Publications by authors named "Ewan T Macleod"

Article Synopsis
  • The control of African trypanosomiasis (AT) in Eastern and Southern Africa, particularly Zambia, is complicated due to the presence of wild and domestic animal reservoirs, especially free-roaming dogs that can contract and transmit the disease.
  • A study involving 162 dogs in Zambia's Mambwe district found a high prevalence of trypanosome infections, with 74.7% testing positive for antibodies and 70.9% showing DNA evidence of infection from various trypanosome species, including human-infective strains.
  • The findings highlight the significant role of domesticated dogs as reservoirs for AT, indicating that control efforts should expand beyond livestock to include these dogs to more effectively combat the disease in endemic areas.
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The rise of African trypanocide resistance (ATr) is influenced by various factors such as evolutionary changes in the pathogen, the presence of resistance genes in the population, poor policy decisions, limited private-public partnerships to engage local communities, and insufficient funding for the development of new drugs over the past sixty years. These challenges have been exacerbated by the inadequate implementation of drug liberalization policies in the mid 20th century, leading to poor pharmacovigilance practices for veterinary drugs in low and middle income countries (LMICs). One health (OH), a disease management framework, provides practical solutions for addressing ATr, drawing on its success in managing previous epidemics like avian influenza in 2004 and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, where institutional collaborations were rapidly established.

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Background: Systematic infrastructure and regulatory weaknesses over many decades, in communities struggling with animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) would be expected to create an environment that would promote drug misuse and risk development of drug resistance. Here, we explore rural community practices of livestock keepers, livestock extension officers and drug shop attendants to determine whether appropriate practice was being followed in administration of trypanocides and other drugs.

Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was undertaken in southwestern Uganda in 2022 involving 451 farmers who kept cattle, sheep or goats and 79 "professionals" who were either livestock extension officers or drug shop attendants.

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Ticks are leading vectors of economically important pathogens that affect small ruminants due to favourable climatic conditions across different regions of the African continent. They are responsible for both direct and indirect economic losses in the livestock industry. This review focuses on the species diversity of hard ticks, their biology, tick-borne diseases of sheep and goats including non-infectious disease, and risk factors to tick infestation in Africa.

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Good dog-keeping practices and access to veterinary care are essential for the well-being of dogs. As the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the rural canine population in Zambia are poorly understood, we followed a cohort of 162 indigenous dogs for six months in wildlife-populated and tsetse-infested villages of Mambwe district, eastern Zambia to gain deeper insights. Dogs lacked basic home and veterinary care, they were often starved and burdened with ticks, and some passed live adult worms in their stool.

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Background: African animal trypanocide resistance (AATr) continues to undermine global efforts to eliminate the transmission of African trypanosomiasis in endemic communities. The continued lack of new trypanocides has precipitated drug misuse and overuse, thus contributing to the development of the AATr phenotype. In this study, we investigated the threat associated with AATr by using the major globally available chemotherapeutical agents.

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Background Human African trypanocide resistance (HATr) is a challenge for the eradication of Human African Trypansomiaisis (HAT) following the widespread emergence of increased monotherapy drug treatment failures against Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense that are associated with changes in pathogen receptors.

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Background: African trypanocide resistance is an emerging public health emergency whose control requires a revisit on farmer's knowledge, attitudes, and practices in developing countries. African animal trypanocide resistance (AATr) is rife in an environment where drug use and policy decisions are disjointed. The objective of the study was to identify community factors responsible for the development of AATr.

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Tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) pose an increased health and productivity risk to livestock in sub-Saharan Africa. Information regarding TBPs infecting small ruminants in Kano metropolis is scarce. Therefore, we investigated the molecular epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens of economic importance from sheep and goats in Kano, Nigeria using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

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African trypanosomiasis is associated with , and pathogens in African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) while and are responsible for chronic and acute human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), respectively. Suramin sodium suppresses ATP generation during the glycolytic pathway and is ineffective against and infections. Resistance to suramin is associated with pathogen altered transport proteins.

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Elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies worldwide will require large-scale dog vaccination campaigns. However, this places participating vaccinators at increased risk. Data from the 2016-2017 Haitian mass rabies vaccination campaign was analyzed to determine dog bite incidence among vaccinators.

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Tsetse-transmitted human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) remains endemic in Uganda. The chronic form caused by (gHAT) is found in north-western Uganda, whereas the acute zoonotic form of the disease, caused by (rHAT), occurs in the eastern region. Cattle is the major reservoir of rHAT in Uganda.

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Infected cattle sourced from districts with established foci for human African trypanosomiasis (rHAT) migrating to previously unaffected districts, have resulted in a significant expansion of the disease in Uganda. This study explores livestock movement data to describe cattle trade network topology and assess the effects of disease control interventions on the transmission of rHAT infectiousness. Network analysis was used to generate a cattle trade network with livestock data which was collected from cattle traders ( = 197) and validated using random graph methods.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text refers to a correction made to a previously published article, indicated by its DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242435.
  • The correction likely addresses errors or inaccuracies found in the original study's findings or presentation.
  • Such corrections are important in academic publishing to ensure the integrity and reliability of scientific literature.
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The endemic vector-borne diseases transmitted by tsetse and ticks impose heavy burdens on the livestock keepers in Africa. Applying deltamethrin to the belly, legs, and ears of cattle offers a possibility of mitigating these losses at a cost affordable to livestock keepers. Although studies have quantified the impacts of individual diseases on livestock productivity, little is known about the dual economic benefits of controlling both tsetse and ticks, nor about the number of cattle that need to be treated to confer these benefits.

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Background-misinformation and mistrust often undermines community vaccine uptake, yet information in rural communities, especially of developing countries, is scarce. This study aimed to identify major challenges associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine clinical trials among healthcare workers and staff in Uganda. Methods-a rapid exploratory survey was conducted over 5 weeks among 260 respondents (66% male) from healthcare centers across the country using an online questionnaire.

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Background: Brucellosis is a contagious zoonotic disease of great public health and economic significance especially in developing countries. The disease affects humans and several species of livestock and wildlife. Studies on Brucellosis in wildlife in Uganda have been limited to single populations particularly in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

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Background: Information as regards the epidemiology of the in small ruminants in several low- and middle-income countries is scarce.

Methods: In this study a total of 712 DNA samples collected from small ruminants were analyzed for and using the and genes respectively. Infection risk was assessed by location, sex and age of the animals and qGIS® was used to construct spatial maps.

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African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) is transmitted cyclically by tsetse flies and mechanically by biting flies (tabanids and stomoxyines) in West Africa. AAT caused by Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax and T.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glossina spp., Tabanus spp., Ancala spp., Atylotus spp., and Stomoxys spp. are key vectors in transmitting African animal trypanosomosis in sub-Saharan Africa, with limited research on their prevalence in cattle areas of southwest Nigeria.
  • This study examined 13,895 flies, identifying several species and confirming their identities through genetic analysis of the 28S rDNA gene, revealing distinct genetic variations among species.
  • Findings indicate that fly population density is influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and vegetation, emphasizing the need for ongoing monitoring and characterization of these fly species to understand and control the spread of the disease.
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Despite extensive attempts over many decades to control African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) across the tsetse fly belt of Nigeria, AAT persists as major animal health problem causing severe morbidity and mortality in livestock. The large agricultural losses in turn have severe adverse impacts on sustainable agricultural development. Despite this, in the past 50 years there have been no significant national control programs against AAT.

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African animal trypanosomiasis is a major cause of mortality and economic losses for the livestock industry in Nigeria. Chemotherapy has been the most reliable option for cattle herders, and the most commonly found drug on the market is diminazene aceturate. To ascertain the long-term efficacy of this compound, we sampled a cattle herd in Ogun State, Nigeria, 2 months after they were treated with diminazene aceturate.

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Glossina species epidemiological studies were conducted in "fly-belt" endemic zone of southwest Nigeria. Two major study areas were identified and four Nzi traps were set in each site for tsetse collection. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of endosymbionts (Wigglesworthia glossinidia, Sodalis glossinidius and Wolbachia) in natural field-trapped populations of G.

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Acanthamoeba is a widely distributed opportunistic parasite which causes a vision-threatening keratitis and a life-threatening encephalitis. The cyst stage of this amoeba is especially resistant to currently used therapeutics and so alternative agents are urgently required. Growing evidence supports the existence of a programmed cell death system (PCD) in Acanthamoeba and while some features are shared by higher eukaryote cells, others differ.

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This paper presents the development of an agent-based model (ABM) to investigate Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense human African trypanosomiasis (rHAT) disease transmission. The ABM model, fitted at a fine spatial scale, was used to explore the impact of a growing host population on the spread of disease along a 75 km transect in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The model was used to gain a greater understanding of how increases in human and domestic animal population could impact the contact network between vector and host, the subsequent transmission patterns, and disease incidence outcomes in the region.

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