We describe the epidemiology of the protostrongylid parasites Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei and Protostrongylus stilesi in Dall's sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) from the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada (65 degrees N; 128 degrees W). Peak numbers of 1st-stage larvae of both parasites were shed by Dall's sheep on their winter range from March until May. In larval development experime...

background cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) is an endemic disease in developing countries. although pentamidine orantimonite (glucantime) has been recommended for cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment by the world health organization, there are some concerns too such as high cost, side effects, need for frequent injections, and restricted efficacy. therefore, different methods have been used for cl tre...

Abstract No highly efficacious anti-malaria vaccine exists, but whole parasite immunization (WPI)where hosts receive live attenuated Plasmodium parasites that arrest in the liver is only strategy confers complete protection against future infection. Liver-resident memory CD8 T cells (TRM)that express chemokine receptor, CXCR3, are essential for WPI-induced protection. Yet, whether CXCR3-depende...

Dactylogyrus spp. are monogenean worms found mostly as ectoparasites on the gills of several fish species, including carp and goldfish. These parasites are commonly detected by microscopic analysis of the gill lamellae, but this is time-consuming and technically difficult. In contrast to this conventional method, molecular techniques provide specific, sensitive and safe detection of parasites. ...

BACKGROUND National Strategic Plans (NSPs) for HIV have become foundational documents that frame responses to HIV. Both Global Fund and PEPFAR require coordination with NSPs as a component of their operations. Despite the role of NSPs in country planning, no rigorous assessment of NSP targets and performance outcomes exists. We performed a quantitative analysis of the quality of NSP indicators ...

Distinct species of Leishmania, a protozoan parasite of the family Trypanosomatidae, typically cause different human disease manifestations. The most common forms of disease are visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Mouse models of leishmaniasis are widely used, but quantification of parasite burdens during murine disease requires mice to be euthanized at various times a...

A histopathological study of ventral midline skin from midwestern U.S. horses with and without onchocerciasis due to Onchocerca cervicalis found perivascular mononuclear dermatitis as the most consistent difference between the two groups. Seasonal variation in parasite numbers or cellular influxes was not observed. Eosinophilic dermatitis was observed in horses with onchocerciasis and dermatiti...

Generalized estimating equation solvers in R only allow for a few pre-determined options for the link and variance functions. We provide a package, geeM, which is implemented entirely in R and allows for user specified link and variance functions. The sparse matrix representations provided in the Matrix package enable a fast implementation. To gain speed, we make use of analytic inverses of the...

This paper demonstrates that it is possible to relax the commitment to numeric degrees of belief while retaining the desirable features of the Bayesian approach for representing and changing states of belief. We first present an abstract representation of states of belief and an associated notion of conditionalization that subsume their Bayesian counterparts. Next, we provide some symbolic and ...

Studies have characterized Trypanosoma cruzi from parasite-endemic regions. With new human cases, increasing numbers of veterinary cases, and influx of potentially infected immigrants, understanding the ecology of this organism in the United States is imperative. We used a classic typing scheme to determine the lineage of 107 isolates from various hosts.