Transmission network reconstruction for foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks incorporating farm-level covariates.

Transmission network modelling to infer 'who infected whom' in infectious disease outbreaks is a highly active area of research. Outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease have been a key focus of transmission network models that integrate genomic and epidemiological data. The aim of this study was to extend Lau's systematic Bayesian inference framework to incorporate additional parameters representing predominant species and numbers of animals held on a farm.

Simultaneous evaluation of diagnostic marker utility for enzootic bovine leukosis.

Background: Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is a disease of cattle caused by bovine leukemia virus (BLV). More than 60% of BLV-infected cattle remain subclinical and are thus referred to as aleukemic (AL) cattle. Approximately 30% of infected cattle show a relatively stable increase in the number of B lymphocytes; these cattle are termed persistent lymphocytosis (PL) cattle.

Surveillance of Culicoides biting midges in northern Honshu, Japan, during the period of Akabane virus spread.

A surveillance of Culicoides biting midges with light suction traps was conducted in the northern region of Honshu, main island of Japan, during the summers and autumns of 2009 and 2010. A total of 106 trap collections across 37 cattle farms were investigated for the structure and distribution of Culicoides species. Forty-thousand and one hundred forty-nine specimens of Culicoides biting midges were identified at the species level, and ≥19 species were included in the specimens.

Wild boars: A potential source of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection in Japan.

The potential role of wild boars as a source of erysipelas infection was investigated. An ELISA test of wild boar serum samples from 41 prefectures in Japan revealed that proportions of the Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae-positive samples were very high in all the prefectures, and the mean positive rate was 95.6% (1312/1372).

Reconstructing a transmission network and identifying risk factors of secondary transmissions in the 2010 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Japan.

Research aimed at understanding transmission networks, representing a network of "who infected whom" for an infectious disease outbreak, have been actively conducted in recent years. Transmission network models incorporating epidemiological and genetic data are valuable for elucidating disease transmission pathways. In this study, we reconstructed the transmission network of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic in Japan in 2010, and explored farm-level risk factors associated with increased risk of secondary transmission.

A Case of Spontaneous Spinal Subdural Hematoma Complicated by Cranial Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Spinal Adhesive Arachnoiditis.

A 76-year-old woman with a spinal subdural hematoma (SDH) was presented with severe back pain without headache. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed 4 days after onset showed SDH extending from Th2 to L3. She was diagnosed with spontaneous SDH without neurological manifestation, and conservative treatment was selected.

Reconstructing foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks: a methods comparison of transmission network models.

A number of transmission network models are available that combine genomic and epidemiological data to reconstruct networks of who infected whom during infectious disease outbreaks. For such models to reliably inform decision-making they must be transparently validated, robust, and capable of producing accurate predictions within the short data collection and inference timeframes typical of outbreak responses. A lack of transparent multi-model comparisons reduces confidence in the accuracy of transmission network model outputs, negatively impacting on their more widespread use as decision-support tools.

Matched case-control study of the influence of inland waters surrounding poultry farms on avian influenza outbreaks in Japan.

To successfully control highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), understanding the risk factors related to the incursion of the virus into poultry farms is essential. In this study, we focused on the presence of inland waters surrounding poultry farms as a potential risk factor of incursion of the virus. To evaluate the influence of inland waters surrounding poultry farms on HPAI outbreaks in Japan, a simple matched case-control study was conducted.

Evaluation of fecal shedding and antibody response in dairy cattle infected with paratuberculosis using national surveillance data in Japan.

Paratuberculosis or Johne's disease (JD), is a chronic infectious disease causing intractable diarrhea in cattle, which leads to less productivity, such as decreased milk yield, and lower daily weight gain. As a control measure against JD in cattle, national serological surveillance has been conducted in Japan since 1998. To conduct modeling studies that are useful to evaluate the effectiveness of control measures against JD, reliable parameter values, such as length of time from infection to the start of fecal shedding or antibody expression, are especially important.

Mathematical modeling of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus dynamics within a farrow-to-finish swine farm to investigate the effects of control measures.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is a highly contagious enteric disease in swine that can cause devastating economic damage to pig producers. Japan was severely affected by PED epidemics from 2013 through 2015, with over 1000 farms were affected during this period. Although many studies have unraveled pathological and molecular characteristics of PED virus (PEDV), the mechanism for within-farm spread is largely unknown.

Meteorological factors affecting seroconversion of Akabane disease in sentinel calves in the subtropical Okinawa Islands of Japan.

Akabane virus, the pathogen-causing Akabane disease, is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) transmitted by the Culicoides biting midge. A nationwide serological surveillance program for bovine arboviral diseases, including Akabane disease, has been established in Japan to monitor the circulation of arboviruses by targeting sentinel calves. Okinawa, which is located in the southwestern-most region of Japan, is a high-risk area for incursion of arboviruses.

Competencies for government veterinary services of the future: Summary of ISVEE 14 Yucatan 2015 roundtable discussion.

This short communication summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of current organisational structures in government veterinary services, as well as future technical, financial and societal challenges and related necessary competencies for government veterinary services of the future as discussed by an expert panel at ISVEE2015. First, participating representatives of veterinary services of diverse geographical backgrounds and statements from the audience confirmed that non-technical skills such as ability to work in teams, adaptability to new environments and situations, social and communication skills are increasingly seen as important. The second challenge faced by veterinary services is related to capacity issues, i.

A Large-Scale Survey of Trichinella spp. Infection in Japanese Wild Boars.

This study presents the results of a large-scale, one-year survey of Trichinella spp. in Japanese wild boars (Sus scrofa). We analyzed the tongues of 1,168 wild boars captured by hunters in 30 prefectures of Japan, most of which were boar habitats, from October 2014 to January 2015.

Survey for detecting persistently infected cattle with bovine viral diarrhea in Japan.

To establish effective and efficient control measures for bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) in Japan, a pilot survey on persistently infected (PI) animals in dairy farms was conducted. A total of 5,949 cattle from 79 farms in 11 prefectures were tested; seven cattle in six farms were identified as PI animals. The proportion of farms with PI animals in Japan was calculated as 7.

Epidemiological analysis of bovine ephemeral fever in 2012-2013 in the subtropical islands of Japan.

Background: Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) is a febrile disease of cattle that is transmitted by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes and Culicoides biting midges. An outbreak of BEF recently occurred in Ishigaki Island and surrounding islands that are located southwest of Japan. In this study, an epidemiological analysis was conducted to understand the temporal and spatial characteristics of the outbreak.

Spatial epidemiological analysis of bovine encephalomyelitis outbreaks caused by Akabane virus infection in western Japan in 2011.

Akabane disease, which is distributed in temperate and tropical regions in the world, is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by the Akabane virus, transmitted by Culicoides biting midges. In 2011, outbreaks of Akabane viral encephalomyelitis occurred in the Shimane Prefecture in western Japan. In this study, a spatial epidemiological analysis was conducted to understand environmental factors associated with the spread of Akabane disease.

Genomic Motifs as a Novel Indicator of the Relationship between Strains Isolated from the Epidemic of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in 2013-2014.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a positive-sense RNA virus that causes infectious gastroenteritis in pigs. Following a PED outbreak that occurred in China in 2010, the disease was identified for the first time in the United States in April 2013, and was reported in many other countries worldwide from 2013 to 2014. As a novel approach to elucidate the epidemiological relationship between PEDV strains, we explored their genome sequences to identify the motifs that were shared within related strains.

Fraction of bovine leukemia virus-infected dairy cattle developing enzootic bovine leukosis.

Enzootic bovine leucosis (EBL) is a transmissible disease caused by the bovine leukemia virus that is prevalent in cattle herds in many countries. Only a small fraction of infected animals develops clinical symptoms, such as malignant lymphosarcoma, after a long incubation period. In the present study, we aimed to determine the fraction of EBL-infected dairy cattle that develop lymphosarcoma and the length of the incubation period before clinical symptoms emerge.

Serological survey of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus infection in Japan.

A serological survey of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection was conducted from September 2006 to February 2007 in Japan. A total of 857 serum samples were collected from 113 herds in 28 prefectures and were analyzed for the presence of CAEV antibodies using agar gel immunodiffusion test. The seroprevalence of CAEV infection at the herd and animal levels was 15.

Molecular characterization of pig epidemic diarrhoea viruses isolated in Japan from 2013 to 2014.

Since October 2013, approximately 1000 outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED) have occurred, spanning almost all prefectures of Japan, after a period of seven years without a reported case. In order to consider occurrence factor of PED outbreaks, we determined the whole-genome sequences of 38 PED virus (PEDV) strains from diarrheal samples collected at swine farms in 18 prefectures between 2013 and 2014 using next-generation sequencing technology. Using these data, we investigated genetic variation among the recent Japanese PEDV strains and the genetic relationships between these strains and global PEDV strains isolated recently from multiple swine-industrial countries.

Potential risk associated with animal culling and disposal during the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic in Japan in 2010.

The large-scale foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak in 2010 in Japan presented logistical challenges in conducting animal culling and disposal. During the epidemic, culling of animals on infected farms was delayed owing to the difficulties in finding suitable burial sites. In this study, a retrospective matched case-control study was conducted to investigate the potential transmission risk associated with carcass disposal by considering the geographical relationship between farms and burial sites.

Source-Related Effects of Wastewater on Transcription Factor (AhR, CAR and PXR)-Mediated Induction of Gene Expression in Cultured Rat Hepatocytes and Their Association with the Prevalence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli.

Extracts of wastewater collected from 4 sewage treatment plants (STPs) receiving effluents from different sources in South India were investigated for their levels of transcription factor-mediated gene induction in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. In addition, the relation between gene induction levels and the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) in wastewater was examined.

Potential impact of species and livestock density on the epidemic size and effectiveness of control measures for foot-and-mouth disease in Japan.

The characteristics of a livestock area, including farm density and animal species, influence the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). In this study, the impact of livestock area on FMD epidemics was examined using an FMD transmission model. For this simulation, three major livestock areas were selected: the 2010 FMD epidemic area in Japan as the baseline area (BS), a cattle and pig mixed production area (CP) and a cattle production area (C).

Evaluation of the transmission risk of foot-and-mouth disease in Japan.

The transmission risk of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Japan was evaluated using a mathematical FMD transmission model. The distance-based transmission rate between farms, which was parameterized using the FMD epidemic data in 2010 in Japan, was used to calculate the local-level reproduction numbers-expected numbers of secondary infections caused by one infected farm-for all cattle and pig farms in the country, which were then visualized as a risk map. The risk map demonstrated the spatial heterogeneity of transmission risk in the country and identified risk areas with higher possibility of disease spread.

Unraveling antimicrobial resistance genes and phenotype patterns among Enterococcus faecalis isolated from retail chicken products in Japan.

Multidrug-resistant enterococci are considered crucial drivers for the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance determinants within and beyond a genus. These organisms may pass numerous resistance determinants to other harmful pathogens, whose multiple resistances would cause adverse consequences. Therefore, an understanding of the coexistence epidemiology of resistance genes is critical, but such information remains limited.