Modeling the live-pig trade network in Georgia: Implications for disease prevention and control.

Live pig trade patterns, drivers and characteristics, particularly in backyard predominant systems, remain largely unexplored despite their important contribution to the spread of infectious diseases in the swine industry. A better understanding of the pig trade dynamics can inform the implementation of risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control programs for swine diseases. In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire elaborated by FAO and implemented to 487 farmers was used to collect data regarding basic characteristics about pig demographics and live-pig trade among villages in the country of Georgia, where very scarce information is available. Social network analysis and exponential random graph models were used to better understand the structure, contact patterns and main drivers for pig trade in the country. Results indicate relatively infrequent (a total of 599 shipments in one year) and geographically localized (median Euclidean distance between shipments = 6.08 km; IQR = 0-13.88 km) pig movements in the studied regions. The main factors contributing to live-pig trade movements among villages were being from the same region (i.e., local trade), usage of a middleman or a live animal market to trade live pigs by at least one farmer in the village, and having a large number of pig farmers in the village. The identified villages' characteristics and structural network properties could be used to inform the design of more cost-effective surveillance systems in a country which pig industry was recently devastated by African swine fever epidemics and where backyard production systems are predominant

Medidas de manejo del síndrome reproductor y respiratorio porcino (PRRS) basadas en su diagnostico molecular

El síndrome reproductor y respiratorio porcino (PRRS) es una de las enfermedades infecciosas más importantes por el impacto económico que supone para la industria porcina nacional e internacional. Está producida por un virus ARN cuyas principales características son la variabilidad genética y antigénica, sus propiedades inmunomoduladoras y su capacidad para inducir infecciones persistentes. Han sido descritos dos genotipos principales del virus de PRRS, el europeo (EU) y el americano (NA) y últimamente, un tercer genotipo presente solo en Asia La comparación de sus secuencias ha mostrado diferencias genéticas significativas entre ellos, lo que contribuye a que la vacunación sea poco efectiva. Uno de los métodos más empleados para el diagnostico de PRRS es la RT PCR que, acompañada de secuenciación, nos permite determinar el genotipo viral. En los últimos años se han empezado a desarrollar nuevas técnicas de RT-PCR en tiempo real que suponen una mejora sobre las convencionales debido a que presentan ventajas como su mayor sensibilidad, la posibilidad de cuantificar la carga viral o el ahorro de tiempo y material, mejorando el control de la enfermedad. En este trabajo queremos hacer patentes las ventajas y aplicaciones de la RT-PCR en tiempo real para el diagnóstico y el control del virus del Síndrome Respiratorio y Reproductor Porcino.The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most important infectious diseases in swine national and international industry because of its economic impact. It is caused by a single stranded RNA virus which its main characteristics are: genetic and antigenic variability, immune modulation properties and its capacity to produce persistent infections. There have been described two main genotypes, the North American (NA) and the European (EU) and lately, a third one still limited to Asia. The comparison of its sequences has shown important genetic differences between them, what contributes to the failure of the existing vaccines against it. One of the most used diagnostic methods is the RT-PCR which complemented with sequencing, leads to determinate the viral genotype. In the last years, new RT-PCRs in real time have been developed because they present advantages as higher sensitivity, quantification of viral load or saving on material and time, improving the control of the disease. In this job, we would like to show the advantages and applications of the real time RTPCR for the diagnostic and control of the PRRS virus

Farmacovigilancia veterinaria: una asignatura pendiente. Necesitamos aprobarla urgentemente

La Farmacovigilancia Veterinaria es la actividad de Salud Pública encargada de dar a conocer y evaluar la seguridad y eficacia de los Medicamentos de uso veterinario una vez comercializados, tanto para los animales como para el hombre o el Medio Ambiente. Los Profesionales sanitarios, Laboratorios fabricantes o propietarios de los animales efectúan notificaciones confidenciales en la “Tarjeta Verde” de supuestas reacciones adversas (RAM), falta de eficacia, tiempos de aplicación o de espera incorrectos, uso no contemplado o fuera de etiqueta, defectos de fabricación y problemas medioambientales potenciales. El Sistema Español de Farmacovigilancia (SEFV) recoge y evalúa la información emitida por las Administraciones Sanitarias Nacionales, Autonómicas y Europeas. Igualmente el Comité de Seguridad de Medicamentos Veterinarios (CVMP) de la Agencia Europea de Medicamentos (EMEA) realiza su evaluación Técnico-científica, y emiten “Alertas” que incluyen una serie de medidas a cumplir para prevenir los riesgos aparecidos por el uso de un determinado medicamento

Aplicación de la rt-pcr en tiempo real para el diagnóstico de PRRS

PRSS is one of the most important infectious diseases in swine national and international industry because of its economic impact. It is caused by a single stranded RNA virus which its main characteristics are: genetic and antigenic variability, immune modulation properties and its capacity to produce persistent infections. Up to now, there are two main genotypes, the North American (NA) and the European (EU). The comparison of its sequences has shown important genetic differences between them, what contributes to the failure of the existing vaccines against it. One of the most used diagnostic methods is the RT-PCR which complemented with sequencing, leads to determinate the viral genotype. In the last years, new RT-PCRs in real time have been developed because they present advantages as higher sensitivity, quantification of viral load or saving on material and time, improving the control of the disease. In this job, we would like to show the advantages and applications of the real time RT-PCR for the diagnostic and control of the PRRS virus

Detecting Selfish Configurations in 802.11 WLANs

Lately, there has been an increase in the number of IEEE 802.11 devices that provide users with the ability to modify the MAC parameters or do not conform to the standard specification. This increases the risk of having a WLAN with selfish stations that, through the CSMA/CA parameters, obtain a larger share of the resources at the expense of well-behaved users. In this letter we propose a mechanism to detect these selfish stations that, unlike previous approaches, is not based on heuristics nor makes any assumption about radio conditions.European Community's Seventh Framework ProgramPublicad

Deprivation, Violence, and Identities: Mapping Contemporary World Conflicts

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many anticipated the advent of a “new world order” of global capitalism, or even an “end to history,” implying that conflicts based on ideology and competing national interests and identities would lose their political relevance in the post-Cold War era. Quite to the contrary, the 1990s saw an upwelling of ethnic and religious violence in locations as disparate as the former Yugoslavia, Central Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Prior to the events of 9/11, the structure of international relations had still made it possible to imagine that such conflicts had local roots and were thus exclusively of regional consequence. The events of 9/11, however, rendered undeniable the global significance of local ethnic and religious-based differences. It is now an inescapable conclusion that social identities are everywhere threatened from within by local and ethnic formations, conditioned in their response by the prerogatives and ambitions of the state and its actors, and transformed from without by the global flows of capital, popular culture, and transnational ideologies and populations. As features of the contemporary world, deprivation, violence, and identities are but the local manifestations of the conflict between global systems of thought, power, and authority.Ohio State University. Center for African StudiesOhio State University. Office of International AffiarsOhio State University. East Asian Studies CenterOhio State University. Center for Slavic and East European StudiesOhio State University. Middle East Studies CenterOhio State University. Office of International Affairs. Clusters of Interdisciplinary Research on International Themes (CIRIT)Ohio State University. Center for Latin American StudiesOhio State University. Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent webpage, event summar

Wild and Domestic Pig Interactions at the Wildlife–Livestock Interface of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, and the Potential Association with African Swine Fever Outbreaks

Bushpigs (BPs) (Potamochoerus larvatus) and warthogs (WHs) (Phacochoerus africanus), which are widely distributed in Eastern Africa, are likely to cohabitate in the same environment with domestic pigs (DPs), facilitating the transmission of shared pathogens. However, potential interactions between BP, WH, and DP, and the resulting potential circulation of infectious diseases have rarely been investigated in Africa to date. In order to understand the dynamics of such interactions and the potential influence of human behavior and husbandry practices on them, individual interviews (n = 233) and participatory rural appraisals (n = 11) were carried out among Ugandan pig farmers at the edge of Murchison Falls National Park, northern Uganda. In addition, as an example of possible implications of wild and DP interactions, non-linear multivariate analysis (multiple correspondence analyses) was used to investigate the potential association between the aforementioned factors (interactions and human behavior and practices) and farmer reported African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks. No direct interactions between wild pigs (WPs) and DP were reported in our study area. However, indirect interactions were described by 83 (35.6%) of the participants and were identified to be more common at water sources during the dry season. Equally, eight (3.4%) farmers declared exposing their DP to raw hunting leftovers of WPs. The exploratory analysis performed suggested possible associations between the farmer reported ASF outbreaks and indirect interactions, free-range housing systems, dry season, and having a WH burrow less than 3 km from the household. Our study was useful to gather local knowledge and to identify knowledge gaps about potential interactions between wild and DP in this area. This information could be useful to facilitate the design of future observational studies to better understand the potential transmission of pathogens between wild and DPs. (Résumé d'auteur