Surveillance strategies for Classical Swine Fever in wild boar – a comprehensive evaluation study to ensure powerful surveillance

Surveillance of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) should not only focus on livestock, but must also include wild boar. To prevent disease transmission into commercial pig herds, it is therefore vital to have knowledge about the disease status in wild boar. In the present study, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of alternative surveillance strategies for Classical Swine Fever (CSF) in wild boar and compared them with the currently implemented conventional approach. The evaluation protocol was designed using the EVA tool, a decision support tool to help in the development of an economic and epidemiological evaluation protocol for surveillance. To evaluate the effectiveness of the surveillance strategies, we investigated their sensitivity and timeliness. Acceptability was analysed and finally, the cost-effectiveness of the surveillance strategies was determined. We developed 69 surveillance strategies for comparative evaluation between the existing approach and the novel proposed strategies. Sampling only within sub-adults resulted in a better acceptability and timeliness than the currently implemented strategy. Strategies that were completely based on passive surveillance performance did not achieve the desired detection probability of 95%. In conclusion, the results of the study suggest that risk-based approaches can be an option to design more effective CSF surveillance strategies in wild boar

Maize grain yield response to changes in acid soil characteristics with yearly leguminous crop rotation, fallow, slash, burn and liming practices

Open Access JournalAn experiment was conducted for 4 years to assess the effectiveness of fallow, slash and burn farming systems on maize grain yield and soil chemical characteristics. It was also meant to measure the response to yearly rotation of maize and leguminous crops (cowpea and mucuna), as options for managing the acidity of the soil of the study site. The maize tolerant cultivar (cvr) out yielded the sensitive cvr and the farmers’ variety by 43% and 16% respectively. On the maize/grain legume rotation plots, the tolerant and sensitive cvr yielded 5% and 7% respectively more than their corresponding yields on plots with fallow, slash and burn rotation. Maize/grain legume rotation demonstrated one of the least soil acidifications, exhibiting the least increase in exchangeable Al (23%), H (24%), and Al saturation (5%) resulting in improved soil fertility through increase in available Ca (2%), Mg (85%), P (75%), and CEC (14%). The fallow, slash and burn rotation, associated with the tolerant cvr showed similar grain yield with grain legume rotation, but contributed more to soil acidification. Maize/leafy legume rotation gave a similar yield to the above mentioned practices. The yearly application of 250 kg ha-1 of dolomitic lime for four consecutive years did not result in significant changes in soil characteristics and grain yield especially for the Al tolerant cvr. However, application of 2250 kg ha-1 of lime neutralized the Al toxicity, regardless of the rotation scheme. The study concluded that the four years maize cultivation through fallow/ slash and burn rotation extensively used in the humid forest zone is not the best option on acid soil

The use of participatory methods in the evaluation of health surveillance systems

editorial reviewe

Environmental factors are stronger predictors of primate species’ distributions than basic biological traits

Understanding the neutral, biological and environmental processes driving species distributions is valuable in informing conservation efforts because it will help us predict how species will respond to changes in environmental conditions. Environmental processes affect species differently according to their biological traits, which determine how they interact with their environment. Therefore, functional, trait-based modelling approaches are considered important for predicting distributions and species responses to change but even for data-rich primate communities our understanding of the relationships between traits and environmental conditions is limited. Here we use a large-scale, high-resolution dataset of African diurnal primate distributions, biological traits and environmental conditions to investigate the role of biological traits and environmental trait filtering in primate distributions. We collected data from published sources for 354 sites, and 14 genera with 57 species across Sub-Saharan Africa. We then combined a three-table ordination method, RLQ, with the Fourth Corner approach to test relationships between environmental variables and biological traits and used a mapping approach to visually assess patterning in primate genus and species’ distributions. We found no significant relationships between any groups of environmental variables and biological traits, despite a clear role of environmental filtering in driving genus and species’ distributions. The most important environmental driver of species distributions was temperature seasonality, followed by rainfall. We conclude that the relative flexibility of many primate genera means that not any one particular set of traits drives their species-environment associations, despite the clear role of such associations in their distribution patterns

Increase of tuberculosis incidence in Ile-de-France region and the role of recent migration

Abstract Background In metropolitan France and in the Ile-de-France region, the incidence of tuberculosis has globally decreased since the year 2000 and has stabilized from 2011 to 2015. This study analysed the evolution of tuberculosis in the Ile-de-France region between 2015 and 2017. Methods We analysed tuberculosis cases reported in Ile-de-France from 2015 to 2017; 2015 was considered as the baseline year. Incidence rates of reported tuberculosis cases were estimated using French census data for the corresponding year for the denominator. Age-standardized rates were estimated for each of the 8 departments of the region based on the Ile-de-France region population. Foreigners’ population was based on the 2015 French census data. Differences in incidence and proportions were tested with the CHI2 statistic (STATA® v14.0). Results The incidence of tuberculosis increased in the Ile-de-France region from 14.6 to 15.8/100 000 pop. between 2015 and 2017 (+8.2%, p &amp;lt; 0.01). In this region, all department’s incidence were above 10/100 000 pop. in 2017. Sub-regional disparities were observed, with an important increase of the incidence in Paris, from 13,5 to 16.8/100 000 pop. between 2015 and 2017 (p &amp;lt; 0,01). The incidence rates among foreigners increased from 44.6 to 51.7/100 000 pop. (p &amp;lt; 0.01) and the proportion of tuberculosis cases among foreigners who arrived in France less than 2 years ago increased from 23% to 32% (p &amp;lt; 0.01), between 2015 and 2017. The incidence rates of tuberculosis cases increased particularly in men, foreigners, and recent migrants. Conclusions The incidence of tuberculosis increased in the Ile-de-France region in 2016 and 2017, particularly in newly arrived migrants. This situation requires actions to better detect and manage tuberculosis in this specific population. Key messages The incidence of tuberculosis increased in the Ile-de-France region. The incidence of tuberculosis increased in vulnerable population in relation with recent migration. </jats:sec

Sub-picosecond ballistic imaging of a liquid jet

International audienc

Maize Grain Yield Response to Changes in Acid Soil Characteristics with Yearly Leguminous Crop Rotation, Fallow, Slash, Burn and Liming Practices

An experiment was conducted for 4 years to assess the effectiveness of fallow, slash and burn farming systems on maize grain yield and soil chemical characteristics. It was also meant to measure the response to yearly rotation of maize and leguminous crops (cowpea and mucuna), as options for managing the acidity of the soil of the study site. The maize tolerant cultivar (cvr) out yielded the sensitive cvr and the farmers’ variety by 43% and 16% respectively. On the maize/grain legume rotation plots, the tolerant and sensitive cvr yielded 5% and 7% respectively more than their corresponding yields on plots with fallow, slash and burn rotation. Maize/grain legume rotation demonstrated one of the least soil acidifications, exhibiting the least increase in exchangeable Al (23%), H (24%), and Al saturation (5%) resulting in improved soil fertility through increase in available Ca (2%), Mg (85%), P (75%), and CEC (14%). The fallow, slash and burn rotation, associated with the tolerant cvr showed similar grain yield with grain legume rotation, but contributed more to soil acidification. Maize/leafy legume rotation gave a similar yield to the above mentioned practices. The yearly application of 250 kg ha-1 of dolomitic lime for four consecutive years did not result in significant changes in soil characteristics and grain yield especially for the Al tolerant cvr. However, application of 2250 kg ha-1 of lime neutralized the Al toxicity, regardless of the rotation scheme. The study concluded that the four years maize cultivation through fallow/ slash and burn rotation extensively used in the humid forest zone is not the best option on acid soil