Return of chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum parasites and emergence of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium vivax in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Increased resistance by Plasmodium falciparum parasites led to the withdrawal of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in Ethiopia. Since 2004 artemether-lumefantrine has served to treat uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. However, increasing reports on delayed parasite clearance to artemisinin opens up a new challenge in anti-malarial therapy. With the complete withdrawal of CQ for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, this study assessed the evolution of CQ resistance by investigating the prevalence of mutant alleles in the pfmdr1 and pfcrt genes in P. falciparum and pvmdr1 gene in Plasmodium vivax in Southern and Eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: Of the 1,416 febrile patients attending primary health facilities in Southern Ethiopia, 329 febrile patients positive for P. falciparum or P. vivax were recruited. Similarly of the 1,304 febrile patients from Eastern Ethiopia, 81 febrile patients positive for P. falciparum or P. vivax were included in the study. Of the 410 finger prick blood samples collected from malaria patients, we used direct sequencing to investigate the prevalence of mutations in pfcrt and pfmdr1. This included determining the gene copy number in pfmdr1 in 195 P. falciparum clinical isolates, and mutations in the pvmdr1 locus in 215 P. vivax clinical isolates. RESULTS: The pfcrt K76 CQ-sensitive allele was observed in 84.1% of the investigated P.falciparum clinical isolates. The pfcrt double mutations (K76T and C72S) were observed less than 3%. The pfcrt SVMNT haplotype was also found to be present in clinical isolates from Ethiopia. The pfcrt CVMNK-sensitive haplotypes were frequently observed (95.9%). The pfmdr1 mutation N86Y was observed only in 14.9% compared to 85.1% of the clinical isolates that carried sensitive alleles. Also, the sensitive pfmdr1 Y184 allele was more common, in 94.9% of clinical isolates. None of the investigated P. falciparum clinical isolates carried S1034C, N1042D and D1246Y pfmdr1 polymorphisms. All investigated P. falciparum clinical isolates from Southern and Eastern Ethiopia carried only a single copy of the mutant pfmdr1 gene. CONCLUSION: The study reports for the first time the return of chloroquine sensitive P. falciparum in Ethiopia. These findings support the rationale for the use of CQ-based combination drugs as a possible future alternative

Development in Key Share Management to Protect Data over Cloud

User data may be stored in a cloud to take advantage of its scalability, accessibility, and economics. However, data of a sensitive nature must be protected from being read in the clear by an untrusted cloud provider. This triggered a l ot of research activities, resulting in a quantity of proposals targeting the various cloud security threats. A key management scheme is proposed where encrypted key shares are stored in the cloud and automatically deleted based on passage of time or user activity. The process does not require additional coordination by the data owner, which is of advantage to a very large population of resource - constrained mobile users. The rate of expiration may be controlled through the initial allocation of shares and t he heuristics for removal. A simulation of the scheme and also its implementation on commercial mobile and cloud platforms demonstrate its practical performance

Farmers’ awareness on bio inputs in coconut cultivation based on education in Thondamuthur block of Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India

This study investigated farmers’ awareness and use of bio-inputs in coconut farming in Thondamuthur block, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India. Given agriculture's significance in India’s economy, bio-inputs are an alternative to chemical fertilizers amidst population increase and climate change. The study evaluates the level of awareness amongst farmers, factors that influence the buying behaviour of bio-inputs like bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and constraints to their use. Statistical analysis included percentage analysis, Chi-square test and factor analysis on data from 140 respondents. Factors like yield, price, experience, knowledge and government subsidies influenced buying behaviour mainly. The findings revealed that although farmers are aware of bio-inputs, constraints such as availability, poor government support and quality concerns limit their utilization. The paper emphasized that given these constraints, there is a need for more policy support as well as training programs to enhance bio-input utilization in sustainable agriculture in the study area

A Tool to Measure the Resilience Espoused by Agripreneurs on COVID-19 Pandemic

The unpredicted COVID-19 pandemic devastatingly challenged the business life of agripreneurs.  Agripreneurs are the entrepreneurs holding their main business in agriculture or agriculture allied. The pandemic affected millions of businesses economically and shut down their production chains. It is the era of advocating resilience to make a transition and to sustain the post-COVID. The purpose of the research is to construct a composite pandemic resilience index to measure the resilience followed by agripreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The index was developed by reviewing the available literature and judge’s relevancy ratings. A relevancy score of more than 0.75 was selected and the Pandemic Resilience Index (PRI) was finalized yielding six indicators viz., pandemic response, support and assistance, agripreneurial skills, pandemic risk prevention and mitigation, business reconstruction, and pandemic preparedness. The PRI also had high reliability (α=0.838). The content validity of the index was 3.37, which is higher than 2.50, indicating the index is valid. The Pandemic Resilience index will act as a valid instrument to identify different resilient strategies adopted by agripreneurs to regulate and rebuild the business at the toughest times of the pandemic. PRI will also help us to understand how an agripreneur has to be resilient in order to cope with the unforeseeable occurrences of upcoming pandemics

Sustainable fodder crop-feed integration practices: Impact on dairy farm economics and agricultural diversity

The study aimed to identify factors influencing feed purchase among dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu. The study highlights the crucial relationship between fodder crop cultivation and dairy farming economics. Local fodder crops like Hybrid Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) play a vital role in supplementing commercial cattle feed, potentially reducing feed costs by 15-20 %. Integrating sustainable fodder cultivation practices with commercial feed usage presents opportunities for improving dairy farm profitability while promoting agricultural diversity. A survey was conducted among 200 dairy farmers in the districts of Ariyalur and Perambalur to gain a deeper understanding of that consumer buying behaviour, cost of production, benefit-cost ratio, factors influence buying behaviour and constraints faced by the farmers while purchasing and using cattle feed, such as the fact that specific feeds are improperly prepared, that costs are prohibitively high and that obtaining credit to pay for feeds is difficult. Key determinants of feed choice include product-related factors, marketing, economic factors, distribution, farm and milk production, labour and Government support. It is concluded that producers, distributors and legislators have insightful information about how to raise feed quality, accessibility and affordability while also boosting the financial viability and sustainability of Tamil Nadus’ dairy industry

Parasite Infection, Carcinogenesis and Human Malignancy.

Cancer may be induced by many environmental and physiological conditions. Infections with viruses, bacteria and parasites have been recognized for years to be associated with human carcinogenicity. Here we review current concepts of carcinogenicity and its associations with parasitic infections. The helminth diseases schistosomiasis, opisthorchiasis, and clonorchiasis are highly carcinogenic while the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, the causing agent of Chagas disease, has a dual role in the development of cancer, including both carcinogenic and anticancer properties. Although malaria per se does not appear to be causative in carcinogenesis, it is strongly associated with the occurrence of endemic Burkitt lymphoma in areas holoendemic for malaria. The initiation of Plasmodium falciparum related endemic Burkitt lymphoma requires additional transforming events induced by the Epstein-Barr virus. Observations suggest that Strongyloides stercoralis may be a relevant co-factor in HTLV-1-related T cell lymphomas. This review provides an overview of the mechanisms of parasitic infection-induced carcinogenicity

Molecular markers of anti-malarial drug resistance in Central, West and East African children with severe malaria.

BACKGROUND: The Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (PfMDR1), P. falciparum Ca(2+)-ATPase (PfATP6) and Kelch-13 propeller domain (PfK13) loci are molecular markers of parasite susceptibility to anti-malarial drugs. Their frequency distributions were determined in the isolates collected from children with severe malaria originating from three African countries. METHODS: Samples from 287 children with severe malaria [(Gabon: n = 114); (Ghana: n = 89); (Kenya: n = 84)] were genotyped for pfmdr1, pfatp6 and pfk13 loci by DNA sequencing and assessing pfmdr1 copy number variation (CNV) by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Pfmdr1-N86Y mutation was detected in 48, 10 and 10% in Lambaréné, Kumasi and Kisumu, respectively. At codon 184, the prevalence of the mutation was 73% in Lambaréné, 63% in Kumasi and 49% Kisumu. The S1034C and N1042D variants were absent at all three sites, while the frequency of the D1246Y mutation was 1, 3 and 13% in Lambaréné, Kumasi and Kisumu, respectively. Isolates with two pfmdr1 gene copy number predominantly harboured the N86Y wild-type allele and were mostly found in Kumasi (10%) (P < 0.0001). Among the main pfmdr1 haplotypes (NFD, NYD and YFD), NYD was associated with highest parasitaemia (P = 0.04). At the pfatp6 locus, H243Y and A623E mutations were observed at very low frequency at all three sites. The prevalence of the pfatp6 E431K variant was 6, 18 and 17% in Lambaréné, Kumasi and Kisumu, respectively. The L263E and S769N mutations were absent in all isolates. The pfk13 variants associated with artemisinin resistance in Southeast Asia were not observed. Eleven novel substitutions in the pfk13 locus occurring at low frequency were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Artemisinins are still highly efficacious in large malaria-endemic regions though declining efficacy has occurred in Southeast Asia. The return of chloroquine-sensitive strains following the removal of drug pressure is observed. However, selection of wild-type alleles in the multidrug-resistance gene and the increased gene copy number is associated with reduced lumefantrine sensitivity. This study indicates a need to constantly monitor drug resistance to artemisinin in field isolates from malaria-endemic countries

Genetic Evidence of Functional Ficolin-2 Haplotype as Susceptibility Factor in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Background: Ficolin-2 coded by FCN2 gene is a soluble serum protein that plays an important role in innate immunity. In this study, we analyzed five functional polymorphisms of the FCN2 gene for their possible association with cutaneous leishmaniasis. Methods: Initially we screened 40 Syrian Arabs for the entire FCN2 gene. We investigated the contribution of FCN2 functional variants in 226 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis and 286 healthy controls from Syria. Polymorphisms in the promoter regions (2986G/A, 2602G/A, 24A/G) of the FCN2 gene were assessed by TaqMan real time PCR, whereas polymorphisms in exon8 (+6359C/T and +6424G/T) were assessed by DNA sequencing. We also measured serum ficolin-2 levels in 70 control Syrian Arabs and correlated the serum concentrations to FCN2 genotypes and haplotypes respectively. Results: Nine new FCN2 variants including two with non synonymous substitutions in exon6 and exon8 were observed. The homozygous genotypes +6424T/T were distributed more in controls and none in patients (P = 0.04). The AGACG haplotype were observed more in patients than in controls (OR = 2.0, 95%CI 1.2–3.4, P = 0.006). The serum ficolin-2 levels were significantly distributed among the reconstructed ficolin-2 haplotypes (P,0.008) and the haplotype AGACG was observed with higher ficolin-2 levels in 70 control individuals. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a significant association of FCN2 AGACG haplotype with cutaneous leishmaniasis in a Syrian Arab population. These first results provide a basis for a future study that could confirm or disprove possibl

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – a ten-year (2012-2022) global analysis of human and camel infections, genomic sequences, lineages, and geographical origins

OBJECTIVES:The World Health Organization priority zoonotic pathogen Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (CoV) has a high case fatality rate in humans and circulates in camels worldwide. METHODS: We performed a global analysis of human and camel MERS-CoV infections, epidemiology, genomic sequences, clades, lineages, and geographical origins for the period January 1, 2012 to August 3, 2022. MERS-CoV Surface gene sequences (4061 bp) were extracted from GenBank, and a phylogenetic maximum likelihood tree was constructed. RESULTS: As of August 2022, 2591 human MERS cases from 26 countries were reported to the World Health Organization (Saudi Arabia, 2184 cases, including 813 deaths [case fatality rate: 37.2%]) Although declining in numbers, MERS cases continue to be reported from the Middle East. A total of 728 MERS-CoV genomes were identified (the largest numbers were from Saudi Arabia [222: human = 146, camels = 76] and the United Arab Emirates [176: human = 21, camels = 155]). A total of 501 ‘S’-gene sequences were used for phylogenetic tree construction (camels [n = 264], humans [n = 226], bats [n = 8], other [n=3]). Three MERS-CoV clades were identified: clade B, which is the largest, followed by clade A and clade C. Of the 462 clade B lineages, lineage 5 was predominant (n = 177). CONCLUSION: MERS-CoV remains a threat to global health security. MERS-CoV variants continue circulating in humans and camels. The recombination rates indicate co-infections with different MERS-CoV lineages. Proactive surveillance of MERS-CoV infections and variants of concern in camels and humans worldwide, and development of a MERS vaccine, are essential for epidemic preparedness