Molecular characterization of serotype O foot-andmouth disease virus from pigs: Implications for multispecies approach to disease control in Uganda

In Uganda, where foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control is mainly done through vaccination, constant monitoring of outbreaks and phylogenetic studies are important in designing effective disease control strategies. These efforts however, have mainly concentrated on cattle since they are the main visible disease hosts. In this study, the molecular characteristics of the VP1 coding sequences of the pigderived FMD virus and its phylogenetic relationship with other historical Ugandan FMD virus sequences are determined. Sixty seven samples were collected from three districts of south western Uganda and subjected to RT-PCR. Partial VP1 capsid protein coding sequences of 12 positive samples were amplified and sequenced using serotype specific primers. Eight sequences were successfully obtained, all of which were from domestic pigs. All samples were confirmed as belonging to serotype O using BLAST search. Phylogenetic analysis of the test sequences with selected sequences, showed a close relatedness (average of 3.77% pair-wise distance) to viruses isolated from central and western Uganda in the years 2005 and 2006 from cattle. These results show that domestic pigs in the western region of Uganda have been infected with the same circulating strain of FMDV and play a potentially important role in FMD maintenance and spread.Keywords: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), pig-derived FMDV sequence, persistence, domestic pigsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(19), pp. 2547-255

Anthrax bio-surveillance of livestock in Arua District, Uganda, 2017-2018

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABThe authors would like to express their gratitude to the local Sub-County chiefs, district veterinary officers, community elders, and kraal leaders for being supportive during data collection. Author JG has received mobility support from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (action Erasmus+ KA107 Mobility Fellowship) and was supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya, Agency for Management of University and Research Grants co-financed with the European Social Found (grants for the recruitment of new research staff 2018 FI_B 00236). Authors RAO, ME, MA, MFN, MI, EI, MM, LP, BS, and SAA were funded by Livestock Disease Control project II.Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis, is a widespread zoonotic disease with many human cases, especially in developing countries. Even with its global distribution, anthrax is a neglected disease with scarce information about its actual impact on the community level. Due to the ecological dynamics of anthrax transmission at the wildlife-livestock interface, the Sub-Saharan Africa region becomes a high-risk zone for maintaining and acquiring the disease. In this regard, some subregions of Uganda are endemic to anthrax with regular seasonal trends. However, there is scarce data about anthrax outbreaks in Uganda. Here, we confirmed the presence of B. anthracis in several livestock samples after a suspected anthrax outbreak among livestock and humans in Arua District. Additionally, we explored the potential risk factors of anthrax through a survey within the community kraals. We provide evidence that the most affected livestock species during the Arua outbreak were cattle (86%) compared to the rest of the livestock species present in the area. Moreover, the farmers' education level and the presence of people's anthrax cases were the most critical factors determining the disease's knowledge and awareness. Consequently, the lack of understanding of the ecology of anthrax may contribute to the spread of the infection between livestock and humans, and it is critical to reducing the presence and persistence of the B. anthracis spores in the environment. Finally, we discuss the increasingly recognized necessity to strengthen global capacity using a One Health approach to prevent, detect, control, and respond to public threats in Uganda