RATS AND LASSA FEVER!!!!

The role of pests in transmission of diseases cannot be overemphasized and thus steps must be taken to prevent entry of such pests in the food industry.The major pest to contend with in the food industry is rat.Rats cause severe economic losses along side transmission of diseases.Rats in the food industry can be excluded by blocking any cracks/openings in the building.Food can be stored in crates in stores away from rats. Rat baits can be used outside the food holding area while traps can be used in the food processing/packaging area. Hazard of rats in the food industry; 1) fecal contamination of food. 2) urine contamination of food products. 3) food waste due to consumption by rats. Rat urine has been linked to Lassa fever,thus contamination of food with urine is a risk to man.The infection in man manifests with fever,muscular pain,generalized weakness.Vomiting and diarrhea are also observed in affected patients.

HOW CHICKEN MOVEMENT IS USED TO DETECT CAMPYLOBACTER-INFECTED FLOCK.

An Oxford team tested the hypothesis that flocks colonized with Campylobacter might be distinguishable by their behavior.This is based on suggestions that infection could have an impact on chickens' welfare. Professor Marian Dawkins, of Animal Behaviour at Oxford and corresponding author on the paper, said: "We used a novel and non-invasive way of monitoring the behavior of chickens throughout their lives that involved analyzing the optical flow patterns from cameras inside broiler houses. What is optical flow and how is it measured? Optical flow works by detecting the patterns formed by changes in brightness in moving images, both temporally and spatially.It is computationally simple and does not require tagging or marking individual animals, making it ideal for long-term continuous monitoring of large groups of similar animals such as egg-laying hens and broiler chickens, where optical flow is predictive of key welfare measures such as mortality rate. To test the hypothesis that optical flow analysis might also be able to detect when flocks become infected with Campylobacter, the researchers collected data for 31 commercial broiler flocks.They also collected faecal samples from those same flocks and tested them for the presence of Campylobacter at different ages (21 days, 28 days and 35 days) using standard laboratory methods. This gave a direct comparison between optical flow and testing from fecal samples. Campylobacter-positive flocks showed lower mean optical flow (less average movement) and higher kurtosis (less uniform movement) than flocks without the bacteria - as early as the first 10 days of life. Additionally, this link was independent of external temperature. Professor Dawkins said: "Our results provide statistical evidence of a link between broiler chicken flock behavior and Campylobacter status. excerpts from journal proceedings from Royal society B

Chicken Movements Help Combat Campylobacter.

A new technique that monitors the movement of chickens can be used to predict which flocks are at risk of becoming infected with Campylobacter - the most common bacterial source of food poisoning in humans in the UK. Research by scientists at Oxford University has found that by using a camera system to analyse the 'optical flow' of chickens, at-risk flocks can be detected when the birds are only seven to 10 days old - much earlier than is usually possible with conventional on-farm sampling methods.Despite efforts to improve bio security, Campylobacter - which can reach humans through raw or undercooked chicken - has so far been persistently difficult to eliminate from the food chain. This new early warning system has the potential to transform the way Campylobacter is controlled, benefiting producers, consumers and the birds themselves. Source ;Royal society B/ POULTRY SITE.

Avian Flu Found in Hong Kong Wild Bird.

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been discovered in Hong Kong's Diamond Hill area.The virus was found in a dead Great Egret, as part of an intensive surveillance effort. Laboratory tests confirmed the bird was infected with the H5N6 strain of the virus.The dead bird was found and collected from a non-public area near Spring Hill in the Nan Lian Garden, Diamond Hill, Wong Tai Sin, last Thursday (December 31). The great egret is a common resident of Hong Kong and some are winter visitors. The spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said cleaning and disinfection have been stepped up at the venue, adding that there are no poultry farms within 3 kilometres of where the dead bird was found. In view of the case, the AFCD has phoned poultry farmers to remind them to strengthen precautionary and biosecurity measures against avian influenza. Letters have been issued to farmers, pet bird shop owners and licence holders of pet poultry and racing pigeons reminding them that proper precautions must be taken. The spokesman said the department would conduct frequent inspections of poultry farms and the wholesale market to ensure that proper precautions against avian influenza have been implemented. The department will continue its wild bird monitoring and surveillance."People should avoid contact with wild birds and live poultry and their droppings. They should clean their hands thoroughly after coming into contact with them. story source; poultry site.

Barking characterizes dogs as voice characterizes people.

Research on canine behavior shows that gender, age, context and individual recognition can be identified with a high percentage of success through statistical and computational methods of pattern recognition applied to their barking. The canine communication has been a research topic in ethology over the last decade. Most of the research has focused on studying how dogs are capable to understand different forms of human communication, for example by displaying gestures and human voice recognition. This joint research between CIG and UPM aimed to understand the acoustic signals obtained from dog barking when they are subjected to certain situations. This research is conducted through the development of a computational system based on statistic modeling that is able to recognize diverse characteristics of the dog . The experiments were carried out in Budapest with eight dogs -- three males and five females -- Mudi breed, from Hungary usually used as sheep-dogs. Each dog (aged between one and 10) registered 100 barks. A total of 800 barks was obtained by placing the dog in seven different situations: (a) alone, the owner tied the dog to a tree; (b) playing with a ball; (c) fighting, the human pretended to attack the dog's owner; (d) receiving their food ration; (f) in the company of a person who was foreign to the dog; and (g) to get ready to going out with the owner. Each one of the 800 barks was characterized from 29 acoustic measurements. By using the diverse computational models obtained from the collected data during the experiment, researchers were able to successfully recognize the dog's gender the 85.13% of the time while the age of the dog (recorded as young, adult and old) was classified without mistakes the 80.25% of the time. The task of identifying the situation in which the dog was it was successful the 55.50%, while the recognition (among the eight dogs participating in the study) of the Mudi breed was successful the 67.63% of the time.This study reveals the biological relevance and richness of the information in dog barking and brings new possibilities in applied research. story source; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Fish oil may help curb seizure frequency in epilepsy.

Low doses of fish oil may help to curb the frequency of epileptic seizures when drug treatment no longer works, suggests a small study. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are able to cross over from the bloodstream into heart cells where they work to stabilize heart rhythm and protect against heart attacks. This is particularly important for people with epilepsy because they have a significantly high risk of having a heart attack. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are able to cross over from the bloodstream into heart cells where they work to stabilize heart rhythm and protect against heart attacks.This is particularly important for people with epilepsy because they have a significantly higher risk of having a heart attack than those without the condition.And experimental research indicates that omega 3 fatty acids can also cross over into the central nervous system, where they reduce the excitability of brain cells which trigger seizures. source;British Medical Journal

Fish oil helps transform fat cells from storage to burning.

.Credit: Eiri Ono/Kyoto University. Kyoto University researchers have found that fish oil transforms fat-storage cells into fat-burning cells, which may reduce weight gain in middle age. Fish oil activates receptors in the digestive tract, fires the sympathetic nervous system, and induces storage cells to metabolize fat. The team explains in Scientific Reports that fish oil activates receptors in the digestive tract, fires the sympathetic nervous system, and induces storage cells to metabolize fat.Fat tissues don't all store fat.The So-called "white" cells store fat in order to maintain energy supply, while "brown" cells metabolize fat to maintain a stable body temperature. Brown cells are abundant in babies but decrease in number with maturity into adulthood. A third type of fat cell -- "beige" cells -- have recently been found in humans and mice, and have shown to function much like brown cells. Beige cells also reduce in number as people approach middle age; without these metabolizing cells, fat continues accumulating for decades without ever being used. story courtesy;science daily