Neglected Tropical Diseases, Neglected Data Sources, and Neglected Issues

BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a so-called neglected tropical disease, currently overshadowed by higher-profile efforts to address malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Despite recent successes in arresting transmission, some 40 million people who already have the disease have been largely neglected. This study aims to increase understanding of how this vulnerable, neglected group can be helped. METHODS: We used purposive sampling to select 60 men and women with filarial lymphoedema (45 with filarial elephantiasis and 15 men with filarial hydrocoele) from the south of Sri Lanka in 2004-2005. Participants were selected to give a balance of men and women and poor and nonpoor, and a range of stages of the disease. Participants' experiences and the consequences of their disease for the household were explored with in-depth qualitative, semistructured interviews. FINDINGS: LF was extremely debilitating to participants over long periods of time. The stigma attached to the condition caused social isolation and emotional distress, and delayed diagnosis and treatment, resulting in undue advancement of the disease. Free treatment services at government clinics were avoided because the participants' condition would be identifiable in public. Loss of income due to the condition was reported by all households in the sample, not just the poorest. Households that were already on low incomes were pushed into near destitution, from which it was almost impossible to escape. Affected members of low-income households also had less opportunity to obtain appropriate treatment from distant clinics, and had living and working conditions that made hygiene and compliance difficult. SIGNIFICANCE: This highly vulnerable category of patients has low visibility, thus becoming marginalized and forgotten. With an estimated 300,000 total cases of elephantiasis and/or oedema in Sri Lanka, and around 300,000 men with filarial hydrocoele, the affected households will need help and support for many years to come. These individuals should be specially targeted for identification, outreach, and care. The global strategy for elimination is aimed at the cessation of transmission, but there will remain some 40 million individuals with clinical manifestations whose needs and problems are illustrated in this study

Host Alternation Is Necessary to Maintain the Genome Stability of Rift Valley Fever Virus

Arthropod-borne viruses are transmitted among vertebrate hosts by insect vectors. Unusually, Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) can also be transmitted by direct contacts of animals/humans with infectious tissues. What are the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary events leading to adopt one mode of transmission rather than the other? Viral replication is implied to be different in a vertebrate host and an invertebrate host. The alternating host cycle tends to limit virus evolution by adopting a compromise fitness level for replication in both hosts. To test this hypothesis, we used a cell culture model system to study the evolution of RVFV. We found that freeing RVFV from alternating replication in mammalian and mosquito cells led to large deletions in the NSs gene carrying the virulence factor. Resulting NSs-truncated viruses were able to protect mice from a challenge with a virulent RVFV. Thus, in nature, virulence is likely maintained by continuous alternating passages between vertebrates and insects. Thereby, depending on the mode of transmission adopted, the evolution of RVFV will be of major importance to predict the outcome of outbreaks

Infectious bronchitis: safety and protection in chickens with maternal antibody

No Abstrac

Assessment of organoleptic postmortem inspection techniques for bovine offal

Objective: To evaluate organoleptic postmortem inspec-tion techniques for bovine livers and kidneys. Study design: At Australian export abattoirs, bovine liver and kidneys are assessed and graded by qualified meat inspectors during normal operations. Over a 12-month period at a large abattoir in eastern Australia during 1997 and 1998, a sample of these organs was reassessed independently using a range of pathological and microbiological methods. Agreement between routine inspection and independent assessment was evaluated using methods of inter-rater agreement. Results: A total of 944 livers and 1374 kidneys were included in the study. All of these organs had been classified during routine inspection. The authors examined 363 livers and 329 kidneys both grossly and histologically, including 36 livers and 14 kidneys that were also subjected to microbiological examination. All other organs were only examined grossly. There was only a moderate level of agreement between the routine and independent assessment methods. For livers, the percentage agreement was 80.2%, McNemar's test of symmetry 55.2 (3 degrees of freedom, P < 0.001) and kappa 0.63. For kidneys, the percentage agreement was 67.8%, McNemar's test of symmetry 9.9 (1df, P = 0.002) and kappa 0.35. Conclusions: The results reinforce concerns from a number of authors about organoleptic postmortem inspection. Risk assessment methodologies offer the opportunity to modify inspection techniques in a manner that is most relevant to current public health concerns

A novel <em>badnavirus</em> discovered from <em>Betula sp.</em> affected by birch leaf-roll disease.

In declining birches (Betula sp.) from different European stands affected by the "birch leaf-roll disease" (BLRD) a novel virus is identified by means of RNA-Seq virome analysis. The virus represents a new member in the genus Badnavirus, family Caulimoviridae, tentatively named Birch leaf roll-associated virus (BLRaV) and it is the first badnavirus found to infect birch. Complete genome sequences (7,862-7,864 nucleotides) of three viral isolates of Finnish and German origin have been determined. The virus sequences show a typical badnavirus organization with three major open reading frames (ORFs) and a fourth potential ORF overlapping with the end of ORF3. ORFs 1-2-3 show low level of amino acid identity to the corresponding proteins encoded by other badnaviruses, reaching a maximum of 44% identity (ORF3). Grapevine vein-clearing virus appears as the closest badnavirus when considering the polymerase region. So far, we can exclude evidence for presence of endogenous BLRaV elements in the birch genome, while evidence for the episomal activity of BLRaV is provided. The viral population holds significant haplotype diversity, while co-infection by different BLRaV variants are observed in single hosts. BLRaV presence is associated with the BLRD in both silver (B. pendula) and downy birch (B. pubescens). These results challenge the earlier hypothesis of a causal role of Cherry leaf roll virus in BLRD. Further work is now needed to finally prove that BLRaV is the causal agent for the BLRD