ambiguous Ethno-religious Identities

Les Tibétains musulmans (khache) sont une partie intégrante de la société tibétaine depuis plus de trois cents ans. La confusion sur la terminologie employée pour désigner les Tibétains musulmans en tibétain, en anglais et en chinois, combinée avec la croyance tenace que musulmans et Tibétains sont des catégories mutuellement exclusives, a entraîné un nombre prodigieux de termes, ainsi que fausses divisions et distinctions. Il y eut sans aucun doute des commerçants musulmans venus d'Asie centrale, d'Inde et même de Chine, qui de tout temps voyagèrent pour rejoindre les principaux marchés du Tibet, mais ce ne sont pas ceux-ci que nous examinerons dans cet article. « Khache » est un terme qui pouvait désigner tout musulman, et auquel étaient associés des marqueurs pour en préciser la spécificité. Le plus souvent les Khache étaient connus soit par leur lieu d'origine, soit par le quartier où ils vivaient. La confusion provient largement de l'usage interchangeable, par des non-Tibétains, des termes Khache, Cachemiri, Ladakhi, ou musulmans, puis plus récemment, dans les sources chinoises où la catégorie Hui reste très ambiguë, en particulier avec l'émergence du terme Zang-Hui ou « Hui tibétain » dans la dernière décennie. Malgré cette confusion externe, il n'y avait absolument pas de doute quant aux différences entre les termes (ou du moins pas plus que dans les autres catégories en jeu dans le Tibet du XXe siècle), et en ce qui concerne les groupes considérés comme des membres à part entière de la société tibétaine. Cet article explique à la fois la généalogie des termes ainsi que les efforts souvent délibérés pour marginaliser les musulmans Tibétains comme allochtones perpétuels.Atwill David G. A Tibetan by Any Other Name: The Case of Muslim Tibetans and Ambiguous Ethno-religious Identities. In: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 23, 2014. Des mondes en devenir. Interethnicité et production de la différence en Chine du Sud-Ouest. pp. 33-61

Elisabeth Allés, Musulmans de Chine. Une anthropologie des Hui du Henan, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 2000, 334 pp.

Atwill David G., Choukroune Leïla. Elisabeth Allés, Musulmans de Chine. Une anthropologie des Hui du Henan, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 2000, 334 pp.. In: Perspectives chinoises, n°65, 2001. pp. 76-78