Dracunculiasis is the first parasitic disease set for eradication. However, recent events related to the Dracunculus medinensis epidemiology in certain African countries are apparently posing new challenges to its eradication. Two novel facts have emerged: the existence of animal reservoirs (mainly dogs but also cats and baboons), and possibly a new food-borne route of transmission by the ingestion of paratenic (frogs) or transport (fish) hosts. Therefore, instead of being exclusively a water-borne anthroponosis, dracunculiasis would also be a food-borne zoonosis. The existence of a large number of infected dogs, mainly in Chad, and the low number of infected humans, have given rise to this potential food-borne transmission. This novel route would concern not only reservoirs, but also humans. However, only animals seem to be affected. Dracunculus medinensis is on the verge of eradication due to the control measures which, classically, have been exclusively aimed at the water-borne route. Therefore, food-borne transmission is probably of secondary importance, at least in humans. In Chad, reservoirs would become infected through the water-borne route, mainly in the dry season when rivers recede, and smaller accessible ponds, with a lower water level containing the infected copepods, appear, whilst humans drink filtered water and, thus, avoid infection. The total absence of control measures aimed at dogs (or at other potential reservoirs) up until the last years, added to the stimulating reward in cash given to those who find parasitized dogs, have presumably given rise to the current dracunculiasis scenario in Chad.

Cestodes found in water voles (Arvicola terrestris L., 1758) trapped over six breeding seasons in the same local habitats included the following species: Arvicolepis transfuga (Spassky et Merkuscheva 1967), Paranoplacepala blanchardi (Moniez 1891), P. omphalodes (Hermann 1783), Parandria feodorovi (Gulyaev et Chetchulin 1996), Aprostatandrya dentate (Galli-Valerio 1905), and Arostrilepis microtis (Gulyaev et Chetchulin 2005). The dependence of cestode maturation on interannual variation in the food supply, territorial status, and morphofunctional characters of the hosts was analyzed in the two most abundant species, A. transfuga and P. feodorovi. The results showed that differences in host sex and food supply had no significant effect on cestode maturation. Judging from the proportion of gravid helminths of either species, the rate of their maturation was higher in nonresident than in resident voles. This proportion negatively correlated with body weight of male or female voles. It also negatively correlated with male fecal testosterone level, whereas correlations with fecal protein and progesterone levels were positive. The observed relationships do not explain why the occurrence frequency of gravid cestodes was higher in nonresident water voles, because they either did not differ from residents in parameters relevant to cestode maturation (body weight, fecal protein and testosterone levels) or the difference was opposite in direction (fecal progesterone was higher in resident voles). Nevertheless, an increase in the proportion of gravid cestodes in nonresident water voles may provide for more effective dispersal of these parasites.

Disease models which take explicit account of heterogeneities in the risk of infection offer significant advantages over models in which the risk of infection is assumed to be uniform across all hosts. However, estimating the incidence rate (force of infection) in the different at-risk (exposure) groups is no easy matter. Classically, epidemiologists differentiate groups of hosts with different infection-risks according to their exposure to putative explanatory risk factors. The importance of these risk factors is assessed by case-control studies, in which the measure of effect (the difference in disease occurrence between one population and another) is the odds ratio. This paper describes for the first time how – and under what circumstances – the incidence in these different exposure groups can be estimated from odds ratios derived from case control studies in which controls have been selected by density sampling. This new estimation technique can be applied to any transmission modality but is especially useful in the case of models of food- and water-borne disease for which the case control literature represents a vast and, as yet, untapped resource. The paper finishes with a worked example using one of the most common of all food- and water-borne pathogens, Toxoplasma gondii.

Hands can be a vector for transmitting pathogenic microorganisms to foodstuffs and drinks, and to the mouths of susceptible hosts. Hand washing is the primary barrier to prevent transmission of enteric pathogens via cross-contamination from infected persons. Conventional hand washing involves the use of water, soap, and friction to remove dirt and microorganisms. The availability of hand sanitizing products for use when water and soap are unavailable has increased in recent years. The aim of this systematic review was to collate scientific information on the efficacy of hand sanitizers compared with washing hands with soap and water for the removal of foodborne pathogens from the hands of food handlers. An extensive literature search was carried out using three electronic databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. Twenty-eight scientific publications were ultimately included in the review. Analysis of this literature revealed various limitations in the scientific information owing to the absence of a standardized protocol for evaluating the efficacy of hand products and variation in experimental conditions. However, despite conflicting results, scientific evidence seems to support the historical skepticism about the use of waterless hand sanitizers in food preparation settings. Water and soap appear to be more effective than waterless products for removal of soil and microorganisms from hands. Alcohol-based products achieve rapid and effective inactivation of various bacteria, but their efficacy is generally lower against nonenveloped viruses. The presence of food debris significantly affects the microbial inactivation rate of hand sanitizers.