Sunday 31 August 2014

Pandemic influenza preparedness and response - WHO guidance document

Pandemic influenza preparedness and response

WHO guidance document

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World Health Organization

Overview


WHO previously published pandemic preparedness guidance in 1999 and a revision of that guidance in 2005. Since 2005, there have been advances in many areas of preparedness and response planning. For example, stockpiles of antiviral drugs are now a reality and a WHO guideline has been developed to attempt to stop or delay pandemic influenza at its initial emergence. There is increased understanding of past pandemics, strengthened outbreak communications, greater insight on disease spread and approaches to control, and increasingly sophisticated statistical modeling of various aspects of influenza.
Extensive practical experience has been gained from responding to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in poultry and humans, and from conducting pandemic preparedness and response exercises in many countries. There is greater understanding that pandemic preparedness requires the involvement of not only the health sector, but the whole of society. In 2007, the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR, 2005) entered into force providing the international community with a framework to address international public health concerns.
In light of these developments, WHO decided in 2007 to update its guidance to enable countries to be better prepared for the next pandemic. Therefore this document published in April 2009 replaces the WHO Global Influenza Preparedness Plan (WHO/CDS/CSR/GIP/2005.5). This document should be used in conjunction with the WHO checklist for influenza preparedness planning published by the World Health Organization in 2005.
This guidance has been superseded by the Pandemic Influenza Risk Management Guidance:

Evaluating the relationship between human and animal influenza viruses

Evaluating the relationship between human and animal influenza viruses

Assessing the relationship among multiple variants of influenza viruses circulating in animals and people and understanding their relative evolution in these hosts over time is key to improving vaccines for people and animals and for understanding the potential risk of future interspecies transmission events.



StripeyAnne on flickR, original name : The Pig Piper of Ham-lyn©
The latest OFFLU Swine Influenza Virus (SIV) Group meeting took place in Minneapolis, USA, 19-20 March 2013. The meeting had two major outcomes.
Characterization of the relationship between human and swine influenza viruses
Data on influenza viruses circulating in pig populations worldwide has been shared, but more effort is required for its compilation and analysis. According to the OFFLU SIV group, there is increasing scientific evidence from surveillance and genetic analyses that human seasonal influenza viruses and their variants have historically been introduced to pig populations by humans and are still circulating in different swine populations worldwide. The analyses of the HA protein of influenza viruses in pigs, a protein which plays a key role in virus-host interactions and in vaccine strain selection for human and animals, showed significant diversity among strains circulating within and between geographic areas. The maintenance of such diverse viruses within pigs for long periods of time has important implications for swine influenza vaccine strain selection and assurances of efficacy, which will have to be mainly tailored to the needs of the region. These viruses also pose a risk of re-introduction into the human population.
This global initiative requires further investment for compilation, analysis, and overall evaluating of the potential for human viruses to spread into swine and conversely for swine to be a reservoir for viruses that have human pandemic potential, and should be used in risk assessment for pandemic preparedness.
Proposed new HA gene cluster naming system for designating influenza viruses in pigs
The objective of this new nomenclature system developed and proposed by the OFFLU SIV group is to create a common language to be used by human and animal health sectors to designate swine influenza viruses on a global scale. This system will allow for viruses around the world to be evaluated by a unified set of criteria and their genetic relationships understood in a common context. Such a system is also important for targeting groups of viruses to study for antigenic properties and developing effective human and animal vaccines.
The proposed system is a phylogenetic classification system, distinguishing clusters of viruses that share common genetic characteristics. Therefore, it defines the relationship between the different influenza strains, which are continually evolving. This system enables the assessment of the genetic relationships between influenza viruses circulating in swine among different geographic regions as well as between human and swine seasonal influenza viruses.
The group will continue to work with the Influenza Research Database (fludb.org) to provide the HA gene cluster names based on the new system for future web-based cluster determination tools for swine HA sequences with free public access.
The OFFLU Network
OFFLU is a global open network of expertise on animal influenza established jointly in 2005 by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support and coordinate global efforts to prevent, detect and control important influenzas in animals. OIE/FAO reference laboratories and world leading experts from a range of disciplines in animal and human health take part in the discussions. OFFLU collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) on issues relating to the animal-human interface, including pandemic preparedness for early preparation of human vaccine. 
The OFFLU Swine Influenza group started in 2010 and meets on an annual basis.
Source: 
http://www.oie.int/for-the-media/press-releases/detail/article/evaluating-the-relationship-between-human-and-animal-influenza-viruses/

Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for progesterone by using a heterologous system in plasma bovine

11Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for progesterone by using a heterologous system in plasma bovine - A. Ayad, M. Iguer Ouada and H. Benbarek
Veterinary World, 7(8): 610-613


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.610-613


A. Ayad: Department of Environment and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Life and Nature Sciences, University A. Mira, 06000, Bejaia, Algeria; Laboratory of Research on Local Animal Products, Veterinary Institute, Ibn Khaldoun University, 14000, Tiaret, Algeria; hanine06@gmail.com,abdelhanine.ayad@univ-bejaia.dz
M. Iguer Ouada: Department of Environment and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Life and Nature Sciences, University A. Mira, 06000,
Bejaia, Algeria; imokrane@gmail.com
H. Benbarek: Laboratory of Research on Local Animal Products, Veterinary Institute, Ibn Khaldoun University, 14000, Tiaret, Algeria; Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Life and Nature Sciences, University M. Istambouli, 29000, Mascara, Algeria; benbarekh@yahoo.com

Received: 12-05-2014, Revised: 27-07-2014, Accepted: 02-08-2014, Published online: 21-08-2014

Corresponding author: A. Ayad, email: hanine06@gmail.com, abdelhanine.ayad@univ-bejaia.dz


Aim: The present study describes the use of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassay method with specific kit human progesterone for measuring plasma progesterone in cattle.
Materials and Methods: Nine Holstein-Friesian females were selected and artificially inseminated (AI). Blood samples were collected from the coccygeal vessels into tubes containing EDTA at day 0 (n = 5, the control group) and day 90 (n = 4, diagnosed pregnant by rectal palpation) after AI. The day of AI was considered as day 0 for the calculation of pregnancy day. The samples were immediately centrifuged (15 min at 1500 × g), and the plasma was stored at 20°C until assay. The assay of progesterone was carried out by a method of competition immunological type in heterogeneous phase. The antibodies of capture and revelation are monoclonal specific to progesterone of human origin.
Results: The progesterone (P4) concentration in the whole female was physiological. The results of inter- and intraassay coefficients of variation were 16.6% and 6.7%, respectively. The values of accuracy and parallelism obtained were satisfactory.
Conclusion: The preliminary results show clearly that human progesterone ECL kit can be used to measure P4 in plasma bovine.

Keywords: assay, cow, electochemiluminescence, progesterone.

Saturday 30 August 2014

Benefit cost analysis of Rhode Island Red chicken rearing in backyard on the basis of egg production performance

10. Benefit cost analysis of Rhode Island Red chicken rearing in backyard on the basis of egg production performance - P. K. Das, P. R. Ghosh, S. Pradhan, B. Roy and D. Mazumdar
Veterinary World, 7(8): 605-609


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.605-609


P. K. Das: Department of Veterinary Physiology, West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 037, West Bengal, India; pkdaskol@rediffmail.com
P. R. Ghosh: Department of Veterinary Physiology, West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 037, West Bengal, India; drprghosh@gmail.com
S. Pradhan: Department of Veterinary Pathology, West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 037, West Bengal, India; saktipadapradhan@gmail.com
B. Roy: Department of Animal Nutrition, West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences, 37, K. B. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 037, West Bengal, India; barunnutrition@yahoo.co.in
D. Mazumdar: Department of Agriculture Statistics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India; debstat@gmail.com

Received: 29-04-2014, Revised: 01-07-2014, Accepted: 07-07-2014, Published online: 16-08-2014

Corresponding author: P. K. Das, email: pkdaskol@rediffmail.com



Thursday 28 August 2014

Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Live Poultry in Backyard Flocks

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-14/index.html


Highlights


A retrospective study on incidence of lameness in domestic animals

Research (Published online: 15-08-2014)
9. A retrospective study on incidence of lameness in domestic animals - A. Mohsina, M. M. S Zama, P. Tamilmahan, M.B.Gugjoo, K. Singh, A. Gopinathan, M. Gopi and K.Karthik
Veterinary World, 7(8): 601-604


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.601-604


A. Mohsina: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;sowparnika777@gmail.com
M. M. S Zama: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;mmszama@yahoo.com
P. Tamilmahan: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;drtamilmahan.bison@gmail.com
M. B. Gugjoo: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;mbgugjoo@gmail.com
K. Singh: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;ksuppli@yahoo.co.in
A. Gopinathan: Division of Veterinary Surgery, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;aswathykiran77@gmail.com
M. Gopi: Division of Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;gopsgopi72@gmail.com
K. Karthik: Division of Bacteriology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, 243 122, Uttar Pradesh, India;karthik_2bvsc@yahoo.co.in

Received: 23-04-2014, Revised: 28-06-2014, Accepted: 05-07-2014, Published online: 15-08-2014

Corresponding author: A. Mohsina, email: sowparnika777@gmail.com, Cell: +91-9458587867



Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in milk and risk factors analysis of seroprevalence in pregnant women at Sharkia, Egypt

8. Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in milk and risk factors analysis of seroprevalence in pregnant women at Sharkia, Egypt -Heba A. Ahmed, Saleh M. Shafik, Mahmoud E. M. Ali, Sanya T. Elghamry and Alshymaa A. Ahmed
Veterinary World, 7(8): 594-600


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.594-600

 
Heba A. Ahmed: Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, 44511, Zagazig, Egypt; heba_ahmed@zu.edu.eg
Saleh M. Shafik: Food Hygiene Department, Animal Health Research Institute, Mansoura, Egypt; Saleh_Shafik@yahoo.com
Mahmoud E. M. Ali: Food Hygiene Department, Animal Health Research Institute, Mansoura, Egypt; dr_hashem59@yahoo.com
Sanya T. Elghamry: Food Hygiene Department, Animal Health Research Institute, Mansoura, Egypt; sanyaelghamry@yahoo.com
Alshymaa A. Ahmed: Clinical pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt; doaa_ahmed57@yahoo.com

Received: 10-05-2014, Revised: 26-06-2014, Accepted: 03-07-2014, Published online: 12-08-2014

Corresponding author: Heba A. Ahmed, email: heba_ahmed@zu.edu.eg



Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from cattle and buffaloes in Egypt using traditional culture, serological and molecular based methods

7. Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from cattle and buffaloes in Egypt using traditional culture, serological and molecular based methods - G. S. Abdellrazeq, M. M. El-Naggar, S. A. Khaliel and A. E. Gamal-Eldin
Veterinary World, 7(8): 586-593


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.586-593

 
G. S. Abdellrazeq: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Edfina, Rosetta-line, P. O. Box: 22758, Egypt;gaber.abdellatif@alexu.edu.eg
M. M. El-Naggar: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Edfina, Rosetta-line, P. O. Box: 22758, Egypt; mahmoud.elnaggar@alexu.edu.eg
S. A. Khaliel: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Edfina, Rosetta-line, P. O. Box: 22758, Egypt;khaliel1@yahoo.com
A. E. Gamal-Eldin: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Edfina, Rosetta-line, P. O. Box: 22758, Egypt;dr_asmaa9518@yahoo.com

Received: 03-05-2014, Revised: 02-07-2014, Accepted: 10-07-2014, Published online: 11-08-2014

Corresponding author: Gaber Abdellrazeq, email: gaber.abdellatif@alexu.edu.eg



Three-quarters of depressed cancer patients do not receive treatment for depression; new approach could transform care

Three papers published in The Lancet Psychiatry, The Lancet, and The Lancet Oncology reveal that around three-quarters of cancer patients who have major depression are not currently receiving treatment for depression, and that a new integrated treatment program is strikingly more effective at reducing depression and improving quality of life than current care.
An analysis of data from more than 21,000 patients attending cancer clinics in Scotland, UK, published inThe Lancet Psychiatry, found that major depression is substantially more common in cancer patients than in the general population. Major depression was most common in patients with lung cancer (13%) and lowest in those with genitourinary cancer (6%). Moreover, nearly three quarters (73%) of depressed cancer patients were not receiving treatment.
To address the problem of inadequate treatment the SMaRT Oncology-2 randomised trial, published inThe Lancet, evaluated the effectiveness of a new treatment program called 'Depression Care for People with Cancer' (DCPC). DCPC is delivered by a team of specially trained cancer nurses and psychiatrists, working in collaboration with the patient's cancer team and general practitioner, and is given as part of cancer care. It is a systematic treatment program that includes both antidepressants and psychological therapy.
The trial, involving 500 adults with major depression and a cancer with a good prognosis (predicted survival more than 12 months) compared DCPC with usual care [1]. DCPC was strikingly more effective at reducing depression. At 6 months, 62% of the patients who received DCPC responded to treatment (at least a 50% reduction in the severity of their depression) compared with only 17% of those who received usual care. This benefit was sustained at 12 months. DCPC also improved anxiety, pain, fatigue, functioning, and overall quality of life. Moreover, the cost of providing DCPC was modest (£613 per patient) making it a cost-effective way to improve cancer patients' quality of life.
According to lead author Professor Michael Sharpe from the University of Oxford in the UK, "The huge benefit that DCPC delivers for patients with cancer and depression shows what we can achieve for patients if we take as much care with the treatment of their depression as we do with the treatment of their cancer."
To see if patients with a poor prognosis cancer could also benefit from this approach, the SMaRT Oncology-3 randomised trial, published in The Lancet Oncology, tested a version of DCPC adapted for patients with a typically poor prognosis cancer (lung cancer). The trial, involving 142 patients with lung cancer and major depression, found that those who received the lung cancer version of DCPC had a significantly greater improvement in depression than those who received usual care during 32 weeks of follow-up. The lung cancer-specific version of DCPC also improved anxiety, functioning, and quality of life.
According to study leader Dr Jane Walker from the University of Oxford and Sobell House Hospice in Oxford in the UK, "Patients with lung cancer often have a poor prognosis. If they also have major depression that can blight the time they have left to live. This trial shows that we can effectively treat depression in patients with poor prognosis cancers like lung cancer and really improve patients' lives."

Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by The LancetNote: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal References:
  1. Michael Sharpe et al. Prevalence, associations, and adequacy of treatment of major depression in patients with cancer: a cross-sectional analysis of routinely collected clinical dataThe Lancet Psychiatry, August 2014 DOI:10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70313-X
  2. Michael Sharpe, Jane Walker, Christian Holm Hansen, Paul Martin, Stefan Symeonides, Charlie Gourley, Lucy Wall, David Weller, Gordon Murray. Integrated collaborative care for comorbid major depression in patients with cancer (SMaRT Oncology-2): a multicentre randomised controlled effectiveness trial.The Lancet, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61231-9
  3. Jane Walker, Christian Holm Hansen, Paul Martin, Stefan Symeonides, Charlie Gourley, Lucy Wall, David Weller, Gordon Murray, Michael Sharpe. Integrated collaborative care for major depression comorbid with a poor prognosis cancer (SMaRT Oncology-3): a multicentre randomised controlled trial in patients with lung cancerThe Lancet Oncology, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)70343-2

Cite This Page:
The Lancet. "Three-quarters of depressed cancer patients do not receive treatment for depression; new approach could transform care." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140827203635.htm>.

A modified version of the Clostridium novyi (C. novyi-NT) bacterium can produce a strong and precisely targeted anti-tumor response in rats, dogs and now humans, according to a new report from Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers.

A modified version of the Clostridium novyi (C. novyi-NT) bacterium can produce a strong and precisely targeted anti-tumor response in rats, dogs and now humans, according to a new report from Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers.
In its natural form, C. novyi is found in the soil and, in certain cases, can cause tissue-damaging infection in cattle, sheep and humans. The microbe thrives only in oxygen-poor environments, which makes it a targeted means of destroying oxygen-starved cells in tumors that are difficult to treat with chemotherapy and radiation. The Johns Hopkins team removed one of the bacteria's toxin-producing genes to make it safer for therapeutic use.
For the study, the researchers tested direct-tumor injection of the C. novyi-NT spores in 16 pet dogs that were being treated for naturally occurring tumors. Six of the dogs had an anti-tumor response 21 days after their first treatment. Three of the six showed complete eradication of their tumors, and the length of the longest diameter of the tumor shrunk by at least 30 percent in the three other dogs.
Most of the dogs experienced side effects typical of a bacterial infection, such as fever and tumor abscesses and inflammation, according to a report on the work published online Aug. 13 in Science Translational Medicine.
In a Phase I clinical trial of C. novyi-NT spores conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center, a patient with an advanced soft tissue tumor in the abdomen received the spore injection directly into a metastatic tumor in her arm. The treatment significantly reduced the tumor in and around the bone. "She had a very vigorous inflammatory response and abscess formation," according to Nicholas Roberts, Vet.M.B., Ph.D. "But at the moment, we haven't treated enough people to be sure if the spectrum of responses that we see in dogs will truly recapitulate what we see in people."
"One advantage of using bacteria to treat cancer is that you can modify these bacteria relatively easily, to equip them with other therapeutic agents, or make them less toxic as we have done here, " said Shibin Zhou, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at the Cancer Center. Zhou is also the director of experimental therapeutics at the Kimmel Cancer Center's Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics. He and colleagues at Johns Hopkins began exploring C. novyi's cancer-fighting potential more than a decade ago after studying hundred-year old accounts of an early immunotherapy called Coley toxins, which grew out of the observation that some cancer patients who contracted serious bacterial infections showed cancer remission.
The researchers focused on soft tissue tumors because "these tumors are often locally advanced, and they have spread into normal tissue," said Roberts, a Ludwig Center and Department of Pathology researcher. The bacteria cannot germinate in normal tissues and will only attack the oxygen-starved or hypoxic cells in the tumor and spare healthy tissue around the cancer.
Verena Staedtke, M.D., Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins neuro-oncology fellow, first tested the spore injection in rats with implanted brain tumors called gliomas. Microscopic evaluation of the tumors showed that the treatment killed tumor cells but spared healthy cells just a few micrometers away. The treatment also prolonged the rats' survival, with treated rats surviving an average of 33 days after the tumor was implanted, compared with an average of 18 days in rats that did not receive the C. noyvi-NT spore injection.
The researchers then extended their tests of the injection to dogs. "One of the reasons that we treated dogs with C. novyi-NT before people is because dogs can be a good guide to what may happen in people," Roberts said. The dog tumors share many genetic similarities with human tumors, he explained, and their tumors appeared spontaneously as they would in humans. Dogs are also treated with many of the same cancer drugs as humans and respond similarly.
The dogs showed a variety of anti-tumor responses and inflammatory side effects.
Zhou said that study of the C. novyi-NT spore injection in humans is ongoing, but the final results of their treatment are not yet available. "We expect that some patients will have a stronger response than others, but that's true of other therapies as well. Now, we want to know how well the patients can tolerate this kind of therapy."
It may be possible to combine traditional treatments like chemotherapy with the C. novyi-NT therapy, said Zhou, who added that the researchers have already studied these combinations in mice.
"Some of these traditional therapies are able to increase the hypoxic region in a tumor and would make the bacterial infection more potent and increase its anti-tumor efficiency," Staedtke suggested. "C. novyi-NT is an agent that could be combined with a multitude of chemotherapy agents or radiation."
"Another good thing about using bacteria as a therapeutic agent is that once they're infecting the tumor, they can induce a strong immune response against tumor cells themselves," Zhou said.
Previous studies in mice, he noted, suggest that C. novyi-NT may help create a lingering immune response that fights metastatic tumors long after the initial bacterial treatment, but this effect remains to be seen in the dog and human studies.

Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Johns Hopkins MedicineNote: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
  1. N. J. Roberts, L. Zhang, F. Janku, A. Collins, R.-Y. Bai, V. Staedtke, A. W. Rusk, D. Tung, M. Miller, J. Roix, K. V. Khanna, R. Murthy, R. S. Benjamin, T. Helgason, A. D. Szvalb, J. E. Bird, S. Roy-Chowdhuri, H. H. Zhang, Y. Qiao, B. Karim, J. McDaniel, A. Elpiner, A. Sahora, J. Lachowicz, B. Phillips, A. Turner, M. K. Klein, G. Post, L. A. Diaz, G. J. Riggins, N. Papadopoulos, K. W. Kinzler, B. Vogelstein, C. Bettegowda, D. L. Huso, M. Varterasian, S. Saha, S. Zhou. Intratumoral injection of Clostridium novyi-NT spores induces antitumor responses.Science Translational Medicine, 2014; 6 (249): 249ra111 DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3008982

Cite This Page:
Johns Hopkins Medicine. "Injected bacteria shrink tumors in rats, dogs and humans." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 August 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140813173906.htm>.