Poster

Tavush Marz, in northeastern Armenia, occupies 9,1% of its territory. In recent years in this area either no surveys were conducted or they were incomplete. Tavush Marz is a tourism center as well as a border Marz with strategic importance. The presence of tularemia was first confirmed in 1949 in Noyemberyan. Natural foci of tularemia are located in forest zones where Sylvemus uralensis and its flea vectors are the source of infection.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to analyze the epizootic potential of four areas of Tavush Marz.

Plague was first identified in Armenia in 1958 when Y. pestis was isolated and cultured from the flea species Ct. teres collected from the burrows of common voles in the northwestern part of the country. In the process of digitalizing archived data, a statistical and spatial analysis of the species composition of mammals and parasites involved in the epizootic process of plague between 1958 and 2016 was performed.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to determine the species composition of mammals and parasites involved in the epizootic process of plague in Armenia and their geographic distribution.

The frequency of disease outbreaks varies as a result of complex biological processes. Analysis of these frequencies can reveal patterns that can serve as a basis for predictions.

Objective:

The goal of this study was to identify the periodicity of seven zooanthroponoses in humans, and set epidemic thresholds for future occurrences.

In recent years, individuals have been using social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit to discuss health-related topics. These social media platforms consequently became new avenues for research and applications for researchers, for instance disease surveillance. Reddit, in particular, can potentially provide more in-depth contextual insights compared to Twitter, and Reddit members discuss potentially more diverse topics than Facebook members. However, identifying relevant discussions remains a challenge in large datasets like Reddit. Thus, much previous research using Reddit data focused on selected few topically-oriented sub-communities. Although such approach allows for topically focused datasets, a large portion of related data can be missed. In this research, we examine all sub-communities in which members are discussing e-cigarettes in order to determine if investigating these other sub-communities could result in a better smoking surveillance system.

Objective:

We aim to explore how to effectively leverage social media for vaping electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) surveillance. This study examines how members of a social media platform called Reddit utilize topically-oriented sub-communities for e-cigarette discussions.

On October 2016, the Indian Ocean Regional Health Agency was alerted about an increase in ED visits related to adverse reactions associated with use of SC on Mayotte Island. In this context, an investigation based on a syndromic surveillance system was implemented by the regional unit of the French national public health agency.

Objective:

To confirm and to characterize the increase in emergency department (ED) visits related to the use of synthetic cannabinoids (SC).

Pneumonia, an infection of the lung due to bacterial, viral or fungal pathogens, is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the past few decades, the threat of emerging pathogens presenting as pneumonia, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, avian influenza A(H5N1) and A(H7N9), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus has emphasised the importance of the surveillance of pneumonia and other severe respiratory infections. An unexpected increase in the number of hospital admissions for pneumonia or severe respiratory infections could be a signal of a change in the virulence of the influenza viruses or other respiratory pathogens circulating in the community, or an alert of an emerging pathogen which warrants further public health investigation. The purpose of this study was to develop a forecasting model to prospectively forecast the number of emergency department (ED) admissions due to pneumonia in Singapore, a tropical country. We hypothesise that there is complementary information between hospital-based and community-based surveillance systems. The clinical spectrum of many respiratory pathogens causing pneumonia ranges from asymptomatic or subclinical infection to severe or fatal pneumonia, and it is usually difficult to distinguish between the different pathogens in the absence of a laboratory test. Infected persons could present with varying degrees of severity of the infection, and seek treatment at different healthcare facilities. Hospital-based surveillance captures the more severe manifestation of the infection while community-based surveillance captures the less severe manifestation of the infection and enables earlier detection of the infection. Thus, the integration of information from the two surveillance systems should improve the prospective forecasting of ED admissions due to pneumonia. We also investigate if the inclusion of influenza data from the laboratory surveillance system would improve the forecasting model, since influenza circulates all-year round in Singapore and is a common aetiology for pneumonia.

Objective:

To develop a forecasting model for weekly emergency department admissions due to pneumonia using information from hospital-based, community-based and laboratory-based surveillance systems.

Brucellosis is among the zoonotic diseases that continue to afflict man and animals in Uganda. The increase in the number of disease outbreaks in animals from 1990 to 2013 and the number of human patients diagnosed with brucellosis in private clinics and hospitals has placed the infection to be among the top re-emerging diseases in the country. Brucellosis infection in humans is non-specific and caused by direct or indirect contact with infected animals or their products. Brucellosis manifests as intermittent fever, headache, weakness, profuse sweating, chills, weight loss, generalized aching that may involve multiple organ systems in the body. In animals, Brucella organisms localize in the reproductive organs, causing abortions, decreased milk yields and temporary sterility. Its effects impact negatively to the sale value of the affected animals causing financial losses to the animal owners.

Objective:

To determine the seroprevalence of Brucellosis antibodies in cattle in 3 districts in South-western Uganda (Mbarara, Kiruhura and Bushenyi) and to determine the seroprevalence of Brucellosis among the cattle keepers on farms with cattle detected with brucellosis antibodies in the same districts and also to determine the level of awareness of Brucellosis disease among individuals that get in contact with livestock in the same districts.`

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major concern in developing countries. Uganda is one of many developing countries that are beginning to implement a surveillance program countrywide to monitor AMR within the animal, environmental, and human sectors. Not only is there a concern for AMR, but the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) of Salmonella is also becoming a major One Health problem. Few new drugs are being produced. When current treatments fail, new antimicrobials for treatment of these microorganisms are limited. In Salmonella, AMR genes are usually found on plasmids that are transferable. Most plasmids that carry resistance are conjugative plasmids, promoting the transfer of DNA from cell to cell. Class I Integrons are located on transposable plasmids and are known to transfer AMR through an assortment of gene cassettes. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are also known to encode genes located on integrons and transposons. ESBLs confer resistance to third generation cephalosporins, a drug of choice for treatment of Salmonella infections. ESBLs are now reported in Enterobacteriaceae all over the world. Examples of common ESBLs include blaCTX-M, blaOXA, blaTEM, blaCMY, and blaSHV. It has been reported that ESBLs evolved from the Kluverya species chromosome by mutation and gene transposition. In our previous study, we phenotypically characterized Salmonella from cattle and poultry farms within the Wakiso District of Uganda. Based on the high prevalence of MDR in the isolates collected we continued investigating at the molecular level. For the Salmonella isolates, we wanted to characterize genotypes by first analyzing the relatedness of the isolates with pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Next, we wanted to look to see which DNA plasmids were present. We looked at 28 replicon plasmids and the Class 1 Integron, Int1. The Salmonella isolates were also screened for ESBL genes based on their resistant profiles.

Objective:

Determine the AMR phenotypes and genotypes of Salmonella isolates recovered from cattle and poultry farms in the Wakiso District of Uganda.

In May 2015, the MERS-CoV outbreaks in South Korea was sparkled from a hospital of Gyeonggi-do province. In response to this outbreak, the provincial government and infectious disease control center (GIDCC) initiated an emergency department (ED) based Gyeonggi-do provincial acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance network (GAFINet) to monitor for a subsequent outbreak of emerging or imported infectious diseases since September 2016. Gyeonggi-do province is located in the North-West of South Korea, surrounds the capital city Seoul, and borders North Korea (Figure 1). Considering the geographical coverage, GAFINet Initiative involves ten hospitals, consisted of four university-affiliated hospitals and six provincial medical centers in Gyeonggi-do province. These hospitals participated in this network voluntarily, and most staffs including five infectious diseases specialists had direct or indirect experiences in dealing with MERS-CoV patients.

Objective:

The objectives are to introduce a provincial level surveillance system, which has been initiated in response to the MERS-CoV outbreak of South Korea, and describe findings from systematic investigation of individual admissions attributed to acute febrile illness for the first year.`

The Foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus is a highly contagious and economically devastating trans boundery disease of cloven-hooved domestic and wild animals.

Objective:

To determine the sero-prevalnce of FMD and indicate patterns of animal movement in Borena zone, Ethiopia.