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Objectives: We aimed at the identification of the association of comorbidities with the COVID-19 severity and hospitalization. Methods: It is a retrospective cross-sectional study to investigate the variation in age, sex, dwelling, comorbidities, and medication with the COVID-19 severity and hospitalization by enrolling 1025 recovered individuals while comparing their time of recovery with or without comorbidities. Results: COVID-19 patients mostly suffered from fever. The predominant underlying medical conditions in them were hypertension (HTN) followed by diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) (54.3%) and hepatic disorders (HD) (43.6%) experienced higher severity. The risk of symptomatic cases was higher in aged (odds ratio, OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02–1.06) and comorbid (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.34–2.60) patients. T-test confirmed the differences between the comorbid and non-comorbid patients’ recovery duration. The presence of multiple comorbidities increased the time of recovery (15–27 days) and hospitalization (20–40%). Increased symptomatic cases were found for patients having DM+HTN whereas CVD+Asthma patients were found with higher percentage of severity. Besides, DM+CKD (chronic kidney disease) was associated with higher hospitalization rate. Higher odds of severity were found for DM+CVD (OR = 4.42, 95% CI = 1.81–10.78) patients. Hospitalization risk was also increased for them (OR = 5.14, 95% CI = 2.02–13.07). Moreover, if they had HTN along with DM+CVD, they were found with even higher odds (OR = 6.82, 95% CI = 2.37–19.58) for hospitalization. Conclusion: Our study indicates that people who are aged, females, living in urban area and have comorbid conditions are at a higher risk for developing COVID-19 severity. Clinicians and health management authorities should prioritize these high-risk groups to reduce mortality attributed to the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The emergence of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) have a significant health impact on people with direct or supportive occupations in veterinary medicine including veterinarians, animal handlers, laboratory personnel and pet owners. Objectives: This cross‐sectional survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for S. aureus, S. pseudintermedius, MRSA and MRSP in dogs in Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 358 swab samples were collected from different body sites of 150 dogs attending a university teaching veterinary hospital between January and June 2018. Standard bacteriological procedures were followed to isolate Staphylococcus, and identification was confirmed to the species level by PCR to detect the nuc gene. MRSA and MRSP were confirmed by the presence of the mecA gene. Results: The prevalence of coagulase‐positive S. aureus and S. pseudintermedius in dogs were 16% and 45.3%, respectively. S. aureus and S. pseudintermedius isolates displayed the highest resistance against nalidixic acid (95.2% and 91%, respectively) and erythromycin (89.3% and 84.7%, respectively). Notably, all the staphylococcal isolates showed resistance to ≥3 antimicrobial classes. The prevalence of MRSA and MRSP in dogs was 8.7% and 6%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified the following variables as risk factors for MRSA colonisation in dogs: dogs with dermatitis (odds ratio [OR], 12.24, 95% CI: 3.12–57.33; p < 0.001) and history of antibiotic use (OR 8.73, 95% CI: 2.23–43.10; p < 0.001). Presence of otitis (OR 14.22; 95% CI: 1.64–103.58; p = 0.008) and oral lesions (OR 9.48, 95% CI: 1.14–64.82; p = 0.002) were identified as the significant risk factors for the carriage of MRSP. Conclusions: The circulation of multidrug‐resistant S. aureus and S. pseudintermedius is a serious concern to dogs and humans. To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. pseudintermedius and MRSP affecting dogs in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Salmonella is frequently found in poultry of which only motile serovars have zoonotic significance due to their potential to induce human gastrointestinal infections. Antimicrobial resistance, being a public health concern, the emergence of multidrug‐resistant (MDR) Salmonella serotypes affecting food chain has greater impact worldwide. Aim: Information on circulation of zoonotic Salmonella strains in commercial poultry farm level is limited in many parts of the world. This cross‐sectional study was aimed to investigate the zoonotic Salmonella strains circulating in the broiler farm environment with their detailed antimicrobial resistance profiling. Methods: Pooled faecal samples were collected randomly from commercial broiler farms of Chattogram district, Bangladesh. Standard bacteriological procedure was followed to isolate Salmonella, and identification was confirmed by genus specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After phenotypic characterisation of resistance profile against eight antimicrobials by disc diffusion technique, all strains were screened by PCR for some selected resistance genes. Results: Out of the 350 samples, Salmonella was isolated and identified from 86 samples. In antimicrobial sensitivity testing, more than 98.8% isolates showed resistance to ampicillin and 94.2% to tetracycline followed by enrofloxacin (56%) and ciprofloxacin (50%). Notably, 94% isolates were found to be MDR. The results of PCR assays revealed that 81.4% of the isolates were carrying the tetA gene, 19.8% the tetB and 10.47% the tetC gene. The prevalence of the isolates bearing the blaTEM, blaCTX‐M and Sul‐I gene were 95.4%, 7.0 % and 37.2 %, respectively. Conclusion: There is a great risk to secure healthy poultry products due to the circulation of these MDR zoonotic Salmonella [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to explore the demographic and socio-economic status of the people living in the Chatt ogram Hill Tract (CHT). A cross sectional survey was conducted using a structured pre-testing questionnaire in 2000 selected households of the hill tract areas. The data were collected for the demographic and socioeconomic information about the households; living conditions: safe water, sanitation and fuel use; land ownership and operation; income, expenditure and food consumption of the hilly people. It was revealed that, an average household size was 5.14 in the CHT. The percentage of male (50.7%) and female (49.7%) populations in the study areas were almost similar. The percentage of 01-15 year old people in the family was higher and the trends decreased linearly with the increases of age. The education level of people under class fi ve was higher than all other education levels. Most of the people had their own homestead land territory, which was used for crop production. Some people were using rain water for drinking purpose without purifying practices. Most of the hilly people were living below poverty level and their mean annual income (BDT 191486.00) was lower than the average income of the people living in other parts of Bangladesh. In the CHT, the average calorie intake was 1951.5 kilocalorie/person/day. The main occupations of living for the CHT people were crop agriculture, livestock, poultry and fi sheries. It was concluded that, in addition to agriculture, livestock and poultry rearing could be encouraged to uplift the hilly livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrawaddy squirrel (Callosciurus pygerythrus) may play an important role in the transmission of zoonotic bacteria, but little is known about the carriage of zoonotic bacteria in this common frugivorous rodent in Bangladesh. We aimed to investigate the presence of common zoonotic bacterial pathogens in Irrawaddy squirrel in the southeast part of Bangladesh. A total of 27 rectal and 27 oro‐nasal swabs were collected from 27 healthy wild Irrawaddy squirrels. Four common zoonotic bacteria were isolated following routine laboratory procedures, and were identified based on colony morphology, and biochemical and staining properties. The pathogenic potential of the identified bacteria was confirmed by detection of virulence genes by PCR. All isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility test against seven antibiotics from six generic groups which are commonly used in human and veterinary medicine in Bangladesh. The prevalence of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Yersinia spp. and Staphylococcus spp. was 44.4% (95% CI, 32.0–57.6), 13% (95% CI, 6.1–24.7), 44.4% (95% CI, 32.0–57.6), and 72.2% (95% CI, 59.0–82.5), respectively. We identified potential zoonotic virulence genes in all of these four bacterial species. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed the presence of several multidrug resistant bacterial strains in squirrels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in Bangladesh of the detection of antibiotic resistant zoonotic bacteria in Irrawaddy squirrels. The findings underpin the role of Irrawaddy squirrel as a source of pathogenic antibiotic resistant bacteria, consequently, fruit rejected because of squirrel consumption and squirrel‐bites deserve more concern than previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Salmonella is a widely-reported zoonotic bacterial pathogen and human infection is mostly attributed through direct or indirect contact with chickens. Salmonella Kentucky (S. Kentucky) is one of the motile serovars which has recently been identified from both poultry and human samples in Bangladesh. This study was conducted to assess its pathogenic potentials and shedding probability in backyard chicken. Materials and methods: We infected 22 backyard chickens orally, each with 106 cfu of Salmonella Kentuckey, which were then observed for 23 days to enlist clinical signs, gross and histo-pathological changes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Salmonella was applied on some representative samples to identify the presence of Salmonella. Results: Four chickens were sacrificed and the internal organs were examined to observe gross and microscopic tissue changes. Some reactive changes were seen in spleen during prolonged course of infection. The probability of S. Kentucky shedding was 77% (95%; CI 54-90%) on DPI 2, 41% (95%; CI 21-60%) on DPI 12 and 13% (95%; CI 3-31%) on DPI 21. The survival probability of the infected chickens was 50% (95%; CI 28-68%) on DPI 6, 32% (95%; CI 14-51%) on DPI 15 and 14% (95%; CI 3-31%) on DPI 23. Conclusion: Zoonotic S. Kentucky strain of human non-typhoidal clinical cases of gastroenteritis has potentials to produce clinical signs such as reduced feed uptake, watery or pasty fecal droppings and lesions, such as catarrhal enteritis and typhlitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitism (GP), and to determine the effects of age, sex, breed, body score and body weight in the occurrences of GP of cattle in Banskhali Upazilla, Chittagong, Bangladesh. A total of 50 fecal samples were randomly collected directly from rectum of cattle. The samples were examined by routine coproscopical methods for the presence of different parasites and oocysts. Overall prevalence of GP infestation was 72% (n=36/50). Prevalence of Paramphistomum spp. infestation was found to be the highest (30%; n=15/50) followed by Toxocara spp. (12%; n=6/50), Fasciola spp. (10%; n=5/50), Oesophagostomum spp. (8%; n=4/50), Moniezia spp. (6%; n=3/50) and Trichostrongylus spp. (2%; n=1/50). Young cattle were mostly infested as compared to adult and calf. The results of this study provides an epidemiological forecast showing the prevalence of GP in cattle, which can be helpful for the clinician in diagnosis of such infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Escherichia coli O157 (EcO157) infection has been recognized as an important global public health concern. But information on the prevalence of EcO157 in cattle at the global and at the wider geographical levels is limited, if not absent. This is the first meta-analysis to investigate the point prevalence of EcO157 in cattle at the global level and to explore the factors contributing to variation in prevalence estimates. Methods: Seven electronic databases- CAB Abstracts, PubMed, Biosis Citation Index, Medline, Web of Knowledge, Scirus and Scopus were searched for relevant publications from 1980 to 2012. A random effect meta-analysis model was used to produce the pooled estimates. The potential sources of between study heterogeneity were identified using meta-regression. Principal findings: A total of 140 studies consisting 220,427 cattle were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence estimate of EcO157 in cattle at the global level was 5.68% (95% CI, 5.16–6.20). The random effects pooled prevalence estimates in Africa, Northern America, Oceania, Europe, Asia and Latin America-Caribbean were 31.20% (95% CI, 12.35–50.04), 7.35% (95% CI, 6.44–8.26), 6.85% (95% CI, 2.41–11.29), 5.15% (95% CI, 4.21–6.09), 4.69% (95% CI, 3.05–6.33) and 1.65% (95% CI, 0.77–2.53), respectively. Between studies heterogeneity was evidenced in most regions. World region (p<0.001), type of cattle (p<0.001) and to some extent, specimens (p = 0.074) as well as method of pre-enrichment (p = 0.110), were identified as factors for variation in the prevalence estimates of EcO157 in cattle. Conclusion: The prevalence of the organism seems to be higher in the African and Northern American regions. The important factors that might have influence in the estimates of EcO157 are type of cattle and kind of screening specimen. Their roles need to be determined and they should be properly handled in any survey to estimate the true prevalence of EcO157. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]