CWD in Norway

Source at https://vkm.no/The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) and Norwegian Environmental Authority (NEA) asked the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet, VKM) for an opinion on factors associated with the introduction of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) to Norway. VKM appointed a working group consisting of two members of the Panel on Biological Hazards, one member of Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, and two external experts to prepare the answer to the questions. The Panel on Biological Hazards has reviewed and revised the draft prepared by the working group and approved the opinion.Mattilsynet og Miljødirektoratet har bedt Vitenskapskomitéen for mattrygghet (VKM) om å besvare spørsmål knyttet til mattrygghet og dyrehelse etter at den uhelbredelige sykdommen Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) nylig ble påvist hos en villrein og senere hos to elger i Norge. VKM nedsatte en arbeidsgruppe bestående av to medlemmer fra Faggruppen for hygiene og smittestoffer, ett medlem fra Faggruppen for dyrehelse- og velferd samt to eksterne eksperter, for å utarbeide en vurdering knyttet til de stilte spørsmålene. Faggruppen for hygiene og smittestoffer har lest utkast til rapporten og godkjent vurderingen

Forest Fragmentation as Cause of Bacterial Transmission among Nonhuman Primates, Humans, and Livestock, Uganda

Anthropogenic disturbance increases bacterial transmission

Microplastics; occurrence, levels and implications for environment and human health related to food. Scientific opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

publishedVersio

Microplastics; occurrence, levels and implications for environment and human health related to food. Opinion of the Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

Report from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) 2019:16. Microplastics; occurrence, levels and implications for environment and human health related to food. Opinion of the Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. Source at https://www.vkm.no/. The steering committee of VKM has self-initiated a mandate for an opinion on microplastics based on recently published international and/or national reports complemented with literature from December 2016 to February 2019. The mandate requested a summary of the state of knowledge on the presence of microplastics in the environment and the implications for the ecosystem, terrestrial and aquatic organisms, food production and human health. An overview of main national and international ongoing initiatives was also requested, and highlighting of data gaps where specific Norwegian data was needed

Handlingsrommet etter påvisning av skrantesyke (Chronic Wasting Disease, CWD) på Hardangervidda – grunnlag for fremtidige forvaltningsstrategier. Vitenskapelig uttalelse fra Vitenskapskomiteen for Mat og Miljø (VKM).

publishedVersionpublishedVersio

Expert opinion on detecting and treating depression in palliative care: A Delphi study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a dearth of data regarding the optimal method of detecting and treating depression in palliative care. This study applied the Delphi method to evaluate expert opinion on choice of screening tool, choice of antidepressant and choice of psychological therapy. The aim was to inform the development of best practice recommendations for the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative clinical practice guideline on managing depression in palliative care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>18 members of an international, multi-professional expert group completed a structured questionnaire in two rounds, rating their agreement with proposed items on a scale from 0-10 and annotating with additional comments. The median and range were calculated to give a statistical average of the experts' ratings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was contention regarding the benefits of screening, with 'routine informal asking' (median 8.5 (0-10)) rated more highly than formal screening tools such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (median 7.0 (1-10). Mirtazapine (median 9 (7-10) and citalopram (median 9 (5-10) were the considered the best choice of antidepressant and cognitive behavioural therapy (median 9.0 (3-10) the best choice of psychological therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The range of expert ratings was broad, indicating discordance in the views of experts. Direct comparative data from randomised controlled trials are needed to strengthen the evidence-base and achieve clarity on how best to detect and treat depression in this setting.</p

Comparative Genomics Study of Multi-Drug-Resistance Mechanisms in the Antibiotic-Resistant Streptococcus suis R61 Strain

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus suis infections are a serious problem for both humans and pigs worldwide. The emergence and increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant S. suis strains pose significant clinical and societal challenges. RESULTS: In our study, we sequenced one multi-drug-resistant S. suis strain, R61, and one S. suis strain, A7, which is fully sensitive to all tested antibiotics. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the R61 strain is phylogenetically distinct from other S. suis strains, and the genome of R61 exhibits extreme levels of evolutionary plasticity with high levels of gene gain and loss. Our results indicate that the multi-drug-resistant strain R61 has evolved three main categories of resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative genomic analysis of S. suis strains with diverse drug-resistant phenotypes provided evidence that horizontal gene transfer is an important evolutionary force in shaping the genome of multi-drug-resistant strain R61. In this study, we discovered novel and previously unexamined mutations that are strong candidates for conferring drug resistance. We believe that these mutations will provide crucial clues for designing new drugs against this pathogen. In addition, our work provides a clear demonstration that the use of drugs has driven the emergence of the multi-drug-resistant strain R61