The study found that tuberculosis cases were dispersed throughout Tonala County and were mainly concentrated on the Guadalajara city border. The TB cases were mainly individuals between 31 and 45 years old. Most of the cases reported during the observation period were male patients, and most cases primarily had lung involvement; however, there were quite a few cases with lymph node and intestinal disease. CONCLUSION Our findings show that TB cases are essentially located in areas close to the city of Guadalajara and that most TB cases were pulmonary cases spread throughout the whole jurisdiction. Copyright (c) 2020 Alejandro Escobar-Gutierrez, Armando Martinez-Guarneros, Gustavo Mora-Aguilera, Carlos Arturo Vazquez-Chacon, Gerardo Acevedo-Sanchez, Manuel Sandoval-Díaz, Juan Carlos Villanueva-Arias, Natividad Ayala-Chavira, Maria Elena Vargas-Amado, Ikuri Alvarez-Maya.INTRODUCTION Chagas disease (CD) remains a public health concern in several Latin American countries. At global level, Bolivia has the highest CD burden and the Chaco region, in the southeast of the country, is the most affected area. We report the results of four serosurveys for Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies, carried out approximately ten years apart from each other, during the lapse 1987-2013, in different localities of the Bolivian Chaco. METHODOLOGY Four cross-sectional surveys were conducted in various localities, mostly rural, of the Bolivian Chaco, during the period 1987-2013. RESULTS Although a reliable analysis of CD epidemiological trend is challenging, a partial reduction of anti-T. cruzi seroprevalence over the past four decades in the Bolivian Chaco may be assumed. In particular, in 1987 the exposure to T. cruzi in rural setting was universal since the first years of life, while it resulted gradually lower and age-dependent thereafter. Moreover, T. cruzi seroprevalence among women of reproductive age (15-45 years) has been persistently high in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS T. cruzi transmission is still active and CD remains a concern throughout the Bolivian Chaco. More efforts are needed in order to achieve a sustainable interruption of vector-borne CD transmission in this area. Copyright (c) 2020 Michele Spinicci, Simona Gabrielli, David Rojo, Herlan Gamboa, Fabio Macchioni, Antonia Mantella, Yunni Lara, Ana Liz Villagrán, Mimmo Roselli, Marianne Strohmeyer, Claudia Cinelli, Giampaolo Corti, Filippo Bartalesi, Roberto Vargas, Adolfo Vedia, Paul Castellanos, Joaquín Monasterio, Gabriella Cancrini, Alessandro Bartoloni.INTRODUCTION Camel trade in Egypt depends mainly on importation. Seemingly healthy imported camels are responsible for the ingress of serious diseases into Egypt. A striking example of this concerning public health globally is the Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which causes case fatalities of over 34%. Here, we determined the seroepidemiological situation of the MERS-CoV in imported camels and their traders in Upper Egypt. METHODOLOGY Sera of sixty-three dromedaries and twenty-eight camel traders were recruited (January 2015-December 2016). The age, gender, and sampling locality of each sampled camel and human were obtained. Semi-quantitative anti-MERS-CoV IgG ELISAs which utilize the purified spike protein domain S1 antigen of MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV S1) were used to detect specific IgG antibodies against the virus. RESULTS The data showed that 58.73% of imported camels and 25% of traders had antibodies specific to MERS-CoV. Interestingly, like seroreactive camels, all seropositive humans were apparently healthy without any history of developing severe respiratory disease in the 14 days prior to sampling. Having specific antibodies among the examined camel sera was significantly different (P less then 0.0001) in relation to various sampling localities, gender and age groups. In contrast, the seropositivity rate of MERS-CoV IgG in humans did not differ significantly by any of the studied factors. CONCLUSIONS The current study provides the first serological evidence of occupational exposure of humans to MERS-CoV in Africa. Additionally, it reports that imported camels could be implicated in introducing MERS-CoV into Egypt. Accordingly, application of strict control measures to camel importation is a priority. Copyright (c) 2020 Amal Sayed, Safaa Malek, Mostafa Abushahba.INTRODUCTION Microbial translocation (MT) markers are indicators of HIV-related immune activation, but reference values are mostly derived from European or North American populations and could be substantially different in populations living in developing countries. Here we evaluate possible differences in MT markers levels in HIV+ pregnant women of different geographical provenance. METHODOLOGY This study is nested within an observational study of pregnant women with HIV in Italy. Women were dichotomized on the basis of provenance in two groups of European (n = 14) and African (n = 26) origin. Soluble CD14, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and intestinal-fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) were measured in plasma samples collected between the first and second trimester of pregnancy. RESULTS Demographic and viroimmunological characteristics were similar between groups, although European women were more commonly smokers and HCV-coinfected. Irrespective of origin, LBP plasma levels were positively correlated with I-FABP (r = 0.467, p = 0.004) and sCD14 levels (r = 0.312 p = 0.060). Significantly higher levels of sCD14 (1885 vs. 1208 ng/mL, p = 0.005) LBP (28.5 vs. 25.3 µg/mL, p = 0.050) and I-FABP (573.4 vs. 358.2 pg/mL, p = 0.002) were observed in European compared with African women. A multivariable linear regression analysis, adjusted for smoking and HCV coinfection confirmed the association between sCD14 levels and women provenance (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Our observations indicate significant differences in soluble markers among women of different provenance. In the design and analysis of studies evaluating MT markers, population-specific reference values should be considered. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/avitinib-ac0010.html Copyright (c) 2020 Silvia Baroncelli, Clementina Maria Galluzzo, Atim Molinari, Maria Franca Pirillo, Albertina Cavalli, Elisa Negri, Marco Floridia, Anna Degli Antoni.INTRODUCTION Endometritis is a condition marked by inflammation of the endometrium that affects dairy cows from 21 days after parturition, causing damage to herd fertility and economic losses on farms. link2 The use of active compounds obtained from plant sources has gained importance as disease treatment agents in farm animals due to the high resistance rates currently observed against traditional antibiotics commonly used. The study was carried out to examine the chemical composition and to investigate the antibacterial activity of rosemary, cinnamon, cloves, eucalyptus, lemon, oregano and thyme essential oils against the reference strain of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Fusobacterium necrophorum (ATCC 25286), Trueperella pyogenes (ATCC 19411) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), considered as typical bacteria causing endometritis. METHODOLOGY The chemical composition of the seven essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS and their antibacterial activity was evaluated by the disc diffusion method. RESULTS Thirty-six components were identified in total using GC-MS analyzes. The main compounds were cinnamaldehyde (86.5% for cinnamon essential oil), eugenol (85.7% for clove essential oil), 1,8-cineol (80% for eucalyptus and 47.8% rosemary essential oils), limonene (65.5% for lemon essential oil), carvacrol (72.1% for oregano essential oil) and thymol (48.8% for thyme essential oil). The disc diffusion assay revealed that cinnamon, clove, oregano, and thyme essential oils showed the best results compared to the other three essential oils, showing the largest zone of inhibition against all bacteria evaluated. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicated that essential oils are a potential agent to be used as an alternative for bovine endometritis treatment. Copyright (c) 2020 Renan Braga Paiano, Jeannine Bonilla, Ricardo Luiz Moro de Sousa, Andrea Micke Moreno, Pietro Sampaio Baruselli.INTRODUCTION The multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates have been increasingly reported from the Asian and African countries. The emergence of isolates with decreased susceptibility to fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins has worsened the situation. Recently, an outbreak from Sindh, Pakistan was reported caused by extensively drug-resistant (XDR) S. Typhi strains. METHODOLOGY In the present study, a total of 82 cases of typhoid have been investigated during 2018 from the febrile children referred to a tertiary care hospital in the population-wise largest province (Punjab) of Pakistan. S. Typhi was identified by standard microbiological techniques and isolates were characterized for antimicrobial resistance profiling and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined. The presence of various ESBL genes in S. Typhi was confirmed by the PCR. RESULTS Out of the 82 isolates tested, 35 (43%) were found to be XDR; resistant to the first-line drugs. The resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was mainly mediated by extended-spectrum beta-lactamases i.e. blaTEM and blaCTX-M genes. CONCLUSIONS The higher prevalence of ESBL producing Salmonella typhi clinical strains raises the concern about transmission prevention and infection management in the community as well as clinical settings. Moreover, the study highlights the problem concerning the declining antibiotic arsenal for the therapeutic management of typhoid fever and the emergence and spread of XDR strains in Pakistan. link3 Copyright (c) 2020 Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Hidayat Rasool, Farhan Rasheed, Muhammad Saqalein, Muhammad Atif Nisar, Ambreen Anwar Imran, Saba Tariq, Afreenish Amir, Mohsin Khurshid.INTRODUCTION Helicobacter pylori is a principal cause of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and contribution of duodenal ulcer promoting gene A (dupA), the plasticity region genes and sigma factors in relation to their pathological expression of H. pylori infections in the Nigerian population. METHODOLOGY Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to analyze a total of forty-nine H. pylori strains isolated from patients attending various endoscopic units in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria for complete dupA (G27 variant), jhp0917, jhp0918, other plasticity region genes jhp 914/917, jhp0914, jhp0940 and sigma factors. RESULTS PCR results indicated that the prevalence of complete dupA (G27 variants), jhp0917, jhp0918 and other plasticity region genes jhp0914, jhp0914/0917 and jhp0940 in the H. pylori strains were 4%, 53%, 88%, 73%, 12% and 0% respectively. The prevalence values of the sigma factors were 96%, 92%, 80% for rpoN,  fliA and rpoD respectively. However, the endoscopic findings showed that erosion, normal mucosal, ulcer, hyperaemic stomach, mucosal atrophy and oedematous stomach in the patients where the H. pylori strains were isolated were 40.8%, 32.7%, 10.2%, 8.2%, 2.0% and 6.1% respectively. There was significant association between jhp0917, jhp914/917 and G27 variant and the endoscopic findings, while other plasticity genes showed no association with the endoscopic findings. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the presence of jhp0917, jhp0914/917 and G27 variant could be used as marker to predict the pathological effect of severity in Nigeria patients with H. pylori infection. Copyright (c) 2020 Tolulope Funbi Jolaiya, Muinah A Fowora, Charles Onyekwere, Rose Ugiagbe, Ifeanyi Agbo, Dennis Ndububa, Olusegun Adekanle, Henry Njom, Idowu Ayodeji, Isaac Adeleye, Moses Bamidele, Favor Ngoka, Pia Palamides, Stella Smith, Olufunmilayo Lesi.