scholarly journals Epidemiological and ecological determinants of Zika virus transmission in an urban setting

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Lourenço ◽  
M Maia de Lima ◽  
NR Faria ◽  
A Walker ◽  
MUG Kraemer ◽  
...  

AbstractZika has emerged as a global public health concern. Although its rapid geographic expansion can be attributed to the success of its Aedes mosquito vectors, local epidemiological drivers are still poorly understood. The city of Feira de Santana played a pivotal role in the early phases of the Chikungunya and Zika epidemics in Brazil. Here, using a climate-driven transmission model, we show that low Zika observation rates and a high vectorial capacity in this region were responsible for a high attack rate during the 2015 outbreak and the subsequent decline in cases in 2016, when the epidemic was peaking in the rest of the country. Our projections indicate that the balance between the loss of herd-immunity and the frequency of viral re-importation will dictate the transmission potential of Zika in this region in the near future. Sporadic outbreaks are expected but unlikely to be detected under current surveillance systems.

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Lourenço ◽  
Maricelia Maia de Lima ◽  
Nuno Rodrigues Faria ◽  
Andrew Walker ◽  
Moritz UG Kraemer ◽  
...  

The Zika virus has emerged as a global public health concern. Its rapid geographic expansion is attributed to the success of Aedes mosquito vectors, but local epidemiological drivers are still poorly understood. Feira de Santana played a pivotal role in the Chikungunya epidemic in Brazil and was one of the first urban centres to report Zika infections. Using a climate-driven transmission model and notified Zika case data, we show that a low observation rate and high vectorial capacity translated into a significant attack rate during the 2015 outbreak, with a subsequent decline in 2016 and fade-out in 2017 due to herd-immunity. We find a potential Zika-related, low risk for microcephaly per pregnancy, but with significant public health impact given high attack rates. The balance between the loss of herd-immunity and viral re-importation will dictate future transmission potential of Zika in this urban setting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (08) ◽  
pp. 583-590
Author(s):  
Bilal Djeghout ◽  
Ammar Ayachi ◽  
Bianca Paglietti ◽  
Gemma C. Langridge ◽  
Salvatore Rubino

Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) represents a leading cause of food-borne disease worldwide. It is a global public health concern: more than 94 million cases and 115,000 deaths are reported every year, with a disproportionate impact in developing countries. The prevalence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella strains is another major health concern which affects antimicrobial treatment, as many studies report that infections caused by MDR strains are more severe than those caused by susceptible strains. In Algeria, NTS represent one of the primary causes of salmonellosis in both humans and food animal production, especially poultry. Epidemiological surveillance systems and monitoring programs for Salmonella infections are essential requirements to provide data useful for the effective detection and control of Salmonella outbreaks. The present review will supply a perspective on NTS infection, pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance with a focus on the epidemiology of salmonellosis in Algeria.


Author(s):  
Syed Naseer ◽  
Syed Uzma Andrabi ◽  
Syed Ishfa Andrabi ◽  
Humaira Tabasum

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is a global public health emergency. COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation, and there is limited data reporting its impact on pregnant women. Our study aimed to find the symptomatology, clinical courses and outcome of pregnant women with COVID-19 and to assess the vertical transmission potential of COVID-19 in pregnancy.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Medical College, Department of Gynaecology and obstetrics, Srinagar from May 2020 to September 2020. All COVID-19 positive pregnant patients admitted in our institution were included in our study.Results: The study included 100 Covid-19 positive pregnant women. Most of them were between 30 to 40 years of age. Median gestational age was 32.8 weeks. Comorbidity was present in 18 of our patients. 7 patients had gestational diabetes and 1 with overt diabetes, 5 were hypertensive, 3 had hypothyroidism, 1 with anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (APLA) and 1 with asthma.44 patients were primigravidae and 56 were multigravidae. 27 patients delivered preterm and 44 with term pregnancy. 47 had undergone caesarean section and 24 normal vaginal delivery.88% of our patients were asymptomatic for covid-19 disease while as 12 patients had Covid-19 disease symptoms. The main complaints reported by patients related to covid-19 disease was mild dry cough and fever (9%). Two patients developed severe covid-19 pneumonia with ARDS and were put on ventilator, expired after 20 days of illness. All neonates were subjected to RT-PCR with none producing positive results.Conclusions: Appropriate and timely management of Covid-19 positive pregnant women is a principle for safe motherhood and healthy offspring in times of global pandemic. The present data do not suggest an increased risk of severe disease among pregnant women. We encourage the breast feeding immediately after delivery as benefits overweigh any potential risks of virus transmission if any.


2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (20) ◽  
pp. 9209-9223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kozak ◽  
Shihua He ◽  
Andrea Kroeker ◽  
Marc-Antoine de La Vega ◽  
Jonathan Audet ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBundibugyo virus (BDBV) is the etiological agent of a severe hemorrhagic fever in humans with a case-fatality rate ranging from 25 to 36%. Despite having been known to the scientific and medical communities for almost 1 decade, there is a dearth of studies on this pathogen due to the lack of a small animal model. Domestic ferrets are commonly used to study other RNA viruses, including members of the orderMononegavirales. To investigate whether ferrets were susceptible to filovirus infections, ferrets were challenged with a clinical isolate of BDBV. Animals became viremic within 4 days and succumbed to infection between 8 and 9 days, and a petechial rash was observed with moribund ferrets. Furthermore, several hallmarks of human filoviral disease were recapitulated in the ferret model, including substantial decreases in lymphocyte and platelet counts and dysregulation of key biochemical markers related to hepatic/renal function, as well as coagulation abnormalities. Virological, histopathological, and immunohistochemical analyses confirmed uncontrolled BDBV replication in the major organs. Ferrets were also infected with Ebola virus (EBOV) to confirm their susceptibility to another filovirus species and to potentially establish a virus transmission model. Similar to what was seen with BDBV, important hallmarks of human filoviral disease were observed in EBOV-infected ferrets. This study demonstrates the potential of this small animal model for studying BDBV and EBOV using wild-type isolates and will accelerate efforts to understand filovirus pathogenesis and transmission as well as the development of specific vaccines and antivirals.IMPORTANCEThe 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa has highlighted the threat posed by filoviruses to global public health. Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) is a member of the genusEbolavirusand has caused outbreaks in the past but is relatively understudied, likely due to the lack of a suitable small animal model. Such a model for BDBV is crucial to evaluating vaccines and therapies and potentially understanding transmission. To address this, we demonstrated that ferrets are susceptible models to BDBV infection as well as to Ebola virus infection and that no virus adaptation is required. Moreover, these animals develop a disease that is similar to that seen in humans and nonhuman primates. We believe that this will improve the ability to study BDBV and provide a platform to test vaccines and therapeutics.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Riou ◽  
Chiara Poletto ◽  
Pierre-Yves Boëlle

AbstractThe recent global dissemination of Chikungunya and Zika has fostered public health concern worldwide. To better understand the drivers of transmission of these two arboviral diseases, we propose a joint analysis of Chikungunya and Zika epidemics in the same territories, taking into account the common epidemiological features of the epidemics: transmitted by the same vector, in the same environments, and observed by the same surveillance systems. We analyse eighteen outbreaks in French Polynesia and the French West Indies using a hierarchical time-dependent SIR model accounting for the effect of virus, location and weather on transmission, and based on a disease specific serial interval. We show that Chikungunya and Zika have similar transmission potential in the same territories (transmissibility ratio between Zika and Chikungunya of 1.04 [95% credible interval: 0.97; 1.13]), but that detection and reporting rates were different (around 19% for Zika and 40% for Chikungunya). Temperature variations between 22°C and 29°C did not alter transmission, but increased precipitation showed a dual effect, first reducing transmission after a two-week delay, then increasing it around five weeks later. The present study provides valuable information for risk assessment and introduces a modelling framework for the comparative analysis of arboviral infections that can be extended to other viruses and territories.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nourah S. AlTakarli

Background: The discovery of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan city (China) has raised a global public health concern, as the city consists of around 11 million people and is considered a major transport and logistics hub. This deadly virus caused the world to be in high alert as the death toll and the number of confirmed cases is continuously rising since the first case was reported. The Chinese government warned that the transmission ability of the virus is increasing, and international efforts are needed to overcome this outbreak. The purpose of this review is to focus on the published articles about the new virus, which will give an insight into the current state of research and data available, as well as recommending future studies. Methods: For this narrative review, more than 20 relevant scientific articles and reports were considered from various databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct) using keywords such as Coronavirus Outbreak, COVID-19, Emerging Epidemics, Emerging Infections, and Novel Coronavirus. Results: The results from this review show that the situation is rapidly evolving, as human-to-human transmission is occurring, and the number of new cases and mortalities is increasing by the day and on a global level. There is still ambiguity about mutation risks and how the virus spreads as the source was not yet identified. Major gaps in knowledge about the origin of the virus, epidemiology and transmission impose a great challenge, which emphasizes the need for further studies in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-134
Author(s):  
Abadi Abadi ◽  
Muhammad Fakhruddin ◽  
Rudianto Artiono ◽  
Budi Priyo Prawoto

Measles (Rubeola) as one of notifiable diseases gets serious concern worldwide since it was first found in ninth century. The implementation of vaccines for controlling measles transmission since 1963 up to nowadays requires various studies regarding the effectiveness of the vaccines. Studies in the area of mathematical modeling of measles virus transmission has been done by many authors. This study intended to propose a model of measles virus transmission that also considered hospitalization as a complementary treatment for vaccination implementation program. The model is an SIHR model that divided the population into Susceptibles (S), Infectives (I), Hospitalized (H), and Recovered (R). The analysis started with determining the the equilibria and their stability based on the value of Basic Reproduction Ratio (R0). The analitical results were implemented to recorded data of measles of Jakarta, Indonesia in 2017 for numerical simulation. The simulation result said that hospitalization for measles patients in Jakarta escalates the effectiveness of vaccination program being implemented in the city. This can be considered by the city policy makers for giving more concern on hospitalizing measles-infected patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 977-982
Author(s):  
Mohamed J. Saadh ◽  
Bashar Haj Rashid M ◽  
Roa’a Matar ◽  
Sajeda Riyad Aldibs ◽  
Hala Sbaih ◽  
...  

SARS-COV2 virus causes Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and represents the causative agent of a potentially fatal disease that is of great global public health concern. The novel coronavirus (2019) was discovered in 2019 in Wuhan, the market of the wet animal, China with viral pneumonia cases and is life-threatening. Today, WHO announces COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. COVID-19 is likely to be zoonotic. It is transmitted from bats as intermediary animals to human. Also, the virus is transmitted from human to human who is in close contact with others. The computerized tomographic chest scan is usually abnormal even in those with no symptoms or mild disease. Treatment is nearly supportive; the role of antiviral agents is yet to be established. The SARS-COV2 virus spreads faster than its two ancestors, the SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), but has lower fatality. In this article, we aimed to summarize the transmission, symptoms, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine to control the spread of this fatal disease.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Loiacono ◽  
Chu-Fei H. Ho ◽  
Natalie V. Sierra ◽  
Domènec Jolis ◽  
Carolyn Chiu ◽  
...  

The City and County of San Francisco (“City”) embarked upon a 30-year master planning process in part prompted by public concerns related to the neighbourhood impacts of the Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant (SEP). The Sewer System Master Plan, as it is called, developed a long term Integrated Urban Watershed Management Plan for the City's treatment plants and collection system. This paper focuses on the planning framework and public input to the process, particularly as it relates to proposed changes to the SEP. The resulting improvements address issues of replacing aging infrastructure, eliminating odor emissions, and visually screening the treatment plants that are situated within an urban setting. The recommended project addresses the needed repair of the existing infrastructure; and proposes that the City move towards an integrated urban watershed approach, initially through localized rainwater harvesting and opportunistic water reclamation.


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