The present investigation was undertaken to study the incidence and enterotoxigenicity of Bacillus cereus in raw meat and meat products. B. cereus was isolated from 29 (30.9 %) of the 94 samples analyzed. Recorded incidences of B. cereus from raw meat and meat products samples were 27.8 and 35 %, respectively. A high level of organism was found in cooked-meat (35 %) than raw meat samples (27.78 %) from 40 cooked-meat products and 54 raw meat samples analyzed. Screening of isolates by multiplex polymerase chain reaction revealed the overall distribution of various enterotoxin genes hblDAC complex, nheABC complex, cytK and entFM as 55.2, 89.7, 41.4 and 93 %, respectively. The level of contamination with B. cereus was moderately higher in some samples but did not exceed the level which is sufficient to induce food poisoning. A relatively higher incidence of B. cereus in meat products, with the majority of isolates harboring all the enterotoxin genes can pose a potential public health threat.

The present study describes the genotypic distribution of rotaviruses (RVs) in an Indian bovine population with unexpectedly higher proportions of G3 alone or in combination of G8/G10. PCR-genotyping confirmed that 39.4% (13/33) of the prevalent RVs were the G3 type while 60.6% (20/33) were dual G3G10 or G3G8 types. P typing revealed that 93.9% (31/33) of the samples were P[11] while 6.1% (2/33) possessed a dual P[1]P[11] type. Sequence analysis of the VP7 gene from G3 strains viz. B-46, 0970, and BR-133 showed that these strains had sequence identities of 90.5% to 100% with other bovine G3 strains. The highest identity (98.9% to 100%) was observed with RUBV3 bovine G3 strains from eastern India. The G3 strains (B-46, 0970, and BR-133) showed 97.5% to 98.8% sequence homologies with the Indian equine RV strain Erv-80. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that G3 strains clustered with bovine RUBV3 and J-63, and equine Erv-80 G3. Overall, these results confirmed that the incidence of infection by RVs with the G3 genotype and mixed genotypes in the bovine population was higher than previously predicted. This finding reinforces the importance of constantly monitoring circulating viral strains with the G3 genotype in future surveillance studies.

Background Coronary Heart Diseases (CHDs) are imminent cause of disability and death with economic adverse effects in the disadvantaged population in India. Materials and Methods This population based study was conducted from 1st December 2010 till 31st May 2011 among the adults in the slums of Patna to assess the magnitude and risk factors of CHDs concerning age, sex, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, physical activity, weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure and random capillary blood glucose (RCBG). Results Among 3118 participants 16.36 percent (males 18.79 %, females 14.48 %) were hypertensive; 26.3 percent (males 25.94 %, females 26.58 %) had elevated RCBG; 4.46 percent were Diabetic. High body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) was noted in 31.94 percent (males 31.83%, females 32.03%), 50.45 percent (males 39.1%, females 59.17%), 86.53 percent (male 83.12%, female 89.15%) respectively; tobacco users were 12.54 percent, while 9.14 percent reported alcohol consumption; 33.64 percent were sedentary (males 30.55%, females 37.65%). BMI, WC, WHtR, tobacco use, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity were significantly associated with hypertension (p < 0.05). Elevated RCBG was significantly associated with increased BMI, WC, WHtR. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that BMI, WHtR and alcohol were associated with hypertension, not with elevated RCBG. ConclusionOur study indicated that CHDs and their risk factors are not only limited to affluent societies but also affect the underprivileged mass. Preventive care and multipronged intervention including extensive behavior change communication needs to be organized to reduce the risk of CHDs in urban poor.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v2i3.6902Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2012;2(3): 205-12

The present study describes detection of picobirnavirus (PBV) in faecal samples from bovine and buffalo calves employing the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). A total of 136 faecal samples from buffalo (n = 122) and cow calves (n = 14) exhibiting clinical signs of diarrhoea and from healthy calves were collected during 2007-2010 from subtropical (central India) and tarai area of western temperate Himalayan foothills (Uttarakhand). The dsRNA nature of the virus was confirmed by nuclease treatment (RNase A, RNaseT1 and DNase 1). PAGE results confirmed 3.67% (5/136) positivity for PBV, showing a typical genomic migration pattern with two discrete bands with size of approximately 2.4 and 1.7 kbps for the larger and smaller segments, respectively. Among the five PBV samples identified, three were from buffalo calves and one from cow calf exhibiting clinical signs of acute diarrhoea, while one sample from non-diarrhoeic buffalo calf also showed the presence of PBV. None of the samples showed dual infection of rotavirus and PBV. The preliminary findings indicate sporadic incidences of PBV in bovine calves and emphasize the need for the development of better diagnostics for early detection and genetic characterization of these emerging isolates of farm animals of economic significance.

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