Do marine protected areas in the Red Sea afford protection to dugongs and sea turtles?

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) and most sea turtles are threatened by gill nets and other human activities worldwide. In the Red Sea these animals are potentially isolated from populations in other areas of the world. This isolation would make recovery following major population decline in the Red Sea unlikely. Protected areas are promoted as a management tool to safeguard these animals from human activities. Elba National Park, Egypt, supports populations of dugongs and sea turtles, as well as a growing fishing industry. We undertook a survey of fishers to determine if dugongs and sea turtles formed bycatch in Elba National Park. Specifically, we quantified the proportion of fishers operating in Elba National Park who had caught these animals as bycatch in fishing nets and the proportion of fishers who perceived that sea turtle eggs were still collected. This study indicates that at least one protected area in the Red Sea is not achieving conservation objectives relating to these animals. Nine and eighty percent of fishers reported having caught dugongs and sea turtles in nets, respectively. Seven percent of fishers perceived that people still collected turtle eggs. Elba National Park is failing to protect these animals for reasons including: it is managed solely as an IUCN Category VI Protected Area; fishers lack awareness of laws pertaining to these animals; and fishers are highly resource dependent. Potential management strategies to reduce bycatch include the establishment of IUCN Category 1a Protected Areas in important dugong and sea turtle habitat, encouraging fishers to adopt fishing gear that poses less risk to megafauna and raising awareness among fishers of the protected status of dugongs and sea turtles

Low incidence of SARS-CoV-2, risk factors of mortality and the course of illness in the French national cohort of dialysis patients

International audienceThe aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 disease in the French national population of dialysis patients, their course of illness and to identify the risk factors associated with mortality. Our study included all patients on dialysis recorded in the French REIN Registry in April 2020. Clinical characteristics at last follow-up and the evolution of COVID-19 illness severity over time were recorded for diagnosed cases (either suspicious clinical symptoms, characteristic signs on the chest scan or a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) for SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1,621 infected patients were reported on the REIN registry from March 16th, 2020 to May 4th, 2020. Of these, 344 died. The prevalence of COVID-19 patients varied from less than 1% to 10% between regions. The probability of being a case was higher in males, patients with diabetes, those in need of assistance for transfer or treated at a self-care unit. Dialysis at home was associated with a lower probability of being infected as was being a smoker, a former smoker, having an active malignancy, or peripheral vascular disease. Mortality in diagnosed cases (21%) was associated with the same causes as in the general population. Higher age, hypoalbuminemia and the presence of an ischemic heart disease were statistically independently associated with a higher risk of death. Being treated at a selfcare unit was associated with a lower risk. Thus, our study showed a relatively low frequency of COVID-19 among dialysis patients contrary to what might have been assumed