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Climate change, caused by both natural and human activities, poses significant threats to global health, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental disruptions. The One Health concept, emphasizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, is crucial in addressing these challenges. Climate change is linked to the emergence and resurgence of infectious diseases, resulting in substantial economic losses worldwide due to outbreaks, floods, and disrupted trade, among other factors. Therefore, it is crucial to adapt to this changing climate to safeguard One Health. By implementing a One Health approach, we can effectively address the consequences of climate change and make substantial contributions to health and food safety. This approach also holds the potential to mitigate economic losses, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Additionally, in the future, research interventions based on the One Health framework may offer sustainable solutions to combat climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Typhoid fever is a fatal disease in humans that is caused by Salmonella typhi. S. typhi infections need immediate antibiotic therapy, and their extensive use has led to multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. The use of bacteriophages is becoming a new way to treat these resistant bacteria. This research was directed to bacteriophage isolation against S. typhi and to determine phage-antibiotic synergism. Aims: To isolate bacteriophages targeting S. typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever, and investigate their potential synergistic effects when combined with antibiotics. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The Widal test was positive; twenty diarrheal stool samples were taken, and for confirmation of S. typhi, different biochemical tests were performed. The disc-diffusion technique was used to determine antimicrobial resistance, and the double agar overlay method was used for bacteriophage isolation from sewage water against S. typhi. To test antibiotic-phage synergism, the S. typhi bacteria was treated by phages together with varying antibiotic concentrations. Results: Eleven samples were positive for S. typhi with black colonies on SS-agar. These were catalase and MR positive with alkali butt on TSI. Clear plaques were observed after the agar overlay. Isolated phages were stable at various pH and temperature levels. Synergism was observed on agar plate. The zone was enlarged when phages were combined with bacterial lawn culture and ciprofloxacin disk. Bacterial growth inhibition had a significant p-value of 0.03 in titration plates, with the phage-ciprofloxacin combination being more effective than the phage and antibiotic alone. Conclusion: The study highlights the synergistic effects of isolated bacteriophages with antibiotics, which are not only effective against S. typhi infection but also decrease antibiotic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, microbial infections have a serious impact because they cause infectious diseases, death, and significant economic losses. Zoonosis is now a major public health issue on a global scale because of the fast expansion of human exploitation of nature and animal husbandry. Notably, in the past 30 years, over 30 novel human infections have been discovered, 75% of which fall under the category of zoonosis. Resistant strains have emerged as a result of improper use of antibiotics and insufficient infection management posing a serious risk to both public health and the global economy. As alternatives, antimicrobial peptides are showing good results. The majority of living things use antibacterial peptides (ABPs) as a key part of their natural defenses against invading infections. These peptides are cationic, amphipathic, and relatively tiny with varied sequences, structures, and lengths. For the delivery of these efficacious biological peptides, nanoparticles are providing opportunities for effective, safe, and viable delivery. An innovative method of treating infectious diseases is demonstrated by nanoparticles and antibacterial peptides. When ABPs are combined with carrier nanoparticles to optimize distribution, their half-life may be increased, allowing for lower dosages and ultimately lower toxicity. For biological applications, ABPs and nanoparticle conjugates have become effective methods, enabling the treatment, prevention of disease, and detection. More than 50 peptide medications have been made available for purchase on the market as of 2018. Around 25 billion USD is spent on peptide medications each year, including ABPs. But still, there is a gap in the distribution of these ABPs as an alternative to synthetic antibiotics. It might be due to the high cost of these goods. Thus, scientists, researchers, and commercializing companies should work together so that these ABPs with a safe delivery system should be available in the market to combat resistant strains of bacteria. In doing so, we draw attention to the significant advancements made in the field as well as the difficulties still encountered in developing imaging species, active therapies, and nano-drug delivery systems that are functionalized with peptides and proteins for clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles have been shown to inhibit major life cycle stages of ticks, indicative of the promising application of nanomaterials against hard ticks. The study thus probed into one of the alternative options to curtail Hyalomma by employing nanocomposites consisting of pyrethroids (cypermethrin and deltamethrin) coated nanoparticles of iron oxides and iron sulfides keeping alongside the evaluation of their toxicity through plant and mammalian cell lines. The nanoparticles used in this study were roughly spherical in morphology and exhibited various size dimensions upon characterization using SEM, EDX, and FTIR. The application of nanomaterials on female ovipositioning tick showed a decline up to 15% (females ovipositioned) in deltamethrin-coated FeO NPs, whereas this decline was up to 18% in Cyp-FeS NPs and up to 5% in Cyp-FeO NPs. Similarly, the larval hatching was also impacted, leading to a hatching percentage of 5% and only 1% by application of Cyp-FeS NPs and Cyp-FeO NPs, respectively. Similarly, the larval groups had LC90 of 4.1 and 4.73 mg/L for the Cyp-FeO NPs and Cyp-FeS NPs groups. The delta-FeO NPs and delta-FeS NPs demonstrated a promising effect against adult ticks, showing LC50= 3.5 mg/L, LC90= 6.7 mg/L and LC50= 3.8 mg/L, LC90= 7.9 mg/L, respectively. MTT assay revealed that the pyrethroids coupled with iron oxide nanoparticles showed the least cytotoxicity even at the highest concentration (10–1 µL) among other nanomaterials. The study thus concluded a safer spectrum of non-target effects of pyrethroids-coated nanomaterials in addition to their significant anti-tick activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-harvest sprouting in wheat is the germination of seeds within the spikes when rains occur after or during grain ripening, which occurs commonly in the barani tract of Pakistan. Therefore, 10 cultivars and five advanced lines of spring bread wheat were evaluated for pre-harvest sprouting resistance. After natural rainfall, seeds were immediately collected from the wet spikes and tested for germinating ability. Three different germination tests were applied to hand-threshed seed: (1) spikes threshed on the day of sampling and germination tested immediately, (2) spikes threshed on the day of sampling and germination tested 1 week later, and (3) spikes threshed 1 week after sampling and germination test immediately after threshing. Seeds and spikes kept for 1 week were place on blotting paper at room temperature. Cultivars BARS-09, 09FJ17, Doukkala-12, NARC-09 and Ouassou-20 exhibited higher sprouting resistance while other genotypes were susceptible to pre-harvest sprouting in each of the three tests. A diallel crossing was conducted with six susceptible and two resistant genotypes to assess the genetic behavior of pre-harvest sprouting resistance. The combining ability (CA) demonstrated a higher proportion of additive genetic effects for sprouting resistance, because of higher variance of general and specific CA for both parameters under study. Doukkala-12 and BARS-09 showed increased pre-harvest sprouting resistance in their F1 descendants.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the defensive effects of Vitamin E (Vit. E) and Urtica dioica (UD) in the mitigation of developmental anomalies induced by thiamethoxam (TMX) in chicken embryos. Methods: For this purpose, a total of 140 fertile eggs were equally divided into seven experimental groups (AG); Groups A and B were kept as negative and sham control, respectively. Group C was exposed to TMX while groups D and E were supplemented with Vit. E and U. dioica, respectively along with TMX. Group F received Vit. E and group G U. dioica, only. The eggs were examined on days 10th and 20th of incubation for the assessment of developmental flaws and musculoskeletal anomalies. Results: The mortality rate was highest (40%) in group C (TMX) followed by groups D and E (20 and 15%), respectively. Developing embryos were exposed to TMX for retarded growth weight and crown-rump length (CRL) were significantly decreased as compared to the control group. The highest survival rate was recorded in negative control group A. The teratogenic defects recorded in this study include growth retardation, decreased crown-rump length, shortened beak, exencephaly, feather scantiness, and limb deformities. Morphometric analysis revealed improved growth by all parameters in Vit. E and U. dioica supplemented groups. Conclusion: It was concluded that developmental defects are due to induced TMX, can be counteracted with Vit. E and U. dioica and have no phytochemicals negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccination of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus needs the examination of the prevalent virus serotypes in the area. The current cross-sectional study was conducted in the Bahawalpur district of Punjab, Pakistan, with the purpose to determine the prevalence of FMD virus serotypes Asia 1, O and A in bovines. A total of 838 bovine sera samples were tested through Solid phase competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (SPC-ELISA), based on structural proteins at the National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL), Islamabad from 10 January 2021 to 09 January 2022. The overall bovine population was carrying maximum seroprevalence of serotype O (28.52%) followed by serotype Asia 1 (23.63%) and serotype A (13.6%) in district Bahawalpur. Majority of the bovine population (50.26%) was detected seropositive for type O of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDv) followed by serotype Asia 1 with (37.17%) in tehsil Ahmedpur East and type A with 21.83% prevalence in tehsil Bahawalpur. Moreover, it was emphasized that seropositive cases of type O (42.88%), Asia 1(36.69%) and type A (21.33%) were significantly higher in vaccinated bovine group as compared to non-vaccinated bovine with (12.93%), (9.45%) and (5.22%) respectively across the district. More specifically the cow population was carrying maximum seroprevalence of type O with (60.55%) compared to buffalo with (36.58%). It was concluded that serotype O was more prevalent in district Bahawalpur followed by serotype Asia 1 and serotype A and cow population was found more susceptible than buffalo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhipicephalus ticks are described as important ticks impacting the costs of livestock rearing and by-products sale. The prevalence and response of ticks towards cypermethrin sprays indicate the need to implement the rational use of acaricides. In our previous studies, ZnO nanoparticles were shown to inhibit the major life-cycle stages of Hyalomma ticks, indicative of promising application of nanomaterials against the hard ticks. The current study was designed to probe into one of alternative options to curtail Rhipicephalus ticks by employing cypermethrin-coated nanoparticles of ZnO (C-ZnO NPs) and ZnS (C-ZnS NPs). The nanocomposites showed a roughly spherical type of morphology and various size dimensions upon characterization using SEM and EDX. Female ovipositioning was declined up to only 48% in ZnS and up to 32% in ZnO NPs even after 28 days in vitro. Similarly, the larval hatching was also impacted, leading to a hatching percentage of 21% and 15% by application of C-ZnS NPs and C-ZnO NPs, respectively. The LC90 in female adult groups were 3.94 mg/L and 4.27 mg/L for the C-ZnO NPs and C-ZnS NPs groups, respectively. Similarly, the larval groups had LC90 of 8.63 and 8.95 mg/L for the C-ZnO NPs and C-ZnS NPs groups. The study is a proof of the concept for incorporating effective and safe nanocomposites as acaricides. The studies on the efficacy and spectrum of non-target effects of nanomaterial-based acaricides can further refine the research on finding novel alternatives for tick control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistence and prevalence of microbial diseases (pandemics, epidemics) is the most alarming threats to the human resulting in huge health and economic losses. Rapid detection and understanding of the disease dynamics by molecular biotechnology tools allow for robust reporting, treatment and control of diseases. As per WHO, the optimal diagnostic approach should be quick, specific, sensitive, without a stringed instrument, and low cost. The drawbacks of traditional detection techniques promote the use of CRISPR-mediated nucleic acid detection methods such as SHERLOCK as detection method. It takes advantage of the unexpected in vitro features of CRISPR-Cas system to develop field-deployable sensitive detection tools. Previously, CRISPR-mediated diagnostic methods have extensively been reviewed particularly for SARS-COV-2 detection, but it fails to provide the insight into advances of this technique. This study is the first attempt to review the advances of SHERLOCK approach as diagnostic tool for viral diseases detection. Variations of SHERLOCK mechanism for improved efficiency are discussed. Particularly integrated SHERLOCK approaches in terms of extraction-free assay and Bluetooth-enabled detection are reviewed to access their feasibility for the development of simpler and cost-effective diagnostic toolkits. Insight in to perks and limitations of diagnostic methods indicates its potential as ultimate diagnostic instrument for disease management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]