An Evaluation of Three Different Primary Equine Influenza Vaccination Intervals in Foals.

In order to evaluate the effect of three different primary vaccination intervals on EI vaccine response, 21 unvaccinated thoroughbred foals were randomly divided into three groups of 7 and vaccinated with three different intervals of primary immunization (i.e., with 1, 2 or 3 months intervals between V1 and V2, respectively). The antibody response was measured for up to 1 year after the third immunization V3 (administered 6 months after V2) by single radial hemolysis (SRH) assay. All weanlings had seroconverted and exceeded the clinical protection threshold 2 weeks after V2 and 1 month after V3 until the end of the study. Significant differences were measured at the peak of immunity after V2 and for the duration of the immunity gap between V2 and V3. The group with one month primary vaccination interval had a lower immunity peak after V2 (158.05 ± 6.63 mm2) and a wider immunity gap between V2 and V3 (18 weeks) when compared with other groups (i.e., 174.72 ± 6.86 mm2 and 16 weeks for a two months interval, 221.45 ± 14.48 mm2 and 12 weeks for a 3-month interval). The advantage observed in the group with 1 month primary vaccination interval, which induces an earlier protective immunity, is counterbalance with a lower peak of immunity and a wider immunity gap after V2, when compared with foals vaccinated with 2- and 3-month intervals.

Evaluation of integrated control of three dog transmitted zoonoses: Rabies, visceral leishmaniasis and cystic echinococcosis, in Morocco.

The present study is a component of a major European research project, ICONZ (Integrated Control of Neglected Zoonoses). The objective of this component was to implement, and then evaluate an Integrated Control Intervention (ICI) against three dog transmitted zoonoses, namely rabies, visceral leishmaniasis, and cystic echinococcosis. This was undertaken in Sidi Kacem Province (northwestern Morocco) where 22 control and 22 treated douars (villages) were randomly allocated to two control and one evaluation interventions over a period of 13 months. Across the 44 douars, an overall total of 6922 dogs were registered, 4519 were vaccinated against rabies, and 2885 persons attended the complementary health education campaigns; whereas, within the 22 treated douars, 466 dogs received anti-sandfly collars (deltamethrin-impregnated) and 2487 were dewormed (praziquantel). Evaluation of the ICI, revealed that (i) a canine rabies vaccination coverage of 65.0% was achieved, (ii) the use of deltamethrin-impregnated collars for dogs provided highly significant protection (p = 0.01) against leishmaniasis infection of more than 44%, and up to 100% for dogs that had kept the collar until the end of the intervention, (iii) despite a non-significant difference (p>0.05), dog-deworming with praziquantel yielded a reduction in the rate of Echinococcus granulosus infection, and (iv) health education was successful in improving respondents' knowledge; However, the target communities remained unconvinced of the necessity of changing some of their risky behaviours. Lastly, the estimated total cost of the global intervention, including its research components, was US$ 143,050, of which 67% was for disease control work with clear evidence of significant economies of scale due to targeting three diseases together. It appears from this study that the integrated control approach against the three zoonoses was effective on both economic and logistical levels.

Impact of Mixed Equine Influenza Vaccination on Correlate of Protection in Horses.

To evaluate the humoral immune response to mixed Equine Influenza vaccination, a common practice in the field, an experimental study was carried out on 42 unvaccinated thoroughbred weanling foals divided into six groups of seven. Three groups were vaccinated using a non-mixed protocol (Equilis® Prequenza-Te, Proteqflu-Te® or Calvenza-03®) and three other groups were vaccinated using a mix of the three vaccines mentioned previously. Each weanling underwent a primary EI vaccination schedule composed of two primary immunisations (V1 and V2) four weeks apart followed by a third boost immunisation (V3) six months later. Antibody responses were monitored until one-year post-V3 by single radial haemolysis (SRH). The results showed similar antibody responses for all groups using mixed EI vaccination and the group exclusively vaccinated with Equilis® Prequenza-TE, which were significantly higher than the other two groups vaccinated with Proteqflu-TE® and Calvenza-03®. All weanlings (100%) failed to seroconvert after V1 and 21% (9/42) still had low or no SRH antibody titres two weeks post-V2. All weanlings had seroconverted and exceeded the clinical protection threshold one month after V3. The poor response to vaccination was primarily observed in groups exclusively vaccinated with Proteqflu-Te® and Calvenza-03®. A large window of susceptibility (3⁻4.5-month duration) usually called immunity gap was observed after V2 and prior to V3 for all groups. The SRH antibody level was maintained above the clinical protection threshold for three months post-V3 for the groups exclusively vaccinated with Proteqflu-Te® and Calvenza-03®, and six months to one year for groups using mixed EI vaccination or exclusively vaccinated with Equilis® Prequenza-Te. This study demonstrates for the first time that the mix of EI vaccines during the primary vaccination schedule has no detrimental impact on the correlate of protection against EIV infection.

Leaf shrinkage: a predictive indicator of the potential variation of the surface area-to-volume ratio according to the leaf moisture content.

Leaf shrinkage provides insights into the potential variation of foliar SVR, within the same species, when leaf moisture content is changing in response to water deficit. Since SVR is among the most significant plant flammability features, leaf shrinkage would be a relevant component of fuel hazard assessment through its influence on SVR, enhancing-if it is taken into account-thereby the wildfire prediction accuracy. The purpose of this work is, first, to consider the leaf shrinkage by characterizing the plant species towards the shrinkability of their leaves, taking account the possible site effect, to characterize the behavior of shrinkage as a function of moisture content and finally to perform a classification for some dominant Mediterranean species based on the shrinkage levels. The assessment of the hierarchical relationships between the dimensional shrinkages is also aimed. Leaves and needles of thirteen tree and shrub species were harvested from six different sites in western Rif Mountains. Leaves dimensions and moisture content were measured regularly during a gradual drying at the laboratory. Dimensional shrinkages were calculated at each moisture content level. Dimensional shrinkages behaved similarly whether in leaf or timber and kept the same reporting relationships between each other. Among the species sampled in different sites, site effect is significant only in Pinus canariensis and Pistacia lentiscus. A classification of the plant species was carried out in three separate classes. Generally, shrinkage class of the plant species studied gave an idea on its flammability ranking reported in the literature, implying thus a cause-and-effect relationship between both parameters.