Factors Associated with Acquisition of Human Infective and Animal Infective Trypanosome Infections in Domestic Livestock in Western Kenya

Trypanosomiasis is regarded as a constraint on livestock production in Western Kenya where the responsibility for tsetse and trypanosomiasis control has increasingly shifted from the state to the individual livestock owner. To assess the sustainability of these localised control efforts, this study investigates biological and management risk factors associated with trypanosome infections detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in a range of domestic livestock at the local scale in Busia, Kenya. Busia District also remains endemic for human sleeping sickness with sporadic cases of sleeping sickness reported.In total, trypanosome infections were detected in 11.9% (329) out of the 2773 livestock sampled in Busia District. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that host species and cattle age affected overall trypanosome infection, with significantly increased odds of infection for cattle older than 18 months, and significantly lower odds of infection in pigs and small ruminants. Different grazing and watering management practices did not affect the odds of trypanosome infection, adjusted by host species. Neither anaemia nor condition score significantly affected the odds of trypanosome infection in cattle. Human infective Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense were detected in 21.5% of animals infected with T. brucei s.l. (29/135) amounting to 1% (29/2773) of all sampled livestock, with significantly higher odds of T. brucei rhodesiense infections in T. brucei s.l. infected pigs (OR =  4.3, 95%CI 1.5-12.0) than in T. brucei s.l. infected cattle or small ruminants.Although cattle are the dominant reservoir of trypanosome infection it is unlikely that targeted treatment of only visibly diseased cattle will achieve sustainable interruption of transmission for either animal infective or zoonotic human infective trypanosomiasis, since most infections were detected in cattle that did not exhibit classical clinical signs of trypanosomiasis. Pigs were also found to be reservoirs of infection for T. b. rhodesiense and present a risk to local communities

Knowledge of Bovine Tuberculosis, Cattle Husbandry and Dairy Practices amongst Pastoralists and Small-Scale Dairy Farmers in Cameroon

BACKGROUND:Control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and zoonotic tuberculosis (zTB) has relied upon surveillance and slaughter of infected cattle, milk pasteurisation and public health education. In Cameroon, like many other sub-Saharan African countries, there is limited understanding of current cattle husbandry or milk processing practices or livestock keepers awareness of bTB. This paper describes husbandry and milk processing practices within different Cameroonian cattle keeping communities and bTB awareness in comparison to other infectious diseases. STUDY DESIGN:A population based cross-sectional sample of herdsmen and a questionnaire were used to gather data from pastoralists and dairy farmers in the North West Region and Vina Division of Cameroon. RESULTS:Pastoralists were predominately male Fulanis who had kept cattle for over a decade. Dairy farmers were non-Fulani and nearly half were female. Pastoralists went on transhumance with their cattle and came into contact with other herds and potential wildlife reservoirs of bTB. Dairy farmers housed their cattle and had little contact with other herds or wildlife. Pastoralists were aware of bTB and other infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and fasciolosis. These pastoralists were also able to identify clinical signs of these diseases. A similar proportion of dairy farmers were aware of bTB but fewer were aware of foot-and-mouth and fasciolosis. In general, dairy farmers were unable to identify any clinical signs for any of these diseases. Importantly most pastoralists and dairy farmers were unaware that bTB could be transmitted to people by consuming milk. CONCLUSIONS:Current cattle husbandry practices make the control of bTB in cattle challenging especially in mobile pastoralist herds. Routine test and slaughter control in dairy herds would be tractable but would have profound impact on dairy farmer livelihoods. Prevention of transmission in milk offers the best approach for human risk mitigation in Cameroon but requires strategies that improved risk awareness amongst producers and consumers

Ising-like model applied to a triangular lattice of 2D spin-crossover nanoparticles: evidence of a re-entrant phase transition

International audienceWe consider a 2D spin crossover (SCO) nanoparticles configuration under the influence of an external environment. Each nanoparticle is at the vertex of a triangular lattice leading to hexagonal-shaped systems. Each molecule located in the bulk is then connected to six nearest-neighbours (nn) while those situated at the surface have three or four nn.Adapting the entropic sampling Monte Carlo method, using three parameters: nHS (the total high spin fraction), s (the correlation: the sum of nn interactions the molecules) and nsHS (the high-spin fraction at the surface), we determined the density of macrostates D(nHS, nsHS ,s) by scanning the full spin configurations. This information is then used to analyse the thermal behaviour of the system taking into account for the short- (J) and long-range (G) interactions as well for the interactions (L) between the molecules at the surface and the matrix (environment). The present contribution is devoted to the investigations of the required physical conditions which allow this triangular 2D lattice to exhibit a re-entrant phase transition, in particular when the size of the nanoparticles is reduced

Splitting of

FTIR spectra of the antisymmetric stretch $\nu_3$ and symmetric bending $\nu_2$ vibrational modes of isotopic species of CO2 trapped in argon matrix are recorded at 5 K with a resolution of $0.15 {\rm cm}^{-1}$. A splitting of the $\nu_2$ mode is observed for the different species in the trapping site termed unstable. Considering this splitting and the width of the $\nu_3$ line observed for this unstable site, one expects this site to be larger than the stable one. A theoretical model is elaborated to interpret this splitting. Calculations performed at harmonic level of approximation for vibrational modes in a single substitutional site (S1) and a double substitutional one (S2) in a fcc distorted argon lattice to minimize the free energy of the molecule-matrix system, show the splitting to occur in the larger site. The latter result leads us to invert former attribution of the sites: the stable site is a single substitutional one, whereas the unstable site is a double substitutional one

Line parameters for the 01111–00001 band of 12C16O18O from SOIR measurements of the Venus atmosphere

CO2 is the major constituent of the atmosphere of Venus. Absorption lines due to its 12C16O18O isotopologue have been observed for the first time in Venus spectra in the 2930–3015 cm−1 spectral region, where the HITRAN database does not contain any line from this isotopologue. The measurements were performed by the SOIR instrument, which is part of the SPICAV/SOIR instrument on board the Venus Express mission of ESA. SOIR measured the atmospheric transmission of the upper atmosphere of Venus (z>70 km) by performing a solar occultation experiment using the atmosphere as a gigantic absorption cell. The identification of this newly observed band was first made recently from Mars atmosphere observations by US colleagues. We have made independent theoretical calculations of the positions of the lines of this new 01111–00001 absorption band, which coincide perfectly with the positions of the observed lines. Assuming an oxygen isotopic ratio similar to the one measured previously in the lower atmosphere of Venus, the line strengths of each observed line are deduced and liste