Undergraduate Research Projects Collection
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Item Techniques for analysis of disease clustering in space and in time in veterinary epidemiology(Elsevier Ltd, 2000-02) Ward, Michael P; Carpenter, Tim E.Techniques to describe and investigate clustering of disease in space Ð the nearest-neighbour test, autocorrelation, Cuzick-and-Edwards' test and the spatial scan statistic Ð and in time Ð the Ederer±Myers±Mantel test and the temporal scan statistic Ð are reviewed. The application of these techniques in veterinary epidemiology is demonstrated by the analysis of a data set describing the occurrence of blowfly strike Ð both body strike and breech strike Ð between August 1998 and May 1999 in 33 commercial sheep flocks located within two local government areas of southeastern Queensland, Australia. By applying a combination of these methods, the occurrence of blowfly strike in the study area is well-characterised in both space and time. Guidelines for investigating disease clusters in veterinary epidemiology are discussed. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Item African 2, a clonal complex of mycobacterium bovis epidemiologically important in East Africa(American Society for Microbiology, 2011) Stefan, Berg, M; Borna, Müller; Elena, Hailu; Benon, Asiimwe; Kristin, Kremer; James, Dale M; Beatrice, Boniotti; Sabrina, Rodriguez; Markus, Hilty; Leen, Rigouts; Rebuma, Firdessa; Adelina, Machado; Custodia, Mucavele; Bongo, Nare R. N; Bruchfeld, Judith; Boschiroli, Laura; Müller, Annélle; Sahraoui, Naima; Pacciarini, Maria; Cadmus, Smeoni; Joloba, Moses; Joloba, Moses; Soolingen, Dick v; Michel, Anita L.; Djønne, Berit; Aranaz, Alicia; Zinsstag, Jakob; Portaels, Françoise; Kazwala, Rudovick; Källenius, Gunilla; Hewinson, Glyn; Aseffa, Abraham; Gordon, Stephen V.; Smith, Noel H.; Garcia-Pelayo, M. CarmenWe have identified a clonal complex of Mycobacterium bovis isolated at high frequency from cattle in Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. We have named this related group of M. bovis strains the African 2 (Af2) clonal complex of M. bovis. Af2 strains are defined by a specific chromosomal deletion (RDAf2) and can be identified by the absence of spacers 3 to 7 in their spoligotype patterns. Deletion analysis of M. bovis isolates from Algeria, Mali, Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, and Mozambique did not identify any strains of the Af2 clonal complex, suggesting that this clonal complex of M. bovis is localized in East Africa. The specific spoligotype pattern of the Af2 clonal complex was rarely identified among isolates from outside Africa, and the few isolates that were found and tested were intact at the RDAf2 locus. We conclude that the Af2 clonal complex is localized to cattle in East Africa. We found that …Item Molecular characterisation and assessment of epidemiological risk factors of African swine fever virus in Iringa Region, Tanzania(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2013) Sikombe, Christopher DicksonA cross sectional study was carried out in Iringa Region involving two Districts of Kilolo and Iringa Municipal to determine the epidemiological risk factors of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak and genotyping the circulating African swine fever virus (ASFV) during a hemorrhagic disease outbreak in 2012 in Iringa. A structured questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological risk factors from pig keepers. Eighty households that kept pigs and that experienced the disease in 2012 were involved. The epidemiological risk factors found were introduction of pigs into the herd before disease outbreak (OR=12.2578, CI95%=108.6596, P=0.0244), feeding of kitchen leftovers and consumption of pig meat (OR=35.6117, CI95% =300.2233, P=0.001), duration of disease outbreak CI95%=14 -19 days, failure of the pig keepers and other stakeholders to adhere to quarantine condition and treatment of sick pigs during outbreak. Tissue samples were obtained from a total of 20 pigs. DNA extraction was done before performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Three sets of primers were used in this study to diagnose and genotype the ASFV. PCR of ASFV using diagnostic primers PPA1/PPA2 confirmed the disease outbreak to be ASF. Characterization of the virus was done by amplifying the variable part of B646L gene using primers p72U/p72D which showed that the circulating ASFV belonged to genotype II and 100% identical to the Georgia 2007/1 isolate and other Tanzanian ASFV that circulated in 2010 and 2011. Similarly, complete amplification of E183L gene using primers PPA89 and PPA722 showed that ASFV circulating in Iringa in 2012 belonged to group II of p54 genotypes clustering together with Georgia 2007/1 isolate. The results from the present study indicate that the ASFV isolate that was introduced into Tanzania in 2010 is still circulating in Iringa. Deliberate efforts have to be taken in order to save the pig industry from ASF devastation.