The epidemiology of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks and its history in Iraq

Dawood T. Selenium nanoparticles effect on foot and mouth disease vaccine in local Awassi breed male lambs

Objective

The goal of this research was to evaluate where selenium nanoparticles impact the activity of antibodies in immunized lambs with foot and mouth vaccines by modulating the immune system.

Materials and Methods

Two groups of lambs of 3-4 months of age were injected with 1 ml of ARRIAH-VAC vaccine intramuscularly in the neck, five Lambs were given selenium nanoparticles (size 100 nm) oral administration of selenium nano dose of 0.1 mg/kg of body mass once every day for sixty days considered as group one (G1) while the other five used as control Group 2 (G2).

Results

This resulted in the establishment of an immune response, as evidenced by a rise in antibody titer in the blood using the ELISA test for three serotypes A, O, and Asia 1, when selenium nanoparticles were given orally at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg body weight after immunization, we noticed a significant (p >0:05) selenium nano group increase in IgG response in all immunized groups in contrast to lambs that had only received the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated that selenium nanoparticles administered orally significantly enhance immune responses while also increasing body weight.

Economic sanctions and spread of infectious diseases

Economic sanctions can induce economic crises and compromise the determinants of health. In the literature, economic crises have been found to increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Presumably, sanctions can increase the risk of infectious disease spreads, indirectly. However, non-economic factors can fuel the adverse impact of sanctions, including political consequences of sanctions and civil war. We performed a systematic literature review of articles in Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and the grey literature to assess empirically the impact of economic sanctions on the spread of infectious diseases within and beyond the borders of sanctioned countries. Our review did not identify any study meeting our inclusion criteria. Most of the studies did not control for major socio-political events, particularly armed conflicts in the sanctioned countries. This discovery underscores a notable gap in the examination of the impact of economic sanctions on the propagation of infectious diseases, presenting a threat to global health. Using the social-ecological model, we hypothesize how the economic crisis resulting from economic sanctions affects determinants of health, increases the risk of the spread of infectious diseases and hinders the response capacity of health systems.

The prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease in Asia

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is listed among the highly contagious diseases in animals and is endemic throughout the Asian continent. The disease is caused by the Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) and affects a wide variety of domesticated animals as well as wild ungulates. Clinically, the disease is described as a vesicular lesion on the tongue, muzzle, lips, gum, dental pad, interdigital cleft, coronary band, and heel of the foot. Sometimes these lesions give rise to lameness. Mastitis is also caused due to teat lesions. A biochemical test reveals that during FMD infection, there are elevated levels of interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-6, serum amyloid A protein, lactoferrin, mannose-binding lectin, and monocytes chemo-attractant protein-1 in the serum of infected animals. There is no specific treatment for FMD although some antivirals are given as prophylaxis and antibiotics are given to prevent secondary bacterial infection. This review presents comprehensive data on the prevalence of FMD and serotypes of FMDV that are attributable to the cause of FMD from a regional point of view. It also explains the worldwide dynamics of the seven serotypes of FMD and tries to identify epidemiological clusters of FMD in various geographical areas. Furthermore, the pathology associated with the foot and mouth disease virus along with the pathophysiology is discussed. The continent-wide prevalence and diversity patterns of FMD suggest that there is a need for stringent policies and legislation implementation regarding research and development aimed at manufacturing strain-specific vaccination, infection prevention, and control of the disease.

Analytical and Early Detection System of Infectious Diseases and Animal Health Status in Kuwait

This study aimed at the development of an analytic web-based system for the assessment of animal health in Kuwait. The data sources were based on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) repository with data gathered for the period (2005–2020). An on-line web-based system using TABLEAU Creator was developed for monitoring and surveillance of animal disease outbreaks. Five animal diseases were identified in Kuwait; namely, HPAI, FMD, glanders, LSD and MERS-CoV. The highest numbers of outbreaks were recorded for HPAI, followed by FMD. Examples of spatio-temporal visualizations of the web based mappings are presented and include disease cases, number of outbreaks and farm locations, among other features. The web-based system can serve as a monitoring tool to easily display the status of animal health in Kuwait. It can also serve to quickly identify and track disease outbreaks and monitor the spread patterns of new or emerging animal diseases between neighboring countries.