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Schistosomiasis is a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) that persists in 78 countries around the world. Schistosoma japonicum infections persist as a public health concern in China, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In the Philippines, it is endemic in 1,609 barangays across 12 regions, with about 12.4 million Filipinos at risk and 2.7 million exposed to infections. Many studies have reported the disease's epidemiology among different animal reservoirs in endemic areas in the country. High infection prevalences have also been reported among water buffaloes in endemic hotspots, suggesting that they are the major zoonotic reservoir of infections. The status of schistosomiasis in bubaline reservoir hosts remains largely unknown in the rest of the endemic foci. The adverse economic effects of livestock infections have been documented in China, but the extent and value of these production losses due to infections remain unknown in the Philippines. Schistosomiasis' zoonotic nature highlights the importance of Veterinary Public Health with One Health in approaching its prevention, control and elimination. This article aims to collate the published literature on animal S. japonicum infections in the Philippines to draw attention to its veterinary public health importance and to mitigate the sparse attention the disease gets from the Filipino veterinary community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabies is a zoonotic disease caused by the rabies virus. While the salivary glands are important as exit and propagation sites for the rabies virus, the mechanisms of rabies excretion remain unclear. Here, we investigated the histopathology of the salivary glands of rabid dogs and analyzed the mechanism of excretion into the oral cavity. Mandibular and parotid glands of 22 rabid dogs and three control dogs were used. Mild to moderate non-suppurative sialadenitis was observed in the mandibular glands of 19 of the 22 dogs, characterized by loss of acinar epithelium and infiltration by lymphoplasmacytic cells. Viral antigens were detected in the mucous acinar epithelium, ganglion neurons and myoepithelium. Acinar epithelium and lymphocytes were positive for anti-caspase-3 antibodies and TUNEL staining. In contrast, no notable findings were observed in the ductal epithelial cells and serous demilune. In the parotid gland, the acinar cells, myoepithelium and ductal epithelium all tested negative. These findings confirmed the path through which the rabies virus descends along the facial nerve after proliferation in the brain to reach the ganglion neurons of the mandibular gland, subsequently traveling to the acinar epithelium via the salivary gland myoepithelium. Furthermore, the observation that nerve endings passing through the myoepithelium were absent from the ductal system suggested that viral proliferation and cytotoxicity could not occur there, ensuring that secretions containing the virus are efficiently excreted into the oral cavity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational and interventional evidence supports a relation between human schistosomiasis and anemia; however, the exact causal mechanisms remain unclear. Eggs translocating across the intestinal or bladder wall may result in extracorporeal blood loss with subsequent iron deficiency. Alternatively, anemia may result from cytokine-mediated dyserythropoiesis, as seen in anemia of inflammation. Objectives: By evaluating the cross-sectional relation between the intensity of Schistosoma japonicum infection, hemoglobin concentration, and iron status in 7-30-y-old persons from S. japonicum- endemic rice-farming villages in the province of Leyte, Philippines, we assessed the relative contribution of iron deficiency and anemia of inflammation to schistosomiasis-associated anemia. Design: We enrolled 627 S. japonicum-infected and 111 S. japonicum- uninfected persons. We obtained stool samples to quantify S. japonicum infection and venous blood samples for hemograms and measures of iron status and inflammation. Results: Intensity of S. japonicum infection was independently associated with hemoglobin (β = -0.24; 95% CI: -0.31, -0.17). Persons with high-intensity infection had a greater risk of iron deficiency anemia (adjusted prevalence odds ratio: 6.6; 95% CI: 2.9, 14.7), but there was no evidence of this relation in low-intensity infections. In contrast, anemia without iron deficiency was prevalent across all intensities (adjusted prevalence odds ratio: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.5, 9.5). Conclusions: Storage iron deficiency is a major contributor to anemia in high-intensity S. japonicum infection. A high prevalence of anemia without iron deficiency, exclusion of other mechanisms of anemia, and the evidence of low bioavailable iron suggest that anemia of inflammation contributes to S. japonicum-associated anemia at all infection intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabies is endemic in the Philippines and dog bites are a major cause of rabies cases in humans. The rabies control program has not been successful in eliminating rabies because of low vaccination coverage among dogs. Therefore, more effective and feasible strategies for rabies control are urgently required in the country. To control rabies, it is very important to know if inter-island transmission can occur because rabies can become endemic once the virus is introduced in areas that previously had no reported cases. Our molecular epidemiological study suggests that inter-island transmission events can occur; therefore, we further investigated these inter-island transmission using phylogenetic and modeling approaches. We investigate inter-island transmission between Luzon and Tablas Islands in the Philippines. Phylogenetic analysis and mathematical modeling demonstrate that there was a time lag of several months to a year from rabies introduction to initial case detection, indicating the difficulties in recognizing the initial rabies introductory event. There had been no rabies cases reported in Tablas Island; however, transmission chain was sustained on this island after the introduction of rabies virus because of low vaccination coverage among dogs. Across the islands, a rabies control program should include control of inter-island dog transportation and rabies vaccination to avoid viral introduction from the outside and to break transmission chains after viral introduction. However, this program has not yet been completely implemented and transmission chains following inter-island virus transmission are still observed. Local government units try to control dog transport; however, it should be more strictly controlled, and a continuous rabies control program should be implemented to prevent rabies spread even in rabies-free areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The transmission dynamics of rabies viruses in the Philippines were analyzed. [•] The Philippine strains were shown to have been introduced from China around 1900. [•] Strong spatial structure was observed in the viral transmissions. [•] Most of the viral migrations were observed between neighboring regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]