Carriage of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in a high-density informal settlement in Kenya is associated with environmental risk-factors.

Background: The relationship between antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance varies with cultural, socio-economic, and environmental factors. We examined these relationships in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi-Kenya, characterized by high population density, high burden of respiratory disease and diarrhea.

Methods: Two-hundred households were enrolled in a 5-month longitudinal study.

Livestock vaccinations translate into increased human capital and school attendance by girls.

To fulfill the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is useful to understand whether and how specific agricultural interventions improve human health, educational opportunity, and food security. In sub-Saharan Africa, 75% of the population is engaged in small-scale farming, and 80% of these households keep livestock, which represent a critical asset and provide protection against economic shock. For the 50 million pastoralists, livestock play an even greater role.

Relations between Household Livestock Ownership, Livestock Disease, and Young Child Growth.

Background: In resource-limited settings in which child malnutrition is prevalent, humans live in close proximity to household livestock. However, the relation between household livestock and child nutrition represents a considerable knowledge gap.

Objective: We assessed whether household livestock ownership or livestock disease episodes were associated with growth in young children in western Kenya.

Linking human health and livestock health: a "one-health" platform for integrated analysis of human health, livestock health, and economic welfare in livestock dependent communities.

Background: For most rural households in sub-Saharan Africa, healthy livestock play a key role in averting the burden associated with zoonotic diseases, and in meeting household nutritional and socio-economic needs. However, there is limited understanding of the complex nutritional, socio-economic, and zoonotic pathways that link livestock health to human health and welfare. Here we describe a platform for integrated human health, animal health and economic welfare analysis designed to address this challenge.

Tick passage results in enhanced attenuation of Babesia bovis.

Serial blood passage of virulent Babesia bovis in splenectomized cattle results in attenuated derivatives that do not cause neurologic disease. Tick transmissibility can be lost with attenuation, but when retained, attenuated B. bovis can revert to virulence following tick passage.

Targeted surface expression of an exogenous antigen in stably transfected Babesia bovis.

Babesia bovis is a tick-borne intraerythocytic protozoan responsible for acute disease in cattle which can be controlled by vaccination with attenuated B. bovis strains. Emerging B.

Improved diagnostic performance of a commercial Anaplasma antibody competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using recombinant major surface protein 5-glutathione S-transferase fusion protein as antigen.

The current study tested the hypothesis that removal of maltose binding protein (MBP) from recombinant antigen used for plate coating would improve the specificity of a commercial Anaplasma antibody competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). The number of 358 sera with significant MBP antibody binding (≥30%I) in Anaplasma-negative herds was 139 (38.8%) when tested using the recombinant major surface protein 5 (rMSP5)-MBP cELISA without MBP adsorption.

Seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii in Washington State domestic goat herds.

A caprine herd seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii infection was determined by passive surveillance of domestic goat herds in Washington State. Serum samples (n=1794) from 105 herds in 31 counties were analyzed for C. burnetii antibodies using a commercially available Q fever antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit.

Loss of neurovirulence is associated with reduction of cerebral capillary sequestration during acute Babesia bovis infection.

Background: Severe neurological signs that develop during acute infection by virulent strains of Babesia bovis are associated with sequestration of infected erythrocytes in cerebral capillaries. Serial passage of virulent strains in cattle results in attenuated derivatives that do not cause neurologic disease. We evaluated whether serial passage also results in a loss of cerebral capillary sequestration by examining brain biopsies during acute disease and at necropsy.

Expression and strain variation of the novel "small open reading frame" (smorf) multigene family in Babesia bovis.

Small open reading frame (smorf) genes comprise the second largest Babesia bovis multigene family. All known 44 variant smorf genes are located in close chromosomal proximity to ves1 genes, which encode proteins that mediate cytoadhesion and contribute to immune evasion. In this study, we characterised the general topology of smorf genes and investigated the gene repertoire, transcriptional profile and SMORF expression in two distinct strains, T2Bo and Mo7.

A network control theory approach to modeling and optimal control of zoonoses: case study of brucellosis transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Developing control policies for zoonotic diseases is challenging, both because of the complex spread dynamics exhibited by these diseases, and because of the need for implementing complex multi-species surveillance and control efforts using limited resources. Mathematical models, and in particular network models, of disease spread are promising as tools for control-policy design, because they can provide comprehensive quantitative representations of disease transmission.

Methodology/principal Findings: A layered dynamical network model for the transmission and control of zoonotic diseases is introduced as a tool for analyzing disease spread and designing cost-effective surveillance and control.

Attenuation of virulence in an apicomplexan hemoparasite results in reduced genome diversity at the population level.

Background: Virulence acquisition and loss is a dynamic adaptation of pathogens to thrive in changing milieus. We investigated the mechanisms of virulence loss at the whole genome level using Babesia bovis as a model apicomplexan in which genetically related attenuated parasites can be reliably derived from virulent parental strains in the natural host. We expected virulence loss to be accompanied by consistent changes at the gene level, and that such changes would be shared among attenuated parasites of diverse geographic and genetic background.

Development of a bead-based multiplex PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of multiple Mycoplasma species.

We describe the development and analytical validation of a 7-plex polymerase chain reaction assay coupled to a bead-based liquid suspension array for detection of multiple ruminant Mycoplasma spp. The assay employs a combination of newly designed and previously validated primer-probe sets that target genetic loci specific for Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma mycoides cluster, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC (MmmSC) and Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae (Mccp).

A Babesia bovis gene syntenic to Theileria parva p67 is expressed in blood and tick stage parasites.

Completion of the Babesia bovis (T2Bo strain) genome provides detailed data concerning the predicted proteome of this parasite, and allows for a bioinformatics approach to gene discovery. Comparative genomics of the hemoprotozoan parasites B. bovis and Theileria parva revealed a highly conserved syntenic block of genes flanking the p67 gene of T.

One Health approach to identify research needs in bovine and human babesioses: workshop report.

Background: Babesia are emerging health threats to humans and animals in the United States. A collaborative effort of multiple disciplines to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment, otherwise known as the One Health concept, was taken during a research workshop held in April 2009 to identify gaps in scientific knowledge regarding babesioses. The impetus for this analysis was the increased risk for outbreaks of bovine babesiosis, also known as Texas cattle fever, associated with the re-infestation of the U.

Genotypic diversity of merozoite surface antigen 1 of Babesia bovis within an endemic population.

Multiple genetically distinct strains of a pathogen circulate and compete for dominance within populations of animal reservoir hosts. Understanding the basis for genotypic strain structure is critical for predicting how pathogens respond to selective pressures and how shifts in pathogen population structure can lead to disease outbreaks. Evidence from related Apicomplexans such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium and Theileria suggests that various patterns of population dynamics exist, including but not limited to clonal, oligoclonal, panmictic and epidemic genotypic strain structures.

Transfection systems for Babesia bovis: a review of methods for the transient and stable expression of exogenous genes.

With the recently sequenced Babesia bovis genome, a large pool of genes with unknown function was identified. The ability to complement and knock-out both unknown and previously identified genes would be a valuable tool to better understand gene function in B. bovis parasites.

Babesia bovis: a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of plastid-encoded genes supports green algal origin of apicoplasts.

Apicomplexan parasites commonly contain a unique, non-photosynthetic plastid-like organelle termed the apicoplast. Previous analyses of other plastid-containing organisms suggest that apicoplasts were derived from a red algal ancestor. In this report, we present an extensive phylogenetic study of apicoplast origins using multiple previously reported apicoplast sequences as well as several sequences recently reported.

Stable expression of a GFP-BSD fusion protein in Babesia bovis merozoites.

Transfection has been a valuable technique for elucidating gene function in many pathogens. While transient transfection of Babesia spp. has been reported previously, stable integration of exogenous genes in Babesia has proven difficult.

Validation of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of Babesia bigemina antibodies in cattle.

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) based on a broadly conserved, species-specific, B-cell epitope within the C terminus of Babesia bigemina rhoptry-associated protein 1a was validated for international use. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed 16% inhibition as the threshold for a negative result, with an associated specificity of 98.3% and sensitivity of 94.

MSP1(19) miniproteins can serve as targets for invasion inhibitory antibodies in Plasmodium falciparum provided they contain the correct domains for cell surface trafficking.

Antibodies from malaria-exposed individuals can agglutinate merozoites released from Plasmodium schizonts, thereby preventing them from invading new erythrocytes. Merozoite coat proteins attached to the plasma membrane are major targets for host antibodies and are therefore considered important malaria vaccine candidates. Prominent among these is the abundant glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) and particularly its C-terminal fragment (MSP1(19)) comprised of two epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like modules.

The role of osmiophilic bodies and Pfg377 expression in female gametocyte emergence and mosquito infectivity in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Osmiophilic bodies are membrane-bound vesicles, found predominantly in Plasmodium female gametocytes, that become progressively more abundant as the gametocyte reaches full maturity. These vesicles lie beneath the subpellicular membrane of the gametocyte, and the release of their contents into the parasitophorous vacuole has been postulated to aid in the escape of gametocytes from the erythrocyte after ingestion by the mosquito. Currently, the only protein known to be associated with osmiophilic bodies in Plasmodium falciparum is Pfg377, a gametocyte-specific protein expressed at the onset of osmiophilic body development.