Fossorial adaptations in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) and the unique appendicular phenotype of naked mole-rats

DATA AVAILABILITY: All the data generated and analysed in this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.CODE AVAILABILITY: The code for all analyses is available at: https://github.com/gabrielsaffa/african_mole_rats.Life underground has constrained the evolution of subterranean mammals to maximize digging performance. However, the mechanisms modulating morphological change and development of fossorial adaptations in such taxa are still poorly known. We assessed the morpho-functional diversity and early postnatal development of fossorial adaptations (bone superstructures) in the appendicular system of the African mole-rats (Bathyergidae), a highly specialized subterranean rodent family. Although bathyergids can use claws or incisors for digging, all genera presented highly specialized bone superstructures associated with scratch-digging behavior. Surprisingly, Heterocephalus glaber differed substantially from other bathyergids, and from fossorial mammals by possessing a less specialized humerus, tibia and fibula. Our data suggest strong functional and developmental constraints driving the selection of limb specializations in most bathyergids, but more relaxed pressures acting on the limbs of H. glaber. A combination of historical, developmental and ecological factors in Heterocephalus are hypothesized to have played important roles in shaping its appendicular phenotype.Financial support for the research trip to Kenya of J.U.M.J. was provided by The National Geographic Society, whereas funding support for the maintenance of the original NMR colonies was provided by the University of Cape Town and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). DST-NRF is acknowledged for the financial support to establish the MIXRAD micro-focus X-ray tomography facility at Necsa.https://www.nature.com/commsbioam2023Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

A Plan for Community Event-Based Surveillance to Reduce Ebola Transmission - Sierra Leone, 2014–2015.

Ebola virus disease (Ebola) was first detected in Sierra Leone in May 2014 and was likely introduced into the eastern part of the country from Guinea. The disease spread westward, eventually affecting Freetown, Sierra Leone's densely populated capital. By December 2014, Sierra Leone had more Ebola cases than Guinea and Liberia, the other two West African countries that have experienced widespread transmission. As the epidemic intensified through the summer and fall, an increasing number of infected persons were not being detected by the county's surveillance system until they had died. Instead of being found early in the disease course and quickly isolated, these persons remained in their communities throughout their illness, likely spreading the disease