Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XVII.Revision of \u3cem\u3eNeobuthus\u3c/em\u3e, with description of seven new species from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somaliland (Buthidae)

New information about the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 is presented, based on material recently collected mainly from Somaliland, but also Djibouti and Kenya. Emended diagnoses are proposed for N. berberensis Hirst, 1911 and N. ferrugineus (Kraepelin, 1898) sensu stricto. New species described are: N. amoudensis sp. n. from Ethiopia and Somaliland; N. erigavoensis sp. n., N. factorio sp. n., N. gubanensis sp. n., N. maidensis sp. n., and N. montanus sp. n. from Somaliland; and N. kloppersi sp. n. from Kenya. This doubles the number of species in Neobuthus, unearthing a rich diversification of this genus of diminutive buthids in the Horn of Africa. Included is a key and distribution map. In N. gubanensis sp. n., we report a second known case of anomalous pectine development with tarsal-like structures that implicate homeotic mutation, providing further evidence of pectine-leg homology in scorpions

Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XV. Review of the genus \u3cem\u3eGint\u3c/em\u3e Kovařík et al., 2013, with description of three new species from Somaliland (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

We describe herein three new species of Buthidae: Gint amoudensis sp. n., G. gubanensis sp. n., and G. maidensis sp. n. from Somaliland. Additional information is provided on the taxonomy and distribution of other species of the genus Gint, fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as of their habitat. The hemispermatophores of most Gint species are illustrated and described for the first time. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotype of four Gint species. The number of chromosomes is different for every one of the analysed species (G. dabakalo 2n=23, G. gaitako 2n=30, G. amoudensis sp. n. 2n=35–36, and G. maidensis sp. n. 2n=34)

Progress and experiences of implementing an integrated disease surveillance and response system in Somalia; 2016–2023

IntroductionIn 2021, a regional strategy for integrated disease surveillance was adopted by member states of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region. But before then, member states including Somalia had made progress in integration of their disease surveillance systems. We report on the progress and experiences of implementing an integrated disease surveillance and response system in Somalia between 2016 and 2023.MethodsWe reviewed 20 operational documents and identified key integrated disease surveillance and response system (IDSRS) actions/processes implemented between 2016 and 2023. We verified these through an anonymized online survey. The survey respondents also assessed Somalia’s IDSRS implementation progress using a standard IDS monitoring framework Finally, we interviewed 8 key informants to explore factors to which the current IDSRS implementation progress is attributed.ResultsBetween 2016 and 2023, 7 key IDSRS actions/processes were implemented including: establishment of high-level commitment; development of a 3-year operational plan; development of a coordination mechanism; configuring the District Health Information Software to support implementation among others. IDSRS implementation progress ranged from 15% for financing to 78% for tools. Reasons for the progress were summarized under 6 thematic areas; understanding frustrations with the current surveillance system; the opportunity occasioned by COVID-19; mainstreaming IDSRS in strategic documents; establishment of an oversight mechanism; staggering implementation of key activities over a reasonable length of time and being flexible about pre-determined timelines.DiscussionFrom 2016 to 2023, Somalia registered significant progress towards implementation of IDSRS. The 15 years of EWARN implementation in Somalia (since 2008) provided a strong foundation for IDSRS implementation. If implemented comprehensively, IDSRS will accelerate country progress toward establishment of IHR core capacities. Sustainable funding is the major challenge towards IDSRS implementation in Somalia. Government and its partners need to exploit feasible options for sustainable investment in integrated disease surveillance and response

Bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cell using natural microflora and isolated pure culture bacteria from anaerobic palm oil mill effluent sludge

A double-chambered membrane microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the potential use of natural microflora anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge and pure culture bacteria isolated from anaerobic POME sludge as inoculum for electricity generation. Sterilized final discharge POME was used as the substrate with no addition of nutrients. MFC operation using natural microflora anaerobic POME sludge showed a maximum power density and current density of 85.11 mW/m2 and 91.12 mA/m2 respectively. Bacterial identification using 16S rRNA analysis of the pure culture isolated from the biofilm on the anode MFC was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ZH1. The electricity generated in MFC using P. aeruginosa strain ZH1 showed maximum power density and current density of 451.26 mW/m2 and 654.90 mA/m2 respectively which were five times higher in power density and seven times higher in current density compared to that of MFC using anaerobic POME sludge

Using non-exceedance probabilities of policy-relevant malaria prevalence thresholds to identify areas of low transmission in Somalia

Background Countries planning malaria elimination must adapt from sustaining universal control to targeted intervention and surveillance. Decisions to make this transition require interpretable information, including malaria parasite survey data. As transmission declines, observed parasite prevalence becomes highly heterogeneous with most communities reporting estimates close to zero. Absolute estimates of prevalence become hard to interpret as a measure of transmission intensity and suitable statistical methods are required to handle uncertainty of area-wide predictions that are programmatically relevant. Methods A spatio-temporal geostatistical binomial model for Plasmodium falciparum prevalence (PfPR) was developed using data from cross-sectional surveys conducted in Somalia in 2005, 2007–2011 and 2014. The fitted model was then used to generate maps of non-exceedance probabilities, i.e. the predictive probability that the region-wide population-weighted average PfPR for children between 2 and 10 years (PfPR2–10) lies below 1 and 5%. A comparison was carried out with the decision-making outcomes from those of standard approaches that ignore uncertainty in prevalence estimates. Results By 2010, most regions in Somalia were at least 70% likely to be below 5% PfPR2–10 and, by 2014, 17 regions were below 5% PfPR2–10 with a probability greater than 90%. Larger uncertainty is observed using a threshold of 1%. By 2011, only two regions were more than 90% likely of being < 1% PfPR2–10 and, by 2014, only three regions showed such low level of uncertainty. The use of non-exceedance probabilities indicated that there was weak evidence to classify 10 out of the 18 regions as < 1% in 2014, when a greater than 90% non-exceedance probability was required. Conclusion Unlike standard approaches, non-exceedance probabilities of spatially modelled PfPR2–10 allow to quantify uncertainty of prevalence estimates in relation to policy relevant intervention thresholds, providing programmatically relevant metrics to make decisions on transitioning from sustained malaria control to strategies that encompass methods of malaria elimination

Social contact data for IDPs in Somaliland (2019)

Social contact data for internally displaced people (IDP) living in Digaale IDP camp in Somaliland. Participants reported all their direct contacts in the 24 hours preceding the survey. This survey was conducted in 2019. Data is formatted to be used in the socialmixr package in R

kevinvzandvoort/espicc-somaliland-digaale-survey-2019

Analysis scripts, anonymized data, and questionnaire scripts for: "Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland". The following questionnaires are available: A household survey asking about household-level risk factors and household demographics; A contact survey asking about social contacts within the 24 hours before the survey, and individual-level risk factors for respiratory infections; A form to enter anthropometric measures; A form to ask neighbours of shelters that were absent on all visits about the status of these shelters. Only a subset of the data collected with these questionnaires during the survey has been used for this analysis. Data has been anonymized, and links between household-, contact-, and nutrition- data have been removed. The anonymized data can be used to replicate all analyses, figures, and tables in the manuscript. The following datasets are included: Reported household-level risk-factors collected with the s1_household form; Age-group and sex of household members collected with the s1_household form; Age of people reported to have left surveyed households in the six months preceding the survey collected with the s1_household form; Age of people reported to have died in surveyed households in the six months preceding the survey collected with the s1_household form; Status of shelters where no individual was present on repeat visits, according to their neighbours collected with the s4_missing_houses form; Non-contact related individual-level risk factors collected with the s2_contacts form; Contact-related information from contactors (participants in the contact survey) collected with the s2_contacts form; Information about contactees reported by contactors collected with the s2_contacts form; Anthropometric assessments of children aged 6 to 59 months old, who were included in the contact survey collected with the s3_anthropometry form and; Combined (aggregated) datasets of contact, participant, nutrition, and household level data, used for logistic regression analysis. Social contact data for internally displaced people (IDP) living in Digaale IDP camp in Somaliland has been uploaded to Zenodo. Participants reported all their direct contacts in the 24 hours preceding the survey. This survey was conducted in 2019. Data is formatted to be used in the socialmixr package in R

Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland.

BACKGROUND: Populations affected by humanitarian crises experience high burdens of acute respiratory infections (ARI), potentially driven by risk factors for severe disease such as poor nutrition and underlying conditions, and risk factors that may increase transmission such as overcrowding and the possibility of high social mixing. However, little is known about social mixing patterns in these populations. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional social contact survey among internally displaced people (IDP) living in Digaale, a permanent IDP camp in Somaliland. We included questions on household demographics, shelter quality, crowding, travel frequency, health status, and recent diagnosis of pneumonia, and assessed anthropometric status in children. We present the prevalence of several risk factors relevant to transmission of respiratory infections, and calculated age-standardised social contact matrices to assess population mixing. RESULTS: We found crowded households with high proportions of recent self-reported pneumonia (46% in children). 20% of children younger than five are stunted, and crude death rates are high in all age groups. ARI risk factors were common. Participants reported around 10 direct contacts per day. Social contact patterns are assortative by age, and physical contact rates are very high (78%). CONCLUSIONS: ARI risk factors are very common in this population, while the large degree of contacts that involve physical touch could further increase transmission. Such IDP settings potentially present a perfect storm of risk factors for ARIs and their transmission, and innovative approaches to address such risks are urgently needed

Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland. Data and analyses.

Data and code accompanying the preprint "Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland"

Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland. Data and analyses.

Data and code accompanying the preprint "Social contacts and other risk factors for respiratory infections among internally displaced people in Somaliland"