scholarly journals First Report of Sweetpotato Scurf Caused by Monilochaetes infuscans in Italy

Plant Disease ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-300
Author(s):  
P. Di Lenna ◽  
N. Mascarello ◽  
E. Xodo
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Root Surface ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Storage Roots ◽  
Black Spots ◽  
Low Incidence ◽  
Severity Of The Disease ◽  
Sanitary Conditions

In the last few years, in the Treviso area, the incidence and severity of a sweetpotato (Ipomoea batata) disease has increased to become a serious economic threat to this crop. The symptoms are small, dark brown to black spots on the surface of fleshy storage roots that under high relative humidity coalesce to completely cover the root surface. Affected roots may also develop small cracks and shrink in storage. In the past, the same symptoms were observed, but the low incidence of the disease did not cause significant economic losses, and therefore it was not considered worthy of investigation. In August 1998, an investigation was initiated to determine the causal agent of the disease and to provide growers with effective control strategies. Since the symptoms were similar to those incited by Monilochaetes infuscans, agent of sweetpotato scurf (1), samples of roots were collected and examined for the presence of the pathogen. Even though it is difficult to isolate, M. infuscans was consistently present in infected tissues. In pure culture on potato dextrose agar the pathogen formed typical, raised, domelike, dark gray to black colonies. Conidiophores were brown to black, unbranched, and support straight or curled chains of hyaline conidia. Traditional cultivation methods that ignore sanitary conditions probably caused the gradual increase in the incidence and severity of the disease. Sweetpotato scurf is common in the U.S., Japan, and some Pacific islands, but it has not been previously recorded in Italy. Reference(1): C. A. Clark and J. W. Moyer. 1988. Compendium of Sweet Potato Diseases. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.

scholarly journals Sheep scab transmission: a spatially explicit dynamic metapopulation model

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Nixon ◽  
Ellen Brooks-Pollock ◽  
Richard Wall
Keyword(s):  
Sequential Monte Carlo ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Metapopulation Model ◽  
Psoroptes Ovis ◽  
Sheep Scab ◽  
Movement Data

AbstractPsoroptic mange (sheep scab), caused by the parasitic mite, Psoroptes ovis, is an important disease of sheep worldwide. It causes chronic animal welfare issues and economic losses. Eradication of scab has proved impossible in many sheep-rearing areas and recent reports of resistance to macrocyclic lactones, a key class of parasiticide, highlight the importance of improving approaches to scab management. To allow this, the current study aimed to develop a stochastic spatial metapopulation model for sheep scab transmission which can be adapted for use in any geographical region, exhibited here using data for Great Britain. The model uses agricultural survey and sheep movement data to geo-reference farms and capture realistic movement patterns. Reported data on sheep scab outbreaks from 1973 to 1991 were used for model fitting with Sequential Monte Carlo Approximate Bayesian Computation methods. The outbreak incidence predicted by the model was from the same statistical distribution as the reported outbreak data ($${\chi }^{2}$$ χ 2 = 115.3, p = 1) and the spatial location of sheep scab outbreaks predicted was positively correlated with the observed outbreak data by county ($$\tau$$ τ = 0.55, p < 0.001), confirming that the model developed is able to accurately capture the number of farms infected in a year, the seasonality of scab incidence and the spatial patterns seen in the data. This model gives insight into the transmission dynamics of sheep scab and will allow the exploration of more effective control strategies.

scholarly journals Structure in the variability of the basic reproductive number (R0) for Zika epidemics in the Pacific islands

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Champagne ◽  
David Georges Salthouse ◽  
Richard Paul ◽  
Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau ◽  
Benjamin Roche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
Basic Reproductive Number ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Seroprevalence Data

Before the outbreak that reached the Americas in 2015, Zika virus (ZIKV) circulated in Asia and the Pacific: these past epidemics can be highly informative on the key parameters driving virus transmission, such as the basic reproduction number (R0). We compare two compartmental models with different mosquito representations, using surveillance and seroprevalence data for several ZIKV outbreaks in Pacific islands (Yap, Micronesia 2007, Tahiti and Moorea, French Polynesia 2013-2014, New Caledonia 2014). Models are estimated in a stochastic framework with recent Bayesian techniques. R0 for the Pacific ZIKV epidemics is estimated between 1.5 and 4.1, the smallest islands displaying higher and more variable values. This relatively low range of R0 suggests that intervention strategies developed for other flaviviruses should enable as, if not more effective control of ZIKV. Our study also highlights the importance of seroprevalence data for precise quantitative analysis of pathogen propagation, to design prevention and control strategies.

scholarly journals Disease-economy trade-offs under alternative pandemic control strategies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Ash ◽  
Antonio M. Bento ◽  
Daniel Kaffine ◽  
Akhil Rao ◽  
Ana I. Bento
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Coupled Systems ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Coordination Failure ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Data Driven Approach ◽  
Control Disease

AbstractPublic policy and academic debates regarding pandemic control strategies note potential disease-economy trade-offs, and often prioritize one outcome over the other. Using a calibrated, coupled epi-economic model of individual behavior embedded within the broader economy during a novel epidemic, we show that targeted isolation strategies can avert up to 91% of individual economic losses relative to voluntary isolation strategies. Notably, the economic savings from targeted isolation strategies do not impose an additional disease burden, avoiding disease-economy trade-offs. In contrast, widely-used blanket lock-downs do create sharp disease-economy trade-offs and impose substantial economic costs per additional case avoided. These results highlight the benefits of targeted isolation strategies for disease control, as targeted isolation addresses the fundamental coordination failure between infectious and susceptible individuals that drives the recession. Our coupled-systems framework uses a data-driven approach to map economic activities to contacts, which facilitates developing effective control strategies for future novel pathogens. Implementation of this framework can help control disease spread and potentially avert trillions of dollars in losses.

scholarly journals Wildlife and damage to agriculture: an ethnobiological approach with rural producers in southeastern Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Ana Laura Campos de Carvalho ◽  
Adrielli Ribeiro Araújo ◽  
Théa Mirian Medeiros Machado ◽  
Rômulo Ribon ◽  
Leonardo Esteves Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Control Method ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Rural Producers

AbstractSome wild animal species quickly adapt to anthropogenic environments, producing unusually large populations, causing human-wildlife conflicts. The objective of this study is to understand the way the farmers perceive the fauna and the information they possess regarding the damages those animais inflict on their crops in southeastern Brazil. We collected data by presenting 200 questionnaires and conducting 22 semi-structured interviews with the rural producers in a region characterized by an agrarian matrix intermixed with small forest patches. Nearly every rural producer (99%) who answered the questionnaire (n = 107) had suffered wild animal-triggered economic losses, especially by the White-eyed Parakeet Psittacara leucophthalmus (51%), which attacked maize and fruit crops. A substantial portion of these farmers (38%) has employed some control method, including acoustic techniques (42.5%), like fireworks, and visual techniques (41%), like scarecrows. The farmers concurred that effective control methods are necessary for the White-eyed Parakeet, as current techniques proved inadequate. The understanding that the rural producers possess about the problem will facilitate designing new control strategies to manage this pest species. However, to ensure its success, a suitable management plan must be formulated to guarantee that the local rural occupations are maintained, incorporating human dimensions into wildlife management.

scholarly journals Effect of high and low risk susceptibles in the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 and control strategies

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257354
Author(s):  
Adnan Khan ◽  
Mohsin Ali ◽  
Wizda Iqbal ◽  
Mudassar Imran
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Deterministic Model ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Severity Of The Disease ◽  
Image Position

In this study, we formulate and analyze a deterministic model for the transmission of COVID-19 and evaluate control strategies for the epidemic. It has been well documented that the severity of the disease and disease related mortality is strongly correlated with age and the presence of co-morbidities. We incorporate this in our model by considering two susceptible classes, a high risk, and a low risk group. Disease transmission within each group is modelled by an extension of the SEIR model, considering additional compartments for quarantined and treated population groups first and vaccinated and treated population groups next. Cross Infection across the high and low risk groups is also incorporated in the model. We calculate the basic reproduction number R0 and show that for R0<1 the disease dies out, and for R0>1 the disease is endemic. We note that varying the relative proportion of high and low risk susceptibles has a strong effect on the disease burden and mortality. We devise optimal medication and vaccination strategies for effective control of the disease. Our analysis shows that vaccinating and medicating both groups is needed for effective disease control and the controls are not very sensitive to the proportion of the high and low risk populations.

scholarly journals Effective control of a viral disease with a high transmission rate through selective predation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonggui Chen ◽  
Muhua Wang ◽  
Zhong Zhao ◽  
Shaoping Weng ◽  
Jinchuan Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
White Spot ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
High Transmission ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
White Spot Syndrome

AbstractDue to the limited understanding of the characteristics of predator-pathogen-prey interactions, few attempts to use selective predation for controlling diseases in prey populations have been successful. The global pandemic of white spot syndrome (WSS), caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), causes devastating economic losses in farmed shrimp production. Currently, there is no effective control for WSS. Here, we determined the transmission dynamics of WSSV and the feeding ability and selectivity of fish on healthy, infected and dead shrimp by experiments and mathematical modeling. Accordingly, we developed a novel and convenient shrimp cultural ecosystem, which that effectively prevented WSS outbreaks, by introducing aquaculture fish species. This provides a scheme for developing control strategies for viral diseases with high transmission rate.

scholarly journals Structure in the variability of the basic reproductive number (R0) for Zika epidemics in the Pacific islands

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Champagne ◽  
David Georges Salthouse ◽  
Richard Paul ◽  
Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau ◽  
Benjamin Roche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
French Polynesia ◽  
Basic Reproductive Number ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Seroprevalence Data

AbstractBefore the outbreak that reached the Americas in 2015, Zika virus (ZIKV) circulated in Asia and the Pacific: these past epidemics can be highly informative on the key parameters driving virus transmission, such as the basic reproduction number (R0). We compare two compartmental models with different mosquito representations, using surveillance and seroprevalence data for several ZIKV outbreaks in Pacific islands (Yap, Micronesia 2007, Tahiti and Moorea, French Polynesia 2013-2014, New Caledonia 2014). Models are estimated in a stochastic framework with state-of-the-art Bayesian techniques. R0 for the Pacific ZIKV epidemics is estimated between 1.5 and 4.1, the smallest islands displaying higher and more variable values. This relatively low range of R0 suggests that intervention strategies developed for other flaviviruses should enable as, if not more effective control of ZIKV. Our study also highlights the importance of seroprevalence data for precise quantitative analysis of pathogen propagation, to design prevention and control strategies.

scholarly journals Marine Organisms for the Sustainable Management of Plant Parasitic Nematodes

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Pasqua Veronico ◽  
Maria Teresa Melillo
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Marine Organisms ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Parasitic Nematodes ◽  
Plant Parasitic Nematodes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Plant Growth Stimulants ◽  
Plant Parasitic

Plant parasitic nematodes are annually responsible for the loss of 10%–25% of worldwide crop production, most of which is attributable to root-knot nematodes (RKNs) that infest a wide range of agricultural crops throughout the world. Current nematode control tools are not enough to ensure the effective management of these parasites, mainly due to the severe restrictions imposed on the use of chemical pesticides. Therefore, it is important to discover new potential nematicidal sources that are suitable for the development of additional safe and effective control strategies. In the last few decades, there has been an explosion of information about the use of seaweeds as plant growth stimulants and potential nematicides. Novel bioactive compounds have been isolated from marine cyanobacteria and sponges in an effort to find their application outside marine ecosystems and in the discovery of new drugs. Their potential as antihelmintics could also be exploited to find applicability against plant parasitic nematodes. The present review focuses on the activity of marine organisms on RKNs and their potential application as safe nematicidal agents.

scholarly journals Prevalence of mastitis in Nigerian livestock: a Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Hussaini Ojagefu Adamu ◽  
Rahimat Oshuwa Hussaini ◽  
Cedric Obasuyi ◽  
Linus Irefo Anagha ◽  
Gabriel Oscy Okoduwa
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Ecological Development ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMastitis is a disease of livestock that directly impede livestock production and thus hindering the socio-ecological development of sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have estimated the prevalence of this disease in 30% of Africa countries, with Ethiopia having the highest prevalence. The coverage is low, despite the wide livestock and dairy farms distribution in Africa. Furthermore, estimated economic losses due to the impact of mastitis are lacking in Nigeria. The disease is endemic in Nigeria as indicated by the available data and there are no proposed management plans or control strategies. This review is thus presented to serve as a wakeup call to all parties involved to intensify efforts towards the diagnosis, control, and management of the disease in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Label-Free Comparative Proteomics of Differentially Expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein in Rifampicin-Related Drug-Resistant Strains

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 607
Author(s):  
Nadeem Ullah ◽  
Ling Hao ◽  
Jo-Lewis Banga Ndzouboukou ◽  
Shiyun Chen ◽  
Yaqi Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Differentially Expressed Proteins ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Candidate Target

Rifampicin (RIF) is one of the most important first-line anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs, and more than 90% of RIF-resistant (RR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates belong to multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB. In order to identify specific candidate target proteins as diagnostic markers or drug targets, differential protein expression between drug-sensitive (DS) and drug-resistant (DR) strains remains to be investigated. In the present study, a label-free, quantitative proteomics technique was performed to compare the proteome of DS, RR, MDR, and XDR clinical strains. We found iniC, Rv2141c, folB, and Rv2561 were up-regulated in both RR and MDR strains, while fadE9, espB, espL, esxK, and Rv3175 were down-regulated in the three DR strains when compared to the DS strain. In addition, lprF, mce2R, mce2B, and Rv2627c were specifically expressed in the three DR strains, and 41 proteins were not detected in the DS strain. Functional category showed that these differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in the cell wall and cell processes. When compared to the RR strain, Rv2272, smtB, lpqB, icd1, and folK were up-regulated, while esxK, PPE19, Rv1534, rpmI, ureA, tpx, mpt64, frr, Rv3678c, esxB, esxA, and espL were down-regulated in both MDR and XDR strains. Additionally, nrp, PPE3, mntH, Rv1188, Rv1473, nadB, PPE36, and sseA were specifically expressed in both MDR and XDR strains, whereas 292 proteins were not identified when compared to the RR strain. When compared between MDR and XDR strains, 52 proteins were up-regulated, while 45 proteins were down-regulated in the XDR strain. 316 proteins were especially expressed in the XDR strain, while 92 proteins were especially detected in the MDR strain. Protein interaction networks further revealed the mechanism of their involvement in virulence and drug resistance. Therefore, these differentially expressed proteins are of great significance for exploring effective control strategies of DR-TB.

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