New Year Greetings to the SCHWB Readers and Their Families

The Blessings of Peace,
The Beauty of Hope,
The Spirit of Love,
The Comfort of Faith,
May these be your gifts
For the coming New Year.

Happy New Year !

Sudhi Ranjan Garg
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology,
College of Veterinary Sciences, LUVAS, HISAR-125004

A person dies from rabies after trying to treat his son by sucking blood from dog-bite wound

A person died from rabies in China recently after he sucked blood from a bite wound inflicted by a stray dog on his son’s leg. He attempted this to remove any infection from the wound. The person was so anxious about his son’s injury that he squatted down immediately and started to suck the blood from the leg and spit it onto the ground, which some people do to try to treat bites from venomous snakes. Later, the son was given vaccine shots in the hospital but the father did not take vaccination due to cost considerations. He developed strong rabies symptoms and died hours after he was rushed to a hospital. Doctors reminded people not to suck out blood after being bitten by dogs, but to clean wounds with soapy water and get timely medical help.

Source: Shanghai Daily. www.shanghaidaily.com

FAO, OIE and WHO unite to eliminate human rabies and control the disease in animals

On the World Rabies Day (28 September 2013), FAO, OIE and WHO unite in their goal to eliminate human rabies and control the disease in animals. Every year, an estimated 60,000 people die an agonizing death from rabies, many of whom are children bitten by rabies-infected dogs. Elimination of rabies requires consistent and sustained commitment, underpinned by strong health and veterinary systems. Different sectors and disciplines need to collaborate closely, and World Rabies Day is an opportunity to establish or strengthen these links. Regional elimination of human rabies transmitted by dogs has been outlined by Latin American countries for 2015 and south-east Asia for 2020. FAO, OIE and WHO are working together to raise global awareness and commitment to step-up the fight against rabies.

Source: World Health Organization

Hotspots of Zoonotic Diseases

A recent study at the International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya has demonstrated a strong association between poverty, hunger, livestock keeping, and zoonoses. It further revealed that the existing disease reporting systems do not adequately capture the impact of zoonoses. There is much unpublished information in grey literature of developing countries. Across a range of zoonoses burden, poverty burden, and reliance on livestock, the most important hotspots for poverty, emerging livestock systems and zoonoses are in South Asia (India > Bangladesh > Pakistan), followed by East and Central Africa (Ethiopia > Nigeria > Congo DR > Tanzania > Sudan), South East Asia (China > Indonesia > Myanmar > Vietnam) and West Africa (Burkina Faso > Mali > Ghana). The study confirmed that a relatively small number of countries have a disproportionate share of poor livestock keepers and zoonoses burden, notably India, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

The scientists identified and prioritized 56 zoonoses of high importance that are responsible for an estimated 2.7 human million deaths and around 2.5 billion cases of human illness a year. For the top 13 zoonoses, the figures were 2.2 million human deaths and 2.4 billion cases of illness. These diseases are most important to poor livestock keepers because of their impacts on human health, livestock sector, amenability to agriculture-based control, and other criteria. These diseases in descending order include: zoonotic gastrointestinal disease, leptospirosis, cysticercosis, zoonotic tuberculosis, rabies, leishmaniasis, brucellosis, echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, Q fever, zoonotic trypanosomosis, hepatitis E, and anthrax). In the case of bacterial foodborne zoonoses, they identified five diseases, which ranked highest on a number of recent assessments of impact. These included salmonellosis, listeriosis, toxoplasmosis, campylobacteriosis and disease caused by diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli.

Source: Grace et al. 2012. Mapping of poverty and likely zoonoses hotspots. Zoonoses Project 4. Report to Department for International Development, UK. International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya.

Foodborne Illness in Canada

Foodborne illness is a global public health concern. In a recent study, it has been estimated that in Canada each year there are 1.6 million and 2.4 million episodes of domestically acquired foodborne illness related to 30 known pathogens and unspecified agents, respectively, for a total estimate of 4.0 million episodes of domestically acquired foodborne illness in the country. Norovirus, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter spp., and nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. are the leading pathogens and account for approximately 90% of the pathogen-specific total. Approximately one in eight Canadians experience an episode of domestically acquired foodborne illness each year in Canada. 

Source: M. Kate Thomas, Regan Murray, Logan Flockhart, Katarina Pintar, Frank Pollari, Aamir Fazil, Andrea Nesbitt, and Barbara Marshall. 2013. Estimates of the burden of foodborne illness in Canada for 30 specified pathogens and unspecified agents, Circa 2006. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. doi:10.1089/fpd.2012.1389

Human Nipah Virus Infection in Bangladesh

Human Nipah virus (NiV) infection, an emerging zoonotic disease, was first recognized in a large outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998 through May 1999. The disease also occurs in Bangladesh. Nipah surveillance in Bangladesh began in 2006. NiV is a highly pathogenic paramyxovirus belonging to genus Henipavirus. The virus is transmitted through drinking of raw date palm sap (kancha khejurer rosh) contaminated with NiV or by close physical contact with Nipah infected patients. 

This year, as of 6 April 2013, 24 cases of Nipah virus infection have been reported in Bangladesh, of which 21 cases have died since the beginning of 2013. These cases are from 13 different districts and include persons of 8 months age to 60 years. Sixteen cases are in males and eight in females. 

Source: Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Human Infection with Influenza A(H7N9) Virus in China

Influenza A(H7N9) is one of a subgroup of influenza viruses that normally circulate among birds. Until recently, this virus had not been seen in people. However, human infections have now been detected. On 31 March 2013, the China Health and Family Planning Commission notified the World Health Organization of three cases of human infection with influenza A(H7N9). These recent reports from China are the first cases of human infection with H7N9 viruses. As of 12 April 2013, total 43 patients have been laboratory confirmed with influenza A(H7N9) virus in China, including 11 deaths. More than a thousand close contacts of the confirmed cases are being closely monitored. The Chinese government is actively investigating this event and has heightened disease surveillance. Retrospective testing of recently reported cases with severe respiratory infection may uncover additional cases that were previously unrecognized. 

WHO is in contact with national authorities and is following the event closely. At this time there is no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission.

Source: World Health Organization

Human and Animal Health: Environmental Perspectives

New book
Human and Animal Health: Environmental Perspectives Edited by Sudhi Ranjan Garg 
Publisher: Satish Serial Publishing House, New Delhi 
Publishing year: 2013 
ISBN: 978-93-81226-30-8 

Rapid growth of population is putting excessive strain on natural resources while the technological advances are causing unprecedented release of xenobiotics in the environment. Intensive agricultural and animal husbandry practices also make significant contribution to the pollution, jeopardizing the safety of environmental resources and the food chain. The natural ecosystem is becoming hostile day by day and man and animals are confronted with similar types of health risk. It is quite a challenge to the scientists to build a sustainable environment without halting the process of industrial and economic growth. In this book, distinguished scientists from the top institutions have provided elaborate environmental risk analysis and futuristic mitigation plans to safeguard human and animal health. 

 Contents

1. Environmental Issues and Challenges - M. H. Fulekar, Bhawana P. and Jyoti Fulekar
2. Pesticides Risk Assessment and Mitigation - J. P. S. Gill and J. S. Bedi
3. Persistent Organic Pollutants: Animal Health Implications - V. J. Jadhav, S. R. Garg and N. K. Mahajan
4. Inorganic Chemical Impurities in Water: Livestock Health Implications - Jyotsana Madan, Meenakshi Gupta and S. R. Garg
5. Environmental Fluorides: Risk Assessment and Remediation - Renuka Gupta, Bhupinder Singh and V. K. Garg
6. Health Risk of Non-Occupational Exposure to Carcinogenic Asbestos - Iqbal Ahmad, Huma Siddiqui and Govil Patil
7. Selenium Toxicity - Arindam Kuila, Mainak Mukhopadhyay and Rintu Banerjee
8. Lead Pollution - D. K. Ghosh
9. Potential of Chelation Therapy in Heavy Metal Toxicity - Arif Tasleem Jan, Arif Ali and Qazi Mohd. Rizwanul Haq
10. Anthropogenic Aquatic Xenobiotics - K. K. Krishnani and S. M. Pillai
11. Toxicological Impact of Water Pollutants on Aquatic Organisms -  Satya Prakash Pathak
12. Characteristics and Bioremediation of Wastewater in Coastal Shrimp Aquaculture - K. K. Krishnani and B. P. Gupta
13. Xenobiotics Remediation through Bioreactors - S.S. Bhattacharya, S. Gupta and Rintu Banerjee
14. Pollution Abatement using Biological Treatment Systems- Sudhir Kumar Gupta and Debolina Basu
15. Sustainable Wastewater Treatment: Strategies and Requirements - M. M. Ghangrekar and Manaswini Behera
16. Ecofriendly Biopolymers and Biodegradable Plastics - Virendra K. Sikka
17. Coal Fired Power Plants: Environmental Risk Mitigation - G. C. Kisku and V. P. Sharma
18. Health Risk from Petroleum Solvents - Sudhir K. Goel
19. Workplace Environmental Hazard Mitigation in Chemical Industries - Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay and Vidhya Venugopal
20. Environmental Degradation Due to Poor Agricultural Practices - Somen Acharya, Vijay K. Bharti and R. B. Srivastava
21. Agrochemicals in Animal Feeds: Livestock and Public Health Implications - A. Sahoo
22. Environmental Risk from Integrated Farming System - B. R. Singh
23. Ecofriendly Utilization of Crop Residues and Organic Waste Material - S. S. Sindhu, Nisha Verma and Sneh Goyal
24. Biological Control of Arthropod Pests - Pala Ram
25. Livestock Methane Emission and Global Warming: Risks and Remedies - Anil K. Puniya, Sanjay Kumar, Sunil K. Sirohi and Kishan Singh
26. Safe and Economic Disposal of Slaughterhouse Waste - Vikas S. Waskar
27. Roof-Harvested Rainwater: Quality and Health Risk - V. Meera and M. Mansoor Ahammed
28. Quality Indoor Air for Healthy Children - Priyanka Kulshreshtha and Mukesh Khare
29. Nuclear Waste Management - R. K. Vaid and Anjali Sharma
30. Ill Effects of Noise Pollution on Human Beings and Animals - Asim Kumar Pal
31. Global Warming and Climate Change: Health Implications - R. K. Vaid and N. Virmani
32. Strategies for Prevention of Environmental Health Hazards - Vidhya Venugopal
33. Forest Conservation for Environmental Protection - Sunita Chandel and Preeti Mehta

Veterinary Diagnostics: Current Trends

A new book Veterinary Diagnostics: Current Trends edited by R. P. Gupta, S. R. Garg, Vikas Nehra and Deepika Lather, College of Veterinary Sciences, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar (India) has been recently published. 
Publisher: Satish Serial Publishing House, New Delhi
Publication year: 2013, ISBN: 978-93-81226-49-0

Prompt and correct diagnosis of livestock and poultry diseases has paramount importance in veterinary and animal husbandry practices. It facilitates timely initiation of safe and specific therapy and implementation of preventive and control measures against diseases. The success of disease surveillance programmes also depends on the availability of diagnostic tools and facilities. This book presents a detailed and comprehensive account of conventional and modern techniques for diagnosis of major diseases of animals and poultry.

Contents of the book 

1. Molecular Techniques in Diagnostic Pathology - K. P. Singh
2. Diagnostic Immunohistochemistry: Applications and Trouble Shooting - G.B. Manjunatha Reddy and M.R. Gajendragad
3. Advanced Techniques in Bacterial Identification - R. K. Vaid
4. Histopathological Diagnostic Techniques - K.K. Jakhar and Nidhi Bishnoi
5. Diagnostic Procedures for Foodborne Parasitic Zoonoses - P.P. Gupta
6. Diagnostic Trends in Parasitic Diseases of Animals - S. K. Gupta and L. D. Singla
7. Advancements in Hemoprotozoan Disease Diagnosis - Ajit Singh
8. Mycotoxicoses: Diagnostic Methods - R. K. Asrani, R. D. Patil and Suman Roy
9. Diagnostic Tools in Toxicopathology - M. L. Satyanarayana
10. Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of Epithelial- Mesenchymal Transition in Tumour Spread - Naresh Kumar Sood and Kuldip Gupta
11. Imaging Techniques in Veterinary Diagnostics - Prem Singh, R. K. Chandolia, S. M. Behl, Rishi Tayal and S. K. Chawla
12. Trends in Diagnostic Procedures for Common Camel Diseases - H. Dadhich and Manisha Mathur
13. Contemporary Disease Diagnostic Procedures for Pet Animals - C. Balachandran
14. Contemporary Disease Diagnostic Procedures for Aquatic Animals - P. K. Sahoo and Banya Kar
15. Recent Advances in Diagnosis of Paratuberculosis (Johne’s Disease) in Animals - B. N. Tripathi
16. Current Concepts in Diagnosis of Brucellosis in Animals - Puran Chand
17. Overview of Diagnostic Methods for Pasteurellosis - Subhash Verma and Mandeep Sharma
18. Advances in Diagnosis of Salmonellosis - Bhoj Raj Singh, Sandeep Kumar and Younis Farooq Wani
19. Trends in Campylobacter Diagnosis - R. S. Rathore, A. K. Verma, S. Rajagunalan and K. Dhama
20. Diagnostic Advances in Mastitis in Dairy Animals - Anshu Sharma and Rajesh Chhabra
21. Laboratory Diagnosis of Mycoplasmal Infections - Y. Singh and P. K. Kapoor
22. Advances in Diagnosis of Foot and Mouth Disease - R. Sharma and N. K. Kakker
23. Peste des Petits Ruminants Diagnosis - S. K. Mishra and Deepika Lather
24. Molecular Characterization and Diagnosis of Equine Influenza - Nitin Virmani and B. C. Bera
25. Advances in Diagnosis of Rabies - C. K. Singh
26. Diagnosis of Canine Parvovirus-2 Infection in Dogs - S. Nandi and C. Ravishankar
27. Recent Advances in Classical Swine Fever Diagnosis - G. Saikumar
28. Advances in Diagnosis and Control of Japanese Encephalitis in Animals - Baldev R. Gulati, B. K. Singh and N. Virmani
29. Current Trends in the Diagnostics of Important Viral Diseases of Poultry - N. K. Mahajan, Aman Kumar and Davinder Singh Yadav
30. Challenges in Diagnosis of Avian Influenza - C. Tosh, S. Nagarajan, H. V. Murugkar and D. D. Kulkarni
31. Marek’s Disease: Diagnosis and Control Strategies - A. K. Pruthi, Vikas Nehra and Deepika Lather
32. Trends in Diagnosis of Hydropericardium Syndrome - R. P. Gupta and Vikas Nehra
33. Diagnosis and Control of Viral Respiratory Disease Complex in Layer Chicken - P. Srinivasan, T. R. Gopala Krishna Murthy, S. Saravanan, P. Balachandran and B. Mohan

Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory Inaugurated at Bangalore

With the initiatives of Dr. S. Abdul Rahman, President, Commonwealth Veterinary Association, a state-of-the-art CVA-Crucell-KVAFSU Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory has come up at the Veterinary College, Bangalore. The laboratory has been built at a cost of US$ 200,000 with financial support from Crucell Holland bv, Netherlands and was inaugurated recently by Dr. C. Renukaprasad, Vice Chancellor of the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar. This laboratory has all facilities for early diagnosis of rabies in canines and is the first of its kind in the Indian subcontinent.

Animal-bites

Key facts 

• Animal-bites are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. 
• Worldwide, up to five million people are bitten by snakes every year; the majority in Africa and South-East Asia. 
• Prompt medical treatment with appropriate antivenom is required for poisonous snake-bites. 
• Dog-bites account for tens of millions of injuries annually; the highest risk is among children. 
• Rabies is a significant health concern following dog-bites, cat-bites and monkey-bites. 

Animal-bites pose a major public health problem in children and adults worldwide. The health impacts of animal-bites are dependent on the type and health of the animal species, the size and health of the bitten person, and accessibility to appropriate health care. Numerous animal species have the potential to bite humans; however the most important are those arising from snakes, dogs, cats and monkeys.

Snake-bites

Worldwide, up to five million people are bitten by snakes every year. Of these, poisonous (envenoming) snakes cause considerable morbidity and mortality. There are an estimated 2.4 million envenomations (poisonings from snake-bites) and 94 000–125 000 deaths annually, with an additional 400 000 amputations and other severe health consequences, such as infection, tetanus, scarring, contractures, and psychological sequelae. Poor access to health care and scarcity of antivenom increases the severity of the injuries and their outcomes.

Dog-bites

There are no global estimates of dog-bite incidence, however studies suggest that dog-bites account for tens of millions of injuries annually. In the United States of America for example, approximately 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs every year. Of these, nearly 885 000 seek medical care; 30 000 have reconstructive procedures; 3–18% develop infections and between 10 and 20 fatalities occur. Other high-income countries such as Australia, Canada and France have comparable incidence and fatality rates. Low- and middle-income country data are more fragmented, however some studies reveal that dogs account for 76–94% of animal-bite injuries. Dog-bite fatality rates are higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries as rabies is a problem in many of these countries, and there may be a lack of post-exposure treatment and appropriate access to health care. An estimated 55 000 people die annually from rabies, and bites from rabid dogs account for the vast majority of these deaths. 

Cat-bites 

Worldwide, cat-bites account for 2–50% of injuries related to animal-bites. They are commonly second to dog-bites in terms of incidence. In Italy for example, the incidence of cat-related injuries is 18 per 100 000 population, while in the United States of America, there are an estimated 400 000 cat-bites and 66 000 visits to hospital emergency departments every year.

Monkey-bites 

Monkey-bites account for 2–21% of animal-bite injuries. In India for example, two studies found monkeys to be second to dogs as the most common source of animal-bite injuries.

Source: World Health Organization Fact sheet No. 373, 18 February 2013

Measles deaths decline, but elimination progress stalls in some regions

The number of measles deaths globally decreased by 71% between 2000 and 2011, from 542,000 to 158,000. Over the same period, new cases dropped 58% from 853,500 in 2000 to 355,000 in 2011, according to new data released by WHO. 

Unprotected population

Despite this global progress, some populations remain unprotected. An estimated 20 million children worldwide did not receive the first dose of vaccine in 2011. More than half of these children live in five countries: 

1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (0.8 million)
2. Ethiopia (1 million) 
3. India (6.7 million) 
4. Nigeria (1.7 million)
5. Pakistan (0.9 million)

Measles outbreaks 

In 2011, large measles outbreaks were reported in all these countries and several others: 

• DRC (134,042 cases) 
• Ethiopia (3255 cases) 
• France (14,949 cases) 
• India (29,339 cases) 
• Italy (5189 cases) 
• Nigeria (18,843 cases) 
• Pakistan (4386 cases) 
• Spain (3802 cases) 

Most of these countries are in WHO regions which have committed to eliminate measles by 2015 or 2020. 

World Health Assembly agreed milestones 

In 2010, the World Health Assembly established three milestones towards the future eradication of measles to be achieved by 2015: 

1. increase routine coverage with the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) for children aged 1 year to ≥90% nationally and ≥80% in every district or equivalent administrative unit; 
2. reduce and maintain annual measles incidence to <5 cases per million; and 
3. reduce estimated measles mortality by >95% from the 2000 estimate.

Source: WHO, Geneva, 17 January 2013