South Korean researchers find H3N2v in pigs
South Korean researchers reported today that they have isolated variant H3N2 influenza (H3N2v) viruses in pigs outside of North America for the first time, and they also isolated novel reassortant swine H3N1 viruses that have 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1)–derived genes.
Writing in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, the investigators said they analyzed lung tissue collected from commercially slaughtered pigs. They identified H3N2v and H3N1 viruses containing pH1N1-like segments "that are genetically closely related to strains recently detected in pigs and humans in North America," they wrote.
The team found that the H3N1 viruses replicated more readily in human cells and transmitted better via respiratory droplets and contact in ferrets compared with the H3N2v viruses. Neither strain showed strong antigenicity to current H3N2 vaccine strains.
Aug 30 Influenza Other Respi Viruses abstract
Report: Targeting mosquito larvae could boost malaria control
Targeting immature mosquitoes in standing water could provide an important boost in the battle to control malaria, according to a review yesterday of 13 studies from several countries where the approach has been tried.
The study, published as a Cochrane review, is billed as the first systematic review of the use of larval source management (LSM) as a weapon against malaria, according to a press release from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The school collaborated on the report with other academic institutions and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
LSM involves targeting mosquito larvae and pupae in water by draining or filling land, killing the mosquitoes with chemical or biological larvicides, and other steps.
The release says that insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying of homes are in wide use and making a major dent in the malaria burden, but this success is threatened by factors such as mosquito resistance to insecticides. Some malaria-endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa are already implementing LSM programs, but there is a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of the method and where to use it.
The authors' analysis of data from nine countries suggested that where larval habitats are not too extensive and enough of them can be targeted, LSM may reduce malaria by up to 75% and the proportion of people infected with the malaria parasite up to 90%, the release states.
The interventions included adding larvicide to abandoned mine pits, streams, irrigation ditches, and rice paddies where mosquitoes breed, and building dams, flushing streams, and removing water containers around people's homes.
Aug 28 London School of Hygiene press release
Aug 29 Cochrane summary of the findings
Report highlights private sector's role in providing water, sanitation
A report released yesterday by the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and the International Finance Corporation found that tapping the private sector needs to be a key step in bringing drinking water and sanitation service to those who don't have them.
Such an approach will not only improve the livelihood of those without sanitation (some 2.5 billion people) and without safe drinking water (at least 780 million) but also represents a huge potential market, the World Bank said in a news release. The organization said that economic losses from the lack of access to water and sanitation are estimated at $260 billion a year.
"The public sector alone cannot meet this massive challenge; if we want to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40%, we will have to scale up water and sanitation access," said WSP Manager Jae So. "And to do that, both the public and private sector will need to work together."
The report, "Tapping the Markets: Opportunities for Domestic Investments in Water and Sanitation for the Poor," offers solutions to prevent the thousands of daily child deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in annual economic losses caused by lack of access to water and adequate sanitation. It also explores challenges faced in tapping the business opportunities in developing countries, the World Bank said.
The report will be presented at World Water Week in Stockholm on Sep 3, but conference editions are available at the link below.
Aug 29 World Bank news release
