Health services reform in Bangladesh: hearing the views of health workers and their professional bodies.

Background: In Bangladesh, widespread dissatisfaction with government health services did not improve during the Health and Population Sector Programme (HPSP) reforms from 1998-2003. A 2003 national household survey documented public and health service users' views and experience. Attitudes and behaviour of health workers are central to quality of health services.

Could bats act as reservoir hosts for Rift Valley fever virus?

The inter-epizootic reservoir host of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) remains unknown, although the namaqua rock rat, Aethomys namaquensis, as well as bats have been implicated. Bats can be asymptomatically infected with rabies, as well as several arboviruses; the possibility that they can act as host for RVFV therefore exists. To examine this possibility, 350 different samples (brain, liver, salivary glands and brown fat) obtained from 150 bats (comprising seven species) were tested for RVFV antigen using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

The binding potential of commercial antibody conjugates with sera of various small terrestrial mammals.

Infectious diseases of wild animals are of increasing importance, both from an economic viewpoint and because several of these diseases are pathogenic to man. However, serosurveys to determine the circulation of infectious organisms in wildlife are complicated by the fact that antibodies to species-specific immunoglobulins are not available for use in serological assays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) or immunofluorescence assays. To determine the binding potential of four commercially available antibody conjugates with the sera of wild animals, sera from 27 species of small terrestrial mammals were allowed to react with alkaline phosphatase-labelled protein A, anti-rabbit IgG, anti-mouse IgG and anti-human IgG by by the use of an ELISA.

Rift Valley fever virus: a seroepidemiologic study of small terrestrial vertebrates in South Africa.

Epizootics of Rift Valley fever (RVF) are often associated with periods of heavy rainfall, which are favorable for mosquito vectors. However, in seasons with normal or low rainfall, enzootic circulation occurs, suggesting the existence of a natural host that can act as a cryptic carrier during interepizootic periods. To confirm the role of heavy rainfall in epizootic circulation, and to identify a possible natural host of RVF virus, serum samples from small terrestrial mammals in the Free State and Northern Cape regions of South Africa were collected before and after the 1988 floods.

Rabies and bats in a rabies-endemic area of southern Africa: application of two commercial test kits for antigen and antibody detection.

In southern Africa, isolates of rabies-related viruses (i.e. Duvenhage virus and Lagos bat virus) have been made from insectivorous and frugivorous bats.