Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Combating Salinity Stress with Foliar Application of Sodium Antagonistic Essential Minerals on Yield and Yield Attributes of Cotton

The aim in this study was to investigate the appropriate level of foliar application on yield attributes of three tested cotton varieties (Ngwegyi-6, Shwetaung-8 and RAKA-666) for combating salinity stress. The common effect of salinity on plant growth is similar to water stress. Two field experiments were conducted in saline soil at Lungyaw Farm during pre-monsoon seasons, 2015 and 2016. Factorial ar-rangement in randomized complete block design was used with three replications. Five treatments as non spray (control), water spray, 500 mg L–1 KCl, 500 mg L–1 NH4NO3 and spray mixture (500 mg L–1 KCl + 500 mg L–1 NH4NO3 for 2015 and 250 mg L–1 KCl + 250 mg L–1 NH4NO3 for 2016) were used. Mineral foliar sprays clearly increased number of symbodial branches per plant, bolls per plant and seed cotton yield per plant than non spray treatment, whereas 500 mg L–1 NH4NO3 was more effective than other sprays in 2015. Number of sympodial branches per plant, bolls per plant, boll weight and seed cotton yield per plant were increased with 250 mg L–1 KCl + 250 mg L–1 NH4NO3 in 2016. Number of monopo-dial branches per plant was not significant among foliar sprays in both seasons. In 2015, the yield in-creased was obtained from 500 mg L–1 NH4NO3 and it was from 250 mg L–1 KCl + 250 mg L–1 NH4NO3 in 2016. However, the highest and satisfactory yield increased was resulted from 250 mg L–1 KCl + 250 mg L–1 NH4NO3. RAKA-666 generally produced highest seed cotton yield in both seasons. Mineral foli-ar 500 mg L–1 NH4NO3 in 2015 and the spray mixture in 2016 gave highest harvest index values. Amon

Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses indicates frequent zoonotic spillover in human communities interacting with wildlife

BackgroundSarbecoviruses are a subgenus of Coronaviridae that mostly infect bats with known potential to infect humans (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2). Populations in Southeast Asia, where these viruses are most likely to emerge, have been undersurveyed to date.MethodsWe surveyed communities engaged in extractive industries and bat guano harvesting from rural areas in Myanmar. Participants were screened for exposure to sarbecoviruses, and their interactions with wildlife were evaluated to determine the factors associated with exposure to sarbecoviruses.ResultsOf 693 people screened between July 2017 and February 2020, 12.1% were seropositive for sarbecoviruses. Individuals were significantly more likely to have been exposed to sarbecoviruses if their main livelihood involved working in extractive industries (logging, hunting, or harvesting of forest products; odds ratio [OR] = 2.71, P = 0.019) or had been hunting/slaughtering bats (OR = 6.09, P = 0.020). Exposure to a range of bat and pangolin sarbecoviruses was identified.ConclusionExposure to diverse sarbecoviruses among high-risk human communities provides epidemiologic and immunologic evidence that zoonotic spillover is occurring. These findings inform risk mitigation efforts needed to decrease disease transmission at the bat-human interface, as well as future surveillance efforts warranted to monitor isolated populations for viruses with pandemic potential

Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses indicates frequent zoonotic spillover in human communities interacting with wildlife

Background: Sarbecoviruses are a subgenus of Coronaviridae that mostly infect bats with known potential to infect humans (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2). Populations in Southeast Asia, where these viruses are most likely to emerge, have been undersurveyed to date. Methods: We surveyed communities engaged in extractive industries and bat guano harvesting from rural areas in Myanmar. Participants were screened for exposure to sarbecoviruses, and their interactions with wildlife were evaluated to determine the factors associated with exposure to sarbecoviruses. Results: Of 693 people screened between July 2017 and February 2020, 12.1% were seropositive for sarbecoviruses. Individuals were significantly more likely to have been exposed to sarbecoviruses if their main livelihood involved working in extractive industries (logging, hunting, or harvesting of forest products; odds ratio [OR] = 2.71, P = 0.019) or had been hunting/slaughtering bats (OR = 6.09, P = 0.020). Exposure to a range of bat and pangolin sarbecoviruses was identified. Conclusion: Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses among high-risk human communities provides epidemiologic and immunologic evidence that zoonotic spillover is occurring. These findings inform risk mitigation efforts needed to decrease disease transmission at the bat-human interface, as well as future surveillance efforts warranted to monitor isolated populations for viruses with pandemic potential

Seroepidemiologic Survey of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Logging Communities, Myanmar.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is endemic in Asia, infecting many animal hosts, but CCHFV has not been reported in Myanmar. We conducted a seroepidemiologic survey of logging communities in Myanmar and found CCHFV exposure was common (9.8%) and exposure to wild animal blood and body fluids was associated with seropositivity

Disaster preparedness and resilience at household level in Yangon, Myanmar

Resilience has become important in disaster preparedness and response. Unfortunately, little is known about resilience at the household level. This study presents the results of a survey into individual and household level preparedness to disaster events in Yangon, Myanmar, which is prone to natural disasters such as tropical cyclones, flooding, and earthquakes. The study aimed to understand societal resilience and to provide information that could be used to develop a holistic framework. In four different Yangon townships, 440 households were interviewed. The results of the survey indicate how risk preparedness could be improved by specific measures related to the following five factors: (1) increasing the general public's knowledge of first aid and its role in preparedness; (2) improving mobile phone infrastructure and capacity building in its usage so that it can be used for communication during disasters, along with building up a redundant communication structure; (3) better use and organisation of volunteer potential; (4) more specific involvement of religious and public buildings for disaster response; and (5) developing specific measures for improving preparedness in urban areas, where the population often has reduced capacities for coping with food supply insufficiencies due to the high and immediate availability of food, shops and goods in regular times. The findings of this survey have led to specific recommendations for Yangon. The identified measures represent a first step in developing a more general framework. Future research could investigate the transferability of these measures to other areas and thus their suitability as a basis for a framework