209 research outputs found
West Nile outbreak in horses in southern France, 2000: the return after 35 years.
On September 6, 2000, two cases of equine encephalitis caused by West Nile (WN) virus were reported in southern France (HĂ©rault Province), near Camargue National Park, where a WN outbreak occurred in 1962. Through November 30, 76 cases were laboratory confirmed among 131 equines with neurologic disorders. The last confirmed case was on November 3, 2000. All but three cases were located in a region nicknamed "la petite Camargue," which has several large marshes, numerous colonies of migratory and resident birds, and large mosquito populations. No human case has been confirmed among clinically suspected patients, nor have abnormal deaths of birds been reported. A serosurvey has been undertaken in horses in the infected area, and other studies are in progress
African horse sickness
African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating disease of equids caused by an
arthropod-borne virus belonging to the Reoviridae family, genus Orbivirus. It is
considered a major health threat for horses in endemic areas in sub-Saharan
Africa. African horse sickness virus (AHSV) repeatedly caused large epizootics
in the Mediterranean region (North Africa and southern Europe in particular) as a
result of trade in infected equids. The unexpected emergence of a closely related
virus, the bluetongue virus, in northern Europe in 2006 has raised fears about
AHSV introduction into Europe, and more specifically into AHSV-free regions
that have reported the presence of AHSV vectors, e.g. Culicoides midges. North
African and European countries should be prepared to face AHSV incursions in
the future, especially since two AHSV serotypes (serotypes 2 and 7) have recently
spread northwards to western (e.g. Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia) and eastern Africa
(Ethiopia), where historically only serotype 9 had been isolated. The authors
review key elements of AHS epidemiology, surveillance and prophylaxis.La peste Ă©quine est une maladie extrĂȘmement grave des Ă©quidĂ©s causĂ©e par un
Orbivirus appartenant Ă la famille des Reoviridae. Le virus est transmis par des
arthropodes. La maladie constitue une menace sanitaire majeure pour les équidés
des rĂ©gions endĂ©miques de lâAfrique subsaharienne. Le virus de la peste Ă©quine
est Ă lâorigine de vastes Ă©pizooties rĂ©currentes dans la rĂ©gion mĂ©diterranĂ©enne
(particuliĂšrement au nord de lâAfrique et au sud de lâEurope), associĂ©es aux
Ă©changes internationaux dâĂ©quidĂ©s infectĂ©s. LâĂ©mergence inattendue du virus
de la fiĂšvre catarrhale ovine dans le nord de lâEurope en 2006, virus Ă©troitement
apparenté à celui de la peste équine, a suscité de grandes inquiétudes quant au
risque dâintroduction du virus de la peste Ă©quine en Europe et plus particuliĂšrement
dans les régions indemnes de cette maladie mais ayant rapporté la présence
des vecteurs compétents pour le virus, notamment les moucherons du genre
Culicoides. Les pays dâAfrique du Nord et dâEurope devraient se prĂ©parer Ă faire
face Ă des incursions du virus de la peste Ă©quine Ă lâavenir, en particulier depuis la
récente propagation de deux sérotypes du virus (les sérotypes 2 et 7) en direction
du nord, aussi bien en Afrique occidentale (SĂ©nĂ©gal, Nigeria, Gambie...) quâen
Afrique orientale (Ăthiopie), rĂ©gions oĂč par le passĂ© seul le sĂ©rotype 9 avait Ă©tĂ©
isolĂ©. Les auteurs font le point sur les principaux Ă©lĂ©ments de lâĂ©pidĂ©miologie, la
surveillance et la prophylaxie de la peste Ă©quine.La peste equina es una devastadora enfermedad de los Ă©quidos cuyo agente etiolĂłgico es un virus transmitido por artrĂłpodos del gĂ©nero Orbivirus, familia Reoviridae. EsĂĄ considerada una importante amenaza sanitaria para los caballos de las zonas del Ăfrica subsahariana en las que es endĂ©mica. En repetidas ocasiones, las operaciones comerciales con Ă©quidos infectados por el virus han causado grandes epizootias en la regiĂłn del MediterrĂĄneo (norte de Ăfrica y sur de Europa en particular). Desde 2006, cuando en el norte de Europa apareciĂł inesperadamente el virus de la lengua azul, estrechamente emparentado con el de la peste equina, existe el temor de que este Ășltimo penetre en Europa, y mĂĄs concretamente en regiones hasta ahora exentas de Ă©l donde estĂĄ descrita la presencia de vectores como los jejenes Culicoides. Los paĂses norteafricanos y europeos deben estar preparados para responder en el futuro a incursiones del virus de la peste equina, mĂĄxime cuando dos de sus serotipos (el 2 y el 7) se han propagado en fechas recientes hacia el norte hasta alcanzar el Ăfrica Occidental (Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia...) y Oriental (EtiopĂa), zonas donde hasta entonces solo se habĂa aislado el serotipo 9. Los autores pasan revista a los principales aspectos de la epidemiologĂa, vigilancia y profilaxis de la enfermedad.http://www.oie.int/en/publications-and-documentation/scientific-and-technical-review-free-accessam201
Active MR k-space Sampling with Reinforcement Learning
Deep learning approaches have recently shown great promise in accelerating
magnetic resonance image (MRI) acquisition. The majority of existing work have
focused on designing better reconstruction models given a pre-determined
acquisition trajectory, ignoring the question of trajectory optimization. In
this paper, we focus on learning acquisition trajectories given a fixed image
reconstruction model. We formulate the problem as a sequential decision process
and propose the use of reinforcement learning to solve it. Experiments on a
large scale public MRI dataset of knees show that our proposed models
significantly outperform the state-of-the-art in active MRI acquisition, over a
large range of acceleration factors.Comment: Presented at the 23rd International Conference on Medical Image
Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 202
Development and evaluation of real time RT-PCR assays for detection and typing of Bluetongue virus
Bluetongue virus is the type species of the genus Orbivirus, family Reoviridae. Bluetongue viruses (BTV) are transmitted between their vertebrate hosts primarily by biting midges (Culicoides spp.) in which they also replicate. Consequently BTV distribution is dependent on the activity, geographic distribution, and seasonal abundance of Culicoides spp. The virus can also be transmitted vertically in vertebrate hosts, and some strains/serotypes can be transmitted horizontally in the absence of insect vectors. The BTV genome is composed of ten linear segments of double-stranded (ds) RNA, numbered in order of decreasing size (Seg-1 to Seg-10). Genome segment 2 (Seg-2) encodes outer-capsid protein VP2, the most variable BTV protein and the primary target for neutralising antibodies. Consequently VP2 (and Seg-2) determine the identity of the twenty seven serotypes and two additional putative BTV serotypes that have been recognised so far. Current BTV vaccines are serotype specific and typing of outbreak strains is required in order to deploy appropriate vaccines. We report development and evaluation of multiple âTaqManâ fluorescence-probe based quantitative real-time type-specific RT-PCR assays targeting Seg-2 of the 27+1 BTV types. The assays were evaluated using orbivirus isolates from the âOrbivirus Reference Collectionâ (ORC) held at The Pirbright Institute. The assays are BTV-type specific and can be used for rapid, sensitive and reliable detection / identification (typing) of BTV RNA from samples of infected blood, tissues, homogenised Culicoides, or tissue culture supernatants. None of the assays amplified cDNAs from closely related but heterologous orbiviruses, or from uninfected host animals or cell cultures
National survey of variations in practice in the prevention of surgical site infections in adult cardiac surgery, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
Background: Currently no national standards exist for the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) in cardiac surgery. SSI rates range from 1% to 8% between centres. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore and characterize variation in approaches to SSI prevention in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Methods: Cardiac surgery centres were surveyed using electronic web-based questionnaires to identify variation in SSI prevention at the level of both institution and consultant teams. Surveys were developed and undertaken through collaboration between the Cardiothoracic Interdisciplinary Research Network (CIRN), Public Health England (PHE) and the National Cardiac Benchmarking Collaborative (NCBC) to encompass routine pre-, intra- and postoperative practice. Findings: Nineteen of 38 centres who were approached provided data and included responses from 139 consultant teams. There was no missing data from those centres that responded. The results demonstrated substantial variation in over 40 aspects of SSI prevention. These included variation in SSI surveillance, reporting of SSI infection rates to external bodies, utilization of SSI risk prediction tools, and the use of interventions such as sternal support devices and gentamicin impregnated sponges. Conclusion: Measured variation in SSI prevention in cardiac centres across the UK and ROI is evidence of clinical uncertainty as to best practice, and has identified areas for quality improvement as well as knowledge gaps to be addressed by future research
Using shared needles for subcutaneous inoculation can transmit bluetongue virus mechanically between ruminant hosts
Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an economically important arbovirus of ruminants that is transmitted by Culicoides spp. biting midges. BTV infection of ruminants results in a high viraemia, suggesting that repeated sharing of needles between animals could result in its iatrogenic transmission. Studies defining the risk of iatrogenic transmission of blood-borne pathogens by less invasive routes, such as subcutaneous or intradermal inoculations are rare, even though the sharing of needles is common practice for these inoculation routes in the veterinary sector. Here we demonstrate that BTV can be transmitted by needle sharing during subcutaneous inoculation, despite the absence of visible blood contamination of the needles. The incubation period, measured from sharing of needles, to detection of BTV in the recipient sheep or cattle, was substantially longer than has previously been reported after experimental infection of ruminants by either direct inoculation of virus, or through blood feeding by infected Culicoides. Although such mechanical transmission is most likely rare under field condition, these results are likely to influence future advice given in relation to sharing needles during veterinary vaccination campaigns and will also be of interest for the public health sector considering the risk of pathogen transmission during subcutaneous inoculations with re-used needles
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