Search

Background Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals caused by a picornavirus. There are 7 known serotypes (O, C, A, SAT1, SAT2 and Asia) and more than 60 subtypes of the FMD virus with no cross protection between types or subtypes. FMD can cause enormous economic losses including reduced animal productivity and the restrictions on international trade in animal products. In Uganda, FMD is endemic caused by mainly O, A, SAT 1, and SAT2 serotypes and outbreaks that re-occur annually are mainly controlled by ring vaccination and restriction of animal movement. These control methods are sometimes not efficient and due to lack of regular surveillance, information on the seroprevalence of FMDV in animal herds post outbreak response is not available to guide policy makers on when to lift quarantine in affected districts. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the 2021 FMD outbreak response in Western Uganda following lifting/easing of the quarantine restrictions. Methods This was a retrospective study involving the use of blood samples previously collected from sixty-eight (68) apparently healthy beef cattle and archived as part of routine herd health checks post the 2021 FMD outbreak. Forty-six (46) of these animals were from Nshaara ranch and 22 from Mbarara city abattoir. The samples were tested for the presence of specific FMDV antibodies using Solid-Phase Competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Results Overall, from the 68 animal samples tested, 51/68(75%) tested positive for FMDV. The site specific FMD prevalence was 43/46(93.5%) for Nshaara ranch and 8/22(36.4%) for Mbarara City abattoir. Conclusion These data revealed a concerningly high seropositivity of apparently health animals to FMDV antibodies possibly due to early lifting of the quarantine, weak enforcement of control measures or lack of incentive and resources to control the disease.

Uganda has been exporting fish to the European Union and the United States since 1992, but occasionally faces bans on fish exports whenever it fails to process fish to international standards. This study compared the efficiency and quality of the currently used traditional “Bare ground” (BG) fish drying method to five newly constructed surfaces in drying Haplochromis sp. Five surfaces; Plastic palette fabric (PPF), Burnt clay brick (BCB), Popcorn concrete (PC), Screened concrete (SC) and Mass concrete (MC) were constructed within 7 days. Altogether, 24 racks of Haplochromines were used in the comparative study. Slight but insignificant (p > 0.05) differences in moisture loss were observed after day 3 of drying. Comparison of the drying surfaces based on microbial counts revealed considerable reduction in Total Plate Counts (TPC), Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The TPC (cfu/ml) of microbes reduced most on PPF from 2.3 × 108 before drying to 6.0 × 107 after drying, followed by MC from 1.5 × 108 to 6.0 × 107 and PC from 1.0 × 108 to 2.0 × 107. The TPC however increaed significantly on BG from 1.8 × 108 to 4.0 × 108. The S. aureus counts only reduced on BCB, PPF, and PC, but increased on “BG”, SC, and MC. When fish body shape after drying was considered, BG emerged as the best drying surface producing the least curved fish. Although all the drying surfaces were equally efficient, BG had a worrying increase in TPC and S. aureus, implying PPF or MC could substitute its use to produce better quality fish.

Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) is one of the top challenges for schoolgirls and female teachers in Uganda, leading to low retention rates for girls (25%) compared to boys (33%). One of Higher Education Resource Services-East Africa (HERS-EA) goals is to remove barriers to girls’ education and advance women in leadership. This paper summarizes results of a community engagement project that trained rural women in two districts of Uganda (Bulambuli and Butaleja) in entrepreneurial skills and production of affordable reusable sanitary pads. Additionally, a needs assessment was conducted by HERS-EA. MHM issues and possible research areas (community education, engineering, environmental, business and marketing of sanitary pads) were identified. The paper highlights the plight of schoolgirls and rural women regarding MHM and the need for affordable sanitary pads to keep girls in school. The paper further highlights the mutual benefits of collaboration and opportunities that support university primary missions of education, research, and outreach.

Assisted reproductive techniques (ART) are widely used in domestic species, with increasing applications in wildlife conservation. However, the currently available techniques for semen preparations are not fully reliable or applicable in all species to ensure successful ART outcomes. Recent developments in nanotechnology offer new horizons for further optimization of sperm preparations. The use of conjugated magnetic nanoparticles allows for selective targeting and removal of moribund spermatozoa through the technique known as nanopurification, which has shown to be beneficial in domestic boars and bulls. Nanopurification is a rapid, straightforward, effortless, and noninvasive technique that, when applied in wildlife or endangered species, is expected to have a tremendous impact on ART outcomes. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of magnetic (iron oxide) nanoparticles designed to target moribund spermatozoa (e.g. acrosome reacted) on domestic felid and threatened bovid species. Fresh epididymal spermatozoa of domestic cats and ejaculated spermatozoa from genetically valuable threatened bulls (Ankole and Sahiwal) were collected and mixed with iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNP). After 30min of incubation at 38°C, semen mixtures were placed on an electromagnetic field (10-15min) to trap MNP-bound spermatozoa (moribund), followed by the elution of viable nontrapped spermatozoa (nanopurified). All samples were analysed for motility characteristics using a computer-assisted sperm analyzer. Aliquots of cat spermatozoa were subjected to (1) morphology and acrosome analyses (n=4-8 replicates), (2) cryotolerance to liquid nitrogen storage (n=4 replicates), and (3) IVF (n=1 replicate). Data were analysed with Student’s t-test and P0.05). Sperm MNP-bound samples exhibited higher proportions of moribund spermatozoa as compared to their nanopurified and control nonpurified counterparts (57.5v. 47.5 and 49.5%, respectively; P

There is an urgent need for a unified resource that integrates trans-disciplinary annotations of emerging and reemerging animal infectious and zoonotic diseases. Such data integration will provide wonderful opportunity for epidemiologists, researchers and health policy makers to make data-driven decisions designed to improve animal health. Integrating emerging and reemerging animal infectious and zoonotic disease data from a large variety of sources into a unified open-access resource provides more plausible arguments to achieve better understanding of infectious and zoonotic diseases. We have developed a model for interlinking annotations of these diseases. These diseases are of particular interest because of the threats they pose to animal health, human health and global health security. We demonstrated the application of this model using brucellosis, an infectious and zoonotic disease. Preliminary annotations were deposited into VetBioBase database (http://vetbiobase.igbb.msstate.edu). This database is associated with user-friendly tools to facilitate searching, retrieving and downloading of disease-related information. Database URL: http://vetbiobase.igbb.msstate.edu.

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that is responsible for causing Listeria, a disease that has a wide range of adverse effects such as meningitis, bacteremia, complications during pregnancy, and other fatal illnesses especially among those whose immune systems are compromised. The purpose of this study was to establish hotspot candidate sites in New York State where the L. monocytogenes pathogen could be found. Several suitability criteria which include proximity to water, pasture, forests, and urban development and slope among others in New York State were considered in this analysis. This study assessed which spatial habitat factors influence habitat suitability of the L. monocytogenes pathogen in the forested areas of New York State. Multicriteria evaluation was used to integrate the different habitat factors using their different weights expressed using probability distributions. Spatially explicit uncertainty and sensitivity analysis (UA and SA) was carried out to examine the robustness of habitat suitability analysis. Suitability maps were generated and summarized using an average suitability map, a standard deviation uncertainty map, and sensitivity maps. Results showed that the shallowest depth to a wet soil layer (measured annually) and proximity to water are the habitat factors which contribute the most and individually to the distribution and survival of this pathogen. The slope gradient is singly insignificant but influential when associated with other factors like temperature, soil organic matter content, volume of water soil can store, proximity to forest, urban development, and pasture among others. It was established that water is the key habitat factor that favors the survival of this pathogen. Also, the ability to spatially model zoonotic pathogen hotspots is important in zoonoses control, informing and influencing policy. From these results, it is important to maintain the water quality of the water sources (lakes, rivers, ponds) and ensure that there is limited runoff from slopes.