Estimating the economic impact of canine rabies to Viet Nam 2005-2014.

The global economic impact of canine rabies has been estimated by several studies. Asia bears a disproportionate burden of this zoonosis due to high levels of human deaths and rates of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), but low investment in preventative dog vaccination. The same factors that cause rabies to burden much of Asia are also present in Viet Nam. This study estimated the economic burden of canine rabies in a societal perspective including direct and indirect cost of rabies in dogs, livestock, and humans. Using data collected from personal interviews, published literature, published and supplementary reports, and primary data collection, we estimated the economic impact of canine rabies in Viet Nam over a ten year period (2005-2014). We incorporated the direct and indirect costs for PEP, dog vaccination efforts, livestock losses, and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) into the analysis. General findings from this analysis indicated that over the 10 year study period, the total economic impact of canine rabies was over $719 million USD. The largest portion of impacts (92%) were made up of PEP-related costs. Canine rabies created between 36,560 and 45,700 DALYs, measured in years of life lost (YLL). A total of 914 human deaths were reported over the study period. Deaths/100,000 people were 0.11, which is lower than the reported level for Asian countries. The cost per dog vaccinated was $1.75 USD. Our results indicate that canine rabies impacts in Viet Nam are consistent with the burden elsewhere reported in Asia, with large expenditures on PEP and very small investments in dog vaccination.

Impact of heat-moisture and annealing treatments on physicochemical properties and digestibility of starches from different colored sweet potato varieties.

The objective of this study is to investigate the change in physicochemical properties and digestibility of starches isolated from colored sweet potato varieties under heat-moisture treatment (HMT) or annealing treatment (ANN). The results showed that morphology and X-ray diffraction patterns of the sweet potato starches remained unchanged after the HMT or ANN. The HMT significantly reduced peak viscosity, breakdown and setback and significantly increased pasting temperature, trough and final viscosities of the sweet potato starches. The swelling powers and solubility of the heat-moisture treated starches were significantly lower than those of the native or annealed starches. The decreased rapid digestible starch and the increased slowly digestible and resistant starch contents of the sweet potato starches after HMT or ANN as compared to those of the native starches were observed. The resistant starch (RS) contents of the heat-moisture treated sweet potato starches were in a range of 30.6-39.3%, significantly higher than those of the annealed starches (28.8-32.0%). The strong impact of the HMT on physicochemical properties and RS formation of the sweet potato starches compared to the ANN might be due to the high stability of the occurred interactions between starch molecules and amylopectin chains during treatment.

Physicochemical characteristics and in vitro digestibility of potato and cassava starches under organic acid and heat-moisture treatments.

A combination of acid (citric acid or lactic acid) and heat-moisture treatment was used to modify cassava and potato starches in this study. Changes in physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of the treated starches were investigated. The cassava starch contained 17.0% amylose and possessed A-type crystallinity, whereas the potato starch had 27.4% amylose and possessed B-type crystallinity. After acid and heat-moisture treatment, the crystalline structure of the cassava starch remained unchanged (A type), while the crystalline structure of the potato starch changed from B type to the C (B+A) type. The acid and heat-moisture treatment increased gelatinization temperature, peak and final viscosities of cassava starch but reduced peak and breakdown viscosities of the potato starch. After acid and heat-moisture treatment, rapid digestible starch contents of the treated cassava and potato starches were significantly reduced. However, resistant starch (RS) contents of the treated starches significantly increased as compared to the native starches. Citric acid was found to have high impact on formation of RS in starches. The RS contents of cassava and potato starches obtained under the citric acid and heat-moisture treatment were 40.2% and 39.0%, respectively, two times higher than those of the native starches.