Monitoring of antimicrobial usage among adult bovines in dairy herds of Punjab, India: A quantitative analysis of pattern and frequency

The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial usage (AMU) pattern in dairy herds of Punjab, India. The on-farm quantification of AMU in adult bovine animals by the manual collection of empty drug containers (“bin method”) along with the records of the treatment was carried out in 38 dairy farms involving 1010 adult bovines for 1 year from July 2020 to June 2021. The farm owners were asked to record the antibiotic treatments as well as to deposit empty antibiotic packaging/vials into the provided bins placed at the farms. A total of 14 different antibiotic agents in 265 commercial antibiotic products were administered to the dairy herds during the study. A total of 179 (67.55%) administered products contained antimicrobials of “critical importance” as per the World Health Organization (WHO). Mastitis (54.72%), followed by the treatment of fever (19.62%), reproductive problems (15.47%), and diarrhea (3.40%) accounted for the majority of drugs administered in the herds during the study period. The most commonly used antibiotics were enrofloxacin (89.47% herds; 21.51% products), followed by ceftriaxone (50% herds; 12.83% products), amoxicillin (50% herds; 12.83% products), oxytetracycline (55.26% herds; 11.70% products), and procaine penicillin (47.37% herds; 12.83% products). The highest quantity of AMU [in terms of antimicrobial drug use rate (ADUR)] was observed for ceftiofur, followed by ceftriaxone, procaine benzyl penicillin ceftizoxime, enrofloxacin, cefoperazone, amoxicillin and ampicillin. A total of 125 (47.17%) products contained “highest priority critically important antimicrobials” (HPCIA) and 54 (20.37%) products contained “high priority critically important antimicrobials”. In terms of overall number of animal daily doses (nADD), the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIA) of the WHO such as third-generation cephalosporins and quinolones, respectively accounted for 44.64 and 22.35% of the total antibiotic use in the herds. The bin method offers an alternative to monitoring AMU as a more accessible approach for recording the actual consumption of antimicrobials. The present study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first of its kind to provide an overview of the qualitative and quantitative estimate of AMU among adult bovines from India

Epidemiology of brucellosis in cattle and dairy farmers of rural Ludhiana, Punjab.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease imposing significant impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. India is the world's leading milk producer and Punjab is the state which produces the most cattle and buffalo milk per capita. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of bovine brucellosis to provide evidence for control of the disease in Punjab State, India. A cross-sectional study of dairy farms was conducted in humans and livestock in rural Ludhiana district using a multi-stage sampling strategy. The study suggests that brucellosis is endemic at high levels in cattle and buffalo in the study area with 15.1% of large ruminants testing seropositive and approximately a third of dairy farms having at least one animal test seropositive. In total, 9.7% of those in direct contact with livestock tested seropositive for Brucella spp. Persons that assisted with calving and/or abortion within the last year on a farm with seronegative livestock and people which did not assist with calving/abortion had 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17 to 7.1) and 0.21 (0.09 to 0.46) times the odds of testing seropositive compared to persons assisting with calving/abortion in a seropositive farm, respectively. The study demonstrated that persons in direct contact with cattle and buffalo in the study area have high risk of exposure to Brucella spp. Control of the disease in livestock is likely to result in benefits to both animal and public health sectors

Dietary Patterns and Breast Cancer Risk: A Multi-Centre Case Control Study among North Indian Women.

Evidence from India, a country with unique and distinct food intake patterns often characterized by lifelong adherence, may offer important insight into the role of diet in breast cancer etiology. We evaluated the association between Indian dietary patterns and breast cancer risk in a multi-centre case-control study conducted in the North Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. Eligible cases were women 30⁻69 years of age, with newly diagnosed, biopsy-confirmed breast cancer recruited from hospitals or population-based cancer registries. Controls (hospital- or population-based) were frequency matched to the cases on age and region (Punjab or Haryana). Information about diet, lifestyle, reproductive and socio-demographic factors was collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. All participants were characterized as non-vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians (those who consumed no animal products except dairy) or lacto-ovo-vegetarians (persons whose diet also included eggs). The study population included 400 breast cancer cases and 354 controls. Most (62%) were lacto-ovo-vegetarians. Breast cancer risk was lower in lacto-ovo-vegetarians compared to both non-vegetarians and lacto-vegetarians with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 0.6 (0.3⁻0.9) and 0.4 (0.3⁻0.7), respectively. The unexpected difference between lacto-ovo-vegetarian and lacto-vegetarian dietary patterns could be due to egg-consumption patterns which requires confirmation and further investigation

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assay for Rapid Diagnosis and Its Role in Prevention of Human Brucellosis in Punjab, India

Objectives: Brucellosis is the most common zoonotic disease that has been diagnosed mainly by serological tests and blood culture to some extent. This study was designed to establish a PCR technique for rapid diagnosis to be used in surveillance activities. Methods: The purpose of this study was firstly explained to the study population and verbal consent was obtained before sample collection. Peripheral blood was collected from 116 occupationally exposed groups with and without pyrexia of unknown origin from various districts of Punjab. Samples were subjected to blood culture, serological tests and DNA extraction was done using conventional laboratory extraction procedure. A primer pair B4/B5 that amplifies a gene encoding a 31 kDa immunogenic outer membrane protein (bcsp31) of Brucella species was used for PCR amplification. Results: The results showed that 8 (7%) of the cases had positive PCR and the detection threshold of primers used in this study were 715 cfu/ml. PCR results were 51.3% accurate for sensitivity of 12.6% and specificity of 100% using STAT as gold standard. Conclusions: Early-case reporting is possible by rapid tests like PCR. Thus, PCR is a promising diagnostic tool for routine investigation and surveillance of brucellosis which is the key element for management of prevention and control programmes. But patient condition before testing, optimal clinical specimen, sample volume used, simple and efficient DNA extraction protocol are the points of concern for PCR to be used as a routine test in clinical laboratory practice

Qualitative Study on Antimicrobial Usage and Resistance in the Dairy Chain: A Situation Analysis and Solutions by Stakeholders from Punjab, India

The rising prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in animal foods and injudicious antibiotic use in the dairy sector pose significant threats to public health. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with a strategic sample of four stakeholder groups (114 participants) associated with antibiotic usage in the dairy sector of Punjab. The FGDs were conducted among veterinarians (n = 56), para-veterinarians (n = 28), and KIIs were conducted among chemists (n = 18) and dairy quality managers (n = 12) during 2020–2021. FGDs and qualitative interviews of various stakeholders depict existing risk practices in the fields that may promote antimicrobial resistance. The present study revealed that widely prevalent quackery (treatment practices carried out by unauthorized persons without any recognized diploma/degree) and self-treatment by farmers, over-the-counter availability of antibiotics, low veterinarian per animal ratio, and lack of awareness among the society about the potential public health effects of antimicrobial resistance were the main risk factors for injudicious antibiotic use in the dairy sector. The present study involved a comprehensive approach targeting the stakeholders in the dairy sector and their reflections on judicious antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance adapted to the dairy farming of Punjab. There is an urgent need for the advocation of policies that consider the specific challenges faced by the dairy sector to simultaneously improve access to veterinary services as well as strengthen antibiotic stewardship