Facts about African Swine Fever.

The emergence of cases of African swine fever identified within the pork producing countries,shows it is important to maintain high standards of biosecurity.

The knowledge about the signs of the disease, and equally most important is to know how to curtail the spread. The pig and its close relatives, boars and hogs are the only natural host of the double-stranded, Asfarviridae family of viruses, meaning the virus does not cause harm to humans or other animals. This does not mean that humans and other animals cannot spread the virus as carriers;


 African Swine Fever (ASF) is commonly carried by arthropods, such as the soft-bodied tick, through uptake of blood from infected pigs.

 Contamination generally occurs via direct contact with tissue and bodily fluids from infected or carrier pigs, including discharges from the nose, mouth, urine and feces or infected semen.

   It also spreads through transport and consumption of contaminated pork products, and some cases have originated from failure to comply with biosecurity standards by feeding waste food to domestic pigs..

   The virus in wild boar and hogs does not manifest any signs of the disease but it remains highly contagious across all swine species and can survive in pigs for long periods of time even post-slaughter and even in frozen carcasses.  It is also important to note that curing and smoking pork products does not destroy the virus.

 The common signs are as follows: 1). High fever 40-42°C.
 2) Loss of appetite.

 3) Depression.

 4)Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
.
5) In White skinned pigs: extremities (nose, ears, tail and lower legs) become cyanotic (blue-purple color).

 6) Discrete hemorrhages appear in the skin particularly on the ears and flanks.
 7) Group will huddle together and are usually shivering.

8) Abnormal breathing.

 9) Heavy discharge from eyes and/or nose.

10) Lethargic- sometimes refusal to stand or move.

11) Very unsteady when forced to stand up.

 12) Comatose state and death within a few days.

    Pregnant sows commonly undergo miscarriage or deliver stillborn piglets that are malformed. Piglets can be tested for the virus.

Mortality rate in infected groups of pigs is high and there is no vaccination proven to prevent or cure infection.

Prevention is key,here are some steps to follow

 Ensure strict biosecurity rules. Do not take pig meat onto farms, and restrict all food (and consumption of food) to a canteen.

All staff on farm should be inducted onto a strict programme of hand and equipment sanitation before and after contact with pigs.

 - Follow rules and regulations on disposal of food waste at ferry ports and airports.

 - Provide the means for staff and visitors to thoroughly sanitize their hands and equipment.

 - Ensure that wild boar, warthogs and wild pigs, and materials potentially contaminated by such wild species do not come into contact with domestic pigs.

 - Check infected regions before importation of goods that could potentially be contaminated. - Advise and educate people on the risks of bringing back pork products from infected regions.

Pig Pens: A Look at Mirrors and Mats.

A study has shown how pigs react in various pen models,such as those with rubber mats,mirrors and pens with humans in sight.What a pig sees when it looks into a mirror may help scientists improve livestock housing. The study looked at different types of pig pens. Pigs had access to a standard pen with a metal floor (the "control" pen), one with a rubber mat on the floor, another with a mirror and a fourth with a view of another pig across a passageway. Pigs preferred spending 40 per cent of their time in pens where they could see another pig. They spent 10, 20 and 30 per cent, respectively, in the control, mirror and mat pens. In a second experiment, scientists examined which pens pigs preferred when a person was present. When a person was in sight, pigs spent nearly 90 per cent of their time in either the pen with the mirror or where they could see another pig. The use of mirrors in a commercial production, where pigs are kept in groups, would not be feasible but producers could consider using rubber mats to help improve the pigs' environment, which may help reduce stress and promote health and productivity.

Tooth development and weaning in chimpanzees not closely related.

According to a new study,tooth development and weaning in chimpanzees not closely related as earlier studies have suggested. Studies have linked juvenile chimps' tooth development with their weaning as a rough proxy for understanding similar developmental landmarks in the evolution of early humans. The new research from Harvard, is challenging those conclusions by showing that tooth development and weaning aren't as closely related as previously thought. The scientists used digital photographs to show that, after the eruption of their first molar tooth, many juvenile chimps continue to nurse as much, if not more, than they had in the past.

What grosses out a chimpanzee?

The origin of disgust,do you know what grosses out a chimpanzee? find out.Chimps show increased latency to feed, and tendencies to maintain greater distances from possible contaminants and/or outright refusals to consume food in test conditions, hinting at the origins of disgust in humans. In their natural habitats, chimpanzees are known to pick up seeds from feces and re-ingest them. In captivity, some practice coprophagy: the deliberate ingestion of feces. These behaviors usually involve their own fecal matter, or that of their closest family members. If presented with feces and other bodily fluids from others, however, that's an entirely different story. A series of novel experiments show that chimpanzees delay eating food items placed atop replica feces compared to the more benign brown foam; generally stay further away from the smell of potential biological contaminants; and recoil from food items associated with soft and moist substrates. If chimpanzees and other primates can discern contamination risk using different cues then individuals with higher sensitivities to feces and other bodily fluids may be less infected. This could have important health benefits.

Treatment of dogs with dexmedetomidine alleviates fear of noisy fireworks.

A new study has shown that treatment of dogs with dexmedetomidine alleviates fear of noisy fireworks. A large percentage dogs suffer anxiety and fear from the loud bangs and explosions of firework displays. This new study shows how a medicinal treatment can help alleviate common fear behaviors, such as trembling and whining. A research team, led by Dr Mira Korpivaara at Orion Pharma, developed an oral gel form of dexmedetomidine that could be administered by dog owners at home.182 dogs with a history of acute anxiety and fear associated with fireworks noise were given either dexmedetomidine gel (89 dogs) or identical placebo (93 dogs) as needed up to five times, as part of a randomised, double-blinded study. A higher proportion of dogs were reported to have good or excellent treatment effect in the dexmedetomidine group (64 of 89, 72%) than in the placebo group (34 of 93, 37%) -- meaning that the dog did not show any signs of fear and anxiety due to fireworks exposure or the signs were mild and temporary. Dogs in the dexmedetomidine group displayed fewer signs of fear and anxiety than dogs in the placebo group, despite the noise of fireworks, including panting, trembling, vocalising (whining, barking, growling, howling), pacing and inappropriate urination.

The new faces of data science.

The new faces of data science.Today’s data scientists are using interdisciplinary methods to take the field into the future.Today’s data scientists are interested in a lot more than simply visualizing data. These scientists are using knowledge from linguistics to teach computers to understand language. They are using methods from library science to help decipher scientific articles. They are using natural language processing (NLP) to fact check social media posts. They are bringing together knowledge from an array of disciplines in order to make sense of the vast amounts of information people contend with on a daily basis.

How text mining is changing the way we tackle chronic disease.

How text mining is changing the way we tackle chronic disease.Researchers are working with Pathway Studio to design innovative treatments using simulations of complex diseases.Imagine being able to mine 40,000 articles in a matter of minutes and use the information to develop a solution to transform the lives of millions of people. By working side by side with doctors, the engineers can use the model biological circuits to give insights that could lead to better diagnoses and guide the design of effective treatments for complex medical conditions that defy conventional approaches.