Coprologic survey on ruminant's fasciolosis in east Azerbaijan province during 2014-2015

Fasciolosis is a zoonotic disease of humans and animals causing health problems and great economic losses in different parts of the world including Iran. Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica are well-known agents for fasciolosis. Due to health and economic implications of this disease and the lack of field studies on fasciolosis in living ruminants of East Azerbaijan, the current study was carried out to determine fasciolosis status in living ruminants from different regions of East Azerbaijan province based on coprologic method for the first time. For this purpose, a total of 2012 fecal samples (1782 from sheep and 230 from cattle) were collected and examined under light microscope. The microscopic findings showed that of all the samples, 62 (3.48%) from sheep and 10 (4.35%) from cattle were infected with Fasciola spp. eggs. A total of 72 (3.58%) fecal samples were infected by fasciola eggs. Geographically, the highest percentage of infection in cattle and sheep were observed in the northern regions of province with 6.14% and 5.21% respectively. In terms of age the infection rates in cattle under and over 2 years were 3.81% (4.105) and 4/8% (6.125) respectively whereas those for sheep were 4.38% (41.937) and 2.49% (21.845). The results indicated presence of fasciolosis amongst ruminants of the province necessitating further studies to detect the unknown aspects of disease and regular antiparasitic treatments for its prevention

Molecular detection of the infection with Fasciola hepatica in field-collected snails of Galba truncatula and Lymnaea stagnalis from West Azarbaijan, Iran

The liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, is considered as the most common cause of fasciolosis in both domestic livestock and human. This study was carried out to detect the prevalence of the larval stages of F. hepatica in the snails Galba truncatula and Lymnaea stagnalis in West Azarbaijan, Iran. Snail collection was performed through searching 28 freshwater habitats from May to December 2010. Following the identification of the two snail species, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was utilized to amplify the 28SrRNA gene of F. hepatica in the snails’ tissues. The amplified DNA fragment was subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. According to the RFLP patterns, 16.6% of the examined G. truncatula and 1.1% of L. stagnalis were infected by F. hepatica. While there was not detected infection with larval stages of F. gigantica in any examined snails. The RFLP analysis of 28SrRNA gene was proven to be a useful tool for detection of the infection and its transmission by the intermediate hosts, and can help with the establishment of suitable control programs against fasciolosis in livestock and human in any region of interest

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified