Edible insects unlikely to contribute to transmission of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

In the context of food safety, edible insects are evaluated for biological hazards such as microbial pathogens according to regulations currently in place. When the European Food Safety Authority evaluated the hazards of edible insects as a potential source of pathogenic viruses for humans and livestock, the novel zoonotic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 had not yet emerged but other pathogenic coronaviruses such as SARS (SARS-CoV) and MERS (MERS-CoV) were known. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, animal sources of protein for human consumption are being evaluated for the risks of being a transmission vector of coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2. Insects lack a receptor that can bind SARS-CoV-2, thus preventing the virus from replicating in insects, unlike some vertebrate livestock species and companion animals. Despite extensive monitoring, coronaviruses have never been recorded in insect microbiomes. Contamination of insects produced for food or feed may occur during the production process, resulting from rearing substrate or from insect farmers. However, the currently permitted rearing substrates do not include animal products and the farming process is highly automated, thus limiting interactions between farmers and insects. If contamination would still occur, the fact that the insects in production are not hosts to SARS-CoV-2 precludes virus replication and the further processing of the insects will destroy the contamination. We conclude that the hazard of edible insects being a transmission vector of SARS-CoV-2 is extremely low.</p

Optical study of strained double Ge/Si quantum dot layers

status: publishe

Antimicrobial and plant growth-promoting properties of the cacao endophyte Bacillus subtilis ALB629.

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Genética da resistência de planta adulta à ferrugem da folha em trigo - cultivar Toropi.

Orientadora: Sandra Patussi Brammer

I-Move towards monitoring seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine effectiveness: lessons learnt from a pilot multi-centric case-control study in europe, 2008-9

Within I-MOVE (European programme to monitor seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE)) five countries conducted IVE pilot case-control studies in 2008-9. One hundred and sixty sentinel general practitioners (GP) swabbed all elderly consulting for influenza-like illness (ILI). Influenza confirmed cases were compared to influenza negative controls. We conducted a pooled analysis to obtain a summary IVE in the age group of >or=65 years. We measured IVE in each study and assessed heterogeneity between studies qualitatively and using the I2 index. We used a one-stage pooled model with study as a fixed effect. We adjusted estimates for age-group, sex, chronic diseases, smoking, functional status, previous influenza vaccinations and previous hospitalisations. The pooled analysis included 138 cases and 189 test-negative controls. There was no statistical heterogeneity (I2=0) between studies but ILI case definition, previous hospitalisations and functional status were slightly different. The adjusted IVE was 59.1% (95% CI: 15.3-80.3%). IVE was 65.4% (95% CI: 15.6-85.8%) in the 65-74, 59.6% (95% CI: -72.6 -90.6%) in the age group of >or=75 and 56.4% (95% CI: -0.2-81.3%) for A(H3). Pooled analysis is feasible among European studies. The variables definitions need further standardisation. Larger sample sizes are needed to achieve greater precision for subgroup analysis. For 2009-10, I-MOVE will extend the study to obtain early IVE estimates in groups targeted for pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccination.European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC

Gut-microbiome composition in response to phenylketonuria depends on dietary phenylalanine in BTBR Pah^enu2 mice

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a metabolic disorder caused by a hepatic enzyme deficiency causing high blood and brain levels of the amino acid Phenylalanine (Phe), leading to severe cognitive and psychological deficits that can be prevented, but not completely, by dietary treatment. The behavioral outcome of PKU could be affected by the gut-microbiome-brain axis, as diet is one of the major drivers of the gut microbiome composition. Gut-microbiome alterations have been reported in treated patients with PKU, although the question remains whether this is due to PKU, the dietary treatment, or their interaction. We, therefore, examined the effects of dietary Phe restriction on gut-microbiome composition and relationships with behavioral outcome in mice. Male and female BTBR Pah(enu2) mice received either a control diet (normal protein, “high” Phe), liberalized Phe-restricted (33% natural protein restriction), or severe Phe-restricted (75% natural protein restriction) diet with protein substitutes for 10 weeks (n = 14 per group). Their behavioral performance was examined in an open field test, novel and spatial object location tests, and a balance beam. Fecal samples were collected and sequenced for the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) region. Results indicated that PKU on a high Phe diet reduced Shannon diversity significantly and altered the microbiome composition compared with wild-type animals. Phe-restriction prevented this loss in Shannon diversity but changed community composition even more than the high-Phe diet, depending on the severity of the restriction. Moreover, on a taxonomic level, we observed the highest number of differentially abundant genera in animals that received 75% Phe-restriction. Based on correlation analyses with differentially abundant taxa, the families Entereococacceae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, and the genus Alloprevotella showed interesting relationships with either plasma Phe levels and/or object memory. According to our results, these bacterial taxa could be good candidates to start examining the microbial metabolic potential and probiotic properties in the context of PKU. We conclude that PKU leads to an altered gut microbiome composition in mice, which is least severe on a liberalized Phe-restricted diet. This may suggest that the current Phe-restricted diet for PKU patients could be optimized by taking dietary effects on the microbiome into account

Health of the black soldier fly and house fly under mass-rearing conditions:innate immunity and the role of the microbiome

Rearing insects for food and feed is a rapidly growing industry, because it provides excellent opportunities for a sustainable approach to animal protein production. Two fly species, the black soldier fly (BSF) and the house fly (HF), naturally live in decaying organic matter (e.g. compost), and can thus be effectively reared on organic rest streams from the food and agricultural industry. The adoption of these insects as mini-livestock on microbially rich substrates, however, requires us to address how we can safeguard insect health under mass-rearing conditions. In this review, we discuss what is known about the innate immunity of insects in general, especially focusing on a comparative approach to current knowledge for the two dipteran species BSF and HF. We also discuss environmental factors that may affect innate immunity in mass-rearing settings, including temperature, insect densities and diet composition. Furthermore, we address the role of the microbiome in insect health and the associations of these fly species with detrimental or beneficial microbes. Finally, we present a perspective on important open scientific questions for optimizing the mass rearing of these insects with respect to their health and welfar

Handbook for Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Work

The Handbook for Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Work is a practical tool written for Aboriginal drug and alcohol workers, mental health workers and others working in this field. It offers a detailed look at alcohol and drug work from clinical, through to prevention, early intervention and harm reduction. This handbook is also likely to help people working to improve policy and those advocating for change. The idea for it came from workers all over Australia. They told us that they needed an easy to use handbook that can help them respond to the range of alcohol and drug issues they face every day. They also told us that such a book needs to take into account the complex challenges facing workers when helping clients, their families and, sometimes, whole communities