The resistance among various microbial species (infectious agents) to different antimicrobial drugs has emerged as a cause of public health threat all over the world at a terrifying rate. Due to the pacing advent of new resistance mechanisms and decrease in efficiency of treating common infectious diseases, it results in failure of microbial response to standard treatment, leading to prolonged illness, higher expenditures for health care, and an immense risk of death. Almost all the capable infecting agents (e.g., bacteria, fungi, virus, and parasite) have employed high levels of multidrug resistance (MDR) with enhanced morbidity and mortality; thus, they are referred to as “super bugs.” Although the development of MDR is a natural phenomenon, the inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs, inadequate sanitary conditions, inappropriate food-handling, and poor infection prevention and control practices contribute to emergence of and encourage the further spread of MDR. Considering the significance of MDR, this paper, emphasizes the problems associated with MDR and the need to understand its significance and mechanisms to combat microbial infections.

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Multidrug Resistance: An Emerging Crisis

Hematophagous arthropods are capable of transmitting human and animal pathogens worldwide Vector-borne diseases account for 17% of all infectious diseases resulting in 700,000 human deaths annually Repellents are a primary tool for reducing the impact of biting arthropods on humans and animals N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), the most effective and long-lasting repellent currently available commercially, has long been considered the gold standard in insect repellents, but with reported human health issues, particularly for infants and pregnant women In the present study, we report fatty acids derived from coconut oil which are novel, inexpensive and highly efficacious repellant compounds These coconut fatty acids are active against a broad array of blood-sucking arthropods including biting flies, ticks, bed bugs and mosquitoes The medium-chain length fatty acids from C8:0 to C12:0 were found to exhibit the predominant repellent activity In laboratory bioassays, these fatty acids repelled biting flies and bed bugs for two weeks after application, and ticks for one week Repellency was stronger and with longer residual activity than that of DEET In addition, repellency was also found against mosquitoes An aqueous starch-based formulation containing natural coconut fatty acids was also prepared and shown to protect pastured cattle from biting flies up to 96-hours in the hot summer, which, to our knowledge, is the longest protection provided by a natural repellent product studied to date

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Better than DEET Repellent Compounds Derived from Coconut Oil

Molecular characterisation of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in cats (Felis catus) in Western Australia

Diagnosing dengue virus infection: rapid tests and the role of micro/nanotechnologies

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are very important in relation to domestic ruminants, but their occurrence among wild ruminants, mainly in the African buffalo Syncerus caffer, remains little known. Molecular diagnostic methods were applied to detect Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma centrale, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia ruminantium and Ehrlichia chaffeensis in 97 blood samples of African buffalo captured at the Marromeu Reserve in Mozambique. Molecular detection of agents belonging to the family Anaplasmataceae were based on conventional and qPCR assays based on msp5, groEL, 16S rRNA, msp2, pCS20 and vlpt genes. Phylogenetic reconstruction of new Anaplasma isolates detected in African buffalo was evaluated based on msp5, groEL and 16S rRNA genes. All the animals evaluated were negative for specific PCR assays for A. phagocytophilum, E. ruminantium and E. chaffeensis, but 70 animals were positive for A. marginale, showing 2.69 × 100 up to 2.00 × 105 msp1β copies/μl. This result overcomes the conventional PCR for A. marginale based on msp5 gene that detected only 65 positive samples. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed for selected positive samples based on the genes msp5, groEL and 16S rRNA. Trees inferred using different methods separated the 29 msp5 sequences from buffalo in two distinct groups, assigned to A. centrale and A. marginale. The groEL sequences determined for African buffalo samples revealed to be more heterogeneous and inferred trees could not assign them to any species of Anaplasma despite being more related to A. marginale and A. centrale. The highly conserved 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested a close relationship of the new 16 sequences with A. centrale/A. marginale, A. platys and A. phagocytophilum. Our analysis suggests that different species of Anaplasma are simultaneously present in the African buffalo. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that diagnosed Anaplasma spp. in the African buffalo and inferred the taxonomic status of new isolates with different gene sequences. The small fragment of msp5 sequences revealed to be a good target for phylogenetic positioning of new Anaplasma spp. isolates.

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Molecular diagnosis and genetic diversity of tick-borne Anaplasmataceae agents infecting the African buffalo Syncerus caffer from Marromeu Reserve in Mozambique

Hard ticks taken from the Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus, in Yamagata Prefecture, Honshu, har- boured infective larvae of onchocercid filariae after incubation from the 22nd to the 158th day. Haemaphysalis flava and H. japonica contained one to eight filarial larvae; females, males and a nymph of the ticks were infected. The 44 infective larvae recovered were 612-1,370 lm long, and 11 of them, 930-1,340 lm long, were studied in detail. The larvae possessed the morphologic characteristics of the larvae of the genus Cercopithifilaria, namely an oesoph- agus with a posterior glandular part, no buccal capsule and a long tail with three terminal lappets. Five types (A to E) of infective larvae were identified based on the morphologic characteristics. While to date five species of Cercopithifilaria have been described from the Japanese serow, a specific identification of the larvae found in this study was generally not possible. Only type E larvae could be tentatively assigned to Cercopithifilaria tumidicervicata, as they had a cer- vical swelling similar to that of the adults of this species. A key for the identification of the five larval types is pre- sented. The study presents circumstantial evidences indicating that H. flava and H. japonica may transmit Cercopithifilaria spp. to Japanese serows. It also suggests the possibility that such filarial larvae will be found in hard ticks anywhere, because Cercopithifilaria is distributed worldwide, though this genus generally goes unnoticed, as its microfilariae occur in the skin, not in the blood, of host animals.

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Hiromi Fujita

Papers

Infective larvae of Cercopithifilaria spp. (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) from hard ticks (Ixodidae) recovered from the Japanese serow (Bovidae).