Incidences of emerging/re-emerging deadly viral infections have significantly affected human health despite extraordinary progress in the area of biomedical knowledge. The best examples are the recurring outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya fever in tropical and sub-tropical regions, the recent epidemic of Zika in the Americas and the Caribbean, and the SARS, MERS, and influenza A outbreaks acro...

Influenza A virus infections are widespread in swine herds across the world. Influenza negatively affects swine health and production, and represents a significant threat to public health due to the risk of zoonotic infections. Swine herds can act as reservoirs for potentially pandemic influenza strains. In this study, we develop mathematical models based on experimental data, representing typi...

Field studies were conducted on 47 swine farms in Illinois during 1992 and 1993 to identify sources and reservoirs of Toxoplasma gondii infection. Blood samples were obtained from swine and from trapped wildlife. Serum antibodies to T. gondii were determined using the modified agglutination test, incorporating mercaptoethanol. Antibodies to T. gondii (titer > or = 25) were found in 97 of 4,252 ...

Integrons are one of the genetic elements involved in the acquisition of antibiotic resistance. The aim of the present research is to investigate the presence of integrons in commensal Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains, isolated from pigs at different stages of production system and from the environment in an Argentinian farm. Five sows postpartum and five randomly chosen piglets from each lit...

Aquaculture is an expanding activity worldwide. However its rapid growth can affect the aquatic environment through release of large amounts of chemicals, including antibiotics. Moreover, the presence of organic matter and bacteria of different origin can favor gene transfer and recombination. Whereas the consequences of such activities on environmental microbiota are well explored, little is k...

If farmers are risk averse, greater farm income variability should increase off-farm labor supply. This effect is confirmed for a sample of Kansas farmers. Off-farm employment of farmers and their spouses is also found to be significantly influenced by farm experience, off-farm work experience, farm size, leverage, efficiency, and farm-specific education. In addition, farm operators and spouses...

Scrapie of sheep/goats and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) of deer/elk are contagious prion diseases where environmental reservoirs are directly implicated in the transmission of disease. In this study the effectiveness of recommended scrapie farm decontamination regimes was evaluated by a sheep bioassay using buildings naturally contaminated with scrapie. Pens within a farm building were treated...

concentrations of heavy metals (ni, co, zn, cd, pb and cu) in the reservoir of shahid rajaeidam, one of the main water reservoirs in north part of iran, were determined using a differential pulse polarography(metrohm 797 va) and compared with the national and international specified maximum contaminant levels(mcl) for different purposes of water use. the results showed that concentrations of cd...