West Nile outbreak in horses in southern France, 2000: the return after 35 years.

On September 6, 2000, two cases of equine encephalitis caused by West Nile (WN) virus were reported in southern France (Hérault Province), near Camargue National Park, where a WN outbreak occurred in 1962. Through November 30, 76 cases were laboratory confirmed among 131 equines with neurologic disorders. The last confirmed case was on November 3, 2000. All but three cases were located in a region nicknamed "la petite Camargue," which has several large marshes, numerous colonies of migratory and resident birds, and large mosquito populations. No human case has been confirmed among clinically suspected patients, nor have abnormal deaths of birds been reported. A serosurvey has been undertaken in horses in the infected area, and other studies are in progress

African horse sickness

African horse sickness (AHS) is a devastating disease of equids caused by an arthropod-borne virus belonging to the Reoviridae family, genus Orbivirus. It is considered a major health threat for horses in endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. African horse sickness virus (AHSV) repeatedly caused large epizootics in the Mediterranean region (North Africa and southern Europe in particular) as a result of trade in infected equids. The unexpected emergence of a closely related virus, the bluetongue virus, in northern Europe in 2006 has raised fears about AHSV introduction into Europe, and more specifically into AHSV-free regions that have reported the presence of AHSV vectors, e.g. Culicoides midges. North African and European countries should be prepared to face AHSV incursions in the future, especially since two AHSV serotypes (serotypes 2 and 7) have recently spread northwards to western (e.g. Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia) and eastern Africa (Ethiopia), where historically only serotype 9 had been isolated. The authors review key elements of AHS epidemiology, surveillance and prophylaxis.La peste équine est une maladie extrêmement grave des équidés causée par un Orbivirus appartenant à la famille des Reoviridae. Le virus est transmis par des arthropodes. La maladie constitue une menace sanitaire majeure pour les équidés des régions endémiques de l’Afrique subsaharienne. Le virus de la peste équine est à l’origine de vastes épizooties récurrentes dans la région méditerranéenne (particulièrement au nord de l’Afrique et au sud de l’Europe), associées aux échanges internationaux d’équidés infectés. L’émergence inattendue du virus de la fièvre catarrhale ovine dans le nord de l’Europe en 2006, virus étroitement apparenté à celui de la peste équine, a suscité de grandes inquiétudes quant au risque d’introduction du virus de la peste équine en Europe et plus particulièrement dans les régions indemnes de cette maladie mais ayant rapporté la présence des vecteurs compétents pour le virus, notamment les moucherons du genre Culicoides. Les pays d’Afrique du Nord et d’Europe devraient se préparer à faire face à des incursions du virus de la peste équine à l’avenir, en particulier depuis la récente propagation de deux sérotypes du virus (les sérotypes 2 et 7) en direction du nord, aussi bien en Afrique occidentale (Sénégal, Nigeria, Gambie...) qu’en Afrique orientale (Éthiopie), régions où par le passé seul le sérotype 9 avait été isolé. Les auteurs font le point sur les principaux éléments de l’épidémiologie, la surveillance et la prophylaxie de la peste équine.La peste equina es una devastadora enfermedad de los équidos cuyo agente etiológico es un virus transmitido por artrópodos del género Orbivirus, familia Reoviridae. Esá considerada una importante amenaza sanitaria para los caballos de las zonas del África subsahariana en las que es endémica. En repetidas ocasiones, las operaciones comerciales con équidos infectados por el virus han causado grandes epizootias en la región del Mediterráneo (norte de África y sur de Europa en particular). Desde 2006, cuando en el norte de Europa apareció inesperadamente el virus de la lengua azul, estrechamente emparentado con el de la peste equina, existe el temor de que este último penetre en Europa, y más concretamente en regiones hasta ahora exentas de él donde está descrita la presencia de vectores como los jejenes Culicoides. Los países norteafricanos y europeos deben estar preparados para responder en el futuro a incursiones del virus de la peste equina, máxime cuando dos de sus serotipos (el 2 y el 7) se han propagado en fechas recientes hacia el norte hasta alcanzar el África Occidental (Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia...) y Oriental (Etiopía), zonas donde hasta entonces solo se había aislado el serotipo 9. Los autores pasan revista a los principales aspectos de la epidemiología, vigilancia y profilaxis de la enfermedad.http://www.oie.int/en/publications-and-documentation/scientific-and-technical-review-free-accessam201

Active MR k-space Sampling with Reinforcement Learning

Deep learning approaches have recently shown great promise in accelerating magnetic resonance image (MRI) acquisition. The majority of existing work have focused on designing better reconstruction models given a pre-determined acquisition trajectory, ignoring the question of trajectory optimization. In this paper, we focus on learning acquisition trajectories given a fixed image reconstruction model. We formulate the problem as a sequential decision process and propose the use of reinforcement learning to solve it. Experiments on a large scale public MRI dataset of knees show that our proposed models significantly outperform the state-of-the-art in active MRI acquisition, over a large range of acceleration factors.Comment: Presented at the 23rd International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 202

Development and evaluation of real time RT-PCR assays for detection and typing of Bluetongue virus

Bluetongue virus is the type species of the genus Orbivirus, family Reoviridae. Bluetongue viruses (BTV) are transmitted between their vertebrate hosts primarily by biting midges (Culicoides spp.) in which they also replicate. Consequently BTV distribution is dependent on the activity, geographic distribution, and seasonal abundance of Culicoides spp. The virus can also be transmitted vertically in vertebrate hosts, and some strains/serotypes can be transmitted horizontally in the absence of insect vectors. The BTV genome is composed of ten linear segments of double-stranded (ds) RNA, numbered in order of decreasing size (Seg-1 to Seg-10). Genome segment 2 (Seg-2) encodes outer-capsid protein VP2, the most variable BTV protein and the primary target for neutralising antibodies. Consequently VP2 (and Seg-2) determine the identity of the twenty seven serotypes and two additional putative BTV serotypes that have been recognised so far. Current BTV vaccines are serotype specific and typing of outbreak strains is required in order to deploy appropriate vaccines. We report development and evaluation of multiple ‘TaqMan’ fluorescence-probe based quantitative real-time type-specific RT-PCR assays targeting Seg-2 of the 27+1 BTV types. The assays were evaluated using orbivirus isolates from the ‘Orbivirus Reference Collection’ (ORC) held at The Pirbright Institute. The assays are BTV-type specific and can be used for rapid, sensitive and reliable detection / identification (typing) of BTV RNA from samples of infected blood, tissues, homogenised Culicoides, or tissue culture supernatants. None of the assays amplified cDNAs from closely related but heterologous orbiviruses, or from uninfected host animals or cell cultures

Using shared needles for subcutaneous inoculation can transmit bluetongue virus mechanically between ruminant hosts

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an economically important arbovirus of ruminants that is transmitted by Culicoides spp. biting midges. BTV infection of ruminants results in a high viraemia, suggesting that repeated sharing of needles between animals could result in its iatrogenic transmission. Studies defining the risk of iatrogenic transmission of blood-borne pathogens by less invasive routes, such as subcutaneous or intradermal inoculations are rare, even though the sharing of needles is common practice for these inoculation routes in the veterinary sector. Here we demonstrate that BTV can be transmitted by needle sharing during subcutaneous inoculation, despite the absence of visible blood contamination of the needles. The incubation period, measured from sharing of needles, to detection of BTV in the recipient sheep or cattle, was substantially longer than has previously been reported after experimental infection of ruminants by either direct inoculation of virus, or through blood feeding by infected Culicoides. Although such mechanical transmission is most likely rare under field condition, these results are likely to influence future advice given in relation to sharing needles during veterinary vaccination campaigns and will also be of interest for the public health sector considering the risk of pathogen transmission during subcutaneous inoculations with re-used needles

National survey of variations in practice in the prevention of surgical site infections in adult cardiac surgery, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Background: Currently no national standards exist for the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) in cardiac surgery. SSI rates range from 1% to 8% between centres. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore and characterize variation in approaches to SSI prevention in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Methods: Cardiac surgery centres were surveyed using electronic web-based questionnaires to identify variation in SSI prevention at the level of both institution and consultant teams. Surveys were developed and undertaken through collaboration between the Cardiothoracic Interdisciplinary Research Network (CIRN), Public Health England (PHE) and the National Cardiac Benchmarking Collaborative (NCBC) to encompass routine pre-, intra- and postoperative practice. Findings: Nineteen of 38 centres who were approached provided data and included responses from 139 consultant teams. There was no missing data from those centres that responded. The results demonstrated substantial variation in over 40 aspects of SSI prevention. These included variation in SSI surveillance, reporting of SSI infection rates to external bodies, utilization of SSI risk prediction tools, and the use of interventions such as sternal support devices and gentamicin impregnated sponges. Conclusion: Measured variation in SSI prevention in cardiac centres across the UK and ROI is evidence of clinical uncertainty as to best practice, and has identified areas for quality improvement as well as knowledge gaps to be addressed by future research