Assessing the Potential Role of Pigs in the Epidemiology of Ebola Virus in Uganda.

Uganda has experienced 4 Ebola outbreaks since the discovery of the virus. Recent epidemiological work has shown pigs are hosts for Ebola viruses. Due to their high reproduction rates, rapid weight gain, potential to provide quick financial returns and rising demand for pork, pig production in Uganda has undergone massive expansion. The combination of pork sector growth supported by development programmes and Ebola virus risk prompted a foresight exercise using desk, interview and spatial methods. The study found that the lack of serological evidence for specific reservoir species, the number of human index cases unable to account for their source of infection, domestic pig habitat overlap with potential Ebola virus zoonotic host environments, reported interactions at the human-pig-wildlife interface that could support transmission, fever in pigs as a commonly reported problem by pig farmers and temporal correlation of outbreaks with peak pork consumption periods warrants further research into potential zoonotic transmission in Uganda from pigs.

Risk Factors for African Swine Fever in Smallholder Pig Production Systems in Uganda.

Smallholder pig production in Uganda is constrained by poor management and high disease burden, with African swine fever (ASF) being one of the most important contributors. However, data to develop appropriate evidence-based disease mitigating interventions along the pig value chain are lacking. This study aimed at determining risk factors associated with the occurrence of outbreaks of ASF in selected districts. A cross-sectional survey of 1195 pig-keeping households in three districts was carried out between April and July 2013. Households were classified into one of three value chain domains (VCDs) based on where the production was located and where most of the products were sold: rural-rural (R-R), rural-urban (R-U) and urban-urban (U-U). Findings revealed that crop farming is the most common primary activity in the R-R and R-U VCDs, while pig keeping was the most common primary activity in the U-U VCDs. Pigs are mostly kept tethered or left to roam in the R-R and R-U VCDs, while in the U-U VCDs, they are mostly confined in corrals. Nearly 20% of the farmers whose farms were hit by an ASF outbreak subsequently sold all their pigs (healthy and sick) to the market in panic. Factors that positively correlated with recent ASF outbreaks were prompt disposal of dead pigs on farms (P < 0.001, OR = 2.3), wild animals present in the village (P < 0.001, OR = 1.7) and farmers sourcing drugs from stockists (P < 0.001, OR = 1.6); while protective factors were the presence of perimeter fences (P = 0.03, OR = 0.5), attendance of farmers at secondary-school level and above (P < 0.001, OR = 0.6), routine cleaning of the pig pens (P < 0.001, OR = 0.6) and pigs being the only livestock kept by farmer (P = 0.01, OR = 0.7). Given the current situation, there is a need to raise awareness among farmers and other value chain actors of biosecurity measures and create incentives for farmers to report ASF cases.

Microsporidia - Emergent Pathogens in the Global Food Chain.

Intensification of food production has the potential to drive increased disease prevalence in food plants and animals. Microsporidia are diversely distributed, opportunistic, and density-dependent parasites infecting hosts from almost all known animal taxa. They are frequent in highly managed aquatic and terrestrial hosts, many of which are vulnerable to epizootics, and all of which are crucial for the stability of the animal-human food chain. Mass rearing and changes in global climate may exacerbate disease and more efficient transmission of parasites in stressed or immune-deficient hosts. Further, human microsporidiosis appears to be adventitious and primarily associated with an increasing community of immune-deficient individuals. Taken together, strong evidence exists for an increasing prevalence of microsporidiosis in animals and humans, and for sharing of pathogens across hosts and biomes.

Students' perceptions of male teachers: effects of teachers' dress and students' characteristics.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a male teacher's clothing and selected students' characteristics on students' perceptions of teachers' characteristics. The sample consisted of 152 male and female high school students. Respondents selected one of four photographs of a male teacher model dressed in four different clothing styles for each of 20 teachers' characteristic statements. The mediating effects of students' gender, formality of clothing, and perceptions of the importance of clothing were also investigated. Significant differences among the four clothing styles were found for all 20 statements. Students' gender and rated importance of clothing had some influence on this relationship. The results supplement previous research on female teachers by suggesting that different types of clothing also influence students' perceptions of male teachers and that students' characteristics have some mediating effect.