Domestic pigs are acting as potential sources of sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa.

Domestic pigs are acting as potential sources of sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa.Many of the domestic pigs kept by subsistence farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are carrying the cause of fatal human diesease human African Trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, millions of people rely on subsistence farming to survive. Pig keeping is becoming more popular, as they can be maintained in a free-roaming, zero input system requiring little investment of time or money. However the increase in pig farming is also increasing the risk of human infection with a number of pathogens, including the causative agent of acute human African trypanosomiasis (HAT); Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. T. rhodesiense is a vector borne disease that occurs in discrete foci across East Africa and is transmitted by the tsetse fly. T. b. rhodesiense infection in pigs is usually asymptomatic. As a result they can often tolerate infection for most of their lives, and without clinical signs, the animals will not be treated. In contrast the course of infection in humans is very different; T. b. rhodesiense is a rapidly fatal infection, with death ensuing in as little as six months after becoming infected.

Hero rats sniff (and snuff) out landmines and TB.

Hero rats sniff (and snuff) out landmines and TB. Traditionally, you wouldn't gift someone a rat -- not someone you like, anyway. And even if a gift-wrapped rodent was in the cards, you'd likely shy away from the giant African pouched rat, which -- as the name suggests -- is rather large (think cat-sized). Tanzania-based NGO Apopo, however, thinks rats make excellent gifts. So much so that they've launched an adopt-a-rat program, which allows participants to sponsor the animal. "It's great for the giving season. It also works on Valentine's Day. Many people love to give their love, er, a rat," says Bart Weetjens, Apopo's founder. Weetjens' rodents have many talents. Mostly, though, they are highly trained to sniff out land mines and detect tuberculosis -- two scourges that have had a tremendously negative impact across the African continent.And his rats are fast. A single rat can clear 200 square feet in an hour (done manually, the same area would take 50 hours to clear). A TB-detection rat can evaluate 50 samples in eight minutes (almost a day's work for a lab technician

Anti-malaria soap could save thousands of lives in rural areas.

The past decade has led to some amazing progress in the fight against malaria, especially in Africa. But despite this, the mosquito-borne disease remains a threat. Experts now believe creative ideas are needed to eradicate malaria for good. In Burkina Faso one student has come up with a soap that repels mosquitoes.

Pigs Against Malaria.

                                Pigs Against Malaria.

Mosquito vector-borne diseases are serious global health threats. Malaria alone claims the lives of about 600,000 people annually. With such high death tolls, controlling vectors and the pathogens that they carry is of critical importance.

 Ivermectin is a broad spectrum antiparasitic medication that can be used both internally and topically for the treatment of myriad parasites, including filarial worms, gastrointestinal parasites, and scabies. And, as it turns out, ivermectin can even kill mosquitoes.

 Scientists have shown that having humans in an entire village take ivermectin can disrupt transmission of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

How to establish and maintain a mange-free pig populations.

How to establish and maintain a mange-free pig populations.The establishment and maintenance of mange-free herds is achieved by three important facts:
1) Piglets are born free of mites.

2) Mites are highly host-specific and do not survive long away from their host.

3)Modern treatments are very effective.

 Mange-free herds can also be established with cesarean piglets, by depopulation and repopulation from mange-free stock, by segregated rearing of treated pigs or by eradication using ivermectins and other products.

 Biosecurity measures that focus on careful scrutiny of incoming stock and sourcing stock from a minimal number of herds are usually adequate to prevent re-introduction of the parasite.


 Mange control involves identification of animals with chronic mange so that they can receive systematic and regular treatment to protect the younger animals in the herd.All control programmes must target the breeding herd.

Mange in pigs.

The importance of external parasites in pig production varies greatly among regions because of differences in climate and systems used to raise pigs. Sarcoptic mange caused by Sarcoptes scabiei var suis is the most important external parasite of pigs worldwide.

 Other external parasites include demodectic mites, lice, fungi and ticks. External parasites produce a range of clinical signs in pigs including rubbing, scratching, and skin lesions. Some parasites also cause significant economic effects due to reduced growth rate, reduced feed efficiency, and loss of carcass value at slaughter.

 Sarcoptic Mange. Two clinical forms of the disease are recognized: a hyperkeratotic form that most commonly affects multiparous sows and a pruritic or hypersensitive form that primarily affects growing pigs.

 The sarcoptes mite is a small, greyish-white, circular parasite about 0.5mm in length and just visible to the naked eye when placed on a dark background.

 Hyperkeratotic encrustations in the ears of multiparous sows are the main reservoir of mites within a herd. The boar helps to maintain infection in the herd because he is constantly in direct skin contact with breeding females and he remains a chronic carrier.

If pigs are housed in groups, there is increased opportunity for spread. Piglets become infested during suckling. Environmental spread is less important but exposure for as little as 24 hours to pens that have been immediately vacated by previously infected pigs can result in infestation.

 The mite dies quickly away from the pig; under most farm conditions in less than five days. This is an important factor in control. If a herd is free from mange, it is one of the easiest diseases to keep out because it can only be introduced by carrier pigs.

However, once it is introduced, it tends to become permanently endemic unless control measures are taken. In the acute disease,there is severe hypersensitive (allergic) mange in a sow.

Scientist tracking mosquitoes with cell phone.

Mosquitoes can be deadly, transmitting malaria, dengue, and Zika. But tracking them is tough. Now, researchers—led by bioengineer Manu Prakash of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California—have developed a new, cheap way to monitor these insects with mobile phones and a Shazam-like app that tells them apart based on their “songs.” Most mosquito species can be identified by the frequency of their wingbeats, so the web app—aptly named Abuzz—lets users upload recordings of mosquito sounds, identify the species, and map its location. But getting a good recording can be tricky: The insect cannot be more than 10 centimeters away from the microphone, and background noise cannot be louder than light traffic.