Diet and kwashiorkor: a prospective study from rural DR Congo.

The etiology of kwashiorkor remains enigmatic and longitudinal studies examining potential causes of kwashiorkor are scarce. Using historical, longitudinal study data from the rural area of Bwamanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, we investigated the potential causal association between diet and the development of kwashiorkor in 5 657 preschool children followed 3-monthly during 15 months. We compared dietary risk factors for kwashiorkor with those of marasmus.

Cattle and climate in Africa: How climate variability has influenced national cattle holdings from 1961-2008.

The role of cattle in developing countries is as a source of high-quality food, as draft animals, and as a source of manure and fuel. Cattle represent important contribution to household incomes, and in drought prone areas they can act as an insurance against weather risk. So far, no studies have addressed how historical variations in temperature and rainfall have influenced cattle populations in Africa.

A dynamic model of some malaria-transmitting anopheline mosquitoes of the Afrotropical region. I. Model description and sensitivity analysis.

Background: Most of the current biophysical models designed to address the large-scale distribution of malaria assume that transmission of the disease is independent of the vector involved. Another common assumption in these type of model is that the mortality rate of mosquitoes is constant over their life span and that their dispersion is negligible. Mosquito models are important in the prediction of malaria and hence there is a need for a realistic representation of the vectors involved.

How malaria models relate temperature to malaria transmission.

Background: It is well known that temperature has a major influence on the transmission of malaria parasites to their hosts. However, mathematical models do not always agree about the way in which temperature affects malaria transmission.

Methods: In this study, we compared six temperature dependent mortality models for the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto.

Effect of bednets and indoor residual spraying on spatio-temporal clustering of malaria in a village in south Ethiopia: a longitudinal study.

Background: Understanding the spatio-temporal pattern of malaria transmission where prevention and control measures are in place will help to fine-tune strategies. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of mass distribution of bednets and indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides on the spatio-temporal clustering of malaria in one malaria endemic village in south Ethiopia.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted from April 2009 to April 2011.