Measures, Gaps, and Mitigation Strategies in Bangladesh's COVID-19 Response.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread rapidly from China to most other countries around the world in early 2020 killing millions of people. To prevent virus spread, world governments implemented a variety of response measures. This paper's objectives were to discuss the country's adopted measures to combat the virus through June 2020, identify gaps in the measures' effectiveness, and offer possible mitigations to those gaps. The measures taken included screening device deployment across international air and land ports, flight suspensions and closures from COVID-19 affected countries, and declaration and extension of a national public holiday (equivalent to lockdowns in other countries). Identified gaps were test kit, PPE, ICU beds, and ventilator shortages, limited public awareness, and insufficient coordination and collaboration among national and international partners. Proper and timely risk mapping, preparedness, communication, coordination, and collaboration among governments and organizations, and public awareness and engagement would have provided sufficient COVID-19 mitigation in Bangladesh.

Prevalence and risk factors of Avian Influenza Viruses among household ducks in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Avian influenza viruses (AIV) increase commercial and backyard poultry mortality and morbidity, reduces egg production, and elevates public health risk. Household ducks propagate and transmit HPAI and LPAI viruses between domesticated and wild birds in Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh. This study was conducted to identify epidemiological factors associated with AIV infection among household ducks at Chattogram, Bangladesh. We randomly selected and collected blood and oropharyngeal swab samples from 281 households ducks. We evaluated the serum for AIV antibody using cELISA and tested for H5 and H9 subtypes using the HI test. We tested the swabs with real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR) for M gene, and H5, H9 subtypes. In the duck populations, the household level AIV sero-prevalence was 57.7% (95% CI: 51.6-63.3) and RNA prevalence was 2.4% (95% CI: 1.0-5.0). H5 and H9 subtype sero-prevalence was 31.5% (95% CI: 22.2-42.0) and 23.9% (95% CI: 15.6-33.9). H5 and H9 subtype RNA prevalence were 0% (95% CI: 0.0-1.3) and 2.4% (95% CI: 1.0-5.0). We determined household-level OR (Odds Ratios) for the "combined (mixed materials-mud and concrete or metallic)" category was 2.2 (95% CI: 1.1-4.2) compared with "wooden/bamboo" category (p = 0.02); 2.8 (95% CI: 1.2-6.6) in households with duck plague vaccine coverage compared with no coverage (p = 0.01); and 2.4 (95% CI: 0.6-9.7) in households that threw dead birds in bushes and the roadside compared with households that buried or threw dead birds in garbage pits (p = 0.21). M gene phylogenetic analysis compared M gene sequences to previously reported Bangladeshi H9N2 isolates. The evidence presented here shows AIV circulation in the Chattogram, Bangladesh study areas. AIV reduction can be achieved through farmer education of proper farm management practices.

Clinico-epidemiological investigation of feline panleukopenia and parvoviral enteritis in the two largest pet hospitals in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: A clinico-epidemiological study was conducted at two veterinary hospitals in Dhaka to evaluate the prevalence of parvoviral enteritis (PVE) in dogs and feline panleukopenia (FPL) in cats, to detect factors associated with them, and to identify their common clinical signs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinico-epidemiological data were collected for a total of 88 dogs and 129 cats which were presented to the hospitals, entered into MS excel 2010, and then transferred to STATA-14 software for conducting descriptive and univariable statistical analyses (Fisher's exact test). The maps showing the spatial distribution of PVE and FPL were produced by using QGIS software version 2.18.13. RESULTS: PVE in dogs and FPL in cats had the highest prevalence compared to other diseases (34.1%; 95% confidence interval: 24.3-44.9; N = 88 and 20.2%; 95% confidence interval: 13.6-28.1; N = 129, respectively). Young age (43.8%), poor body condition (58.4%), and exotic breeds (44.2%) were significantly associated with the occurrence of PVE (p ≤ 0.05). Poor body condition (27.8%) and non-vaccination status (26.7%) were associated with FPL (p ≤ 0.05). Both PVE and FPL showed clinical signs of being off-feed, frequent vomiting, weakness, and moderate dehydration. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of PVE and FPL indicates that they are common in dogs and cats in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The factors related to PVE are young age, exotic breed, and poor body condition score (BCS), and FPL are poor BCS and non-vaccination. Specific measures such as care during younger age, good nutrition, and routine vaccination are needed to prevent and control PVE and FPL in Dhaka's dog and cat population.

Epidemiological assessment of clinical poultry cases through the government veterinary hospital-based passive surveillance system in Bangladesh: a case study.

An epidemiological assessment of clinical poultry cases recorded through the existing passive surveillance at Kishoreganj District Veterinary Hospital during February-March 2016 was performed. A total of 200 cases (87 layers, 80 broilers, 21 ducks, and 12 pigeons) were included in this evaluation. The present study attempted to demonstrate the usefulness of passive surveillance data in quantifying the relative burden of poultry cases and their distribution along with drug prescription patterns. The cases were diagnosed based on clinical history, clinical signs, and observable post-mortem lesions by the registered veterinarian or intern veterinarian. The most prevalent diseases in chickens were infectious bursal disease (IBD) (31.7%; CI (confidence interval) 24.7-39.3%), coccidiosis (22.8%; CI 16.6-29.8%), Newcastle disease (ND) (21.6%; CI 15.5-28.5%), and coli-enteritis (8.4%; CI 4.6-13.6%). The most prevalent disease in ducks was duck plague (DP) (76.6%; CI 52.8-91.7%). Newcastle disease was most prevalent (66.7%; CI 34.8-90.0%) in pigeons. Infectious bursal disease, aspergillosis, and colibacillosis respectively were seen in a higher proportion of cases in broiler chickens than in layer chickens (58.7%, 12.5%, and 11.2% vs. 6.9%, 1.1%, and 3.4%; p ≤ 0.05). Contrarily, ND was seen in greater proportion of cases in layer chickens (32.1%) than in broiler chickens (10.0%) (p < 0.001). Infectious bursal disease, ND, coccidiosis, and aspergillosis were higher in older age broilers than in younger broilers (p ≤ 0.05). Antibiotics were often used to treat the poultry diseases such as trimethoprim with sulpha drugs (41%), ciprofloxacin (39%), sulphadiazine (27.5%), and erythromycin (26%). Through the present study, we can see how a passive surveillance system would be an effective tool for delineating disease distributions and common treatment regimens, thus helping to mitigate disease prevalence.

Newcastle disease sero and viro-prevalence in rural poultry in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh experiences some of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, and efforts are being made to increase food security and overall health status. One of the largest constrains on increasing food security is endemic diseases among livestock and poultry populations. Newcastle Disease (ND) is one of these viral endemic diseases reducing food security. However, the sero- and viro-prevalence of ND has not been thoroughly studied in rural poultry in Bangladesh. Knowledge of farm management practices and their effect on ND sero and viro-prevalence is needed before interventions can occur, and efforts to improve the endemic state of ND cannot begin without a baseline study. This cross-sectional study randomly sampled 129 rural households with 245 chickens for the sero-prevalence and active infection rate of rural chickens in two selected upazilas (sub-districts) of the Chittagong district. ELISA was used for the detection of sero-prevalence, and cloacal samples were analyzed for ND presence using one-step RT-PCR. The aims of this study were to describe farmer demography, determine the ND sero-prevalence at the household and individual chicken level, estimate the proportionate ND prevalence at the individual chicken level, determine potential risk factors for ND sero-prevalence at the household level, and determine challenges farmers face with household chicken farming. The overall household level ND sero-prevalence based on ELISA was 31.8% (41/129) (95% CI: 23.9-40.6%), whereas the overall bird level ND sero-prevalence based on ELISA was 21.2% (52/245) (95% CI: 16.5-26.8%). ND prevalence based on RT-PCR was 12.5% (4/32) (95% CI: 3.5-29.0%). The odds of ND sero-positivity was significantly higher in farms belonging to Rangunia than in farms belonging to Anowara with an odds ratio (OR) of 7.8 (95% CI: 3.3-18.6%). The odds of ND sero-positivity was significantly lower in poultry house cleaning frequency of once or twice weekly compared with once daily cleaning (OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1-0.8%). High cleaning frequency may produce excessive stress on poultry predisposing them to infection. Poultry rearing is different between Anowara and Rangunia. Anowara (coastal) scavenging areas become restricted because of regular tide flow allowing small fishes and other aquatic animals to be the dominant scavengers in Anowara. The incoming tide also removes viral reservoirs such as feces and dead birds that may otherwise be readily accessed by healthy chickens.