Subject(s)
Humans , Animals , Plague/transmission , Yersinia pestis , Plague/prevention & control , Brazil , Risk Factors , Disease NotificationABSTRACT
Durante a Primeira Semana Nacional de Ciências e Tecnologia, em 2004, centros e museus de ciência, universidades e escolas implementaram atividades com o objetivo de divulgar ciência para a população. O DNA Vai à Escola se juntou ao Conselho de Informação e Biotecnologia e praticou a extração de DNA de frutas em supermercados de 11 cidades brasileiras. Este artigo descreve a formação da rede nacional de pessoas interessadas em transmitir informações sobre genética para o público leigo e a implementação de uma atividade de divulgação científica de baixo orçamento em vários pontos do país, simultaneamente. Apresenta ainda o impacto causado pela atividade e as percepções daqueles envolvidos na sua organização.
During the first National Science and Technology Week held in 2004, science centers and museums, universities and schools engaged in activities with the idea of divulging science to the people. Demonstrations of the extraction of DNA from fruits were conducted in supermarkets in 11 Brazilian cities by two institutions, DNA Vai à Escola and Conselho de Informação e Biotecnologia. This article describes the formation of a national network of people interested in communicating information about genetics to the lay public and the implementation of a low-cost science communication activity in different parts of the country simultaneously. It also analyzes the impact caused by this initiative and the perceptions of those involved in its organization.
Subject(s)
Humans , Science , Scientific Communication and Diffusion , Genetics , Brazil , ProjectsABSTRACT
A síndrome pulmonar cardiovascular por hantavírus (SPCVH) e a peste (infecção pela Yersinia pestis) são zoonoses que ocorrem no Brasil. As áreas de distribuição dos dois agravos poderão se sobrepor, pois eles compartilham os mesmos reservatórios. Nosso objetivo foi analisar a prevalência de anticorpos contra hantavírus em roedores de áreas focais de peste no estado do Ceará. A amostra foi composta por 239 animais: 136 Necromys lasiurus, 31 Oligoryzomys nigripes, 33 Oryzomys subflavus, 4 Holochilus sciureus, 24 Rattus rattus, 1 Mus musculus, 8 Trichomys apereoides e 2 Galea spixii. Os soros de dois N. lasiurus capturados na serra da Ibiapaba apresentaram anticorpos anti-hantavirus, evidenciando que as populações humanas dessas áreas estão sob risco de contrair uma infecção potencialmente letal, o que requer a estruturação de um programa de pesquisas com o objetivo de estudar sistematicamente a hantavirose.
The hantavirus cardiovascular pulmonary syndrome (HCVPS) and the plague (Yersinia pestis infection) are zoonoses that occur in Brazil, having in common rodent reservoirs. Therefore their distribution areas may overlap. The prevalence of hantavirus antibodies in animals caught in the routine activities of the Plague ControlProgram (PCP) in the State of Ceará in the period from 2002 to 2005 was analyzed in the rodent population in the plague areas. The sample consisted of 239 animals: 136 Necromys lasiurus, 31 Oligoryzomys nigripes, 33 Oryzomys subflavus, 4 Holochilus sciureus, 24 Rattus rattus, 1 Mus musculus, 8, Trichomys apereoides and 2 Galea spixii. Two N. lasiurus captured in the Serra da Ibiapaba were positive forhantavirus antibodies, indicating that humans in these areas are at risk of contracting a potentially lethal infection what justifies the implementation of a research program to study systematically the hantaviruses and rodent hosts in this area.
Subject(s)
Animals , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Hantavirus Infections/epidemiology , Plague , Rodentia , Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome , Zoonoses , Brazil/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Yersina pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, harbors three well-characterized plasmids: pFra (90-110kb), pYV (70kb) and pPst (9.5kb). Furthermore, some extra-cryptic DNA bands have been observed in a number of wild strains from several foci of the world. Additional bands have also been reported in Brazilian strains. Looking for any relationship among these cryptic DNA bands and the three-prototypical plasmids, we analyzed twelve strains displaying different plasmid content. The DNA bands were hybridized by southern blot with probes directed at the genes cafl, lcrV and 'pla' located respectively on the plasmids pFra, pYV and pPst. The probes were constructed by PCR amplification and labeled with digoxigenin. The Pla probe hybridized with its target (pPst) and with bands of about 35 kb suggesting some homology among them. The Cafl probe hybridized with the target (pFra) as well as with higher bands. The LcrV also hybridized with the target (pYV) and both with the bands higher than pFra and the bands between pFra and pYV. These results suggest that the large-cryptic bands could represent some rearrangement, open circular or linearized forms of the pFras and pYV plasmids.