scholarly journals Recurrent Dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 Through the Uruguayan–Brazilian Border

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiana Mir ◽  
Natalia Rego ◽  
Paola Cristina Resende ◽  
Fernando Tort ◽  
Tamara Fernández-Calero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Multiple Introductions ◽  
Virus Dissemination ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Efficient Control ◽  
Public Health Authorities

Uruguay is one of the few countries in the Americas that successfully contained the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) epidemic during the first half of 2020. Nevertheless, the intensive human mobility across the dry border with Brazil is a major challenge for public health authorities. We aimed to investigate the origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains detected in Uruguayan localities bordering Brazil as well as to measure the viral flux across this ∼1,100 km uninterrupted dry frontier. Using complete SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the Uruguayan–Brazilian bordering region and phylogeographic analyses, we inferred the virus dissemination frequency between Brazil and Uruguay and characterized local outbreak dynamics during the first months (May–July) of the pandemic. Phylogenetic analyses revealed multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 Brazilian lineages B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 into Uruguayan localities at the bordering region. The most probable sources of viral strains introduced to Uruguay were the Southeast Brazilian region and the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Some of the viral strains introduced in Uruguayan border localities between early May and mid-July were able to locally spread and originated the first outbreaks detected outside the metropolitan region. The viral lineages responsible for Uruguayan urban outbreaks were defined by a set of between four and 11 mutations (synonymous and non-synonymous) with respect to the ancestral B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 viruses that arose in Brazil, supporting the notion of a rapid genetic differentiation between SARS-CoV-2 subpopulations spreading in South America. Although Uruguayan borders have remained essentially closed to non-Uruguayan citizens, the inevitable flow of people across the dry border with Brazil allowed the repeated entry of the virus into Uruguay and the subsequent emergence of local outbreaks in Uruguayan border localities. Implementation of coordinated bi-national surveillance systems is crucial to achieve an efficient control of the SARS-CoV-2 spread across this kind of highly permeable borderland regions around the world.

scholarly journals Recurrent dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 through the Uruguayan-Brazilian border

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiana Mir ◽  
Natalia Rego ◽  
Paola Cristina Resende ◽  
Fernando Lopez-Tort ◽  
Tamara Fernandez-Calero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Multiple Introductions ◽  
Virus Dissemination ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Efficient Control ◽  
Public Health Authorities

Summary Background: Uruguay is one of the few countries in the Americas that successfully contained the COVID-19 epidemic during the first half of 2020. Nevertheless, the intensive human mobility across the dry border with Brazil is a major challenge for public health authorities. We aimed to investigate the origin of SARS-CoV-2 strains detected in Uruguayan localities bordering Brazil as well as to measure the viral flux across this ~1,100 km uninterrupted dry frontier. Methods: Using complete SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the Uruguayan-Brazilian bordering region and phylogeographic analyses, we inferred the virus dissemination frequency between Brazil and Uruguay and characterized local outbreak dynamics during the first months (May-July) of the pandemic. Findings: Phylogenetic analyses revealed multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 Brazilian lineages B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 into Uruguayan localities at the bordering region. The most probable sources of viral strains introduced to Uruguay were the Southeast Brazilian region and the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Some of the viral strains introduced in Uruguayan border localities between early May and mid-July were able to locally spread and originated the first outbreaks detected outside the metropolitan region. The viral lineages responsible for Uruguayan suburban outbreaks were defined by a set of between four and 11 mutations (synonymous and non-synonymous) respect to the ancestral B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 viruses that arose in Brazil, supporting the notion of a rapid genetic differentiation between SARS-CoV-2 subpopulations spreading in South America. Interpretation: Although Uruguayan borders have remained essentially closed to non-Uruguayan citizens, the inevitable flow of people across the dry border with Brazil allowed the repeated entry of the virus into Uruguay and the subsequent emergence of local outbreaks in Uruguayan border localities. Implementation of coordinated bi-national surveillance systems are crucial to achieve an efficient control of the SARS-CoV-2 spread across this kind of highly permeable borderland regions around the world.

scholarly journals Vector Borne Infections in Italy: Results of the Integrated Surveillance System for West Nile Disease in 2013

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Napoli ◽  
Simona Iannetti ◽  
Caterina Rizzo ◽  
Antonino Bella ◽  
Daria Di Sabatino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surveillance System ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
West Nile ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Human Side ◽  
Fine Tune

The epidemiology of West Nile disease (WND) is influenced by multiple ecological factors and, therefore, integrated surveillance systems are needed for early detecting the infection and activating consequent control actions. As different animal species have different importance in the maintenance and in the spread of the infection, a multispecies surveillance approach is required. An integrated and comprehensive surveillance system is in place in Italy aiming at early detecting the virus introduction, monitoring the possible infection spread, and implementing preventive measures for human health. This paper describes the integrated surveillance system for WND in Italy, which incorporates data from veterinary and human side in order to evaluate the burden of infection in animals and humans and provide the public health authorities at regional and national levels with the information needed for a fine tune response.

scholarly journals The Rapid Escalation of Fentanyl in Illicit Drug Evidence in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2010-2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen E. Creppage ◽  
Joshua Yohannan ◽  
Karl Williams ◽  
Jeanine M. Buchanich ◽  
Thomas J. Songer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Allegheny County ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Drug Overdoses ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Overdose Deaths

Opioid overdose deaths in the United States quadrupled from 1999 (n = 8050 deaths) to 2015 (n = 33 091 deaths), and the number of deaths associated with synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, increased from 3105 deaths in 2013 to nearly 20 000 deaths in 2016. Given this rapid increase, timely surveillance for drugs in circulation is crucial. However, current surveillance systems used to track drug overdoses do not detect new drugs in circulation quickly. We studied the change in the presence of fentanyl in “stamp bag” drug evidence in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2010 through 2016. Stamp bags are small wax packets with individual stamps that contain mixtures of drugs, most commonly heroin, that law enforcement officers seize and retain as legal evidence. The proportion of stamp bags determined to contain fentanyl or a fentanyl analog was 2.1% in 2014 and rose sharply to 17.1% in 2016. Monitoring the chemical makeup of drug evidence items could help public health authorities identify drug use trends in their jurisdictions.

scholarly journals Predominance of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage P.1 and its sublineage P.1.2 in patients from the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil in March 2021: a phylogenomic analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinicius Bonetti Franceschi ◽  
Gabriel Dickin Caldana ◽  
Christiano Perin ◽  
Alexandre Horn ◽  
Camila Peter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rio Grande ◽  
The State ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Phylogenomic Analysis ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
Potential Core ◽  
Multiple Introductions ◽  
Mutation Spectra

Almost a year after the COVID-19 pandemic had begun, The United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil became the epicenter of new lineages, the Variant of Concern (VOCs), B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1, respectively. These VOCs are increasingly associated with enhanced transmissibility, immunity evasion, and mortality. The previous most prevalent lineages in the state of Rio Grande do South (Brazil), B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 were rapidly replaced by P.1 and P.2, two B.1.1.28-derived lineages harboring the E484K mutation. To perform a genomic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 samples from COVID-19 patients from the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil), in this second pandemic wave, we sequenced viral samples from patients of this region to: (i) identify the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the region, the state and bordering countries/states, (ii) characterize the mutation spectra, and (iii) hypothesize possible viral dispersal routes by using phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches. As results, we not only confirmed that 96.4% of the samples belonged to the P.1 lineage but also that approximately 20% of which could be assigned as the newer P.1.2 (a P.1 derived new sublineage harboring new signature substitutions recently described and present in other Brazilian states and foreign countries). Moreover, P.1 sequences from this study were allocated in several distinct branches (four clades and five clusters) of the P.1 phylogeny, suggesting multiple introductions of P.1 in Rio Grande do Sul still in 2020 and placing this state as a potential core of diffusion and emergence of P.1-derived clades. It is still uncertain if the emergence of P.1.2 and other P.1 clades are related to further virological, clinical, or epidemiological consequences. However, the clear signs of viral molecular diversification from recently introduced P.1 warrant further genomic surveillance.

scholarly journals Internet surveillance systems for early alerting of health threats

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Linge ◽  
R Steinberger ◽  
T P Weber ◽  
R Yangarber ◽  
E van der Goot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Information Tools ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Epidemic Intelligence ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Official Sources

In order to gather a comprehensive picture of potential epidemic threats, public health authorities increasingly rely on systems that perform epidemic intelligence (EI). EI makes use of information that originates from official sources such as national public health surveillance systems as well as from informal sources such as electronic media and web-based information tools.

scholarly journals Public Transport GPS Probe and Rail Gate Data for Assessing the Pattern of Human Mobility in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2178
Author(s):  
Songkorn Siangsuebchart ◽  
Sarawut Ninsawat ◽  
Apichon Witayangkurn ◽  
Surachet Pravinvongvuth
Keyword(s):  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Traffic Information ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Transport Planning ◽  
Java Program

Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, is one of the most developed and expansive cities. Due to the ongoing development and expansion of Bangkok, urbanization has continued to expand into adjacent provinces, creating the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). Continuous monitoring of human mobility in BMR aids in public transport planning and design, and efficient performance assessment. The purpose of this study is to design and develop a process to derive human mobility patterns from the real movement of people who use both fixed-route and non-fixed-route public transport modes, including taxis, vans, and electric rail. Taxi GPS open data were collected by the Intelligent Traffic Information Center Foundation (iTIC) from all GPS-equipped taxis of one operator in BMR. GPS probe data of all operating GPS-equipped vans were collected by the Ministry of Transport’s Department of Land Transport for daily speed and driving behavior monitoring. Finally, the ridership data of all electric rail lines were collected from smartcards by the Automated Fare Collection (AFC). None of the previous works on human mobility extraction from multi-sourced big data have used van data; therefore, it is a challenge to use this data with other sources in the study of human mobility. Each public transport mode has traveling characteristics unique to its passengers and, therefore, specific analytical tools. Firstly, the taxi trip extraction process was developed using Hadoop Hive to process a large quantity of data spanning a one-month period to derive the origin and destination (OD) of each trip. Secondly, for van data, a Java program was used to construct the ODs of van trips. Thirdly, another Java program was used to create the ODs of the electric rail lines. All OD locations of these three modes were aggregated into transportation analysis zones (TAZ). The major taxi trip destinations were found to be international airports and provincial bus terminals. The significant trip destinations of vans were provincial bus terminals in Bangkok, electric rail stations, and the industrial estates in other provinces of BMR. In contrast, electric rail destinations were electric rail line interchange stations, the central business district (CBD), and commercial office areas. Therefore, these significant destinations of taxis and vans should be considered in electric rail planning to reduce the air pollution from gasoline vehicles (taxis and vans). Using the designed procedures, the up-to-date dataset of public transport can be processed to derive a time series of human mobility as an input into continuous and sustainable public transport planning and performance assessment. Based on the results of the study, the procedures can benefit other cities in Thailand and other countries.

scholarly journals Users’ Beliefs Toward Physical Distancing in Facebook Pages of Public Health Authorities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Early 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812110144
Author(s):  
Soon Guan Tan ◽  
Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar ◽  
Hwee Lin Wee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Belief Model ◽  
United States Public Health ◽  
Health Belief ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
The Health Belief Model

This study aims to describe Facebook users’ beliefs toward physical distancing measures implemented during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic using the key constructs of the health belief model. A combination of rule-based filtering and manual classification methods was used to classify user comments on COVID-19 Facebook posts of three public health authorities: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, Public Health England, and Ministry of Health, Singapore. A total of 104,304 comments were analyzed for posts published between 1 January, 2020, and 31 March, 2020, along with COVID-19 cases and deaths count data from the three countries. Findings indicate that the perceived benefits of physical distancing measures ( n = 3,463; 3.3%) was three times higher than perceived barriers ( n = 1,062; 1.0%). Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 ( n = 2,934; 2.8%) was higher compared with perceived severity ( n = 2,081; 2.0%). Although susceptibility aspects of physical distancing were discussed more often at the start of the year, mentions on the benefits of intervention emerged stronger toward the end of the analysis period, highlighting the shift in beliefs. The health belief model is useful for understanding Facebook users’ beliefs at a basic level, and it provides a scope for further improvement.

scholarly journals How Human Mobility Models Can Help to Deal with COVID-19

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Enrique Hernández-Orallo ◽  
Antonio Armero-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Opportunistic Networks ◽  
Mobility Models ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Mobile Computer ◽  
Heat Map ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Spatial Risk ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Human Infections

One of the key factors for the spreading of human infections, such as the COVID-19, is human mobility. There is a huge background of human mobility models developed with the aim of evaluating the performance of mobile computer networks, such as cellular networks, opportunistic networks, etc. In this paper, we propose the use of these models for evaluating the temporal and spatial risk of transmission of the COVID-19 disease. First, we study both pure synthetic model and simulated models based on pedestrian simulators, generated for real urban scenarios such as a square and a subway station. In order to evaluate the risk, two different risks of exposure are defined. The results show that we can obtain not only the temporal risk but also a heat map with the exposure risk in the evaluated scenario. This is particularly interesting for public spaces, where health authorities could make effective risk management plans to reduce the risk of transmission.

scholarly journals Fueling the Covid-19 pandemic: summer school holidays and incidence rates in German districts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Plümper ◽  
Eric Neumayer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Summer School ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Robert Koch Institute ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Holiday Period ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities

AbstractBackgroundThe Robert-Koch-Institute reports that during the summer holiday period a foreign country is stated as the most likely place of infection for an average of 27 and a maximum of 49% of new SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany.MethodsCross-sectional study on observational data. In Germany, summer school holidays are coordinated between states and spread out over 13 weeks. Employing a dynamic model with district fixed effects, we analyze the association between these holidays and weekly incidence rates across 401 German districts.ResultsWe find effects of the holiday period of around 45% of the average district incidence rates in Germany during their respective final week of holidays and the 2 weeks after holidays end. Western states tend to experience stronger effects than Eastern states. We also find statistically significant interaction effects of school holidays with per capita taxable income and the share of foreign residents in a district’s population.ConclusionsOur results suggest that changed behavior during the holiday season accelerated the pandemic and made it considerably more difficult for public health authorities to contain the spread of the virus by means of contact tracing. Germany’s public health authorities did not prepare adequately for this acceleration.

scholarly journals EHEC O111:H8 strain and norovirus GII.4 Sydney [P16] causing an outbreak in a daycare center, Brazil, 2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Cruz Spano ◽  
Caroline Gastaldi Guerrieri ◽  
Lays Paula Bondi Volpini ◽  
Ricardo Pinto Schuenck ◽  
Jaqueline Pegoretti Goulart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Daycare Center ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Single Locus Variant ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Uremic Syndrome ◽  
Norovirus Gii ◽  
Relationship Of

Abstract Background This study describes the investigation of an outbreak of diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) at a daycare center in southeastern Brazil, involving fourteen children, six staff members, six family members, and one nurse. All bacterial and viral pathogens detected were genetically characterized. Results Two isolates of a strain of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) serotype O111:H8 were recovered, one implicated in a case of HUS and the other in a case of uncomplicated diarrhea. These isolates had a clonal relationship of 94% and carried the stx2a and eae virulence genes and the OI-122 pathogenicity island. The EHEC strain was determined to be a single-locus variant of sequence type (ST) 327. EHEC isolates were resistant to ofloxacin, doxycycline, tetracycline, ampicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and intermediately resistant to levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin. Rotavirus was not detected in any samples, and norovirus was detected in 46.7% (14/30) of the stool samples, three of which were from asymptomatic staff members. The noroviruses were classified as the recombinant GII.4 Sydney [P16] by gene sequencing. Conclusion In this outbreak, it was possible to identify an uncommon stx2a + EHEC O111:H8 strain, and the most recent pandemic norovirus strain GII.4 Sydney [P16]. Our findings reinforce the need for surveillance and diagnosis of multiple enteric pathogens by public health authorities, especially during outbreaks.

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