The land degradation and desertification-socioeconomic nexus in Egypt's delta region: A case study on Alexandria and Beheira.

The Nile Delta is Egypt's primary source of agricultural production. However, the Delta's capacity to remain Egypt's vital source of food security, rural development and economic stability is diminishing amidst persistent climate change risks. In this regard, this research gauges the impacts of climatic and anthropogenic factors on agricultural revenues and household wealth in Alexandria and Beheira, two of the Delta's most climate-vulnerable governorates. The research employs the Ricardian model by applying Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR), to test the impacts of climate change on real revenues from agriculture. Results show that quadratic temperature negatively impacts revenues from agriculture in Alexandria, while employment in agriculture, irrigation, livestock and machines positively contribute to revenues. In Beheira, results show that temperature and machines negatively contribute to agricultural revenues, while livestock contributes positively. The research further estimates the socioeconomic impacts of land degradation and desertification on individuals in Alexandria and Beheira by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) robust standard errors. Individuals' socio-economic status, proxied by their wealth index (WI), is regressed on the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI), gender, age, education, household size, work in agriculture and rural/urban residence. Outcomes reveal that individuals' wealth status in Alexandria is positively correlated with ESI, age, and education. In Beheira, land degradation, household size, rural areas and fathers working in agriculture are negatively correlated with wealth. Education, however, contributes positively to wealth. The study proposes policy implications that aim to foster the growth and development of rural residents in the Delta region.

Seroprevalance of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Bulgarian livestock.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne zoonotic disease. Over the past decade, CCHF cases in humans have emerged in Turkey and reemerged in the Balkan countries, Ukraine and Tajikistan. Occupational contact with infected livestock has been recognized as a common cause of the disease. A cross-sectional seroprevalence study in livestock was conducted in farming communities of an endemic area in Bulgaria, southeastern Europe. Overall, 72% of the tested animals were positive for IgG antibodies to CCHF virus. By the time the animals were one-year old almost 50% had serologic evidence of CCHF infection, and by two years already 80% of them had been infected. The data obtained in this study reflect current situation of CCHF virus infection among livestock in Bulgaria. The results showed active CCHF virus circulation that poses risk for humans to be infected during contacts with animals and requires public health awareness.