Soybean Processing Mill Waste Plus Vermicompost Enhances Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Inoculum Production.

This study considered soybean processing mill waste (hulls) as an organic substrate for mass multiplication of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on sorghum and amaranthus as hosts. In the first experiment, from seven soybean processing mill wastes, three wastes were evaluated for their ability to multiply AM fungi on the two host plants. Among these wastes, hulls were found to be promising for the multiplication of AM fungi and were further examined in a second experiment in combination with vermicompost (VC), a mix of hulls plus vermicompost (SH + VC) amended with soil: sand mix (3:1 v/v) and a soil-sand mix used as a control (SS) in polybags containing the previous two host species. We found that SH blended with VC significantly improved AM fungus production in sorghum polybags assessed through microscopic (spore density in soil, colonization in roots) and biochemical parameters (AM signature lipids in soil: 16:1ω5cis neutral lipid fatty acid (NLFA); phospholipids fatty acid (PLFA) g-1 soil; 16:1ω5cis ester lipid fatty acid (ELFA) g-1 both in soil and roots; and glomalin content in soil. SH + VC contained significantly greater AM fungus populations than the other substrate combinations examined. Principal component analysis (PCA) also identified sorghum as a potential host supporting AM fungus populations particularly when grown under SH + VC conditions. Hence, the combination of soybean hulls and vermicompost was found to be a promising substrate for the mass production of AM fungi using sorghum as a host. These findings have important implications for developing AM fungus inoculum production strategies at the commercial scale.

Disease surveillance during a large religious mass gathering in India: The Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 experience.

BACKGROUND: Mass gathering (MG) events are associated with public health risks. During the period January 14 to March 4, 2019, Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India was attended by an estimated 120 million visitors. An onsite disease surveillance was established to identify and respond to disease outbreaks. METHODS: A health coordination committee was established for planning. Disease surveillance was prioritized and risk assessment was done to identify diseases/conditions based on epidemic potential, severity of illness, and reporting requirement under the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005. A daily indicator and event-based disease surveillance was planned. The indicator-based surveillance (IBS) manually and electronically recorded data from patient hospital visits and collected MG area water testing data to assess trends. The event-based surveillance (EBS) helped identify outbreak signals based on pre-identified event triggers from the media, private health facilities, and the food safety department. Epidemic intelligence was used to analyse the data and events to detect signals, verify alerts, and initiate the response. RESULTS: At Kumbh Mela, disease surveillance was established for 22 acute diseases/syndromes. Sixty-five health facilities reported 156 154 illnesses (21% of a total 738 526 hospital encounters). Among the reported illnesses, 95% (n = 148 834) were communicable diseases such as acute respiratory illness (n = 52 504, 5%), acute fever (n = 41 957, 28%), and skin infections (n = 27 094, 18%). The remaining 5% (n = 7300) were non-communicable diseases (injuries n = 6601, 90%; hypothermia n = 224, 3%; burns n = 210, 3%). Water samples tested inadequate for residual chlorine in 20% of samples (102/521). The incident command centre generated 12 early warning signals from IBS and EBS: acute diarrheal disease (n = 8, 66%), vector-borne disease (n = 2, 16%), vaccine-preventable disease (n = 1, 8%), and thermal event (n = 1, 8%). There were two outbreaks (acute gastroenteritis and chickenpox) that were investigated and controlled. CONCLUSIONS: This onsite disease surveillance imparted a public health legacy by successfully implementing an epidemic intelligence enabled system for early disease detection and response to monitor public health risks. Acute respiratory illnesses emerged as a leading cause of morbidity among visitors. Future MG events should include disease surveillance as part of planning and augment capacity for acute respiratory illness diagnosis and management.