Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus-Specific Antibody Detection in Cattle in Mauritania.

BACKGROUND: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) was detected for the first time in Mauritania in 1983 and several CCHFV outbreaks were reported in the following years. The last human case was diagnosed in 2015. However, no recent data exist about the prevalence of CCHFV in animals, although it is already described that prevalence studies in animals serve as good risk indicators. CCHFV can cause a severe hemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality rate in humans. Therefore, a precise risk assessment on the basis of updated data is very important. This article gives an overview about the current CCHFV prevalence in cattle in Mauritania. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A seroprevalence study was carried out using 495 cattle sera from Mauritania, which were collected in the year 2013. The sera were analyzed by an inhouse CCHFV-IgG-ELISA. As second screening test, an adapted commercial CCHFV-IgG-ELISA was performed. Inconclusive sera were additionally tested by a modified commercial CCHFV-IgG-IFA. All assays showed high diagnostic sensitivity (>95%) and specificity (>98%). The overall prevalence of CCHFV-specific antibodies found in Mauritanian cattle was 67%, ranging from 56% to 90% in different provinces. CONCLUSION: This study shows a very high CCHFV-specific antibody prevalence in cattle in Mauritania. It is the highest seroprevalence detected in Mauritania so far. This strengthens the hypothesis that CCHFV is a serious and ongoing threat for public health in Mauritania.

Round and round we go: rounding strategies to impact exemplary professional practice.

The literature demonstrates that diverse rounding methods have been shown to positively impact a wide variety of quality and safety outcomes, as well as patient and staff satisfaction. Rather than adopting one or two of these strategies, the concepts and recommendations from the literature associated with rounding have formed the foundation for an academic, community, Magnet® hospital to implement a compendium of rounding efforts: patient rounds, interdisciplinary collaborative rounds, daily clinical rounds by the unit educator and daily rounds by the unit manager, quarterly unit rounds by senior nursing managers, and safety rounds by senior executives. This article details each of these methodologies as implemented on a 26-bed hematology/oncology unit. Positive outcomes perceived to be associated with the rounds have been achieved for patient, employee, and physician satisfaction, as well as clinical quality indicators.

Creating moments that matter: strategies to combat compassion fatigue.

Understanding compassion fatigue and devising and implementing interventions to address the subject are important for nurses and patients. However, few literature reports exist that address interventions for nurses who experience compassion fatigue. This article discusses how nurses on a medical-surgical oncology unit in an academic, community Magnet™ hospital adopted these themes as a conceptual framework on which to focus actions to avoid and mitigate compassion fatigue.