A novel locus in gene is associated with increased susceptibility to severe malaria in Malian children.

Background: malaria is still a leading cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The clinical manifestations of malaria range from asymptomatic infection to severe disease. The variation in clinical presentation is partly attributed to host genetic factors with estimated narrow-sense heritability of 23%.

Isolation and Molecular Characterization of from Outbreaks in Southern Ethiopia, 2020.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is one of the most important transboundary diseases of small ruminants. In this study, nasal and oral swabs ( = 24) were collected from sheep ( = 7) and goats ( = 17) with clinical signs in southern Ethiopia in March 2020. PPR virus was isolated on Vero dog cells expressing the signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (VDS) and screened using RT-qPCR.

Insilico Functional Analysis of Genome-Wide Dataset From 17,000 Individuals Identifies Candidate Malaria Resistance Genes Enriched in Malaria Pathogenic Pathways.

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of severe malaria have identified several association variants. However, much about the underlying biological functions are yet to be discovered. Here, we systematically predicted plausible candidate genes and pathways from functional analysis of severe malaria resistance GWAS summary statistics ( = 17,000) meta-analysed across 11 populations in malaria endemic regions.

Network-driven analysis of human-Plasmodium falciparum interactome: processes for malaria drug discovery and extracting in silico targets.

Background: The emergence and spread of malaria drug resistance have resulted in the need to understand disease mechanisms and importantly identify essential targets and potential drug candidates. Malaria infection involves the complex interaction between the host and pathogen, thus, functional interactions between human and Plasmodium falciparum is essential to obtain a holistic view of the genetic architecture of malaria. Several functional interaction studies have extended the understanding of malaria disease and integrating such datasets would provide further insights towards understanding drug resistance and/or genetic resistance/susceptibility, disease pathogenesis, and drug discovery.

Use of an Alignment-Free Method for the Geographical Discrimination of GTPVs Based on the GPCR Sequences.

Goatpox virus (GTPV) belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus, together with sheeppox virus (SPPV) and lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). GTPV primarily affects sheep, goats and some wild ruminants. Although GTPV is only present in Africa and Asia, the recent spread of LSDV in Europe and Asia shows capripoxviruses could escape their traditional geographical regions to cause severe outbreaks in new areas.

Genome-wide heritability analysis of severe malaria resistance reveals evidence of polygenic inheritance.

Background: Estimating single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-heritability (h2g) of severe malaria resistance and its distribution across the genome might shed new light in to the underlying biology.

Method: We investigated h2g of severe malaria resistance from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset (sample size = 11 657). We estimated the h2g and partitioned in to chromosomes, allele frequencies and annotations using the genetic relationship-matrix restricted maximum likelihood approach.

Genome-wide association studies of severe P. falciparum malaria susceptibility: progress, pitfalls and prospects.

Background: P. falciparum malaria has been recognized as one of the prominent evolutionary selective forces of human genome that led to the emergence of multiple host protective alleles. A comprehensive understanding of the genetic bases of severe malaria susceptibility and resistance can potentially pave ways to the development of new therapeutics and vaccines.

Genetic diversity and drug susceptibility profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis obtained from Saint Peter's TB specialized Hospital, Ethiopia.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Ethiopia. Data on genetic diversity and resistance profile of circulating TB strains is critical for informing the national TB control program.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 213 smear positive pulmonary TB patients between 2015 and 2016.

Seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis and associated risk factors in and around Alage district, Ethiopia.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease with economic and public health impact, particularly for human and animal populations within developing countries that relay on livestock production. A cross sectional study was conducted between October 2013 and March 2014 in and around Alage district to determine the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis and associated risk factors. A total of 804 sera samples; 421 from cattle managed under extensive production system and 383 from cattle managed under intensive production system were collected.

Characterization of Newcastle disease virus isolates obtained from outbreak cases in commercial chickens and wild pigeons in Ethiopia.

Newcastle disease (ND), caused by virulent avian paramyxovirus type 1, is one of the most important diseases responsible for devastating outbreaks in poultry flocks in Ethiopia. However, the information about genetic characteristics of the Newcastle disease viruses (NDVs) circulating in commercial chickens and wild birds is scarce. In this study, we characterized isolates obtained from ND suspected outbreaks during 2012-2014 from poultry farms (n = 8) and wild pigeons (n = 4).

Spatial distribution of Glossina sp. and Trypanosoma sp. in south-western Ethiopia.

Background: Accurate information on the distribution of the tsetse fly is of paramount importance to better control animal trypanosomosis. Entomological and parasitological surveys were conducted in the tsetse belt of south-western Ethiopia to describe the prevalence of trypanosomosis (PoT), the abundance of tsetse flies (AT) and to evaluate the association with potential risk factors.

Methods: The study was conducted between 2009 and 2012.