Bovine tuberculosis trends in Wales between 2010 and 2021.

Background: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is the most important animal health concern in Wales. Annual testing across all cattle herds in Wales commenced in 2010. In 2017, a new geographic division of Wales was conceived, with bespoke cattle controls and eradication milestones reflecting the geographical heterogeneity of bTB distribution.

Factors in the decline of the African penguin: Are contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) a potential new age stressor?

The African penguin is currently experiencing a significant decline, with just over 10,000 breeding pairs left. A substantial body of research reflects the impacts of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on the marine environment, with wastewater treatment plants reported as one of the main sources of CEC release. In South Africa, CECs were identified contaminating the marine environment and bioaccumulating in several marine species.

Vaccination of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) against high-pathogenicity avian influenza.

Background: High-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) has become a conservation threat to wild birds. Therefore, suitable vaccine technology and practical application methods require investigation.

Methods: Twenty-four African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) were vaccinated with either a conventional inactivated clade 2.

Rabies Virus Seroprevalence among Dogs in Limpopo National Park and the Phylogenetic Analyses of Rabies Viruses in Mozambique.

Rabies is considered a neglected disease among many developing Asian and African countries, including Mozambique, where its re-emergence is often attributed to low dog parenteral vaccination coverage. The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to assess the level of antibodies against rabies virus in dogs (n = 418) in Limpopo National Park (LNP), and (2) to genetically characterise selected rabies viruses from brain tissue samples collected in 2017 and 2018. To meet the first objective, we used the BioProTM Rabies blocking ELISA antibody kit, and the results were expressed as the percentage of blocking (%PB).

Knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) and control of rabies among community households and health practitioners at the human-wildlife interface in Limpopo National Park, Massingir District, Mozambique.

Background: Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease that kills more than 26,000 people each year in Africa. In Mozambique, poverty and inadequate surveillance result in gross underreporting and ineffective control of the disease in animals and people. Little is known of the role of human attitudes and behaviour in prevention or control of rabies, thus this study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices amongst selected households and health practitioners in one affected area, the Limpopo National Park (LNP), Massingir district.

Bovine Brucellosis in Gauteng, South Africa: Seroprevalence amongst Cattle Handlers and Variables Associated with Seropositive Cattle Herds, 2014-2016.

In South Africa, the prevalence of cattle handler exposure to on cattle farms is unknown and risk factors and cattle symptoms associated with infected cattle herds are unavailable. To address this gap, a case-control study of cattle herds was conducted in Gauteng province and farm workers and veterinary officials were tested for exposure to . Seroprevalence amongst farm workers exposed to case herds ranged from 4.

Investigation of in Sable Antelope () in South Africa.

In this study, infection in sable antelope () was investigated on two wildlife ranches in South Africa over a 12-year period in order to determine the origin of the outbreaks and the role of livestock in maintaining the disease. Retrospective data were obtained from farm records and interviews as well as samples tested from different disease scenarios and clinical settings. On one ranch, 10 of 74 sable tested seropositive for in 2004 but were certified clear of infection after no further brucellosis cases were detected following repeated serological tests and culling over a five-year period.

β2-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists and risk of Parkinson's disease.

Background: β2-adrenoreceptors have recently been identified as regulators of the α-synuclein gene, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the association between use of β2-agonists and β-antagonists and the risk of developing PD.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of 1,762,164 adults without a diagnosis of PD.

Drug Burden Index and Its Association With Hip Fracture Among Older Adults: A National Population-Based Study.

Background: The Drug Burden Index (DBI) calculates the total sedative and anticholinergic load of prescribed medications and is associated with functional decline and hip fractures in older adults. However, it is unknown if confounding factors influence the relationship between the DBI and hip fractures. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the DBI and hip fractures, after correcting for mortality and multiple potential confounding factors.

Methodology and preliminary results of a systematic literature review of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis.

A systematic review was conducted to identify studies with data for statistical meta-analyses of sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Members of a working group (WG) developed and tested search criteria and developed a standardised two-stage review process, to identify primary studies with numerator and denominator data for test performance and an agreed range of covariate data. No limits were applied to year, language, region or type of test in initial searches of electronic databases.

Drug Burden and its Association with Falls Among Older Adults in New Zealand: A National Population Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Adverse outcomes associated with advanced diseases are often exacerbated by polypharmacy.

Objectives: The current study investigated an association between exposure to anticholinergic and sedative medicines and falls in community-dwelling older people, after controlling for potential confounders.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a continuously recruited national cohort of community-dwelling New Zealanders aged 65 years and over.

Use of Biomedical Ontologies for Integration of Biological Knowledge for Learning and Prediction of Adverse Drug Reactions.

Drug-induced toxicity is a major public health concern that leads to patient morbidity and mortality. To address this problem, the Food and Drug Administration is working on the PredicTox initiative, a pilot research program on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, to build mechanistic and predictive models for drug-induced toxicity. This program involves integrating data acquired during preclinical studies and clinical trials within pharmaceutical company development programs that they have agreed to put in the public domain and in publicly available biological, pharmacological, and chemical databases.

In Vitro-In Vivo Extrapolation of Metabolism- and Transporter-Mediated Drug-Drug Interactions-Overview of Basic Prediction Methods.

Evaluation of drug-drug interaction (DDI) risk is vital to establish benefit-risk profiles of investigational new drugs during drug development. In vitro experiments are routinely conducted as an important first step to assess metabolism- and transporter-mediated DDI potential of investigational new drugs. Results from these experiments are interpreted, often with the aid of in vitro-in vivo extrapolation methods, to determine whether and how DDI should be evaluated clinically to provide the basis for proper DDI management strategies, including dosing recommendations, alternative therapies, or contraindications under various DDI scenarios and in different patient population.

Evaluation of the methodological quality of studies of the performance of diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis using QUADAS.

There has been little assessment of the methodological quality of studies measuring the performance (sensitivity and/or specificity) of diagnostic tests for animal diseases. In a systematic review, 190 studies of tests for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle (published 1934-2009) were assessed by at least one of 18 reviewers using the QUADAS (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) checklist adapted for animal disease tests. VETQUADAS (VQ) included items measuring clarity in reporting (n = 3), internal validity (n = 9) and external validity (n = 2).

Meta-analyses of the sensitivity and specificity of ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis in the UK and Ireland.

Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle is a global health problem and eradication of the disease requires accurate estimates of diagnostic test performance to optimize their efficiency. The objective of this study was, through statistical meta-analyses, to obtain estimates of sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp), for 14 different ante-mortem and post-mortem diagnostic tests for bTB in cattle. Using data from a systematic review of the scientific literature (published 1934-2009) diagnostic Se and Sp were estimated using Bayesian logistic regression models adjusting for confounding factors.

An investigation of antimicrobial usage patterns by small animal veterinarians in South Africa.

Aim: At present very little information is available on antimicrobial use patterns in small animal veterinary practice in South Africa. The aim of this study was firstly to provide some indication of antimicrobial use patterns, and secondly to ascertain if the country's small animal veterinarians make use of prudent use guidelines to optimise their antimicrobial use in order to minimise the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Methodology: In order to understand use patterns, a questionnaire was circulated to registered South African veterinarians, whose responses were evaluated by descriptive statistics.

Linking MedDRA(®)-Coded Clinical Phenotypes to Biological Mechanisms by the Ontology of Adverse Events: A Pilot Study on Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors.

Introduction: A translational bioinformatics challenge exists in connecting population and individual clinical phenotypes in various formats to biological mechanisms. The Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA(®)) is the default dictionary for adverse event (AE) reporting in the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). The ontology of adverse events (OAE) represents AEs as pathological processes occurring after drug exposures.

Bidirectional interactions between indomethacin and the murine intestinal microbiota.

The vertebrate gut microbiota have been implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotic compounds, motivating studies of microbe-driven metabolism of clinically important drugs. Here, we studied interactions between the microbiota and indomethacin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that inhibits cyclooxygenases (COX) -1 and -2. Indomethacin was tested in both acute and chronic exposure models in mice at clinically relevant doses, which suppressed production of COX-1- and COX-2-derived prostaglandins and caused small intestinal (SI) damage.