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Despite considerable data generated on livestock trypanosomoses in tsetse-infested areas, little attention was paid for animal African trypanosomosis (AAT) in sleeping sickness foci. This study aimed to fill this gap by determining the diversity and prevalence of trypanosome species in animals from three Chadian human African trypanosomosis (HAT) foci. Blood samples were collected from 443 goats, 339 sheep, 228 dogs and 98 pigs of the Mandoul, Maro and Moissala HAT foci in the south of Chad. Capillary tube centrifugation (CTC) and specific primers were used to search trypanosomes. The prevalence of trypanosome infections was 6.3% for CTC and 22.7% for PCR. Trypanosomes of the sub-genus Trypanozoon had the highest prevalence (16.6%) while T. congolense savannah (1.9%) was least prevalent. Significant differences were recorded between the prevalence of trypanosome species (χ 2  = 8.34; p = 0.04) and HAT foci (χ 2  = 24.86; p ≤0.0001). Maro had the highest prevalence (32.7%) and Mandoul the lowest (17.4%). Significant differences were also recorded for T. congolense forest (χ 2  = 45.106; p < 0.0001) and all T. congolense (χ 2  = 34.992; p < 0.0001). Goats had the highest prevalence (26.9%) and sheep the lowest one (18.6%). Between animals, significant differences were recorded for trypanosomes of the sub-genus Trypanozoon (χ 2  = 9.443; p = 0.024), T. congolense forest (χ 2  = 10.476; p = 0.015) and all T. congolense (χ 2  = 12.152; p = 0.007). Of the 251 animals carrying trypanosome infections, 88.8% had single infections while 11.2% had more than one trypanosome species. The overall prevalence of single and mixed trypanosome infections were respectively 20.1% and 2.6% in animal taxa of all foci. This study highlighted a diversity of trypanosomes in animal taxa of all HAT foci. It showed that AAT constitutes a threat for animal health and animal breeding in Chadian HAT foci. In these tsetse infested areas, reaching the elimination of AAT requires the designing and the implementation of control measures against trypanosome infections., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Female breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide with higher mortality rates and early onset in developing countries. The molecular basis of early disease onset is still elusive. We recruited 472 female breast cancer from two sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon and Congo) between 2007 and 2018 and collected clinical data from these patients. To investigate the molecular drivers of early disease onset, we analyzed publicly available breast cancer molecular data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) and the gene expression omnibus (GEO) for copy number alteration, mutation and gene expression. Early BC onset (EOBRCA) (diagnosis before 45 years) was higher in African women compared with the TCGA cohort (51.7% vs 15.6%). The tumor grade, mitotic index, HER2 + phenotype, basal-like phenotype and ki67 were higher in EOBRCA for all cohorts. BC risk factors such as parity, breastfeeding early onset of menarche and use of hormonal contraceptives were significantly associated with EOBRCA (p < 0.05). EOBRCA was equally associated with copy number alterations in several oncogenes including CDH6 and FOXM1 and tumor suppressor including TGM3 and DMBT1 as well as higher TP53 mutation rates (OR: 2.93, p < 0.01). There was a significant enrichment of TGFß signaling in EOBRCA with TGM3 deletions, which was associated with high expression of all SMAD transcription factors as well as WNT ligands. The Frizzled receptors FZD1, FZD4 and FZD6 were significantly upregulated in EOBRCA, suggesting activation of non-canonical WNT signaling. Our data, suggest the implication of TGM3 deletion in early breast cancer onset. Further molecular investigations are warranted in African patients., (© 2022. The Author(s).)