Experimental transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to sheep has prompted the implementation of a surveillance plan of scrapie in small ruminants by the European Union in all member states. Since its start over 30 000 animals have been tested, and the first seven cases of sheep with detectable PrP res deposition in the central nervous system have been identified in Portugal. Notably, the pattern of PrP res distribution in the brainstem was different from that previously described for scrapie and consistent in all seven animals. Moreover, the profile of the electrophoretic mobility of PrP res after proteinase K treatment was equivalent in all cases analysed but distinct from that observed for scrapie. Notably, four animals had genotypes rarely associated with scrapie, including one animal homozygous for A 136 R 154 R 171. There were no cases found to exhibit vacuolation, a pattern of PrP res distribution or PrP res electrophoretic mobility corresponding to scrapie. These data reveal a putative atypical scrapie strain in Portugal not linked to specific Prnp genotypes. Scrapie affects sheep and goats and is the most common natural form of a group of diseases designated transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) of humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Scrapie is endemic in several European Union (EU) countries and has been recognized, as a disease identity, for over 250 years (McGowan, 1922). To date, there are no apparent clinical or epidemiological data linking scrapie to human disease. However, since it has been shown that sheep could be experimentally infected with BSE (Foster et al., 1993), the possibility has been raised that BSE could have been accidentally introduced in this species. This would constitute a grave problem in terms of public health, since, in contrast to scrapie, BSE has been directly linked with a new form of CJD (Bruce et al., 1997; Collinge et al., 1996). Furthermore, it has been proposed that like scrapie, BSE in sheep could be naturally transmitted and thus become endemic (Foster et al., 2001). Clinically both diseases are indistinguishable (Foster et al., 2001). These possibilities prompted the EU to implement a surveillance scheme for scrapie in small ruminants.

Of the variables examined, environmental factors had a greater detrimental effect on child development than biological factors in this population. Interventions that enhance social capital and alleviate poverty are advocated.

No abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the development of children with and without a programme of psychosocial stimulation in 'control' and 'intervention' sites in a poorly resourced area of northeast Brazil. The sample (n = 156, born 1998) was from a larger cohort. The cohort was tested at 12 months (baseline) with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. All children in the intervention site with a mental development index (MDI) and/or psychomotor development index (PDI) < or = 100 were enrolled. Each time such a child was enrolled, the next child tested in that site of the same sex and with an index of 101 to 115 was also enrolled, and the next two children matched for sex and scores of < or = 100 and 101 to 115 in the control sites were recruited in parallel. The intervention comprised 14 contacts between 13 and 17 months of age. All children were tested again at age 18 months. The intervention and control groups were similar at baseline for a range of socioeconomic, demographic, environmental, and biological variables, and their MDI and PDI were also similar. At 18 months, the mean differences between the intervention and control groups were + 9.4 points for MDI and + 8.2 points for PDI (p < 0.001 in each case). For children with an initial score of < or = 100, the mean difference between the intervened and control groups was + 11.2 points for MDI (p < 0.001), and + 10.8 points for PDI (p = 0.001). The intervention was thus associated with significant improvements in cognitive and motor development.

No abstract

OBJETIVOS: avaliar os fatores determinantes dos níveis de hemoglobina de crianças aos 12 meses de vida, em quatro municípios da Zona da Mata Meridional de Pernambuco. MÉTODOS: estudo transversal, realizado em uma sub-amostra de 245 lactentes, pertencentes a uma coorte de 652 crianças. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de janeiro a agosto de 1999. RESULTADOS: a prevalência de anemia foi de 73,2%, sendo a média de hemoglobina de 9,8 g/dL (DP = 1,6 g/dL). A análise de variância apresentou uma associação estatisticamente significante entre níveis de hemoglobina e escolaridade materna, posse de televisão no domicílio, peso ao nascer, duração do aleitamento materno exclusivo, ocorrência de diarréia e estado nutricional segundo os índices peso/idade e comprimento/idade. A análise de regressão linear múltipla mostrou que as condições socioeconômicas, o peso ao nascer, a duração do aleitamento materno exclusivo e a ocorrência de diarréia tiveram um impacto significante na variação dos níveis de hemoglobina. CONCLUSÕES: os resultados confirmam ser a anemia um relevante problema de saúde pública, especialmente em lactentes, tendo múltiplos fatores que contribuem para o seu surgimento, sendo necessário, portanto, identificar os mais importantes para serem levados em consideração nos programas de saúde da criança.

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the transmission of caprine lentivirus to sheep using different experimental groups. The first one (colostrum group) was formed by nine lambs receiving colostrum from goats positive for small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV). The second group (milk group) was established by nine lambs that received milk of these goats. Third was a control group, consisting of lambs that suckled colostrum and milk of negative mothers. Another experimental group (contact group) was formed by eight adult sheep, confined with two naturally infected goats. The groups were monitored by immunoblotting (IB), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). All lambs that suckled colostrum and milk of infected goats and six sheep of the contact group had positive results in the nPCR, although seroconversion was detected only in three of the exposed animals, with no clinical lentiviruses manifestation, in 720 days of observation. There was a close relationship between viral sequences obtained from infected animals and the prototype CAEV-Cork. Thus, it was concluded that SRLV can be transmitted from goats to sheep, however, the degree of adaptation of the virus strain to the host species probably interferes with the infection persistence and seroconversion rate.

RSV is an important agent that causes ARIs; the clinical manifestations varied from mild to severe and patients frequently required hospitalization; RSV mostly affected children less than one year old.