An external quality assessment of yellow fever virus (YFV) molecular detection in European laboratories was organised in rapid response to an increase in human cases in Brazil in 2018 with risk of import to Europe. Detection of YFV was assessed among 32 laboratories in 23/31 European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries and two laboratories in one non-EU/EEA country. Adequate capabilities were lacking in 10/23 countries; five did not participate as they lacked implemented assays. ; Peer Reviewed
BACKGROUND: Dengue is a major health problem in tropical and subtropical regions. In Colombia, dengue viruses (DENV) cause about 50,000 cases annually, 10% of which involve Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever/Dengue Shock Syndrome. The picture is similar in other surrounding countries in the Americas, with recent outbreaks of severe disease, mostly associated with DENV serotype 3, strains of the Indian genotype, introduced into the Americas in 1994. RESULTS: The analysis of the 3'end (224 bp) of the envelope gene from 32 DENV-3 strains recently recovered in Colombia confirms the circulation of the Indian genotype, and surprisingly the co-circulation of an Asian-Pacific genotype only recently described in the Americas. CONCLUSION: These results have important implications for epidemiology and surveillance of DENV infection in Central and South America. Molecular surveillance of the DENV genotypes infecting humans could be a very valuable tool for controlling/mitigating the impact of the DENV infection. ; This research was supported by Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Francisco José de Caldas – COLCIENCIAS grant 11150416336 CT 234–2004 from the Colombian government and CODI E00943 from the Universidad de Antioquia. ; Sí
BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is perhaps the most important viral re-emergent disease especially in tropical and sub-tropical countries, affecting about 50 million people around the world yearly. In Colombia, dengue virus was first detected in 1971 and still remains as a major public health issue. Although four viral serotypes have been recurrently identified, dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) has been involved in the most important outbreaks during the last 20 years, including 2010 when the fatality rate highly increased. As there are no major studies reviewing virus origin and genotype distribution in this country, the present study attempts to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of DENV-2 using a sequence analysis from a 224 bp PCR-amplified product corresponding to the carboxyl terminus of the envelope (E) gene from 48 Colombian isolates. RESULTS: As expected, the oldest isolates belonged to the American genotype (subtype V), but the strains collected since 1990 represent the American/Asian genotype (subtype IIIb) as previously reported in different American countries. Interestingly, the introduction of this genotype coincides with the first report of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Colombia at the end of 1989 and the increase of cases during the next years. CONCLUSION: After replacement of the American genotype, several lineages of American/Asian subtype have rapidly spread all over the country evolving in new clades. Nevertheless, the direct association of these new variants in the raise of lethality rate observed during the last outbreak has to be demonstrated. ; This research was supported by Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Francisco José de Caldas-COLCIENCIAS grants 11150416336 CT 234-2004, 11150418079 and 111540820511 from the Colombian government and the Instituto Nacional de Salud resources. ; Sí
Half of the European Union (EU) land and the livelihood of 10 million farmers is threatened by unsustainable land-use intensification, land abandonment and climate change. Policy instruments, including the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have so far failed to stop this environmental degradation. BESTMAP will: 1) Develop a behavioural theoretical modelling framework to take into account complexity of farmers' decision-making; 2) Develop, adapt and customize a suite of opensource, flexible, interoperable and customisable computer models linked to existing data e.g. LPIS/IACS and remote sensing e.g. Sentinel-2; 3) Link economic, individual-farm agent-based, biophysical ecosystem services and biodiversity and geostatistical socio-economic models; 4) Produce a simple-to-use dashboard to compare scenarios of Agri-Environmental Schemes adoption; 5) Improve the effectiveness of future EU rural policies' design, monitoring and implementation.
