ABSTRACT
Currently, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has transformed into a severe public health crisis and wreaking havoc worldwide. The ongoing pandemic has exposed the public healthcare system's weaknesses, and highlighted the urgent need for investments in scientific programs and policies. A com-prehensive program utilizing the science and technology-driven strategies combined with well-resourced healthcare organizations appears to be essential for current and future outbreak management.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.631736.].
ABSTRACT
Zoonotic infections belong to multiple infectious diseases transferred from animals to humans. Now, the treatment and diagnosis of zoonotic infections are perplexing due to genetic mutations, target site modifications, and multi-drug resistance. Despite their benefits, most diagnostic molecular techniques have certain limits in terms of repeatability and sensitivity, mainly due to the heterogeneity among the diverse family of zoonotic pathogens. Therefore, developing more efficient and cost-effective theranostics tools is the need of the hour to address these concerns. For this purpose, nanotechnology has revolutionized medicine with versatile potential capabilities for diagnosing and treating zoonosis via the targeted and controlled delivery of antimicrobial drugs via binding to the overexpressed infectious macrophages. Massive advancements have been made in fabricating novel nano-based formulations to control zoonosis based on the use of poly(ethylenimine)-conjugated nanomicelles, mannosylated thiolated chitosan (MTC)-coated PM-loaded PLGA NPs, mannose linked thiolated nanocarriers, adjuvanted pDNA hydrogel, arginine-based nanocarriers, quantum dots to treat and diagnose a wide range of zoonotic diseases, including zoonotic influenza, salmonellosis, leishmaniasis, rabies, brucellosis, Lyme Disease, tuberculosis, and other infections caused by West Nile Virus, emerging coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, COVID-19), in a preferentially targeted way. Recently developed anti-pathogen loaded-nanoformulations with enhanced cellular uptake, biocompatibility, and hemocompatibility have shown the ability to cross biological barriers when orally administrated. Therefore, this article reviewed the latest milestones and future growth areas in the field of efficient theranostics platforms to manage zoonotic infections.
ABSTRACT
The emergence and spread of infectious diseases with pandemic potential occurred regularly throughout history. Major pandemics and epidemics such as plague, cholera, flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have already afflicted humanity. The world is now facing the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Many infectious diseases leading to pandemics are caused by zoonotic pathogens that were transmitted to humans due to increased contacts with animals through breeding, hunting and global trade activities. The understanding of the mechanisms of transmission of pathogens to humans allowed the establishment of methods to prevent and control infections. During centuries, implementation of public health measures such as isolation, quarantine and border control helped to contain the spread of infectious diseases and maintain the structure of the society. In the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, these containment methods have still been used nowadays to control COVID-19 pandemic. Global surveillance programs of water-borne pathogens, vector-borne diseases and zoonotic spillovers at the animal-human interface are of prime importance to rapidly detect the emergence of infectious threats. Novel technologies for rapid diagnostic testing, contact tracing, drug repurposing, biomarkers of disease severity as well as new platforms for the development and production of vaccines are needed for an effective response in case of pandemics.
ABSTRACT
Rice plays a strategic role in food security in West Africa. However, the region increasingly relies on rice imports due to a growing and structural deficit, and domestic value chains face constraints in technology, finance and coordination. As a result, West Africa is very vulnerable to international and local trade disruptions, such as the ones currently inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We build on evidence of the current state of domestic rice value chain upgrading in West Africa to anticipate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rice value chains' resilience and their capacity to sustain food security in the region. Several policy options are proposed to help West African governments mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on food security.