Little Citizens and their Flags

This delightful coloring book published in 1922 by the F. A. Owen Publishing Company of Dansville, NY features Bess Bruce Cleaveland’s charming illustrations of children from around the world dressed in traditional clothing; colored flags by Genevieve Stump Foster; and short rhyming poems by Maude M. Grant. There are detailed directions for coloring a boy and girl from each of the many countries included (United States, Mexico, Liberia, Argentina, Holland, England, France, Russia, Alaska (Eskimos), the forest (Indians), Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Italy, China, and Japan) so that “they will look prettiest” in the colors selected, plus a blank flag of these countries to color in the “really truly colors shown in the flags.” The book includes a letter from editor Elizabeth P. Bemis “to all little boys and girls who want something to do,” containing instructions for using the illustrations to make patterns for fun craft projects such as a paper doll parade, peace flags, book ends, twine holders, flower holders, garden sticks, and embroidery.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/historical-reprints/1033/thumbnail.jp

Renewed global partnerships and redesigned roadmaps for rabies prevention and control

Canine rabies, responsible for most human rabies deaths, is a serious global public health concern. This zoonosis is entirely preventable, but by focusing solely upon rabies prevention in humans, this "incurable wound" persists at high costs. Although preventing human deaths through canine rabies elimination is feasible, dog rabies control is often neglected, because dogs are not considered typical economic commodities by the animal health sector. Here, we demonstrate that the responsibility of managing rabies falls upon multiple sectors, that a truly integrated approach is the key to rabies elimination, and that considerable progress has been made to this effect. Achievements include the construction of global rabies networks and organizational partnerships; development of road maps, operational toolkits, and a blueprint for rabies prevention and control; and opportunities for scaling up and replication of successful programs. Progress must continue towards overcoming the remaining challenges preventing the ultimate goal of rabies elimination

Surveillance guidelines for disease elimination: a case study of canine rabies

Surveillance is a critical component of disease control programmes but is often poorly resourced, particularly in developing countries lacking good infrastructure and especially for zoonoses which require combined veterinary and medical capacity and collaboration. Here we examine how successful control, and ultimately disease elimination, depends on effective surveillance. We estimated that detection probabilities of <0.1 are broadly typical of rabies surveillance in endemic countries and areas without a history of rabies. Using outbreak simulation techniques we investigated how the probability of detection affects outbreak spread, and outcomes of response strategies such as time to control an outbreak, probability of elimination, and the certainty of declaring freedom from disease. Assuming realistically poor surveillance (probability of detection <0.1), we show that proactive mass dog vaccination is much more effective at controlling rabies and no more costly than campaigns that vaccinate in response to case detection. Control through proactive vaccination followed by 2 years of continuous monitoring and vaccination should be sufficient to guarantee elimination from an isolated area not subject to repeat introductions. We recommend that rabies control programmes ought to be able to maintain surveillance levels that detect at least 5% (and ideally 10%) of all cases to improve their prospects of eliminating rabies, and this can be achieved through greater intersectoral collaboration. Our approach illustrates how surveillance is critical for the control and elimination of diseases such as canine rabies and can provide minimum surveillance requirements and technical guidance for elimination programmes under a broad-range of circumstances

Rabies Encephalitis in Malaria-Endemic Area, Malawi, Africa

In a malaria-endemic area of Africa, rabies was an important cause of fatal central nervous system infection, responsible for 14 (10.5%) of 133 cases. Four patients had unusual clinical manifestations, and rabies was only diagnosed postmortem. Three (11.5%) of 26 fatal cases were originally attributed to cerebral malaria

Genetic profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and treatment outcomes in human pulmonary tuberculosis in Tanzania

Information on the different spoligotype families of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Tanzania is limited, and where available is restricted to small geographical areas.  This article describes the genetic profile of M. tuberculosis across Tanzania and suggests how spoligotype families might affect drug resistance and treatment outcomes for smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Tanzania. In this study conducted from 2006 to 2008, the M. tuberculosis isolates were obtained from samples collected under the routine drug resistance surveillance system. The isolates were from specimens collected from 2001 to 2007, and stored at the Central and Reference Tuberculosis Laboratory in Dar es Salaam. A total of 487 isolates from 23 regions in Tanzania were spoligotyped. However, clinical information for 446 isolates was available. Out of the 487 isolates spoligotyped, 195 (40.0%) belonged to the Central Asian (CAS) family, 84 (17.5%) to the Latin American Mediterranean (LAM) family, 49 (10.1%) to the East-African Indian (EAI) family, and 33 (6.8%) to the Beijing family. Other isolates included 1 (0.2%) for H37Rv, 10 (2.1%) for Haarlem, 4 (0.8%) for S family, 58 (11.9%) for T family and 52 (10.7%) for unclassified.  No spoligotype patterns were consistent with M. bovis. As regards to treatment outcomes, the cure rate was 80% with no significant variation between the spoligotype families.  The overall level of MDR-TB was 2.5% (3/121), with no significant difference between the spoligotype families. All Beijing strains (11.8%, 30/254) originated from the Eastern and Southern zones of the country, of which 80% were from Dar es Salaam.  Isolates from the CAS and T families were reported disproportionately from the Eastern-Southern zone, and EAI and LAM families from the Northern-Lake zones but the difference was not statistically significant. Five isolates were identified as Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria. In conclusion, M. tuberculosis isolates from pulmonary tuberculosis cases in Tanzania were classified mostly within the CAS, LAM, and EAI and T families.  Consistently good treatment outcomes were recorded across the spoligotype families.  The proportion of drug resistance strains was low. The findings also suggest variation of spoligotype families with varying geographical localities within the country. 

Estimating the global burden of endemic canine rabies

Background: Rabies is a notoriously underreported and neglected disease of lowincome countries. This study aims to estimate the public health and economic burden of rabies circulating in domestic dog populations, globally and on a country-by-country basis, allowing an objective assessment of how much this preventable disease costs endemic countries.<p></p> Methodology/Principal Findings: We established relationships between rabies mortality and rabies prevention and control measures, which we incorporated into a model framework. We used data derived from extensive literature searches and questionnaires on disease incidence, control interventions and preventative measures within this framework to estimate the disease burden. The burden of rabies impacts on public health sector budgets, local communities and livestock economies, with the highest risk of rabies in the poorest regions of the world. This study estimates that globally canine rabies causes approximately 59,000 (95% Confidence Intervals: 25- 159,000) human deaths, over 3.7 million (95% CIs: 1.6-10.4 million) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 8.6 billion USD (95% CIs: 2.9-21.5 billion) economic losses annually. The largest component of the economic burden is due to premature death (55%), followed by direct costs of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP, 20%) and lost income whilst seeking PEP (15.5%), with only limited costs to the veterinary sector due to dog vaccination (1.5%), and additional costs to communities from livestock losses (6%).<p></p> Conclusions/Significance: This study demonstrates that investment in dog vaccination, the single most effective way of reducing the disease burden, has been inadequate and that the availability and affordability of PEP needs improving. Collaborative investments by medical and veterinary sectors could dramatically reduce the current large, and unnecessary, burden of rabies on affected communities. Improved surveillance is needed to reduce uncertainty in burden estimates and to monitor the impacts of control efforts.<p></p&gt

The sero-epidemiology of Neospora caninum in cattle in northern Tanzania

Neospora caninum is a protozoan intracellular parasite of animals with a global distribution. Dogs act as definitive hosts, with infection in cattle leading to reproductive losses. Neosporosis can be a major source of income loss for livestock keepers, but its impacts in sub-Saharan Africa are mostly unknown. This study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence and identify risk factors for N. caninum infection in cattle in northern Tanzania, and to link herd-level exposure to reproductive losses. Serum samples from 3,015 cattle were collected from 380 households in 20 villages between February and December 2016. Questionnaire data were collected from 360 of these households. Household coordinates were used to extract satellite derived environmental data from open-access sources. Sera were tested for the presence of N. caninum antibodies using an indirect ELISA. Risk factors for individual-level seropositivity were identified with logistic regression using Bayesian model averaging (BMA). The relationship between herd-level seroprevalence and abortion rates was assessed using negative binomial regression. The seroprevalence of N. caninum exposure after adjustment for diagnostic test performance was 21.5% [95% Credibility Interval (CrI) 17.9–25.4]. The most important predictors of seropositivity selected by BMA were age greater than 18 months [Odds ratio (OR) = 2.17, 95% CrI 1.45–3.26], the local cattle population density (OR = 0.69, 95% CrI 0.41–1.00), household use of restricted grazing (OR = 0.72, 95% CrI 0.25–1.16), and an increasing percentage cover of shrub or forest land in the environment surrounding a household (OR = 1.37, 1.00–2.14). There was a positive relationship between herd-level N. caninum seroprevalence and the reported within-herd abortion rate (Incidence Rate Ratio = 1.03, 95% CrI 1.00–1.06). Our findings suggest N. caninum is likely to be an important cause of abortion in cattle in Tanzania. Management practices, such as restricted grazing, are likely to reduce the risk of infection and suggest contamination of communal grazing areas may be important for transmission. Evidence for a relationship between livestock seropositivity and shrub and forest habitats raises questions about a potential role for wildlife in the epidemiology of N. caninum in Tanzania

Efficient generation of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-pseudotypes bearing morbilliviral glycoproteins and their use in quantifying virus neutralising antibodies

Morbillivirus neutralising antibodies are traditionally measured using either plaque reduction neutralisation tests (PRNTs) or live virus microneutralisation tests (micro-NTs). While both test formats provide a reliable assessment of the strength and specificity of the humoral response, they are restricted by the limited number of viral strains that can be studied and often present significant biological safety concerns to the operator. In this study, we describe the adaptation of a replication-defective vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVΔG) based pseudotyping system for the measurement of morbillivirus neutralising antibodies. By expressing the haemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) proteins of canine distemper virus (CDV) on VSVΔG pseudotypes bearing a luciferase marker gene, neutralising antibody titres could be measured rapidly and with high sensitivity. Further, by exchanging the glycoprotein expression construct, responses against distinct viral strains or species may be measured. Using this technique, we demonstrate cross neutralisation between CDV and peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV). As an example of the value of the technique, we demonstrate that UK dogs vary in the breadth of immunity induced by CDV vaccination; in some dogs the neutralising response is CDV-specific while, in others, the neutralising response extends to the ruminant morbillivirus PPRV. This technique will facilitate a comprehensive comparison of cross-neutralisation to be conducted across the morbilliviruses

Global selective sweep of a highly inbred genome of the cattle parasite Neospora caninum

Neospora caninum, a cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite, is a leading cause of neuromuscular diseases in dogs as well as fetal abortion in cattle worldwide. The importance of the domestic and sylvatic life cycles of Neospora, and the role of vertical transmission in the expansion and transmission of infection in cattle, is not sufficiently understood. To elucidate the population genomics of Neospora, we genotyped 50 isolates collected worldwide from a wide range of hosts using 19 linked and unlinked genetic markers. Phylogenetic analysis and genetic distance indices resolved a single genotype of N. caninum. Whole-genome sequencing of 7 isolates from 2 different continents identified high linkage disequilibrium, significant structural variation, but only limited polymorphism genome-wide, with only 5,766 biallelic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) total. Greater than half of these SNPs (∼3,000) clustered into 6 distinct haploblocks and each block possessed limited allelic diversity (with only 4 to 6 haplotypes resolved at each cluster). Importantly, the alleles at each haploblock had independently segregated across the strains sequenced, supporting a unisexual expansion model that is mosaic at 6 genomic blocks. Integrating seroprevalence data from African cattle, our data support a global selective sweep of a highly inbred livestock pathogen that originated within European dairy stock and expanded transcontinentally via unisexual mating and vertical transmission very recently, likely the result of human activities, including recurrent migration, domestication, and breed development of bovid and canid hosts within similar proximities

Epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii infection in Africa: a OneHealth systematic review

Background: Q fever is a common cause of febrile illness and community-acquired pneumonia in resource-limited settings. Coxiella burnetii, the causative pathogen, is transmitted among varied host species, but the epidemiology of the organism in Africa is poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review of C. burnetii epidemiology in Africa from a “One Health” perspective to synthesize the published data and identify knowledge gaps.<p></p> Methods/Principal Findings: We searched nine databases to identify articles relevant to four key aspects of C. burnetii epidemiology in human and animal populations in Africa: infection prevalence; disease incidence; transmission risk factors; and infection control efforts. We identified 929 unique articles, 100 of which remained after full-text review. Of these, 41 articles describing 51 studies qualified for data extraction. Animal seroprevalence studies revealed infection by C. burnetii (≤13%) among cattle except for studies in Western and Middle Africa (18–55%). Small ruminant seroprevalence ranged from 11–33%. Human seroprevalence was <8% with the exception of studies among children and in Egypt (10–32%). Close contact with camels and rural residence were associated with increased seropositivity among humans. C. burnetii infection has been associated with livestock abortion. In human cohort studies, Q fever accounted for 2–9% of febrile illness hospitalizations and 1–3% of infective endocarditis cases. We found no studies of disease incidence estimates or disease control efforts.<p></p> Conclusions/Significance: C. burnetii infection is detected in humans and in a wide range of animal species across Africa, but seroprevalence varies widely by species and location. Risk factors underlying this variability are poorly understood as is the role of C. burnetii in livestock abortion. Q fever consistently accounts for a notable proportion of undifferentiated human febrile illness and infective endocarditis in cohort studies, but incidence estimates are lacking. C. burnetii presents a real yet underappreciated threat to human and animal health throughout Africa.<p></p&gt