This study was conducted to determine the effects of a co‐infection with Moritella viscosa at different exposure levels of sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). M. viscosa (1.14 × 106 cfu/ml) was introduced to all experimental tanks at 10 days post‐lice infection (dpLs). Mean lice counts decreased over time in both the medium lice co‐infection (31.5 ± 19.0 at 7 dpLs; 16.9 ± 9.3 at 46 dpLs) and high lice co‐infection (62.0 ± 10.8 at 7 dpLs; 37.6 ± 11.3 at 46 dpLs). There were significantly higher mortalities and more severe skin lesions in the high lice co‐infected group compared to medium lice co‐infected group or M. viscosa‐only infection. Quantitative gene expression analysis detected a significant upregulation of genes in skin from the high lice co‐infection group consistent with severe inflammation (il‐8, mmp‐9, hep, saa). Skin lesions retrieved throughout the study were positive for M. viscosa growth, but these were rarely located in regions associated with lice. These results suggest that while M. viscosa infection itself may induce skin lesion development in salmon, co‐infection with high numbers of lice can enhance this impact and significantly reduce the ability of these lesions to resolve, resulting in increased mortality.

Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) are ectoparasitic copepods that cause significant economic loss in marine salmoniculture. In commercial salmon farms, infestation with sea lice can enhance susceptibility to other significant pathogens, such as the highly contagious infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAv). In this study, transcriptomic analysis was used to evaluate the impact of four experimental functional feeds (i.e. 0.3% EPA/DHA+high-ω6, 0.3% EPA/DHA+high-ω6+immunostimulant (IS), 1% EPA/DHA+high-ω6, and 1% EPA/DHA+high-ω3) on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) during a single infection with sea lice (L. salmonis) and a co-infection with sea lice and ISAv. The overall objectives were to compare the transcriptomic profiles of skin between lice infection alone with co-infection groups and assess differences in gene expression response among animals with different experimental diets. Atlantic salmon smolts were challenged with L. salmonis following a 28-day feeding trial. Fish were then challenged with ISAv at 18 days post-sea lice infection (dpi), and maintained on individual diets, to establish a co-infection model. Skin tissues sampled at 33 dpi were subjected to RNA-seq analysis. The co-infection’s overall survival rates were between 37%-50%, while no mortality was observed in the single infection with lice. With regard to the infection status, 756 and 1303 consensus differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among the four diets were identified in “lice infection vs. pre-infection” and “co-infection vs. pre-infection” groups, respectively, that were shared between the four experimental diets. The co-infection groups (co-infection vs. pre-infection) included up-regulated genes associated with glycolysis, the interferon pathway, complement cascade activity, and heat shock protein family, while the down-regulated genes were related to antigen presentation and processing, T-cell activation, collagen formation, and extracellular matrix. Pathway enrichment analysis conducted between infected groups (lice infection vs. co-infection) resulted in several immune-related significant GO terms and pathways unique to this group, such as “autophagosome”, “cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway” and “response to type I interferons”. Understanding how experimental functional feeds can impact the host response and the trajectory of co-infections will be an essential step in identifying efficacious intervention strategies that account for the complexities of disease in open cage culture.

Between 1982 and 1985, 109 infants were referred for cytogenetic examination out of a population of 73,192 liveborn infants from eight maternity hospitals surveyed by the ECLAMC/MONITOR program. Thirty-one of the children had a chromosome abnormality different from trisomy 21. Considering the total population surveyed, trisomy 18 was detected in 1:6,099; trisomy 13 was seen in 1:24,397 and unbalanced rearrangements were found in 1:7,319 infants. Those rates were not significantly different from the expected ones, as compared to previous cytogenetic surveys of consecutive births. We concluded that most chromosome abnormalities associated with congenital malformations can be detected at low cost, provided there is a high accuracy of clinical examination and referral criteria, as well as close cooperation between pediatricians and geneticists.

According to the literature, the syndrome of obstructive sleep apnea or hypopnea (OSAHS) should be taken into account on issues related to the cognitive development of schoolchildren. Due to the considerable number of children who presented consistent complaints about their ability to perform school work, an interdisciplinary team was authorized by the parents to conduct evaluations to identify the relationship between the occurrence of signs of OSAHS and changes in the neurocognitive functions in children that could explain poor school performance. The results observed in the present case study shown 41 (76%) of the 54 evaluated children with difficulties in school work achievement were considered to present characteristic signs of the consequences of OSAHS. The interdisciplinary diagnostic actions in the present case have proven to be effective, low-cost, and easy to apply in a school environment to subsidize prevention and intervention policies and programs that may modify the health conditions and cognitive development of children.

The cover image is based on the Original Article Impact of co‐infection with Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Moritella viscosa on inflammatory and immune responses of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) by Laura A. Carvalho et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13144.