Orf virus (ORFV) is the causative agent of contagious ecthyma, which is a zoonotic disease that affects sheep, goats, wild small ruminants and humans. Shandong Province in East China is one of the main producing areas in China for sheep and goats. Here, we conducted epidemiological surveys in different areas in this Province, isolated three orf virus strains, SDLC, SDTA and SDJN, from goat floc...

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a cryptic species complex, causing significant crop losses in China during the last decade. Although knowledge of cryptic species composition and dynamics within B. tabaci complex is critical for developing sustainable pest management strategies, limited information is available on this pest in the Henan province of China. A systematic surv...

Background Scorpions are among the world's venomous arthropods, they sting humans every year, suffering painful symptoms or losing their lives because of the venom. Odontobuthus doriae Thorell 1876 (Arachnida: Scorpionida: Buthidae) is a scorpion of medical importance and therefore its geographical distribution in Isfahan Province has been studied. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional stu...

Here, we describe a novel porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) variant (GD2014) found in the Guangdong province, southern China. Its complete genome is 1,766 nucleotides and contained a 708-nucleotide open reading frame 2 (ORF2). Sequence analysis suggested that GD2014 is closest to JS2015 originating from the Jiangsu province of China and belongs to the PCV2d genotype.

Clinical observation on treatment of dysthymia with combined use of Xiaochaihu Decoction and doxepin ZHANG Xue-Zhen, LI Zhen-Jiang ( 1 . Department of Psychology , Baoding Second Hospital , Hebei Province 071051 , China; 2 . Department of Internal Medicine , Baoding First Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine , Hebei Province 071000 , China )

To evaluate levels and trends in drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in Zhejiang Province, China, we conducted 1 survey in each of 3 years (1999, 2004, and 2008). We found that <5% of new cases were multidrug-resistant TB. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB has not increased in new or re-treated cases in this province.

We report six new records of skinks from northwestern Vietnam: Eutropis macularius, Scincelladevorator , S.monticola, S.ochracea, Sphenomorphuscryptotis and S.indicus. Our new findings increase the species number of skinks (Scincidae) to nine in Dien Bien Province and to 14 in Son La Province. We also provide additional natural history data of aforementioned species.

Aeolothrips zurstrasseni sp. n. is described from Fars Province, and A. modestus zur Strassen is newly recorded from Iran, in Isfahan Province. Both species have been collected from the flowers of Suaeda sp. (Chenopodiaceae), and the presence of several species of thrips on plants of this family is discussed. Recent records of Aeolothrips balati and A. citricinctus from Iran are not accepted here.

BACKGROUND Palawan is the most malaria-endemic province in the Philippines. In an effort to confront malaria in areas with limited healthcare facilities, microscopists (community health workers) have been trained to diagnose malaria since 1999. METHODS We reviewed the epidemiological data and related literature which analyzed the achievements of the microscopists and their tasks in order to p...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Equality in distribution of health care facilities is the main cause for access and enjoyment to the health. The aim of this study was to examine the regional disparities in health care facilities across the Markazi province. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. Study sample included the cities of Markazi province, ranked based on 15 health indices. Data was coll...