Melioidosis is an often fatal infectious disease with a protean clinical spectrum, caused by the environmental bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei. Although the disease has been reported from some African countries in the past, the present epidemiology of melioidosis in Africa is almost entirely unknown. Therefore, the common view that melioidosis is rare in Africa is not evidence-based. A recent study concludes that large parts of Africa are environmentally suitable for B. pseudomallei. Twenty-four African countries and three countries in the Middle East were predicted to be endemic, but no cases of melioidosis have been reported yet. In this study, we summarize the present fragmentary knowledge on human and animal melioidosis and environmental B. pseudomallei in Africa and the Middle East. We propose that systematic serological studies in man and animals together with environmental investigations on potential B. pseudomallei habitats are needed to identify risk areas for melioidosis. This information can subsequently be used to target raising clinical awareness and the implementation of simple laboratory algorithms for the isolation of B. pseudomallei from clinical specimens. B. pseudomallei was most likely transferred from Asia to the Americas via Africa, which is shown by phylogenetic analyses. More data on the virulence and genomic characteristics of African B. pseudomallei isolates will contribute to a better understanding of the global evolution of the pathogen and will also help to assess potential differences in disease prevalence and outcome.

BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a potential hazard for animals and humans health. The goal of this study was to improve our understanding of bTB epidemiology in Burkina Faso and especially Mycobacterium bovis transmission within and between the bovine and human populations.Methodology/principal findingsTwenty six M. bovis strains were isolated from 101 cattle carcasses with suspected bTB lesions during routine meat inspections at the Bobo Dioulasso and Ouagadougou slaughterhouses. In addition, 7 M. bovis strains were isolated from 576 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Spoligotyping, RDAf1 deletion and MIRU-VNTR typing were used for strains genotyping. The isolation of M. bovis strains was confirmed by spoligotyping and 12 spoligotype signatures were detected. Together, the spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR data allowed grouping the 33 M. bovis isolates in seven clusters including isolates exclusively from cattle (5) or humans (1) or from both (1). Moreover, these data (genetic analyses and phenetic tree) showed that the M. bovis isolates belonged to the African 1 (Af1) clonal complex (81.8%) and the putative African 5 (Af5) clonal complex (18.2%), in agreement with the results of RDAf1 deletion typing.Conclusions/SignificanceThis is the first detailed molecular characterization of M. bovis strains from humans and cattle in Burkina Faso. The distribution of the two Af1 and putative Af5 clonal complexes is comparable to what has been reported in neighbouring countries. Furthermore, the strain genetic profiles suggest that M. bovis circulates across the borders and that the Burkina Faso strains originate from different countries, but have a country-specific evolution. The genetic characterization suggests that, currently, M. bovis transmission occurs mainly between cattle, occasionally between cattle and humans and potentially between humans. This study emphasizes the bTB risk in cattle but also in humans and the difficulty to set up proper disease control strategies in Burkina Faso.

Summary African swine fever (ASF) has been endemic in sub‐Saharan Africa since the 1960s. Following its introduction in Senegal, in 1957, ASF steadily progressed through West Africa, reaching Burkina Faso in 2003, and later Mali in 2016. Despite the heavy burden of disease on pig production, little information is available on the genetic diversity of Africa swine fever virus (ASFV) in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. Here, we used real‐time PCR ASFV to detect the ASFV genome in samples collected between 1989 and 2016, in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, and conventional approaches for isolate characterization. The C‐terminal end of the p72 protein gene, the full E183L gene and the central variable region (CVR) within the B602L gene in ASFV genome were sequenced and compared to publicly available sequences. ASFV genome was found in 27 samples, 19 from Burkina Faso, three from Mali and five from Senegal. The phylogenetic analyses showed that all viruses belong to genotype I, with the ASFVs from Burkina Faso and Mali grouping with genotype Ia and ASFV serogroup 4, and those from Senegal with genotype Ib and the ASFV serogroup 1. The analysis of the CVR tetrameric tandem repeat sequences (TRS) showed four TRS variants in Burkina Faso, two in Senegal and one in Mali. The three countries did not share any common TRS, and all CVRs of this study differed from previously reported CVRs in West Africa, except for Senegal. Three of the five isolates from Senegal fully matched with the CVR, p72 and p54 sequences from ASFV IC96 collected during the 1996 ASF outbreak in Ivory Coast. This study shows the spread of the same ASFV strains across countries, highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring of ASFV isolates. It also calls for an urgent need to establish a regional plan for the control and eradication of ASF in West Africa.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease that affects humans and animals. It is transmitted by rabid animals, through bite, scratch or licking. Almost 99% of human cases are caused by dogs. In Burkina Faso, nearly 5,000 bites cases are recorded annually. This cross-sectional investigation was conducted with the objective of assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices of people regarding rabies and preventive measures in five health districts, Burkina Faso. Using a structured questionnaire, the survey was conducted in households to capture data on participants’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of rabies control. Through a house-to-house approach, the questionnaire was administrated to 320 household members. The results indicated that 36.9% of the participants had high level knowledge of rabies, 80% perceived it as a fatal disease, 76.4% of participant’s reported attitudes were negative and 58.9% of them reported uncorrect practices. The knowledge level of rabies was significantly associated with health district, area of household location, participant’s age, their level of education, previous history with rabies and information channels used by household (p<0.05). However, the health district, the area of household location, the level of education and the knowledge level had significant association with attitudes of participants with regard to rabies (p<0.05). Concerning health behaviours, health district of respondents and their previous history with rabies showed significant association with practices regarding bite cases management (p<0.05). In addition, people health seeking behaviors were significantly associated with their levels of knowledge regarding rabies, their perceptions and attitudes towards the disease (p<0.05). National rabies control stakeholders should address the knowledge gaps through mass awareness campaigns providing key information regarding the risks of contamination and the recommended practices to prevent avoidable deaths.

Background: African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease present in most of the sub-Saharan African countries. Burkina Faso experienced its first African swine fever outbreak in 2003. The present study aims to determine the seroprevalence of African swine fever (ASF) in ASF-suspected pigs in Burkina Faso.Result: An overall seroprevalence of 16.1% (75/466, 95% CI: 0.119-0.208) of African swine fever virus infection was observed in suspected pigs during the study period. The seroprevalence of ASF virus infection varied according to the region [Central Region (19.6%) vs Hauts-Bassins (3.3%) p < 0.001] and breeding system [46.7% (43/92) in modern farms vs 8.6% (32/374) in traditional farms (p < 0.001)]. The analysis of 230 sera randomly selected among samples collected during the study period using three ELISA kits revealed seroprevalences of 9.1% (21/230), 4.8% (11/230) and 6.5% (15/230) respectively for INGENASA® (Madrid, Spain), IDVET (Grabels, France) and SVANOVIR® ASFV-Ab (Svanova, Uppsala, Sweden) Kits. Conclusion:The results of this study shows a high seroprevalence of African swine fever in suspected cases especially in modern farms in Burkina Faso with variations according to the regions. In the absence of vaccine against ASF infection, enhanced surveillance involving all stakeholders with awareness campaigns on biosecurity measures in farms are necessary for early detection of infection and their rapid control to prevent a possible ASF epizootic with disastrous economic consequences.