BackgroundMilitary personnel deployed in field actvities report on frequent tick bites. Therefore they may run the risk of exposure to rickettsial organisms.MethodsIn order to assess the risk of exposure to rickettsial organisms, two groups of military personnel who were deployed in field activities of Nothern Sri Lanka were investigated. The first group was studied in order to assess the sero-prevalence of rickettsioses and consisted of soldiers who were admitted following injuries during field activities. The second group was studied to identify the incidence of acute rickettsioses during their acute febrile presentations. They were tested with IFA-IgG against spotted fever group rickettsioses (SFG), scrub typhus (ST) and murine typhus.ResultsIn the first group, 48/57 (84%) military personnel had serological evidence of exposure to rickettsioses (in all, IFA-IgG titer ≥ 1:128): 33/50 (66%) to SFG rickettsioses, 1/50 (2%) to ST and 14/50 (28%) had mixed titers for both (in all, titers were higher for SFG). While all of them were in military uniform most of the time and frequently slept on scrub land, 35/57 (61.4%) had never used insect repellents and none were on doxycycline prophylaxis. 48/57 (84%) had experienced tick bites during field activity.In the second group, there were 49 who presented with acute febrile illness with a mean duration of 8.5 days (SD 3.2). 33/49 (67.3%) were serologically positive for acute rickettsioses (IgG ≥1:256); 26 (79%) due to ST and 7 (21%) due to SFG rickettsioses,ConclusionsExposure to rickettsial disease was common among soldiers who were deployed in Northern Sri Lanka. Scrub typhus was the predominent species accounting for acute febrile illness. Further studies are needed to understand the reasons for very high sero-prevalence for SFG rickettsioses with no anticedent febrile illness. Use of preventive measures was not satisfactory. The high sero-prevelence of SFG rickettsioses is likely to interfere with serological diagnosis of acute SFG rickettsioses in this population.

The most common forms of biomass available in Sri Lanka are fuel wood. Among fuel woods Hevea brasiliensis (rubber) play major role as firewood to fulfill energy requirements. Especially industries demanded by rubber are not enough to meet the demand of fire wood. In this context, traditional users of fuelwood face difficulties in maintaining a stable supply of fuelwood. Therefore, there is an essential need in identifying possible, potential and high efficient biomass energy source to fulfill energy requirement in the country according to country's energy policy targets.This study was designed to evaluate energy and mechanical properties of Nataw (Xylopia parviflora) to see its applicability as fuel wood in biomass boilers. To study the fuel wood characteristics of Nataw (Xylopia parviflora), individuals were categorized in to three diameter classes dbh class (5cm -15cm, 15cm -25cm ,25cm -35cm). In each individual four samples were taken from a wood disk extracted at breast height (1.3m). Moisture content, density, specific gravity, ash content, volatile matter, fixed carbon and biomass/ash ratio were measured from five individuals from each diameter class. Certain characteristics including moisture content, density, specific gravity, and ash content had no significant difference among three dbh classes. Volatile matter content was significantly higher and fixed carbon content was significantly lower than the other two types of dbh classes in 25cm -35cm diameter class, the largest diameter class. When compare energy characteristics of Xylopia parviflora with Hevea brasiliensis, moisture content (31.22%) ash content (1.24%) were lower than the rubber. However Calorific values (18.92 kJ/g) and FVI (3055) higher than the rubber concluding Xylopia parviflora could perform better than rubber as a fuel wood in biomass boilers.