Antimicrobial resistance: a global one-health problem for all ages

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been declared a major threat to global health, with the potential to reverse advances in treating disease, and impeding other global pri-orities including human development. The urgent menace of AMR has been recognized by the World Health Organi-sation Global Action Plan in 2015 [1], the 2016 United Nations General Assembly unanimous commitment to tackle AMR [2], and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2017 declaration on AMR (3)AMR has been highlighted as a major health and economic challenge, with the consequences of failing to meet that challenge falling upon our children and grandchildren. Not only will children bear the burden of rising AMR, they are especially at risk now due to a number of factors. In many studies, children and the elderly are the highest consumers of antimicrobi-als (4)In addition, frequently inappropriate doses in chil-dren mean that they are receiving sub-therapeutic doses, maximizing the chance of encouraging resistant organ-isms to flourish. The normal behaviour of early childhood also encourages the spread of resistant organisms between children. Finally, their lifetime risk of exposure to resistant organisms is higher than adults.

Epidemiology of hepatitis E in South-East Europe in the "One Health" concept

The significance of hepatitis E virus(HEV)as an important public health problem is rising.Until a decade ago,cases of HEV infection in Eur-ope were mainly confined to returning travelers,but nowadays,hepatitis E represents an emerging zoonotic infection in many European countries.The aim of this manuscript is to perform a systematic review of the published literature on hepatitis E distribution in humans,animals and environmental samples("One Health"concept)in the South-Eastern European countries.Comparison of the available data showed that the anti-HEV seroprevalence in the South-Eastern Europe varies greatly,depending on the population studied,geographical area and methods used.The IgG seroprevalence rates in different population groups were found to be 1.1%-24.5%in Croatia,up to 20.9%in Bulgaria,5.9-%17.1%in Romania,15%in Serbia,up to 9.7%in Greece and 2%-9.7%in Albania.Among possible risk factors,older age was the most significant predictor for HEV seropositivity in most studies.Higher seroprevalence rates were found in animals.HEV IgG antibodies in domestic pigs were detected in 20%-54.5%,29.2%-50%,38.94%-50%and 31.1%-91.7%in Serbia,Bulgaria,Romania and Croatia,respectively.In wild boars seroprevalence rates were up to 10.3%,30.3%and 31.1%in Romania,Slovenia and Croatia,respectively.A high HEV RNA prevalence in wild boars in some countries(Croatia and Romania)indicated that wild boars may have a key role in the HEV epidemiology.There are very few data on HEV prevalence in environmental samples.HEV RNA was detected in 3.3%and 16.7%surface waters in Slovenia and Serbia,respectively.There is no evidence of HEV RNA in sewage systems in this region.The available data on genetic characterization show that human,animal and environmental HEV strains mainly belong to the genotype 3.

A Review on Ruminant and Human Brucellosis in Somalia

This review article aims to describe the prevalence of brucellosis in ruminants and humans in Somalia and also guides policy makers to draw sound decisions regarding brucellosis control policies. It is concluded that brucellosis is of no public health importance in Somalia. Nevertheless, it is suggested that a stronger inter-sectoral collaboration among veterinary, medical and public health professionals at the federal and country level in terms of one-health approach should be promoted.

Molecular detection of virulence genes in Campylobacter species isolated from livestock production systems in South Africa

Campylobacter species are a major cause of foodborne bacterial infections in both developed and developing countries worldwide.Campylobacter jejuni is responsible for the majority of infectio ns.This study was con ducted to identify virule nceassociated genes in Campylobacter species isolated from livestock production systems in South Africa.A total of 250 fecal samples consisting of cattle(n=50),chickens(n=50),goats(n=50),sheep(n=50)and pigs(n=50)were randomly collected from livestock in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa between April and October 2018.The samples were an a lyzed for the presence of virule nee genes in Campylobacter species using molecular PCR-based methods.It was found that 77 and 23%of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli respectively were isolated from all the livestock samples.There were positive significant(P<0.05)correlations amongst all the virulenee genes that were investigated.Chisquare and Fisher's exact tests were implemented to test for the effect of livestock species on the presenee or absenee of virule nee gen es.The study dem on strated that most of livestock species can pote ntially cause zoonotic infecti on s and food pois oning due to the high prevale nee of Campylobacter.The high prevale nee of virule nee genes highlights the sign ifica nee of Campylobacter\r\livestock production systems in South Africa.This requires the implementation of one-health approaches to reduce the impact of foodborne and zoonotic diseases for the welfare of human and animal health.

Genetic Evidence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus(MERS-Cov) and Widespread Seroprevalence among Camels in Kenya

We describe the first genome isolation of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERS-CoV) in Kenya. This fatal zoonotic pathogen was first described in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012. Epidemiological and molecular evidence revealed zoonotic transmission from camels to humans and between humans. Currently, MERS-CoV is classified by the WHO as having high pandemic potential requiring greater surveillance. Previous studies of MERS-CoV in Kenya mainly focused on site-specific and archived camel and human serum samples for antibodies. We conducted active nationwide cross-sectional surveillance of camels and humans in Kenya, targeting both nasal swabs and plasma samples from 1,163 camels and 486 humans collected from January 2016 to June 2018. A total of 792 camel plasma samples were positive by ELISA. Seroprevalence increased with age, and the highest prevalence was observed in adult camels(82.37%, 95%confidence interval(CI) 79.50–84.91). More female camels were significantly seropositive(74.28%, 95% CI 71.14–77.19)than male camels(P \ 0.001)(53.74%, 95% CI 48.48–58.90). Only 11 camel nasal swabs were positive for MERS-CoV by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of whole genome sequences showed that Kenyan MERSCoV clustered within sub-clade C2, which is associated with the African clade, but did not contain signature deletions of orf4 b in African viruses. None of the human plasma screened contained neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV. This study confirms the geographically widespread occurrence of MERS-CoV in Kenyan camels. Further one-health surveillance approaches in camels, wildlife, and human populations are needed.