The emergence of mcr-1-harboring avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) poses a significant One Health challenge due to its zoonotic potential and adverse effects on poultry production.

The release of 10s of millions of common pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) across the UK for shooting may pose an ecological risk to native species and sensitive habitats, particularly if the birds move into protected areas (PAs) such as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The extent of this ecological risk depends on the abundance of pheasants in these sensitive sites, especially if they are attracted there after the shooting season when game management efforts to retain the birds cease. We used relative pheasant abundance measures derived from British Trust for Ornithology bird atlas data from 3793 2 km tetrads across four English counties (Berkshire, Cornwall, Devon and Hertfordshire) to determine if pheasants preferentially disperse into or reside in areas with greater PA coverage. We analysed relative abundance in both the winter shooting season and the breeding season using a Bayesian occupancy-abundance model, controlling for habitat type and diversity. Our results showed a strong influence of habitat on pheasant abundance, consistent with known habitat preferences. However, we found no evidence of a relationship between relative pheasant abundance and the proportion of ecologically relevant PA coverage in a tetrad. This lack of a relationship was consistent across all four counties and across both the winter and breeding seasons. Our finding suggests that common pheasants do not preferentially disperse into or reside in protected areas compared to surrounding, unprotected land, suggesting that the ecological impacts caused by released pheasants are no more likely to occur in protected areas than in non-protected areas.

Tropical streams have distinct natural features that are heavily influenced by human activities, especially in developing regions. The impact of human activities is measured by exploring changes to the streams' natural physicochemical properties and biological communities. However, information on the physicochemical and biological characteristics of smallest streams with great socioeconomical importance remains scarce in Ethiopia. Thus, this study assessed the physicochemical and biological characteristics of Ashmaq and Sawur Streams (Aug 2022-Apr 2023) to evaluate human impacts on stream ecology of the rural areas. The area of this region is generally semi-arid characterized by erratic rainfall patterns where June to August and December to April, are rainy and driest months, respectively. Water and macroinvertebrate samples were taken at two sampling sites of each stream at different water depths using sterilized plastic bottles and a D-frame net, respectively and gillnets and hooks were used to sample fish. Accordingly, a total of 1386 and 149, macroinvertebrates and fish, respectively were sampled. In the laboratory, water samples were analyzed using the American Public Health Association (APHA) standards. ANOVA was employed to show the significant difference in spatio-temporal patterns of stream water physicochemical parameters. In the present study, EC ranged between 187.90 ± 61.60 to 662.00 ± 6.56 µScm[-1], and highest values were recorded during the wet months. Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, chloride, and nutrients (NO[2-] and PO4[2-]) were major environmental variables that characterize distribution patterns of fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Almost all the in-situ examined physicochemical parameters revealed spatio-temporal significant differences in both streams. Corixidae was the dominant family of macroinvertebrates, while Labeobarbus intermedius accounted for 67.4% of the total collection of fishes identified. In conclusion, most physicochemical features of Ashmaq and Sawur streams were below the permissible limits set by international standards. However, our personal observation encountered that Ashmaq and Sawur streams are facing several ecological threats including poor agricultural practices, water abstraction, intensive grazing, and sand mining. Therefore, this baseline data on the tiny percentage of global freshwater ecosystems could help with management implications like habitat restoration and raising public awareness and educating people about the need to save water and their biodiversity.

Circumstances driving the transition from low-pathogenicity to high-pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (LPAIVs to HPAIVs) remain poorly understood. In July 2015, a UK layer outbreak revealed circulation of an H7N7 LPAIV (H7N7-LP), which subsequently mutated into a high-pathogenicity H7N7 virus (H7N7-HP) at the same farm. The emergent H7N7-HP caused high mortality, though prior H7N7-LP exposure provided partial protection in some chickens. We experimentally assessed the protective effect of prior H7N7-LP exposure upon subsequent H7N7-HP challenge. In the absence of an isolated H7N7-LP direct-precursor to this H7N7-HP outbreak strain, eight chickens were directly-inoculated with an H7N7-LP which was closely genetically related to the outbreak H7N7-HP. At 1-day post-infection (dpi), eight naïve contact chickens were introduced to assess H7N7-LP transmission. All (100%) directly inoculated chickens became H7N7-LP infected, whereas only 3/8 contacts (37.5%) acquired infection. At 14 dpi, these 16 chickens, together with eight immunologically naïve controls, were challenged with H7N7-HP. Among the naïve controls and the previously H7N7-LP contact-exposed chickens, all 16 (100%) shed H7N7-HP, with 62.5% and 50% mortality, respectively. In contrast, none of the chickens previously directly-inoculated with H7N7-LP subsequently shed H7N7-HP, where all remained healthy and survived. Therefore, direct H7N7-LP inoculation induced effective immunity against antigenically related H7N7-HP. However, the more limited H7N7-LP infection acquired via contact exposure resulted in all shedding H7N7-HP, with reduced clinical protection. This sequential infection model highlighted how the route and timing of initial LPAIV exposure, along with acquired immunity, differed in influencing susceptibility to an emergent HPAIV, reflecting outcomes observed during layer outbreaks.

Campylobacter is a major bacterial cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, and poultry meat is widely recognized as a principal reservoir for human Campylobacter infection. This study characterized the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, genomic diversity, key antimicrobial-resistance determinants, and virulence genes of Campylobacter isolates collected from chicken farms and fresh retail poultry meat in ten regions of Jiangsu Province, China. The biofilm- forming capacity of selected strains was also evaluated. MLST identified CC-574 and CC-828 as the predominant clonal complexes of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, respectively. The isolates exhibited a broad range of sequence types (STs), including 21 previously documented STs in C. jejuni and 16 in C. coli, as well as six novel STs from C. jejuni and three novel STs from C. coli. Phylogenetic analysis revealed extensive genetic diversity among the Campylobacter isolates. Overall, 46.6 % of isolates were classified as MDR. The MDR proportion was significantly higher in C. coli (75.4 %) than in C. jejuni (17.5 %), and C. coli exhibited broader resistance across the ten antibiotics assessed. Among the detected resistance genes, the resistance-enhancing variant RE-CmeABC, which was primarily harbored by C. jejuni, had the highest prevalence (32.8 %), followed by tet(O) (31.3 %), the aminoglycoside resistance gene cluster aadEsat4-aphA-3 (21.9 %), and erm(B) (9.4 %). Virulence-gene profiling of the 128 Campylobacter isolates identified 10 virulence genes across five functional categories: adhesinon, invasion, immune modulation, motility, and toxin production. The wlaN gene, which is associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, was detected in 7 (5.5 %) C. jejuni isolates. Among the 38 Campylobacter strains tested for biofilm formation, six C. coli isolates exhibited pronounce biofilm-forming capacity. These findings indicate that Campylobacter isolates from chicken farms and retail poultry meat pose potential public health risks, underscoring the need for targeted Campylobacter control strategies and providing a useful reference for future surveillance pograms.

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are an increasing threat to animal and human health worldwide. Due to the complexity of VBD transmission and ecology, informing responses to VBDs can be challenging. A One Health approach provides a powerful framework for addressing these threats, but its effectiveness depends on timely access to and integration of diverse and often fragmented data categories. Here we outline three key community actions: applying global metadata and data standards, depositing data into global repositories and responsible shared data usage, which can enhance VBD data sharing. We highlight how these data-sharing practices allow for the development of new informatic infrastructure, established by the One Health VBD Hub project, to facilitate analyses and ultimately enhance our ability to provide timely responses to endemic and emerging VBD threats.

Globally, there is a lot of concern about the quality of freshwater resources found in surface and subsurface water systems. The rapid growth of urban areas, industrial and agricultural sectors and over exploitation of groundwater resources in India put the freshwater water resources at a critical place. Saraikela-Kharsawan, a part of one of the largest industrial clusters of India, has been explored in the present study in terms of hydrochemical characteristics with the implications of major ions chemistry, contaminants source apportionment, geochemical evolution and non-cancer risk assessment. A total of 120 water samples were collected and analysed for the selected physicochemical parameters including electrical conductivity, pH, total hardness, total dissolved solid, major ions (HCO3[-], SO4[2-], NO3[-], Cl[-], F[-], Ca[2+], Na[+], Mg[2+] and K[+]), and heavy metals following the American Public Health Association (APHA) specified methods. The geochemical evaluation deciphered that weathering of silicate and carbonate minerals along with ion exchange mechanisms and anthropogenic activities together governed the water chemistry of the area. The identified mineral phases of fluorite and carbonates like calcite, dolomite and aragonite symbolized precipitation tendency, while halite showed under-saturation status. The geospatial technique demonstrated zoning of non-hazardous to more hazardous spots based on the hazard index (HI) values in context to adult and child populations. The central and southern parts of the area have been found to be more susceptible to non-cancer human health risks due to increased levels of F[-] and NO3[-] in the studied water, attributed to geogenic and anthropogenic processes. Hazard index values of the studied groundwater indicated that adult population to be more susceptible to health risks. Higher levels of Mn, As and Co metals raised the HI values of the studied waters contributing non-cancer risks to the human community in the area.

The potential spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through agricultural waste is underexplored and may contribute to the dissemination of AMR genes into the environment. This pilot study used metagenomic sequencing to investigate how anaerobic digestion (AD) and on-farm slurry lagoon treatment affect microbial community composition and relative AMR gene abundance in livestock waste. Samples were collected before and after treatment from three AD sites and two on-farm slurry lagoon sites. Taxonomic profiles and diversity metrics were generated from short-read Illumina sequencing, and AMR gene presence and relative abundance were assessed using APHA SeqFinder, an in-house analysis pipeline. AD treatment led to decreased microbial richness and evenness, and reduced the relative abundance of several high-prevalence taxa, including members of the Enterobacteriaceae. On-farm slurry lagoon treatment had a comparatively minor effect on microbial composition. AD was also associated with significant reductions in the relative abundance of genes conferring resistance to macrolides, aminoglycosides, fusidic acid, and beta-lactams. These findings suggest that AD and on-farm slurry lagoon treatment exert distinct effects on microbial communities and AMR gene profiles. The results provide preliminary evidence that AD may contribute to reducing AMR gene burden in agricultural waste, although further investigation across broader temporal scales and treatment methods is needed.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, with domestic ruminants serving as the main reservoir. Infected animals can shed large quantities of the pathogen into the environment after normal parturition or abortion, enabling airborne transmission to humans and potentially triggering outbreaks of variable scale. Effective outbreak management requires the rapid identification of all related cases, tracing of infection source(s), and implementing proportionate control measures that protect human health while considering animal health and ecosystem integrity.

In the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI), European badgers (Meles meles) are recognised as a reservoir host of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), which they can transmit to cattle. Badgers are also suspected to contribute to the maintenance of Mycobacterium bovis in other European countries, including Spain and France. Therefore, badger vaccination can be used as a tool for the prevention and control of M. bovis infection in cattle. We present individual-level immunological and bacteriological data collected between 2002 and 2020 from 374 individual captive badgers from the UK, ROI and Spain. The data were generated through standardised experimental protocols developed for badgers and optimised in the ROI (experimental challenge protocol) and at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA, UK) (immunological protocols). The analysis aimed to measure antigen-specific T-cell responses and antibody responses in BCG vaccinated and non-vaccinated badgers before and after experimental infection (challenge) with live bacteria M. bovis. The data were generated from individual badgers repeatedly sampled between seven and 16 times every two-to-three weeks. The data are blood-based immunological assays and bacterial culture results of clinical samples. The dataset also includes husbandry information (sex, original social group, housing pen), physiological measurements (temperature and weight), vaccine details (type, formulation, route, dose and strain) and M. bovis challenge parameters (dose concentration).

Rabies remains a major neglected disease, causing tens of thousands of deaths annually in endemic regions. Cell culture-based assays are central to rabies diagnostics and antibody quantification, yet interpretation relies on manual fluorescence image reading, which is labour-intensive, subjective, and difficult to scale. Here, we present, what is to our knowledge, the first AI-based workflow for detecting rabies virus infection in BHK-21 cell cultures and quantifying antibody titres. Three state-of-the-art architectures-ResNet, Swin Transformer V2, and MambaOut-were trained on a large dataset of 2344 fluorescence images (36,822 annotated patches) capturing biological and technical variability. Evaluation at patch, image, and well levels showed MambaOut consistently outperformed other models, achieving 0.996 accuracy, 0.993 F1-score, and 0.999 AUC-ROC at the well level. To assess applicability, models were tested on unseen images from the WHO/WOAH-recommended fluorescent antibody virus neutralisation assay. MambaOut demonstrated complete agreement with ground truth in predicting antibody concentrations, confirming workflow reliability for vaccine assessment and pet travel schemes. These results establish a foundation for AI-assisted rabies diagnostics and open opportunities for applying deep learning to other cell culture-based viral assays. AI-driven automation for high-throughput image analysis offers a scalable and time-efficient solution for diagnostic laboratories, particularly in endemic countries.

Molecular characterization of MDV strains from British small chicken flocks showed great diversity.Sequencing showed a variety of Meq protein isoforms: standard, long, very long, and very very long.Phylogenetic analysis identified MDV strains similar to those from diverse geographical regions, varying in predicted virulence.