OBJECTIVE

Given that rabies remains endemic in the Philippines despite government interventions and the pandemicrelated restrictions have hampered its surveillance, this study aimed to estimate the effect of human population, anti-rabies vaccination efforts, and COVID-19 situation on the spread of rabies cases in the districts of Davao City, Philippines.

A retrospective study of the canine records at Davao City Veterinarians’ Office was done from January 2018 to June 2021. Monthly rabies cases were ascertained, and the effect of the human population, COVID-19 season, and vaccination ratio on rabies cases was estimated using panel regression models adjusting for confounding factors.

The reporting of rabies cases was lower during COVID-19 than during the non-COVID-19 season, with an IRR of 0.52 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33–0.82]. Furthermore, rabies cases increased by 2.23% (95% CI: 0.60–3.89) per 1% increase in vaccination ratio. Additionally, high-population districts recorded more rabies cases than low-population districts.

Consistency in monitoring rabies cases during the pandemic is suggested as a roadmap for future program initiatives. Vaccination efforts should be reinforced to increase rabies awareness and ensure early response to emerging diseases. Moreover, highpopulated districts should be prioritized in implementing rabies control interventions to gain optimal development.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Rabies continues to be a challenge in Davao City despite the efforts of the city’s local government to vaccinate primarily the non-stray dog population. Meanwhile, studies have shown that time-dependent vaccination strategy is considered a prime factor for a cost-effective rabies control strategy. Hence, this study aims to provide information that will determine the optimal vaccination strategy targeted to the stray dog population that minimizes the rabies-infected dog population and vaccination costs using optimal control theory (OCT).

OCT is used to identify the optimal level of key rabies control, i.e., vaccination. Here, OCT was applied to a modified Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Vaccinated (SEIV) compartmental model. The study's key parameters were derived from published articles on rabies in Davao City and similar regions, along with the city's rabies reports.

The findings revealed that while rabies remains endemic in the city, it is possible to reduce the number of cases through consistent implementation of vaccination programs to the exposed and susceptible dog populations. Nevertheless, the feasibility of these findings relies to the effective targeting of vaccine coverage for the dog population. From the simulations performed, the exposed dog population (i.e., pre-rabid dogs) was able to reach zero observation when the transmission rate (?) is 0.001 for all values of anti-rabies vaccine coverages for exposed (?) and susceptible (b) dog populations and ? = 0.01 only when ? = 0.7 and b = 0.7, ? = 0.7 and b = 0.5, and ? = 0.5 and b = 0.7. Consequently, the number of infectious dogs will thereby decrease. Moreover, a nonlinear correspondence was also observed in all scenarios between the vaccination rate and the number of rabies-exposed dogs such that the reduction in the incidence of rabies cases becomes apparent only when the vaccination rate is at least 0.9995.

In high rabies transmissibility scenarios, a time-dependent vaccination strategy demonstrated a reduction in the number of rabies-infected dogs. However, this approach involves a trade-off, limiting the period during which monthly vaccinations can be relaxed. Consequently, a robust and timely vaccination program for dogs is crucial to manage high rabies transmission rates. Lastly, the model simulation underscores the importance of initiating monthly vaccinations.

BACKGROUND

Curcumin has been investigated as a potential natural solution to prevent or even treat skeletal muscle decline. There are a number of externally sourced finished products (ie, those imported from other countries) containing curcumin, but high cost limits their usage. The emerging research and development of locally sourced curcumin is an opportunity to produce high-quality oral supplements comparable to existing imported products.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effects of oral administration of a local curcumin formulation on skeletal muscle using an animal model that similarly demonstrated the course of human sarcopenia.

Purpose-bred 11- to 12-week-old female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats will be used in this study. SD rats are extensively used in animal models of human diseases and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and sarcopenia. Female rats have been selected because they do not demonstrate more temperature or activity variance and have more stable behavior compared to males. To simulate sarcopenia in this animal model, the tail suspension (TS) method was utilized. The TS method involves decreased hind limb function by suspending the animal’s tail for the duration of treatment. The laboratory animals will be randomized to receive any of the four treatments: (1) low-dose curcumin + vehicle; (2) high-dose curcumin + vehicle; (3) vehicle only; and (4) control (distilled water). The interventions will be subdivided into two: 2-week treatment and 4-week treatment. The gastrocnemius muscles on both sides will be excised and weighed, and the muscle tissues subjected to rapid freezing in acetone-dry ice and sliced into 10 μm-thick sections for staining. Examination of muscle architecture and computation of atrophy factors will be performed. The presence of connective tissue, fat tissue and number of atrophic muscle cells will be determined. Accurate quantitative detection of the rat total AMP (adenosine monophosphate)-Activated Protein Kinase will be performed in the gastrocnemius muscle tissue utilizing the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.

BACKGROUND

Rabies remains to be a neglected tropical disease in the Philippines, with the country reporting a higher number of cases compared to its counterparts in Asia.

To describe the demographics, animal bite characteristics, and post-exposure prophylaxis of animal bite patients coming in for care at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), a large government referral center for infectious diseases, and animal bites.

Electronic patient records from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019 were obtained from the National Rabies Information System (NaRIS) database of the Department of Health, and summarized using applicable descriptive statistics.

A total of 14,614 patients were included over the two-year study period, and more than third of the patients were children below 15 years old, while more than half were adult males. Lower extremities were the most frequently affected area, while with children, more than a third of exposures were in the head and neck areas. Intradermal route was mostly used for the post-exposure prophylaxis, while WHO prequalified vaccines were utilized in more than 90% of the patients. Only 55.7% of patients completed the prophylaxis regimen at RITM.

These findings reflect the significant exposure of children from animal bites, and the non-compliance of patients to the prescribed post-exposure prophylaxis.

Animals, Wild ; Borneo ; Malaysia ; Biosurveillance

INTRODUCTION

Effective mosquito control is pivotal in the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, but no successful preventive measures have been recorded for dengue vector control. Hence, possible alternatives to chemical larvicides have been explored, including plant alcoholic extracts. This study determined the larvicidal efficacy of Annona squamosa ethanolic leaf extracts against third instar larvae of Aedes aegypti.

Three replicates of varying concentrations of Annona squamosa ethanolic extract (i.e., 10%, 40%, and 70%) versus positive (Novaluron) and negative controls (tap water) were used to determine larval mortality.

Greatest larval mortality was noted using the 70% concentration (i.e., 24% versus the observed values of 20% and 8%, respectively for the 40% and 10% ethanolic concentrations). Relative to the controls, the mean differences in the mortality rates of the Aedes aegypti larvae across the leaf ethanolic concentrations were statistically significant (i.e., p-value < 0.05). There was increasing trend in larval mortality over time, but 50% lethal dose was not achieved. In conclusion, the different Annona squamosa ethanolic leaf extracts could be used as alternative botanical larvicides against Aedes species.

Animals ; Macaca mulatta ; Optic Disk ; Glaucoma ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Intraocular Pressure ; Low Tension Glaucoma

Animals ; Cattle ; Female ; Milk Hypersensitivity/therapy* ; Consensus ; Immunoglobulin E ; Milk Proteins

'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' is a new cultivar of Prunus mume with cross-cultivar group characteristics. It has typical characteristics of cinnabar purple cultivar group and green calyx cultivar group. It has green calyx, white flower, and light purple xylem, but the mechanism remains unclear. In order to clarify the causes of its cross-cultivar group traits, the color phenotype, anthocyanin content and the expression levels of genes related to anthocyanin synthesis pathway of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', 'Yuxi Zhusha' and 'Yuxi Bian Lü'e' were determined. It was found that the red degree of petals, sepals and fresh xylem in branches was positively correlated with the total anthocyanin content. MYBɑ1, MYB1, and bHLH3 were the key transcription factor genes that affected the redness of the three cultivars of flowers and xylem. The transcription factors further promoted the high expression of structural genes F3'H, DFR, ANS and UFGT, thereby promoting the production of red traits. Combined with phenotype, anthocyanin content and qRT-PCR results, it was speculated that the white color of petals of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' were derived from the high expression of FLS, F3'5'H, LAR and ANR genes in other branches of cyanidin synthesis pathway, and the low expression of GST gene. The green color of sepals might be originated from the relatively low expression of F3'H, DFR and ANS genes. The red color of xylem might be derived from the high expression of ANS and UFGT genes. This study made a preliminary explanation for the characteristics of the cross-cultivar group of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', and provided a reference for molecular breeding of flower color and xylem color of Prunus mume.
Animals ; Anthocyanins ; DNA Shuffling ; Flowers/genetics* ; Porifera ; Prunus/genetics* ; Glutamine/analogs & derivatives* ; Plant Extracts

Plant bioreactor is a new production platform for expression of recombinant protein, which is one of the cores of molecular farming. In this study, the anti DYKDDDDK (FLAG) antibody was recombinantly expressed in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) and purified. FLAG antibody with high affinity was obtained after immunizing mice for several times and its sequence was determined. Based on this, virus vectors expressing heavy chain (HC) and light chain (LC) inoculated into Nicotiana benthamiana leaves by using Agrobacterium-mediated delivery. Accumulation of the HC and LC was analyzed by SDS/PAGE followed by Western blotting probed with specific antibodies from 2 to 9 days postinfiltration (dpi). Accumulation of the FLAG antibody displayed at 3 dpi, and reached a maximum at 5 dpi. It was estimated that 66 mg of antibody per kilogram of fresh leaves could be obtained. After separation and purification, the antibody was concentrated to 1 mg/mL. The 1:10 000 diluted antibody can probe with 1 ng/mL FLAG fused antigen well, indicating the high affinity of the FLAG antibody produced in plants. In conclusion, the plant bioreactor is able to produce high affinity FLAG antibodies, with the characteristics of simplicity, low cost and highly added value, which contains enormous potential for the rapid and abundant biosynthesis of antibodies.
Animals ; Mice ; Antibodies ; Nicotiana/genetics* ; Agrobacterium/genetics* ; Bioreactors ; Blotting, Western