Ebola, Zika now WIV1-CoV,

Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill have found that the newly identified virus, known as WIV1-CoV, a SARS-like virus found in Chinese horseshoe bats may be poised to infect humans could bind to the same receptors as SARS-CoV that infected thousands in 2002.They also showed that the virus readily and efficiently replicated in cultured human airway tissues, suggesting an ability to jump directly to humans. Researcher Vineet Menachery said that the capacity of this group of viruses to jump into humans is greater than originally thought, adding that while other adaptations may be required to produce an epidemic, several viral strains circulating in bat populations have already overcome the barrier of replication in human cells and suggest reemergence as a distinct possibility. He further said that this virus may never jump to humans, but if it does, WIV1-CoV has the potential to seed a new outbreak with significant consequences for both public health and the global economy.The research team also found that antibodies developed to treat SARS were effective in both human and animal tissue samples against WIV1-CoV, providing a potent treatment option if there were an outbreak. Prevention using existing vaccines against SARS would not provide protection for this new virus due to slight differences in the viral sequence and there is a limitation to treat with antibodies.This is the same as with ZMapp, the antibody approach used for Ebola, because of production at a large enough scale to treat many people. culled from journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

MOSQUITOES , PATHOGENS AND GLOBAL THREAT.

The world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas but experts warns the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening humanity. The Aedes aegypti species blamed for transmitting Zika breeds in car tires, tin cans, dog bowls and cemetery flower vases. And its females are great at spreading disease as they take multiple bites to satisfy their hunger for the protein in human blood they need to develop their eggs. Around the world, disease-carrying mosquitoes are advancing at speed, taking viruses such as dengue and Zika, plus a host of lesser-known conditions such as chikungunya and St. Louis encephalitis, into new territories from Europe to the Pacific. In 2014, there was a large outbreak of chikungunya, which causes fever and joint pains, in the Caribbean, where it had not been seen before, while the same virus sickened Italians in 2007 .Europe has seen the re-emergence of malaria in Greece for the first time in decades and the appearance of West Nile fever in eastern parts of the continent. The speed of change in mosquito-borne diseases since the late 1990s has been unprecedented, for many experts the biggest potential threat is Aedes albopictus, otherwise known as the Asian tiger mosquito. This is expanding its range widely and is capable of spreading more than 25 viruses, including Zika. There is evidence that Aedes albopictus is now out-competing aegypti in some areas and becoming more dominant, in the United States, Aedes albopictus has been found as far north as Massachusetts and as far west as California. In Europe it has reached Paris and Strasbourg. The global movement of mosquitoes rests on the increase in human travel, humans are moving the pathogens around and the mosquitoes are waiting there to transmit them. Deforestation in Malaysia, for example, is blamed for a steep rise in human cases of a type of malaria usually found in monkeys. The elimination of mosquitoes,their breeding sites and avoiding mosquito bites in mosquito prone areas are some of the measures to keep the mosquito menace at bay. Read more here; http://veterinarymedicineechbeebolanle-ojuri.blogspot.com.ng/2016/01/the-zika-threat-and-global-village.html

SWILL FEEDING AND PIG PRODUCTION CHAIN.

( food waste). Swill refers to cooked food given to pigs.Pigs consume almost anything,and are great feed converters turning feed into muscle fast.Feed costs and efficiency has pushed the stakes high on alternative feed sources that will provide necessary nutrition requirements but also ensure optimum growth.Swill benefits not only farmer’s wallets, but also the environment, as farmers replace grain- and soybean-based feeds with swill, they reduce demand for these land- and greenhouse gas-intensive feeds. Pigs are usually fed a formulated ration in most pig farms,while others provide a combination of various feed components to achieve the same aim of growth at stipulated pace.Pigs are sometimes fed kitchen waste ,which is the common practice in small scale production,but the practice has gained more acceptance now even on large scale production because of the potential to reduce production costs. Swill is currently illegal in the EU,many developing countries still practice this with good feedback.The only caution in the practice is to cook the food properly so as to kill pathogens.The risks of feeding uncooked food waste were demonstrated in 2001 when a UK farmer illegally fed some to pigs, precipitating the 2001 FMD outbreak, which cost the UK economy £8 billion (€ 10.4 billion). In response, swill-feeding was banned in the UK in 2001, with the ban extended across the EU the following year. While the EU saw swill only as a disease risk, other nations saw it as a potential resource. Heat treatment deactivates viruses such as FMD and Classical Swine Fever (hog cholera) and renders food waste safe for animal feed. In the same year that the UK banned the use of swill, the Japanese government launched an initiative to promote the regulated use of food waste in animal feed. Japan and South Korea recycle around 40% of their food waste as feed which is a waste-resource innovation, as swill is seen as a strategic resource. It is a cheap, domestic alternative to the more expensive, volatile grain- and soybean-based feeds. Pigs reared on food waste produce pork of high quality , although swill-fed pigs tend to grow more slowly than when fed conventional, grain-based feed. The swill has a more variable nutritional content thus the costs of slower growth are more than offset by the savings in feed costs.

Agro-Veterinary Business: role of environment in antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is a global issue with developing countries being mostly affected .The research as to ways to combat the super bug effect has looked into techniques of animal production with the view that if antibiotic use is reduced in farm animals then there will not be any residues in the products thus eliciting development of antibiotic strains in man resulting in difficulty in treatment of simple conditions such as diarrhoea. 

 The reduction and absolute banning of antibiotics in farmed animals has shown dramatic changes in the antibiotic residues,but the identification of some antibiotic resistance strains that was not used even during production,has beam the search on another possible route of transmission. 

 The environment is the mixing media where various pathogens interact, pathogens from man,animals are exchanged freely .Antibiotics released into the environment may be spread through plants which later are consumed by humans, or by livestock. 

 The consequence is that relatively harmless conditions such as diarrhea caused by resistant coli bacteria or salmonella bacteria become dangerous or even lethal. 

 Drugs discharged into the environment are a problem in many parts of the world and antibiotics are spread in nature through urine from animals and humans, and many unfortunately have a very long life span.

 The problem is very pronounced in many African countries because of poor sanitation conditions . The quality of drugs available to man and animals also play a role in development of resistance,many countries with poor drug regulations where concentrations of active ingredients are not accurate,or the active ingredient is not even in the preparation( fake drugs). 

This results in repeated treatment where the bacteria is not destroyed but becomes resistant to the drug.The environment is the mixing vat,and unless proper disposal of drugs,feces are incorporated into sanitation laws the problem will persist.

Drug-resistant genes spread through environment, not meat products.

New findings show that traffic from humans to animals, and back to humans via the environment,is responsible for resistant genes and as such a new focus on tackling antibiotic resistance is proposed. 

In the first study to track antibiotic resistance in intensively-farmed beef, scientists discovered a "startling" lack of resistance genes in meat. Meanwhile, in soil and feces samples from cattle pens they found genes resistant to a powerful "last resort" class of antibiotics called carpabemens that aren't used in the livestock industry.

These genes may have jumped from humans or companion animals to livestock, or could even be present at low levels in the wider environment.

 Results published in eLife suggest researchers and policy-makers need to switch focus to combat the growing problem of drug-resistant bugs. A current focus for policy-makers is to reduce antibiotic use in livestock to curb the spread of drug-resistant bugs.


The team urges that traffic from humans to animals, and back to humans via the environment, should be a new focus for research. The lack of resistance genes in post-slaughter meat samples was a big surprise for the scientists, forcing them to rethink the view that it is only antibiotic use that increases resistance.

 Environmental routes of exposure are much harder to trace and have been largely overlooked by researchers and policy-makers. While many people never step foot on working farms, we are physically connected to agriculture via waste water run-off and wind borne particulates.

 The scientists suggest investigating wind patterns and water flow to see if, and how, resistant bacteria may be disseminated, and how far.

 The researchers opined that they may observe that such dissemination is very limited geographically, or we may find that resistant bacteria can travel long distances if they find the right currents or the right waterways. In either case, this would be very important information from a public health perspective.

 The researchers collected samples from 1,741 commercial cattle. The study started in feedlots, where intensively farmed cattle are moved after grazing. A feedlot consists of outdoor pens where cattle are fattened during their final months of life.

 Samples were also taken during slaughter and from market-ready products. No previous studies have tracked antimicrobial use and resistance right through the beef production process.

The team found no resistance genes to any bacteria in market-ready beef products. They did discover changes to antibiotic resistance genes in the guts of cattle during their time in the feedlot. The changes could be due to the use of antibiotics in feedlots but could also result from adjusting to a high-energy diet or from the cattle's maturation from adolescent to adult.

Nestle meals recalled over glass contamination

Nestle meals recalled over glass contamination: A range of chicken pizzas and lasagnes have been recalled by Nestle USA after customers complained of finding small pieces of glass in their food.

EU urged to ban Brazilian horsemeat

EU urged to ban Brazilian horsemeat: The EU has been urged to stop imports of Brazilian horsemeat after one body raised “serious concerns” over animal welfare abuse, following evidence that horses died while being transported to abattoirs.