Influenza H5N1 and H1N1 viruses remain infectious in unpasteurized milk on milking machinery surfaces.

Spillover of highly pathogenic avian H5N1 into the cattle population poses a risk to humans through the close contact with farm workers. High viral loads of influenza viruses in the unpasteurized milk of infected lactating cows has the potential to contaminate equipment within milking parlors and create fomites for transmission to dairy workers. Cattle H5N1 and human 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza viruses were found to remain infectious on surfaces commonly found in milking equipment materials for a few hours. The data presented here provide a compelling case for the risk of contaminated surfaces generated during milking to facilitate transmission of H5N1 from cattle-to-cattle and to dairy farm workers.

Pollen Loads of Flower Visitors to Açaí Palm (Euterpe oleracea) and Implications for Management of Pollination Services.

Understanding the functional roles of different pollinator species is crucial to the development of sustainable farming practices in pollinator-dependent crops. However, this can be challenging for crop plants in tropical regions with hyper-diverse pollinator communities. Here, we assess pollen loads of different insect visitors to inflorescences of açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea), the most important native crop in the Amazon estuary region. Flower-visiting insects were collected from pistillate (female) inflorescences at eight sites, including four managed floodplain forests and four plantations. Pollinator Importance Value Index (PIVI) and Relative Importance (RI) scores were calculated for common visitor taxa (≥ 10 individuals) using sum visit frequencies and median pollen loads. Pollen load analyses revealed that over seventy insect taxa, including bees, flies, beetles, wasps and ants, were effective vectors of E. oleracea pollen. Native bees, including both solitary and eusocial taxa, were the most efficient pollen vectors, with median pollen loads at least eight times higher than those of the next best insect group (flies). Insect pollen loads were at their highest between 0800 and 1300 hours, and four insect taxa had RI scores > 0.05, including two meliponine bees belonging to the Trigona genus (Trigona branneri Cockerell and Trigona pallens Fabricius) and two halictid bee genera (Augochloropsis and Dialictus). Our results suggest that native bees play an important role in açaí pollination and should be the primary focus of pollinator management in açaí production systems.

Comparison of two methods of determining asphyxial potential of infant bedding.

OBJECTIVE: To establish, with the use of live sedated piglets on a range of bedding surfaces, the possibility of asphyxia when an infant is breathing face down into infant bedding surfaces, and to compare the results with those obtained with a mechanical model. METHODS: Piglets underwent tracheotomy and were attached to a silicon rubber model head of a 3-month-old infant. This was placed face down on bedding surfaces, and respiratory and blood gas data were collected for a 60-minute period. RESULTS: All bedding surfaces but one showed some rebreathing. This was to lower levels than with the mechanical model, but the ranking of the surfaces by level of rebreathing was similar. Two piglets died within the 1-hour experimental time. CONCLUSION: It is confirmed that the data from a mechanical model of rebreathing on different bedding surfaces are matched by those derived from a piglet model that responds normally to asphyxia.