Environmental change,development and vectorborne disease: Malaysia’s experience with filariasis,scrub typhus and dengue

During Malaysia’s rapid economic development into becoming a middle income country in the past several decades, environmental changes resulted in altered land use patterns because of agricultural practices such as large scale rice, rubber and oil palm cultivation. The impact of environmental changes brought about by rice and rubber cultivation affected the breeding habitats of mosquito vectors which in turn affected the prevalence of two strains of lymphatic filariasis in different ways. With scrub typhus, the development of oil palm plantations affected the ecology of mite and rodent populations which resulted in very high incidence of the disease in affected populations. Malaysia’s relentless urbanization has resulted in increased incidence of dengue, as peridomestic mosquito vectors increasingly colonize urban habitats. This article discusses how ecological factors determine the way lymphatic filariasis, scrub typhus and dengue were spread in Malaysia. The nation’s experience with environmental changes due to rapid development provides lessons for other developing countries in control programs and public health policy.     

Computer-assisted analysis of fetal behavioural states

A computerized system which simultaneously acquires and quantifies several ultrasonically detected fetal activities, including gross body movements, breathing movements, and eye movements, was developed in order to obtain additional quantitative data on fetal behaviour. Movements were automatically related to fetal heart rate allowing computation of their mean incidence, duration, lag time and percentage time spent moving during different heart rate patterns. The incidence of various behavioural states was also calculated. The study of 15 healthy fetuses near term revealed the existence of statistically significant differences in these parameters between low and high variability patterns of fetal heart rate suggesting a quantitative modulation of fetal movements by behavioural states.     

Ecology of Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus in Western Siberian Populations of the Gypsy Moth (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymantria dispar</Emphasis> L.)

The impact of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus on the population dynamics of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar L. has been studied. The results have shown that polyhedrosis morbidity in the western Siberian population of the insect is relatively low, compared to that reported for North American and European populations. A possible cause of this situation is found in the high migration activity of moths in the Asian L. dispar populations, which allows the virus load on the biotope to remain relatively stable and insufficient for the initiation of mass viral diseases during population outbreaks.__________Translated from Ekologiya, No. 3, 2005, pp. 222–226.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Ilinykh.     

三峡库区虫媒和自然疫源性疾病分析

为了解三峡库区人群近7年来主要虫媒和自然疫源性疾病的发病水平和流行趋势,在选出的15个三峡库区人群健康监测点,按照《三峡库区疾病监测方案》,每月收集传染病发病资料及鼠、蚊类等媒介生物监测资料。结合全国传染病疫情报告系统的有关发病资料,分别进行不同年份、不同地区和不同季节发病趋势的比较和影响因素分析。连续7年的监测结果显示,甲类传染病鼠疫未发生,流行性出血热、钩端螺旋体病、流行性乙型脑炎、疟疾等以病媒生物传播为主要传播途径的虫媒和自然疫源性疾病累计报告病例157例,其总体发病呈下降趋势。疟疾、出血热发病水平明显低于全国,而钩体病和乙脑发病水平则高于全国,除疟疾外的其余3种疾病均伴有小的发病高峰出现,但仍以散发为主。表明这些与环境变化关系较为密切的虫媒和自然疫源性疾病的发生,随着工程施工、移民新址建设和移民搬迁并未发生明显变化。但由于环境因素影响的长期性、复杂性,仍需长期连续地开展监测,密切关注发病趋势的变化。     

乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的毒性研究

乙虫腈是在我国登记并广泛使用的氟虫腈替代药剂,其商品化制剂为拜尔公司研发的100 g·L~(-1)悬浮剂,目前关于乙虫腈制剂对非靶标生物的毒性研究少有报道。为探究乙虫腈制剂对蜜蜂的毒性作用,采用人工饲喂法分别测定了100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 h急性和14 d慢性毒性作用。结果显示:乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 hLC_(50)值为0.21 mg·L~(-1)(95%置信限0.16～0.26 mg·L~(-1)),相应的48 h-LD50为5.0×10~(-3)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)(95%置信限1.0×10~(-3)～1.0×10~(-2)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1));在亚致死剂量下,蜜蜂死亡数量随暴露时间的延长而增多,且100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂会引起蜜蜂显著的氧化应激反应,诱导抗氧化酶SOD和CAT活力、脂质过氧化产物MDA含量、解毒酶GST活力和底物GSH含量的显著变化。研究表明,乙虫腈悬浮剂对意大利蜜蜂毒性较高,即使在亚致死剂量下亦存在显著的影响。田间施用应防止药剂的漂移污染,并避免在作物花期施用;新出房意大利蜜蜂对药剂敏感,未来可探索其作为风险指示生物应用的可能。     

Effects of pond salinization on survival rate of amphibian hosts infected with the chytrid fungus

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has been implicated in the decline and extinction of amphibian populations worldwide, but management options are limited. Recent studies show that sodium chloride (NaCl) has fungicidal properties that reduce the mortality rates of infected hosts in captivity. We investigated whether similar results can be obtained by adding salt to water bodies in the field. We increased the salinity of 8 water bodies to 2 or 4 ppt and left an additional 4 water bodies with close to 0 ppt and monitored salinity for 18 months. Captively bred tadpoles of green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) were released into each water body and their development, levels of B. dendrobatidis infection, and survival were monitored at 1, 4, and 12 months. The effect of salt on the abundance of nontarget organisms was also investigated in before and after style analyses. Salinities remained constant over time with little intervention. Hosts in water bodies with 4 ppt salt had a significantly lower prevalence of chytrid infection and higher survival, following metamorphosis, than hosts in 0 ppt salt. Tadpoles in the 4 ppt group were smaller in length after 1 month in the release site than those in the 0 and 2 ppt groups, but after metamorphosis body size in all water bodies was similar . In water bodies with 4 ppt salt, the abundance of dwarf tree frogs (Litoria fallax), dragonfly larvae, and damselfly larvae was lower than in water bodies with 0 and 2 ppt salt, which could have knock‐on effects for community structure. Based on our results, salt may be an effective field‐based B. dendrobatidis mitigation tool for lentic amphibians that could contribute to the conservation of numerous susceptible species. However, as in all conservation efforts, these benefits need to be weighed against negative effects on both target and nontarget organisms.     

浙江省萧山市山一村农村生态良性循环与系统管理研究 Ⅴ.农田病虫害综合防治试验与实施

本项调控工程分两步:1984—1986年在山一村106ha农田开展病虫害综合防治试验示范;1987—1989年将试验成果应用于生产。试验研究取得了明显的经济效益、生态效益和社会效益:农药用量比1983年前减少80.6％,稻谷中农药残留不超标(原有机氯农药666残留超标率31.6％);害虫天敌稻田蜘蛛增加83.3—180.0％,稻虱多索线虫增加2倍;防治农药成本减少53.7％。并制定了《山一村农田农药污染防治技术规程》,其主要内容有:开展病虫害“二查二定”,达到防治指标时用药;制定病虫害防治策略,在防治适期内用药;推广高效低残留农药,遵守农药安全间隔期;推广抗性良种,适施N肥,增施P、K肥;保护利用天敌,发挥天敌自然抑制作用。     

白眉蝮蛇毒精氨酸酯酶的急性、亚急性毒性实验

用小鼠和大鼠分别研究了白眉蝮蛇(Agkistrodon halys ussuriensis )蛇毒中精氨酸酯酶的急性毒性和亚急性毒性.腹腔和静脉给药小鼠急性毒性分别为半数致死量LD50,ip =5.73～6.68 U/kg, LD50,iv=4.12～4.76 U/kg ;最大致死量LD100,ip=8.60 U/kg, LD100,iv=6.40 U/kg;最小致死量LDmin,ip =4.20 U/kg, LDmin,iv=3.10 U/kg .大鼠急性毒性结果分别为LD50,ip= 5.09～5.98 U/kg, LD50,iv=3.30～3.86 U/kg ; LD100,ip=7.80 U/kg, LD100,iv=5.50 U/kg; LDmin,ip=3.60 U/kg, LDmin,iv=2.70 U/kg.大鼠亚急性毒性实验结果为活动能力、生长率、进食量、死亡率等一般综合指标药物处理组和CK没有明显差别;血检、尿检等临床指标除谷丙转氨酶(GPT)高剂量药物处理组与CK有明显差异外(P<0.05),其它生化指标无显著差异(P>0.05);病理解剖和脏器系数指标,高剂量药物处理组肝脏明显肿大、空泡化,脏器系数也明显高于CK(P<0.05),其它脏器未见病变,脏器系数未见显著差异(P>0.05).从急性毒性和亚急性毒性方面考虑,纯精氨酸酯酶比现在临床应用的"蝮蛇清栓酶"(主要成分为精氨酸酯酶)毒性低. 表3 参11     

大型猪场传染病流行的新特点与免疫程序设计

当前大型猪场疫病流行的新特点有九大类,主要是防疫好口蹄疫、猪瘟、蓝耳、伪狂犬、乙脑、细小病毒及气喘病等.猪群只要疫苗免疫得当,加上合理的药物保健程序,控制好一些继发感染(主要是副猪嗜血杆菌、传染性胸膜肺炎、弓形体、附红细胞体等),猪群则会处于较好的保护状态下,没有必要做很多的疫苗.     

植物诱导抗病性的分子生物学研究进展

植物诱导抗病性是植物抵御病害侵袭的重要机制之一，作为一种经济有效的抗病策略，在农业可持续病害防治中具有广阔的应用前景，日益受到人们的关注．其中系统获得性抗性(SAR)作为植物诱导抗病性的一种重要形式，随着分子生物学实验手段的迅速发展及其在植物抗病机制研究中的应用，其分子机制研究方面已取得了不少进展．图1参58