Perceptions of climate change, environmental variability and the role of agricultural adaptation strategies by small-scale farmers in Africa: the case of Mwanga district in Northern Tanzania

Abstract The potential impacts of climate change and environmental variability are already evident in most parts of the world, which is witnessing increasing temperature rates and prolonged flood or drought conditions that affect agriculture activities and nature-dependent livelihoods. This study was conducted in Mwanga District in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania to assess the nature and impacts of climate change and environmental variability on agriculture-dependent livelihoods and the adaptation strategies adopted by small-scale rural farmers. To attain its objective, the study employed a mixed methods approach in which both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used. The study shows that farmers are highly aware of their local environment and are conscious of the ways environmental changes affect their livelihoods. Farmers perceived that changes in climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature had occurred in their area over the period of three decades, and associated these changes with climate change and environmental variability. Farmers’ perceptions were confirmed by the evidence from rainfall and temperature data obtained from local and national weather stations, which showed that temperature and rainfall in the study area had become more variable over the past three decades. Farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of climate change vary depending on the location, age and gender of the respondents. The findings show that the farmers have limited understanding of the causes of climatic conditions and environmental variability, as some respondents associated climate change and environmental variability with social, cultural and religious factors. This study suggests that, despite the changing climatic conditions and environmental variability, farmers have developed and implemented a number of agriculture adaptation strategies that enable them to reduce their vulnerability to the changing conditions. The findings show that agriculture adaptation strategies employ both planned and autonomous adaptation strategies. However, the study shows that increasing drought conditions, rainfall variability, declining soil fertility and use of cheap farming technology are among the challenges that limit effective implementation of agriculture adaptation strategies. This study recommends further research on the varieties of drought-resilient crops, the development of small-scale irrigation schemes to reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture, and the improvement of crop production in a given plot of land. In respect of the development of adaptation strategies, the study recommends the involvement of the local farmers and consideration of their knowledge and experience in the farming activities as well as the conditions of their local environment. Thus, the findings of this study may be helpful at various levels of decision making with regard to the development of climate change and environmental variability policies and strategies towards reducing farmers’ vulnerability to current and expected future changes.

Mafic and felsic plutonism in the Elvas region (SW Iberia, Portugal): two distinct Nd isotope sources and geodynamics

The occurrence of mafic (mainly gabbros and diorites) and felsic (syenites and granites) rocks, in close spatial association, in the Elvas region, at the northern part of the Ossa-Morena Zone, could be interpreted as a single bimodal (alkaline) plutonic complex. However, in spite of scarce isotopic (Sm-Nd) data, the co-magmatic origin of both rock groups (mafic and felsic) has already been questioned [1]. Based on the mineral chemistry of primary clinopyroxenes (Di–Hd, %En: 45.5 – 27.2) and representative whole-rock analyses, gabbros and diorites of the Elvas massif show a transitional character between alkaline and non-alkaline fields and wide compositions: SiO2 (42.47 – 58.00 wt%); TiO2 (0.24 – 1.68 wt%); Y/Nb (4.0 – 10.7); Th (0.1 – 6.8 ppm); Zr (18.6 – 576.9 ppm). The felsic group is composed by highly differentiated rocks which correspond to distinct levels of silica saturation and alkalinity. Peralkaline syenites usually present sodic (riebeckite) and sodic-calcic (aegirine-augite, ferrowinchite) inosilicates and reveal quite variable compositions: SiO2 (57.50 – 72.07 wt%); TiO2 (0.10 – 1.45 wt%); Th (1.7 – 67.0 ppm); Zr (133.0 – 4800.0 ppm). The alkaline granites show hedenbergite as the characteristic inosilicate, presenting relatively common compositions: SiO2 (61.85 – 78.06 wt%); TiO2 (0.21 – 0.58 wt%); Th (11.8 – 38.4 ppm); Zr (317.3 – 1234.6 ppm) [2]. Recent Sm-Nd isotopic results, on a total of 18 whole-rock samples (6 mafites and 12 felsites), allow new and more consistent interpretation concerning the petrogenesis of these plutonic rocks. Assuming an age of 490 Ma [3], the felsic rocks provide (0.6 < Nd490 < 4.3), similar to other contemporary (per)alkaline rocks of this region [4], reflecting magmatic extractions from time-integrated depleted mantle sources followed by variable and incomplete mixing (and/or AFC-type) processes with enriched, probably crustal sources. This alkaline/peralkaline magmatism is thought to represent the main regional record of the rifting event which presumably led to the opening of the Rheic Ocean. On the other hand, the mafic plutonic rocks of the Elvas massif cannot represent the magmatic precursors of these syenites and granites as they show completely distinct Nd isotopic ratios (3.7 < Nd490 < 1.2) indicating important contribution of long-term enriched (crustal) sources. Instead, considering the age and the Nd isotopic signature of other mafic plutonic unit emplaced nearby (the Campo Maior massif: ca. 370 Ma; 6.0 < Nd370 < 5.2) [5], and recalculating the isotopic ratios of the Elvas massif for the same age (4.3 < Nd370 < 1.6), it is plausible to consider that these plutons (Campo Maior and Elvas) can be coeval and representative of the Variscan magmatism in this region. In such hypothesis, the differences between these isotopic values could be explained, on a time-integrated basis, either by magmatic sources for the Elvas massif less enriched in LREE than the sources involved in the Campo Maior massif, or, if both plutonites share similar depleted mantle sources, by magmatic differentiation paths considerably affected by crustal contamination processes, which reached higher degrees in the Campo Maior massif.

Field study and numerical simulation of developing red tide in the northern Strait of Hormuz

The catastrophic event of red tide has happened in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman from late summer 2008 to spring 2009. With its devastating effects, the phenomenon shocked all the countries located in the margin of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and caused considerable losses to fishery industries, tourism, and tourist and trade economy of the region. In the maritime cruise carried out by the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman Ecological Research Institute, field data, including temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen and algal density were obtained for this research. Satellite information was received from MODIS and MERIS and SeaWiFS sensors. Temperature and surface chlorophyll images were obtained and compared with the field data and data of PROBE model. The results obtained from the present research indicated that with the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HAB), the Chlorophyll-a and the dissolved oxygen contents increased in the surface water. Maximum algal density was seen in the northern coasts of the Strait of Hormuz. Less concentration of algal density was detected in deep and surface offshore water. Our results show that the occurred algal bloom was the result of seawater temperature drop, water circulation and the adverse environmental pollutions caused by industrial and urban sewages entering the coastal waters in this region of the Persian Gulf ,This red tide phenomenon was started in the Strait of Hormuz and eventually covered about 140,000 km2 of the Persian Gulf and total area of Strait of Hormuz and it survived for 10 months which is a record amongst the occurred algal blooms across the world. Temperature and chlorophyll satellite images were proportionate to the measured values obtained by the field method. This indicates that satellite measurements have acceptable precisions and they can be used in sea monitoring and modeling.

Investigation and prediction of sea level variations in the northern coasts of Persian Gulf using artificial neural network

Sea- level variations have a significant impact on coastal areas. Prediction of sea level variations expected from the pre most critical information needs associated with the sea environment. For this, various methods exist. In this study, on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf have been studied relation to the effectiveness of parameters such as pressure, temperature and wind speed on sea leve and associated with global parameters such as the North Atlantic Oscillation index and NAO index and present statistic models for prediction of sea level. In the next step by using artificial neural network predict sea level for first in this region. Then compared results of the models. Prediction using statistical models estimated in terms correlation coefficient R = 0.84 and root mean square error (RMS) 21.9 cm for the Bushehr station, and R = 0.85 and root mean square error (RMS) 48.4 cm for Rajai station, While neural network used to have 4 layers and each middle layer six neurons is best for prediction and produces the results reliably in terms of correlation coefficient with R = 0.90126 and the root mean square error (RMS) 13.7 cm for the Bushehr station, and R = 0.93916 and the root mean square error (RMS) 22.6 cm for Rajai station. Therefore, the proposed methodology could be successfully used in the study area.

Plant Migrations Impact on Potential Vegetation and Carbon Redistribution in Northern North America from Climate Change

Forests have a prominent role in carbon storage and sequestration. Anthropogenic forcing has the potential to accelerate climate change and alter the distribution of forests. How forests redistribute spatially and temporally in response to climate change can alter their carbon sequestration potential. The driving question for this research was: How does plant migration from climate change impact vegetation distribution and carbon sequestration potential over continental scales? Large-scale simulation of the equilibrium response of vegetation and carbon from future climate change has shown relatively modest net gains in sequestration potential, but studies of the transient response has been limited to the sub-continent or landscape scale. The transient response depends on fine scale processes such as competition, disturbance, landscape characteristics, dispersal, and other factors, which makes it computational prohibitive at large domain sizes. To address this, this research used an advanced mechanistic model (Ecosystem Demography Model, ED) that is individually based, but pseudo-spatial, that reduces computational intensity while maintaining the fine scale processes that drive the transient response. First, the model was validated against remote sensing data for current plant functional type distribution in northern North America with a current climatology, and then a future climatology was used to predict the potential equilibrium redistribution of vegetation and carbon from future climate change. Next, to enable transient calculations, a method was developed to simulate the spatially explicit process of dispersal in pseudo-spatial modeling frameworks. Finally, the new dispersal sub-model was implemented in the mechanistic ecosystem model, and a model experimental design was designed and completed to estimate the transient response of vegetation and carbon to climate change. The potential equilibrium forest response to future climate change was found to be large, with large gross changes in distribution of plant functional types and comparatively smaller changes in net carbon sequestration potential for the region. However, the transient response was found to be on the order of centuries, and to depend strongly on disturbance rates and dispersal distances. Future work should explore the impact of species-specific disturbance and dispersal rates, landscape fragmentation, and other processes that influence migration rates and have been simulated at the sub-continent scale, but now at continental scales, and explore a range of alternative future climate scenarios as they continue to be developed.

Primary Antibiotic Resistance to Helicobacter pylori Strains Isolated From Children in Northern Iran: A Single Center Study

Background: Initial resistance to antibiotics is the main reason for the failure of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in children. Objectives: As we commonly face high antibiotic resistance rates in children, we aimed to determine the susceptibility of H. pylori to common antibiotics. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional in vitro study, 169 children younger than 14 years with clinical diagnosis of peptic ulcer underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biopsy specimens from stomach and duodenum were cultured. In isolated colonies, tests of catalase, urease, and oxidase as well as gram staining were performed. After confirming the colonies as H. pylori, the antibiogram was obtained using disk diffusion method. Results: Culture for H. pylori was positive in 12.3% of the specimens, urease test in 21.3%, serological test in 18.9% and stool antigen test was positive in 21.9%. We could show high specificity but moderate sensitivity of both histological and H. pylori stool antigen tests to detect H. pylori. The overall susceptibility to metronidazole was 42.9%, amoxicillin 95.2%, clarithromycin 85.7%, furazolidone 61.9%, azithromycin 81.0%, and tetracycline 76.2% with the highest resistance to metronidazole and the lowest to clarithromycin. Conclusions: In our region, there is high resistance of H. pylori to some antibiotics including metronidazole and furazolidone among affected children. To reduce the prevalence of this antibiotic resistance, more controlled use of antibiotics should be considered in children.

The European Union and its Northern Frontier : EUropean Geopolitics and its Arctic Context

The present study explores EUropean geopolitical agency in a distinct spatio-temporal context: the Arctic region of the early 21st century. Thus, it provides an in-depth analysis of the European Union’s process to construct EUropean legitimacy and credibility in its ‘Northern Neighbourhood’ between 2008 and 2014. Embedded in a conceptual and methodological framework using critical geopolitics, this study assesses the strategic policy reasoning of the EU and the implicit geopolitical discourses that guide and determine a particular line of argumentation so as to claim a ‘legitimate’ role in the Arctic and accordingly construct a distinct ‘EUropean Arctic space’. In doing so, it establishes a clearer picture on the (narrated) regional interests of the EU and the related developed policy and concrete steps taken in order to get hold of these interests. Eventually, the analysis gets to the conceptual bottom of what exactly fashioned the EU with geopolitical agency in the circumpolar North. As a complementary explanation, this study provides a thick description of the area under scrutiny – the Arctic region – in order to explicate the systemic context that conditioned the EU’s regional demeanour and action. Elucidated along the lines of Arctic history and identity, rights, interests and responsibility, it delineates the emergence of the Arctic as a region of and for geopolitics. The findings indicate that the sui generis character of the Arctic as EUropean neighbourhood essentially determined the EU’s regional performance. It explicates that the Union’s ‘traditional’ geopolitical models of civilian or normative power got entangled in a fluid state of Arctic affairs: a distinct regional system, characterised by few strong state actors with pronounced national Arctic interests and identities, and an indefinite local context of environmental changes, economic uncertainties and social challenges. This study applies critical geopolitics in a Political Science context and essentially contributes to a broader understanding of EU foreign policy construction and behaviour. Ultimately, it offers an interdisciplinary approach on how to analyse EU external action by explicitly taking into account the internal and external social processes that ultimately condition a certain EUropean foreign policy performance.

The epidemiology of foot-and-mouth disease at the wildlife-livestock interface in northern Tanzania

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), a disease of cloven hooved animals caused by FMD virus (FMDV), is one of the most economically devastating diseases of livestock worldwide. The global burden of disease is borne largely by livestock-keepers in areas of Africa and Asia where the disease is endemic and where many people rely on livestock for their livelihoods and food-security. Yet, there are many gaps in our knowledge of the drivers of FMDV circulation in these settings. In East Africa, FMD epidemiology is complicated by the circulation of multiple FMDV serotypes (distinct antigenic variants) and by the presence of large populations of susceptible wildlife and domestic livestock. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the only wildlife species with consistent evidence of high levels of FMDV infection, and East Africa contains the largest population of this species globally. To inform FMD control in this region, key questions relate to heterogeneities in FMD prevalence and impacts in different livestock management systems and to the role of wildlife as a potential source of FMDV for livestock. To develop FMD control strategies and make best use of vaccine control options, serotype-specific patterns of circulation need to be characterised. In this study, the impacts and epidemiology of FMD were investigated across a range of traditional livestock-keeping systems in northern Tanzania, including pastoralist, agro-pastoralist and rural smallholder systems. Data were generated through field studies and laboratory analyses between 2010 and 2015. The study involved analysis of existing household survey data and generated serological data from cross-sectional livestock and buffalo samples and longitudinal cattle samples. Serological analyses included non-structural protein ELISAs, serotype-specific solid-phase competitive ELISAs, with optimisation to detect East African FMDV variants, and virus neutralisation testing. Risk factors for FMDV infection and outbreaks were investigated through analysis of cross-sectional serological data in conjunction with a case-control outbreak analysis. A novel Bayesian modeling approach was developed to infer serotype-specific infection history from serological data, and combined with virus isolation data from FMD outbreaks to characterise temporal and spatial patterns of serotype-specific infection. A high seroprevalence of FMD was detected in both northern Tanzanian livestock (69%, [66.5 - 71.4%] in cattle and 48.5%, [45.7-51.3%] in small ruminants) and in buffalo (80.9%, [74.7-86.1%]). Four different serotypes of FMDV (A, O, SAT1 and SAT2) were isolated from livestock. Up to three outbreaks per year were reported by households and active surveillance highlighted up to four serial outbreaks in the same herds within three years. Agro-pastoral and pastoral livestock keepers reported more frequent FMD outbreaks compared to smallholders. Households in all three management systems reported that FMD outbreaks caused significant impacts on milk production and sales, and on animals’ draught power, hence on crop production, with implications for food security and livelihoods. Risk factor analyses showed that older livestock were more likely to be seropositive for FMD (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.4 [1.4-1.5] per extra year) and that cattle (OR 3.3 [2.7-4.0]) were more likely than sheep and goats to be seropositive. Livestock managed by agro-pastoralists (OR 8.1 [2.8-23.6]) or pastoralists (OR 7.1 [2.9-17.6]) were more likely to be seropositive compared to those managed by smallholders. Larger herds (OR: 1.02 [1.01-1.03] per extra bovine) and those that recently acquired new livestock (OR: 5.57 [1.01 – 30.91]) had increased odds of suffering an FMD outbreak. Measures of potential contact with buffalo or with other FMD susceptible wildlife did not increase the likelihood of FMD in livestock in either the cross-sectional serological analysis or case-control outbreak analysis. The Bayesian model was validated to correctly infer from ELISA data the most recent serotype to infect cattle. Consistent with the lack of risk factors related to wildlife contact, temporal and spatial patterns of exposure to specific FMDV serotypes were not tightly linked in cattle and buffalo. In cattle, four serial waves of different FMDV serotypes that swept through southern Kenyan and northern Tanzanian livestock populations over a four-year period dominated infection patterns. In contrast, only two serotypes (SAT1 and SAT2) dominated in buffalo populations. Key conclusions are that FMD has a substantial impact in traditional livestock systems in East Africa. Wildlife does not currently appear to act as an important source of FMDV for East African livestock, and control efforts in the region should initially focus on livestock management and vaccination strategies. A novel modeling approach greatly facilitated the interpretation of serological data and may be a potent epidemiological tool in the African setting. There was a clear temporal pattern of FMDV antigenic dominance across northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. Longer-term research to investigate whether serotype-specific FMDV sweeps are truly predictable, and to shed light on FMD post-infection immunity in animals exposed to serial FMD infections is warranted.

ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN GREENHOUSE PRODUCTION IN THE WEST REGION OF PORTUGAL

Greenhouse production is a very important activity in the West region of Portugal, with an area of approximately 800 ha where the regular production consists in two crops per year, one in winter-spring and the other in summer-autumn. Many growers are now prepared to better exploit market opportunities, since they know that the big export window opportunity is from June to September, when the production is difficult in other regions of south due to high temperatures. Grower’s use new and more productive varieties, either in soil or hydroponic systems, mostly in unheated greenhouses, naturally ventilated, and equipped with modern fertigation systems. Greenhouse production causes some environmental impacts due to the high use of inputs. Several improvements in technologies and crop practices may contribute to increase the use efficiency of resources, decreasing the negative environmental impacts. Greenhouse vegetable production in Northern EU countries is based on the supply of heating and differs significantly from the production system in the Southern EU countries. In the Northern countries, direct energy inputs, mostly for heating, are predominant while in the South the indirect energy input is also important, mainly associated with fertilizers, plastic cover materials and other auxiliary materials. The main objective of this work was to characterise the greenhouse production systems in the West region of Portugal, in order to evaluate the energetic consumptions (direct and indirect), the GHH emissions, the production costs and the farmer’s income. With this work the mostly important inputs were identified, allowing proposing alternative measures to improve efficiency and sustainability. All the data was obtained by surveys performed directly with growers, previously selected to be representative of the crop practices and greenhouse type of the region. However, more research should be performed in order to develop and to test technologies capable to improve resources use efficiency in greenhouse production.

The Iron Age Clay Figurines from Karkemish (2011-2015 Campaigns) and the Coroplastic Art of the Syro-Anatolian Region

This is a study concerning the Iron Age coroplastic production in the Northern Levant. The research is mostly based on new data gathered from the Joint Turco-Italian Expedition at Karkemish (Gaziantep, Turkey). Figurines presented in this study are limited to the 2011-2015 excavation seasons and they are analyzed from a range of aspects. The work in fact primarily focuses on contextual data, being the starting point for the research. A preliminary typological and chronological framing is also provided, while a tentative functional interpretation is suggested by means of a careful examination of the local iconographic and written repertoires. Furthermore, ethnographic comparisons are sometimes used in order to better define the semantic meaning beyond this production. Comparisons with other key sites located in the Middle Euphrates basin are also presented with the main aim to define a peculiar regional pattern. A minor part of this dissertation is also dedicated to the study of the coroplastic art in the entire northern Levantine region. The aim, in this case, is evidently that of identifying different regional productions, which at the state of the research could be traced back just for a few regions. Thus new important data are provided for the Amuq Plain, the Islahiye Valley and the rest of Inner Syria.

The Social Life of Pots. The reconstruction of ceramic production and distribution patterns of pottery assemblages in the Northern Levant during the Iron Age

The aim of the project is the creation of a new model for the analysis of the political and social structures of the Northern Levant during the Iron Age, through the study of the production and circulation of ceramics in urban and rural centers. The project includes an innovative approach compared to a traditional contextual and analytical study of ceramic material. The geographical area under consideration represents an ideal context for understanding these dynamics, as a place of interaction between culturally different but constantly communicating areas (Eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia). They corresponds to present-day southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, with the Mediterranean coast and the Euphrates River as limits to the west and east, respectively. The chronological interval taken into consideration by the study extends from the twelfth century BC. to the seventh century BC, corresponding to a phase of political fragmentation of the region into small-medium state entities and their subsequent conquest by the Neo-Assyrian empire starting from the end of the ninth century BC.

The genetic prehistory of Northern Calabria. Archeogenomic investigation of the human remains from Grotta di Pietra Sant’Angelo and Grotta della Monaca.

Given its strategic position at the center of the Mediterranean Basin, and its unique history of contacts and migrations, Calabria is an ideal region to decipher the genetic traces of at least some of the numerous demographic prehistoric events in Southern Italy. This thesis focuses on the genetic and social changes of ancient inhabitants of Calabria, covering a timeline of approximately 7000 to 3300 years ago, ranging from the Middle Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. We generated the first genome-wide data from Calabria, by focusing on the single inhumation of “Grotta di Pietra Sant’Angelo” (San Lorenzo Bellizzi, Cosenza) and on the vast community found buried in “Grotta della Monaca” (Sant’Agata di Esaro, Cosenza). Supported by archaeological evidence, the primary objective of this research was to employ paleogenomic evidence to decipher funerary customs, social organization, family ties, and demographic shifts in Southern Italy over a period extending beyond three millennia. The possibility of gender-related burial practices and kinship ties among the deceased was also explored. Subsequently, the biogeographical origin and ancestry of prehistoric people of Calabria was contextualized within the broad landscape of existing data on Mediterranean populations. By generating the first genomic evidence from prehistoric Calabria, unresolved questions were addressed, related to the appearance and persistence of distinct genomic components, such as the Iran-related and the Steppe-related ancestry, whose impact on ancient Southern Italian genomes remains uncharted.

Clinical Consequences Of Tityus Bahiensis And Tityus Serrulatus Scorpion Stings In The Region Of Campinas, Southeastern Brazil.

Scorpion stings account for most envenomations by venomous animals in Brazil. A retrospective study (1994-2011) of the clinical consequences of Tityus scorpion stings in 1327 patients treated at a university hospital in Campinas, southeastern Brazil, is reported. The clinical classification, based on outcome, was: dry sting (no envenoming), class I (only local manifestations), class II (systemic manifestations), class III (life-threatening manifestations, such as shock and/or cardiac failure requiring inotropic/vasopressor agents, and/or respiratory failure), and fatal. The median patient age was 27 years (interquartile interval = 15-42 years). Scorpions were brought for identification in 47.2% of cases (Tityus bahiensis 27.7%; Tityus serrulatus 19.5%). Sting severity was classified and each accounted for the following percentage of cases: dry stings - 3.4%, class I - 79.6%, class II - 15.1%, class III - 1.8% and fatal - 0.1%. Pain was the primary local manifestation (95.5%). Systemic manifestations such as vomiting, agitation, sweating, dyspnea, bradycardia, tachycardia, tachypnea, somnolence/lethargy, cutaneous paleness, hypothermia and hypotension were detected in class II or class III + fatal groups, but were significantly more frequent in the latter group. Class III and fatal cases occurred only in children <15 years old, with scorpions being identified in 13/25 cases (T. serrulatus, n = 12; T. bahiensis, n = 1). Laboratory blood abnormalities (hyperglycemia, hypokalemia, leukocytosis, elevations in serum total CK, CK-MB and troponin T, bicarbonate consumption and an increase in base deficit and blood lactate), electrocardiographic changes (ST segment) and echocardiographic alterations (ventricular ejected fraction <54%) were frequently detected in class III patients. Seventeen patients developed pulmonary edema, 16 had cardiac failure and seven had cardiogenic shock. These results indicate that most scorpion stings involved only local manifestations, mainly pain; the greatest severity was associated with stings by T. serrulatus and in children <15 years old.

Genetic Diversity Of Giardia Duodenalis: Multilocus Genotyping Reveals Zoonotic Potential Between Clinical And Environmental Sources In A Metropolitan Region Of Brazil.

Giardia duodenalis is a flagellate protozoan that parasitizes humans and several other mammals. Protozoan contamination has been regularly documented at important environmental sites, although most of these studies were performed at the species level. There is a lack of studies that correlate environmental contamination and clinical infections in the same region. The aim of this study is to evaluate the genetic diversity of a set of clinical and environmental samples and to use the obtained data to characterize the genetic profile of the distribution of G. duodenalis and the potential for zoonotic transmission in a metropolitan region of Brazil. The genetic assemblages and subtypes of G. duodenalis isolates obtained from hospitals, a veterinary clinic, a day-care center and important environmental sites were determined via multilocus sequence-based genotyping using three unlinked gene loci. Cysts of Giardia were detected at all of the environmental sites. Mixed assemblages were detected in 25% of the total samples, and an elevated number of haplotypes was identified. The main haplotypes were shared among the groups, and new subtypes were identified at all loci. Ten multilocus genotypes were identified: 7 for assemblage A and 3 for assemblage B. There is persistent G. duodenalis contamination at important environmental sites in the city. The identified mixed assemblages likely represent mixed infections, suggesting high endemicity of Giardia in these hosts. Most Giardia isolates obtained in this study displayed zoonotic potential. The high degree of genetic diversity in the isolates obtained from both clinical and environmental samples suggests that multiple sources of infection are likely responsible for the detected contamination events. The finding that many multilocus genotypes (MLGs) and haplotypes are shared by different groups suggests that these sources of infection may be related and indicates that there is a notable risk of human infection caused by Giardia in this region.

Triatominae Survey (hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) In The South-central Region Of The State Of Bahia, Brazil Between 2008 And 2013.

Triatomine surveillance in rural areas, artificial ecotypes, and natural ecotopes of the cities of Caturama, Ibipitanga, Macaúbas, and Seabra in the south-central region of the Brazilian state of Bahia was carried out between 2008 and 2013. Natural infection by Trypanosoma cruzi was evaluated in the specimens collected to monitor vectors of Chagas disease. A total of 1,357 specimens were collected, and four species were identified: Triatoma sordida (83%), Triatoma lenti (16.4%), Triatoma pseudomaculata (0.5%), and Panstrongylus geniculatus (0.1%). Triatoma sordida was found in four cities, only 0.7% in intradomiciliary environments. Triatoma lenti was found only in Macaúbas; 8.5% were found in intradomiciliary environments, 88.3% in peridomiciliary environments, and 3.1% in sylvatic environments. Natural infection by T. cruzi was 0.5% for T. sordida and 3.1% T. lenti. All of these cases were found in peridomiciliary environments of Macaúbas. As the results show, triatomines were found in intradomiciliary environments in three cities that were surveyed in the south-central region of the state of Bahia. Thus, an epidemiologic survey should be performed to avoid the risk of transmission to the population.