Objective-To design and fabricate fiberglass-reinforced composite (FRC) replicas of a canine radius and compare their mechanical properties with those of radii from dog cadavers. Sample-Replicas based on 3 FRC formulations with 33%, 50%, or 60% short-length discontinuous fiberglass by weight (7 replicas/group) and 5 radii from large (> 30-kg) dog cadavers. Procedures-Bones and FRC replicas underwent nondestructive mechanical testing including 4-point bending, axial loading, and torsion and destructive testing to failure during 4-point bending. Axial, internal and external torsional, and bending stiffnesses were calculated. Axial pullout loads for bone screws placed in the replicas and cadaveric radii were also assessed. Results-Axial, internal and external torsional, and 4-point bending stiffnesses of FRC replicas increased significantly with increasing fiberglass content. The 4-point bending stiffness of 33% and 50% FRC replicas and axial and internal torsional stiffnesses of 33% FRC replicas were equivalent to the cadaveric bone stiffnesses. Ultimate 4-point bending loads did not differ significantly between FRC replicas and bones. Ultimate screw pullout loads did not differ significantly between 33% or 50% FRC replicas and bones. Mechanical property variability (coefficient of variation) of cadaveric radii was approximately 2 to 19 times that of FRC replicas, depending on loading protocols. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Within the range of properties tested, FRC replicas had mechanical properties equivalent to and mechanical property variability less than those of radii from dog cadavers. Results indicated that FRC replicas may be a useful alternative to cadaveric bones for biomechanical testing of canine bone constructs.

The detection and subspeciation of Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis (CFV) from veterinary samples is important for both clinical and economic reasons. Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis is the causative agent of bovine genital campylobacteriosis, a venereal disease that can lead to serious reproductive problems in cattle, and strict international regulations require animals and animal products to be CFV-free for trade. This study evaluated methods reported in the literature for CFV detection and reports the translation of an extensively tested CFV-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer set; including the VenSF/VenSR primers and a real-time, quantitative PCR (qPCR) platform using SYBR Green chemistry. Three methods of preputial sample preparation for direct qPCR were evaluated and a heat lysis DNA extraction method was shown to allow for CFV detection at the level of approximately one cell equivalent per reaction (or 1.0 × 10(3) CFU/mL) from prepuce. The optimized sample preparation and qPCR protocols were then used to evaluate 3 western Canadian bull cohorts, which included 377 bulls, for CFV. The qPCR assay detected 11 positive bulls for the CFV-specific parA gene target. DNA sequence data confirmed the identity of the amplified product and revealed that positive samples were comprised of 2 sequence types; one identical to previously reported CFV parA gene sequences and one with a 9% sequence divergence. These results add valuable information towards our understanding of an important CFV subspeciation target and offer a significantly improved format for an internationally recognized PCR test.

Objective: To evaluate the anterior chamber approach and energy levels for endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECPC) and assess ECPC-induced tissue damage in phakic eyes of bovine cadavers. Sample: 12 bovine cadaver eyes. Procedures: Angle of reach was measured in 6 eyes following placement of a curved endoscopic probe through multiple corneal incisions. In another 6 eyes, each ocular quadrant underwent ECPC at 1 of 3 energy levels (0.75, 0.90, and 1.05 J) or remained untreated. Visible effects on tissues (whitening and contraction of ciliary processes) were scored (scale of 0 [no effects] to 6 [severe effects]), and severity and extent of histologic damage to the pigmented and nonpigmented ciliary epithelium and fibromuscular stroma were each scored (scale of 0 [no effect] to 3 [severe effect]) and summed for each quadrant. Overall mean scores for 6 quadrants/treatment were calculated. Results: Mean ± SD combined angle of reach was 148 ± 24° (range, 123 ± 23° [ventromedial] to 174 ± 11° [dorsolateral]). At the 0.75-, 0.90-, and 1.05-J levels, mean visible tissue effect scores were 3.12 ± 0.47, 3.86 ± 0.35, and 4.68 ± 0.58, respectively; mean histologic damage scores were 4.79 ± 1.38 (mild damage), 6.82 ± 1.47 (moderate damage), and 9.37 ± 1.42 (severe damage), respectively. Occasional popping noises (venting of vaporized interstitial water) were heard at the 1.05-J level. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Multiple incisions were necessary to facilitate 360° ECPC treatment in bovine eyes. For ECPC in vivo, the 0.75- and 0.90-J energy levels had the potential to effectively treat the ciliary epithelium.

We first review historic and conceptual background to integrative thinking in medicine. Lacking a general theory of ‘One Health’, we provide an operational definition of ‘One Health’ and its leverage as: any added value in terms of human and animal health, financial savings or environmental benefit from closer cooperation of human and animal health sectors at all levels of organisation. Examples of such added value of ‘One Health’ are given from the fields of health systems, nutrition and zoonoses control in Africa and Asia. ‘One Health’ must become main-stream rather than a new discipline or new association; it should just become normal that practitioners and professionals in the health, animal and environment sectors work together as closely as possible. Current and future challenges in financing clean energy, migration flows, food security and global trade further warrant rethinking of human and animal health services. A conceptual outlook relates health as an outcome of human-environment systems called ‘health in social-ecological systems’. The paper ends with an outlook on the operationalisation of ‘One Health’ and its future potential, specifically also in industrialised countries.

Recently, the world has witnessed emergence of novel diseases such as avian influenza, HIV and AIDS, West Nile Virus and Ebola. The evolution of these pathogens has been facilitated mainly by a constantly evolving animal-human interface. Whilst infectious disease control was previously conceptualised as either public health or animal health related issues, the distinction between disciplinary foci have been blurred by multiple causal factors that clearly traverse traditional disciplinary divides. These multiple evolutionary pressures have included changes in land use, ecosystems, human-livestock-wildlife interactions and antibiotic use, representing novel routes for pathogen emergence. With the growing realisation that pathogens do not respect traditional epistemological divides, the ‘One Health’ initiative has emerged to advocate for closer collaboration across the health disciplines and has provided a new agenda for health education. Against this background, the One Health Analytical Epidemiology course was developed under the auspices of the Southern African Centre for Infectious Diseases Surveillance by staff from the University of Zambia with collaborators from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal Veterinary College in London. The course is aimed at equipping scientists with multidisciplinary skill sets to match the contemporary challenges of human, animal and zoonotic disease prevention and control. Epidemiology is an important discipline for both public and animal health. Therefore, this two-year programme has been developed to generate a cadre of epidemiologists with a broad understanding of disease control and prevention and will be able to conceptualise and design holistic programs for informing health and disease control policy decisions.

A study was carried out to confirm and identify sources and elucidate factors associated with the introduction of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in southern Tanzania. This study was conducted in Tandahimba and Newala districts of Mtwara region following suspected outbreak of PPR in the area. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews of key informants who included goat and sheep owners with suspected cases of PPR and animal health service providers as well as local administrative authority. Additionally, 216 serum samples and 28 swabs were collected for serological and virological laboratory disease confirmation. The results show that PPR was first introduced in Likuna village of Newala district in February 2009 through newly purchased goats from the Pugu livestock market located about 700 km in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam city. Factors which contributed to spread of PPR included communal grazing and the cheap prices of sick animals bought by livestock keepers for slaughtering in other villages. Laboratory findings confirmed presence of PPR in the area by RT-PCR and serological analysis revealed that seroprevalence was 31%. These findings have confirmed, for the first time, introduction of PPR in southern Tanzania. The presence of PPR poses high risk of southward spread of the disease to other southern African countries in the SADC region thus calling for concerted and collaborative efforts in prevention and control of the disease to avoid losses. Further elaborate studies on the spread, prevalence and risk factors associated with the disease should urgently be investigated.

Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) has been used to strengthen and support monitoring and prevention of dangerous diseases within One Health concept by integrating veterinary and human surveillance, passive and active approaches, case-based records including disease-specific clinical data based on standardised case definitions and aggregated data, laboratory data including sample tracking linked to each case and event with test results and epidemiological investigations. Information was collected and shared in secure way by different means: through the distributed nodes which are continuously synchronised amongst each other, through the web service, through the handheld devices. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System provided near real time information flow that has been then disseminated to the appropriate organisations in a timely manner. It has been used for comprehensive analysis and visualisation capabilities including real time mapping of case events as these unfold enhancing decision making. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System facilitated countries to comply with the IHR 2005 requirements through a data transfer module reporting diseases electronically to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data center as well as establish authorised data exchange with other electronic system using Open Architecture approach. Pathogen Asset Control System (PACS) has been used for accounting, management and control of biological agent stocks. Information on samples and strains of any kind throughout their entire lifecycle has been tracked in a comprehensive and flexible solution PACS. Both systems have been used in a combination and individually. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System and PACS are currently deployed in the Republics of Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan as a part of the Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) sponsored by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

The use of 1.16 mg/kg (one third) of the recommended dose of diminazene aceturate, administered indiscriminately to cattle on day seven of the unfrozen <em>Babesia bovis</em> and <em>Babesia bigemina</em> bivalent live blood vaccine reaction, was an infection and block treatment method of immunisation used successfully with no known adverse effect on the parasites or the development of protective immunity. Continuing with this practice after replacement of the unfrozen vaccine with deep-frozen monovalent <em>B. bovis</em> and <em>B. bigemina</em> live blood vaccines resulted in reports of vaccine failure. Laboratory investigation indicated the harmful effect of block treatment in preventing the development of durable immunity against <em>B. bigemina</em> as opposed to the much lesser effect it had on <em>B. bovis</em>. Consequently the practice was no longer recommended. A <em>B. bovis</em> vaccination attempt aimed at controlling the disease of dairy cows in milk (<em>n</em> = 30) resulted in 20% fatalities during the expected vaccine reaction period. The practice of block treating <em>B. bovis</em> was therefore reinvestigated, this time in a field trial using dairy cattle in milk (<em>n</em> = 11). Using 0.88 mg/kg (one quarter) of the recommended dose of diminazene administered on day 12 of the <em>B. bovis</em> vaccine reaction resulted in only two animals (<em>n</em> = 5) testing ≥ 1/80 positive with the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) although parasites could be demonstrated in three. In the untreated control group, by contrast, five of the vaccinated animals (<em>n</em> = 6) tested ≥ 1/80 positive with IFAT and parasites could be demonstrated in all. The unsatisfactory outcome obtained in this study, combined with that of the earlier investigation, indicated that there are more factors that influence successful vaccination than previously considered. It is therefore concluded that block treatment of the live frozen South African cattle babesiosis vaccines reactions is not recommended.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a bi-segmented RNA virus, which belongs to the genus Avibirnavirus of the family Birnaviridae. Two serotypes, 1 and 2, exist in IBDV. The serotype 1 IBDVs are the causative agents of infectious bursal disease (IBD) in chickens worldwide and lead to immunosuppression in young birds. Genome re-assortment has been speculated to occur and contribute to the emergence of new IBDV strains. However, evidence was lacking until recently when two re-assortant viruses were detected in China. In this study, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of an IBDV, designated KZC-104, from a confirmed natural IBD outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia in 2004. The genome consisted of 3074 and 2651 nucleotides in the coding regions of segments A and B, respectively. Alignment of both nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the genome segment A of KZC-104 was derived from a very virulent strain, whereas its segment B was derived from a classical attenuated strain. On BLAST search, the full-length segments A and B sequences showed 98% closest nucleotide homology to the very virulent strain D6948 and 99.8% closest nucleotide homology to the classical attenuated strain D78, respectively. This is a unique IBDV reassortant strain, which has emerged in nature involving segment B of a live attenuated vaccine. This observation provides direct evidence for the involvement of vaccine strains in the emergence of reassortant IBDV in the field. Taken together, these findings suggest an additional risk of using live IBDV vaccines, which may act as genetic donors for genome re-assortment. Further studies are required to investigate the epidemiology and biological characteristics of reassortant strains so that the appropriate and safe IBDV vaccines can be recommended.

Cysticercosis, caused by Taenia solium eggs, is a zoonotic disease whose consequences can be severe especially in the cerebral localisation (neuorcysticercosis). Indeed, neurocysticercosis is the first cause of epilepsy amongst the infectious etiology group. Following the increase of epilepsy cases in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo, it was important to assess the fraction attributable to neurocysticercosis especially as data on cysticercosis in Democratic Republic Of Congo (DRC) dating from 1970. A joint study between veterinary and human doctors was conducted in the provinces of Bas-Congo and Kinshasa between 2008 and 2010. Blood samples were collected from the general population, patients with epilepsy and pigs. These samples were analysed using ELISA antigen in the laboratory of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. Patients positive to ELISA antigen took the CT scan exam for the confirmation of neurocysticercosis. In the province of Kinshasa, of 530 epileptic patients, 6.3% were identified as neurocysticercosis cases. Out of a total of 498 pigs, 38.9% were positive for cysticercosis. In the province of Bas- Congo, of 943 inhabitants from Malanga village, 21.6% were positive with predominance in males (26.4% versus 17.5%). A total of 145 pigs from 5 villages were examined and 41.2% found positive. We can conclude that cysticercosis in the DRC has been neglected for a long time and cysticercosis could be a real major public health problem. Prospective studies addressing the consequences of cysticercosis in communities are needed in order to prevent epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis.