THE SPREAD OF THE TICK-BOORNE INFECTIONS IN THE BASIN OF SELENGA RIVER IN BURYATIA AND MONGOLIA

The results of the research of Selenga river basin as territory of highest risk of human infection with diseases with natural focality in Buryatia and Mongolia are present in this paper. Both in Buryatia and. in Mongolia the highest incidence rate for tick-borne encephalitis is associated with districts situated in the basin of Selenga river - Pribaykalskyi district and Selenge aimag respectively. All tick-borne infections and. every vector tick species detected in Buryatia and. Mongolia so far are present on the territories of these two districts. The epidemiological processes in the natural foci of these territories are shown to be very similar in spite of national and administrative borders

Outbreak of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus among Criticially Endangered Mongolian Saiga and Other Wild Ungulates, Mongolia, 2016-2017

The 2016–2017 introduction of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) into livestock in Mongolia was followed by mass mortality of the critically endangered Mongolian saiga antelope and other rare wild ungulates. To assess the nature and population effects of this outbreak among wild ungulates, we collected clinical, histopathologic, epidemiologic, and ecological evidence. Molecular characterization confirmed that the causative agent was PPRV lineage IV. The spatiotemporal patterns of cases among wildlife were similar to those among livestock affected by the PPRV outbreak, suggesting spillover of virus from livestock at multiple locations and time points and subsequent spread among wild ungulates. Estimates of saiga abundance suggested a population decline of 80%, raising substantial concerns for the species’ survival. Consideration of the entire ungulate community (wild and domestic) is essential for elucidating the epidemiology of PPRV in Mongolia, addressing the threats to wild ungulate conservation, and achieving global PPRV eradication

The Nesting Ecology of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Vespinae and Polistinae) in Northern Mongolia

Observations on the nesting characteristics and colony life of Mongolian social wasps are essential to the field due to the peripheral locations of species distribution ranges and critical lack of such information. We found 35 nests of seven social wasp species, including three vespine species (Dolichovespula saxonica, D. media and Vespula vulgaris) and four polistine species (Polistes snelleni, P. riparius, P. nimpha and P. biglumis). Riparian woodland was the habitat where the most species (five out of seven) nests were found. Nests of P. snelleni, Baikal-Far Eastern species, were found only in river cut banks, in holes probably originally excavated by passerine birds most likely sand martin (Riparia riparia). Nesting sites of D. saxonica were the most diverse (bank hole, underground, aerial and birch stump/logs). Colony size of vespine wasps in northern Mongolia was relatively small (36-60 individuals). Nests of Polistes species (except P. snelleni) were found frequently on the branches of willow (Salix sp.) and wild rose (Rosa acicularis). Other characteristics associated with each species nest were considered separately

Structural breaks in the international dynamics of inflation

This paper proposes an iterative procedure to discriminate between structural breaks in the coefficients and the disturbance covariance matrix of a system of equations, with recursive procedures then identifying individual coefficient shifts and separating volatility from correlation breaks. Structural breaks in short-term cross-country inflation relations are then examined for major G-7 economies and within the euro area. There is evidence that the euro area leads inflation in North America, while changing short-term interactions apply within the euro area. Covariability generally increases from the late 1990s, while euro-area countries move from essentially idiosyncratic contemporaneous variation to comovement in the 1980s