Global goat! Is the expanding goat population an important reservoir of Cryptosporidium?

Goats are a primary or additional income source for many families in resource-poor areas. Although often considered inferior to other livestock, the resilience of goats and their ability to thrive in a range of environments means that that they are of particular value. Furthermore, goats emit less methane than other livestock species. In these same areas, it is well-documented that cryptosporidiosis has a substantial impact on infant morbidity and mortality, as well as reducing child growth and development. As Cryptosporidium also causes diarrheal disease in goats, the question arises whether goats may represent a reservoir of infection to humans. Epidemiological studies regarding the potential for transmission of Cryptosporidium between goats and humans have largely concluded that Cryptosporidium species infecting goats are not zoonotic. However, these studies are mostly from developed countries, where goat husbandry is smaller, management routines differ greatly from those of developing countries, contact between goats and their owners is more limited, and cryptosporidiosis has less impact on human health. In this article, background information on goat husbandry in different countries is provided, along with information on Cryptosporidium prevalence among goats, at both the species and sub-species levels, and the potential for zoonotic transmission. The intention is to indicate data gaps that should be filled and to increase awareness of the role of goats as providers for low-income families, often living in areas where cryptosporidiosis is endemic and where appropriate baseline interventions could have a positive impact, regardless of species of goat or parasite.publishedVersio

Be Thou Exalted, Volume 3: With Firm Resolve I Held My Peace: Instrumental

Full conductor score including parts for organ, trumpets, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, French horns, trombones, baritone, string bass, timpani and tuba

Goats in the city: prevalence of Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in extensively reared goats in northern India

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Intestinal protozoan parasites in Northern India : investigations on transmission routes

Cryptosporidium and Giardia are protozoan parasites that have been confirmed as major causes of diarrhoea, particularly in children. They represent a significant, but often neglected, threat to public health, and particularly so in developing countries. They are able to cause widespread human and animal disease, and both protozoa contain species that are able to infect a wide range of host species, and are well-suited to cross the human ↔ animal boundaries. The robust transmission stages of both parasites, along with their high excretion rates and low infective dose, means that they can be transmitted through contamination of drinking water and fresh produce, as well as directly. Despite these facts, there are fewer reports on occurrences and outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in developing countries, where there is no surveillance of contamination of the water supply, the fresh produce chain is not properly monitored, and animals roam with less restriction than in developed countries making the human ↔ animal boundaries fade. The reasons for this are many, and probably include diagnostic difficulties, lack of reporting, and an absence of investigation; it is unlikely to reflect that these infections occur more frequently in developed countries. This thesis consists of an experimental part and a survey part. The experimental part has a focus on affordable health, where expensive standard methods were modified and made accessible as cheaper options for analysis of fresh produce and drinking water for contamination with Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Also, the survival of infective stages of Giardia and Cryptosporidium on experimentally contaminated fresh produce was assessed; Giardia cysts were less capable of survival when stored at room temperature than refrigerated, whereas Cryptosporidium oocysts survived well both when refrigerated and at room temperature. This may partly explain the few documented foodborne outbreaks of giardiasis.Giardia og Cryptosporidium er parasittiske protozoer som har etablert seg som en av hovedårsakene til diarè hos mennesker, og da spesielt hos barn i utviklingsland. Der representerer de en signifikant, men ofte neglisjert, trussel for folkehelsen. De kan også forårsake utbredt sykdom hos dyr, og er velegnet til å krysse smittebarrierer mellom arter. På grunn av deres robuste overføringsstadier, høye ekskresjonsrate og lave infeksjonsdose, er disse parasittene svært effektive smittespredere og de kan overføres via kontaminerte drikkevannskilder og ferske råvarer, i tillegg til direkte smitte. Til tross for av at dette har vært lenge kjent, så er det færre rapporter om forekomster og utbrudd av kryptosporidiose og giardiose i utviklingsland, hvor hverken vannforsyning eller ferskvarekjeden overvåkes i samme grad som i utviklede land. I tillegg kan ofte dyr streife med mindre begrensninger enn i utviklede land, noe som resulterer i at smittebarrierene mellom mennesker og dyr blir mindre robuste. Årsakene til dette er mange og sammensatte, og sannsynligvis inkluderer de mangel på ressurser og utstyr til å utføre diagnostikk, manglende rapportering og mangel på overvåkning. I denne doktorgraden presenterer jeg en eksperimentell del og en deskriptiv del. Den eksperimentelle delen fokuserer på utvikling av rimeligere diagnostiske metoder, der kostbare standardiserte metoder ble modifisert og gjort tilgjengelige som billigere alternativer for analyse av ferske råvarer og drikkevann for påvisning av kontaminering med Cryptosporidium og Giardia. Overlevelsen av infektive stadier av Giardia og Cryptosporidium på eksperimentelt kontaminerte ferske råvarer ble også evaluert; Giardia-cyster hadde lavere viabilitet når de ble lagret ved romtemperatur enn kjølt, mens Cryptosporidiumoocystene overlevde både når de var kjølt og ved romtemperatur. Dette kan delvis forklare de få dokumenterte matbårne utbruddene av giardiose.submittedVersio

Of Humans and Huacas: Sacrifice and Ontology at Huaca de la Luna

The subject of this thesis is the staging of ritual sacrifice among the Moche at the ceremonial complex of Huaca de la Luna, Huacas de Moche, during (Plaza 3a) and prior (Plaza 3c) to the climatic crisis of 650 AD. The aim of this thesis is to frame these sacrificial activities and the ceremonial complex itself to a historical and contemporary Andean understanding of the intimate, ontological becoming of humans and haucas through the mutual and ritualized provision of food and sacrifice. Further, by availing Deleuzo-Guattarian notions of the organism and the Body without Organs (BwO) and its related concepts, the chronologically distinct but related contexts of ritual, human sacrifice evident at Plaza 3c and Plaza 3a will be examined in terms of their organization or disorganization. It will be shown how the environmental crisis around 650 AD resulted in or even necessitated a ritual engagement at Plaza 3a with the huaca as a living being that was decidedly deterritorialized and experimental – constituting a DeleuzoGuattarian BwO - compared with earlier evidence of sacrificial and ritual activities at Huaca de la Luna associated with the Sacrifice Ceremony and Plaza 3c. The aim is to provide novel ways of understanding and analyzing the huacas of Moche by turning architecture into anatomy, plazas into organs, huacas into bodies