Animal Pens Research Articles

Identifications, spatial distribution, and seasonal occurrence of Culicoides in selected districts of Northwest Ethiopia

Culicoides, among the tiniest and most abundant hematophagous insects globally, serve as vectors for a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, protozoa, and nematodes. This study aimed to identify Culicoides species and assess their spatial distribution and seasonal occurrence in selected districts of the Central, South, and West Gondar zones, Northwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January to July 2023. A total of 44 UV light- onderstepoort traps were deployed in the study districts near specific areas. The traps were operational from dusk (6:00 PM) until dawn (6:00 AM) and were suspended at a height of 1.5 to 2 m above the ground. Poisson regression was used to assess associations, the Shannon diversity index to measure diversity, and QGIS 3.22.6 to create maps. In this study, 8,857 Culicoides were captured across the 44 trapping sites. Of the total flies captured flies, 8,838 were identified as belonging to 12 distinct species, while the classification of the remaining 19 flies remained unclear. Notably, C. kingi (54.01%) was the most prevalent species, followed by C. imicola (44.55%). The abundance of Culicoides observed from January to late April (3505) was significantly lower compared to the wet season (5355), with a marked increase in the capture of C. kingi (2499) from May to late July. A statistically significant association (p < 0.05) was observed between the occurrence of Culicoides and factors such as district, sampling point, and season. Spatial analysis revealed that C. kingi had a broader range of suitability than other Culicoides species, with high suitability observed in East Dembia. The diversity index analysis indicated that Culicoides species diversity was higher in samples from animal pens (H = 0.73) and during the wet season (H = 0.75). Additionally, this study documented the presence of eight Culicoides species namely C. corsicus, C. kibunensis, C. reioxi, C. kiouxi, C. saharienines, C. desertorum, C. reithi, and C. festivipennis, which have not been previously documented in Ethiopia. In conclusion, the study highlighted that the occurrence of Culicoides species was higher in East Dembia, with moderate presence in Wegera and West Armacho. Further research is needed to assess the impact of various Culicoides species on animal and human health, as well as their economic implications, and to develop corresponding control strategies based on these findings.

When the neighbors are noisy: effect of social challenge in collateral pens of stressed animals.

Regrouping practices are frequent in pig production, altering hierarchy and triggering aggressive behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate the physiological responses of piglets to an experimental model designed to induce stress through systematic social mixing in two trials. In Trial A, a total of 144 crossbred piglets (25 days postweaning) housed in one room within 36 pens (four piglets/pen) were used and randomly assigned to either a control group (piglets maintained in their pen, Ctrl-A) or a social challenge group (piglets mixed, SC-A). In Trial B, the same number of animals (33 days postweaning) and crossbreed line was used, and each piglet was assigned either to a control group (Ctrl-B) or a social challenge group (SC-B) in two independent rooms (rooms Ctrl and SC, 12 pens/ room, six piglets/pen). The social challenge consisted of daily moves of three out of four pen mates and five out of six pen mates, for Trials A and B, respectively. In the Ctrl groups, all piglets stayed in their original pen. Before the 1st mixing day and at the end of the 3rd mixing day, saliva (cortisol concentration) and blood (cortisol concentration changes, hemogram, and immunologic activation) samples were collected from two random piglets per pen. Skin lesion scores of all piglets were also recorded on the front, middle, and rear body regions. In Trial A, the total skin lesions score was higher in the SC-A group compared to the Ctrl-A group after the social challenge (0.53 vs. 0.17; p < 0.05), but an unexpected increase between sampling days in the Ctrl-A piglets (0.06 vs. 0.17; p < 0.05) was also recorded, suggesting that Ctrl-A pigs showed similar aggressivity levels to the SC-A group. Hematological parameters hemoglobin, red blood cell counts, and leukocyte counts present similar changes in both treatment groups after the social challenge. Contrarily, in Trial B, the lesion score only increased in the piglets in room SC (0.08 vs. 0.34; p < 0.05). Results suggest that stable groups may show aggressive behaviors if they are in the same room with socially challenged pigs. Thus, the physical separation of treatment groups in social stress studies is recommended.

Evaluation of Anopheline Diversity and Abundance across Outdoor Collection Schemes Utilizing CDC Light Traps in Nchelenge District, Zambia.

In the global fight against malaria, standard vector control methods such as indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are intended to protect inside residential structures and sleeping spaces. However, these methods can still leave individuals vulnerable to residual transmission from vectors that they may be exposed to outdoors. Nchelenge District in northern Zambia experiences persistently high malaria transmission even with ITNs and IRS in place. However, very few studies have examined outdoor vector activity. To assess the diversity and abundance of outdoor foraging female anopheline mosquitoes, CDC light traps were used as proxy measures for mosquito host-seeking, set in three outdoor trapping schemes randomly assigned on different nights: (1) locations where people congregate at night outside of the house within the peri-domestic space, (2) animal pens or shelters, and (3) high-human-traffic areas, such as paths to latrines, where traps were baited with BG-Lure®. A total of 1087 total female anophelines were collected over a total of 74 trap nights. Anopheles funestus s.s. comprised the majority of the collection (86%), with An. gambiae s.s. (2%) and a highly diverse sampling of other anophelines (12%) making up the remainder. Plasmodium falciparum parasites were only detected in An. funestus (1%). No significant difference in species diversity or female anopheline abundance was detected between trapping schemes. Outdoor foraging anopheline mosquitoes, including a number of infectious An. funestus, may partially explain the difficulty of controlling malaria transmission in Nchelenge District, where vector control is only targeted indoors. BG-Lure® shows some promise as an alternative to human-baited landing catch collections in this resource-poor setting.

Film, fotografie, feit en fictie in het Pollino-gebergte (Zuid-Italië)

Film, photography, fact and fiction in the Pollino Mountains (Southern Italy)The film “Il Buco” (The Hole, 2022) by Michelangelo Frammartino is about a speleological expedition in the Pollino mountains (northern Calabria, Italy) in 1961. It won the Special Jury Award at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and received excellent reviews in the Dutch press (Volkskrant, Trouw, NRC, VPRO Cinema). In the film, an old shepherd at the end of his life observes a group of speleologists exploring an exceptionally deep cave. The shepherd dies just as the speleologists discover the end of the cave. To situate the death scene, Frammartino reconstructed a typical shepherd’s dwelling used in the days when the transhumance summer camps in the Pollino mountains were still used as shepherds’ summer dwellings. Frammartino based the reconstruction on black-and-white pictures from the archive of Giuseppe De Matteis, a speleologist from Turin, who took part in the expedition. De Matteis took several photographs of such shepherd´s dwellings during the period of the cave exploration, especially at the site of Mandra Vecchia, which is now part of the field study area of the Pollino Archaeological Landscape Project (PALP), led by the authors since 2020. These shepherds’ huts were made of wooden poles and planks and reinforced at ground level with limestone blocks. Other pastoral facilities, such as animal pens and sheds for cheesemaking, were located nearby. Archaeological research on the remains of these summer camps, combined with interviews, is beginning to reveal everyday life in Pollino summer camps. In this paper we bring together fact and fiction based on Frammartino’s documentary from 2021, Giuseppe De Matteis´ photo archive from the 1960s and our own fieldwork in the area.

Influences of Animal-Assisted Intervention With Canine and Feline Pen Pals on Experiences of Living With Cancer and Blood Disorders in Children and Adolescents.

Background: Animal-assisted intervention (AAI) involving live visits with canines shows strong promise to improve quality of life (QOL) in hospitalized youth with cancer or blood disorders. The emerging field of virtual AAI allows access to AAI regardless of setting and extends to children at home. Youth and Pet Survivors™ (YAPS) is a novel form of virtual AAI with dog and cat pen pals who share a diagnosis of cancer or serious illness. Little is known about how exchanging letters with animals with a shared diagnosis influences perceived QOL, and how the human-animal bond (HAB) is expressed in letter narratives. Method: A thematic narrative analysis approach was used to analyze a secondary dataset consisting of letters and interviews from children in YAPS. The research team designed a conceptual framework to guide the analysis, integrating concepts of perceived QOL, the HAB, and emotional social support. Results: Collectively, the letter and interview texts illustrated cocreated stories of the HAB. Themes included the virtual HAB as a mirror, constructing identity in the context of the HAB, expressions of the mutuality of the HAB, happiness with having a pen pal, illness story, and connection to normalcy. Answers to research questions operationalize the influence of virtual AAI. Discussion: Having an animal pen pal improved perceived QOL and was a potent source of emotional social support across the illness trajectory, supporting YAPS as a nurse-led intervention for facilitating adjustment to illness. This study adds a conceptual framework and scientific evidence to the emerging field of virtual AAI.

The Influence of Population Behavior and Settlement Environment on the Incidence of Filariasis in Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Introduction: A health issue is filariasis including in Sigi Regency, brought on by filarial worms and spread by mosquito bites. Filariasis is a parasitic infection that threatens about one-third or 1.3 billion of the world’s population in 83 countries that are vulnerable to filariasis. This research intends to examine the impact of behaviour and environment on the occurrence of filariasis in the Sigi Regency. Methods: The study used an observational analytic method with a case control approach, involving 114 people from 13 villages in Sigi Regency, of whom 38 were cases and 76 were controls. The control group is people who live in the same environment as the case group. The data collection methods were a survey and an environmental assessment. Results and Discussions: The logistic regression analysis revealed that the most influential factors for the occurrence of filariasis in endemic regions in Sigi Regency were mosquito breeding sites with Odds Rasio (OR) value =8.57 (2.43-34.33), p-value = &lt;0.001, existence of animal pens with OR value=5.16 (1.15-29.44), p-value = 0.044, and not using anti-mosquito medication with OR value = 6.06 (1.54-27.56), p-value = 0.013. Conclusion: The breeding habitats of disease-transmitting mosquitoes, the presence of animal pens and the habit of not using anti-mosquito medication are the dominant risk factors related to the occurrence of filariasis in endemic regions in the Sigi Regency.

Effect of Seasonal Floods on Farmers’ Household Food Security in the Kassena Nankana Municipal of Ghana.

The Kassena Nankana Municipality has experienced an increase in the frequency and severity of seasonal floods, threatening the livelihoods of local farmers. These floods disrupt agricultural activities and exacerbate regional food insecurity. This study examined the extent to which floods affected local farmers’ food security. Interviews were conducted with 150 farm households from five different communities. To understand the nature, scope of the flooding and damages caused by the floods, descriptive statistics were employed. The floods’ effect on farmers’ food security were examined using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) econometric modelling. The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Consumption Score (FCS) models were used to assess food security levels. The majority of the floods in the area were caused by heavy rains. These floods resulted in total asset losses of GHS 653,640.6 (USD 116,722.00), with maize crops bearing the brunt of the damage at GHS 106,712.00. (USD 19,056.00). Properties worth GHS 276,275.00 (USD 49,335.00) were destroyed, including houses, animal pens, storage rooms, bicycles, and motorbikes, and with estimated loss of 3,383 birds. Due to the floods, two people died and 201 people became ill. Food security was found to be positively associated with factors such as male-headed households, age, income, and access to credit. The size of a household had a negative impact on food security. The study recommended targeted policies to improve agricultural productivity and support smallholder farmers, such as loan and social security schemes, women’s empowerment, and the establishment of irrigation facilities to improve regional food security.

Vigilância ativa para Doença de Aujeszky e aspectos sobre a biosseguridade de granjas suínas no Estado do Espírito Santo, Brasil

ABSTRACT: Aujeszky’s Disease (AD) is a highly infectious swine disease caused by Suid herpesvirus 1 (SuHV 1). The present study evaluated the biosafety of commercial swine farms and carried out the first serological survey for Aujeszky’s Disease in Espírito Santo State, Brazil. A total of 55 farms in 27 municipalities of the state were selected, where 416 swine serum samples were collected to be submitted to serological diagnosis for AD. Finally, a survey was carried out using a questionnaire to obtain information on the biosecurity of the farms. The results by the ELISA technique indicated the absence of antibodies for AD. Regarding the biosecurity of the farms, 56.4% of the farms did not meet the requirement of internal isolation, 67.3% did not have changing rooms, 72.7% did not provide specific clothing for employees and visitors, 85.5% did not require visitors bathe to access the sheds and only 10.9% of the farms controlled the flow of visitors and vehicles accessing the property. Another noteworthy factor is that only 25.5% of the farms had an area to quarantine replacement animals and 69.1% had an access ramp located close to the animal pens. With the results, it was concluded that there is a need to improve biosecurity measures on commercial farms in the state of Espírito Santo and that there was no presence of Aujeszky’s Disease in the evaluated animals.

Assessment of activities of realtors on land use for agricultural purposes in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Land is the most essential factor of agricultural production, its importance cannot be overemphasized in cultivation of crops, rearing of animals, forestry and agro-processing. Availability of land is the most indispensable factor of agricultural production. This study investigated the effect of the activities of Realtors on land use for agricultural purposes in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State. The study described the socio-economic characteristic of the respondents, identified the factors determining land procured by Realtors, examined the effects of the activities of Realtors on land used for agricultural purposes, identified the factors affecting land used for agricultural purposes, and assessed the severity of various challenges affecting land used for agricultural purposes. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select 75 Respondents and data for the study were collected with the use of a well-structured interview schedule. Twenty-five percentage (25%) of the twelve agricultural blocks in the local government area were selected for the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as (frequency count, Weighted Mean Score) and inferential (Chi-Square) statistical tool to test the hypothesis of the study. Majority (81.3%) of the respondent were male, the respondent are moderately educated. Land ownership is mostly through inheritance. Size of available land (98.7%) and the location (84.0%) are the major factors determining land procured by Realtors, disruption of the ecosystem, reduced land for agricultural production, dislocation of farmland and animal pens are the major effects of activities of Realtors. The study established a significant relationship between sex (X2 = 29.453, p ≤ 0.000), marital status (X2 = 77.267, p ≤ 0.000), Religion (X2 = 29.360, p ≤ 0.000), Level of Education (X2 = 18.920, p ≤ 0.000), land Acquisition Pattern (X2 = 21.267, p ≤ 0.000) of the Respondents and availability of land for agricultural purposes. The study recommended a strict adherence to town-planning master plan and sanctions for offenders and those involved in land grabbing. It also advocates, establishment of farm village and agricultural hubs where to involved in agricultural productions could enjoy comparative advantage and pull of resources for agricultural production.

Livestock management at the Late Iron Age site of Baltarga (eastern Pyrenees): an integrated bio-geoarchaeological approach

Despite the important role of livestock farming amongst Iron Age communities living in mountain regions, there is little information about livestock management, and particularly stabling practises, breeding systems, and grazing/foddering patterns. The study of the ground floor of Building G in Tossal de Baltarga has provided valuable insights into these important issues and has given us a better understanding of the social and economic patterns involved in all these livestock activities. It revealed the existence of a stable from the Late Iron Age, thanks to unique in situ finds of the stabled animals, including four sheep, a goat, and a horse, in addition to a range of organic remains preserved by fire and penning deposits. It is the first documented to date in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Through an integrated bio-geoarchaeological approach, combining a range of analytic procedures, including osteology, dental microwear, stable isotopes, phytoliths, dung spherulite analyses, and thin-section micromorphology, for the first time, this study has provided new, high-resolution evidence of livestock management strategies. Specifically, the research shed light on animal penning and feeding practises, revealing variable herbivorous regimes between species, the practise of seasonal movements, and the possible use of fodder as the main dietary regime of the animals stabled there. At the same time, the Baltarga case-study illustrates an indoor production unit that could reveal possible private control of some domestic animals in the Pyrenean Late Iron Age.

41 Effect of Finishing System on Growth, Efficiency, and Carcass Quality of Dairy × Beef Hybrids

Abstract Our objective was to determine the effect of calf-fed or yearling finishing systems on the performance of dairy-beef crossbred steers. Dairy-beef hybrid steers were acquired from Land O’ Lakes Calf Milk Research Facility at Grey Summit, Missouri at 12-weeks of age and transported to Willard Sparks Beef Research Center (WSBRC). Upon arrival at WSBRC, steers were weighed, vaccinated, treated for parasites, and implanted with 36 mg of zeranol (Ralgro). Alternating groups of steers were placed either directly on finishing diets (FIN) or on high-quality pasture and supplementation for 5 to 6 mo before returning to WSBRC for finishing (GRW/FIN). Once GRW/FIN steers reached 312 ± 7 kg, the steers were returned to WSBRC, weighed, and processed. At WSBRC, steers within each finishing system were sorted by BW into 4 to 5 animal pens. Steers in FIN were re-implanted with Ralgro on d 56, Component TE-IS (80-mg trenbolone acetate,6-mg estradiol, and 29-mg tylosin tartrate; Elanco US, Greenfield, IN) on d 112, and Component TE-S (200-mg progesterone, 20-mg estradiol benzoate, 29-mg tylosin tartrate; Elanco) on d 224. Steers in GRW/FIN were implanted with Component TE-IS at the start of finishing, and Component TE-S on d 20. Steers in FIN were grown on successively greater energy growing diets through d 112, stepping up to a 20% roughage growing diet (18.4% CP and 2.4 Mcal NEg/kg from d 28 to 112. On d 112, FIN steers were transitioned to a finishing diet consisting of 12% roughage, 12% crude protein, and 1.3 Mcal NEg/kg. A final finishing diet (8% prairie hay, 20% Sweet Bran and 62% dry-rolled corn) was fed to FIN steers from d 224 to slaughter. Steers in GRW/FIN were stepped up to the finishing diet when they reached 407 ± 6 kg. Finishing diets for the final 28 d for FIN and GRW/FIN included ractopamine hydrochloride at a rate of 300 mg·steer-1·d-1. Initial and terminal BW were greater (P &amp;lt; 0.01) in steers in the GRW/FIN finishing system. Body weight at reimplant was greater (P &amp;lt; 0.01) for FIN. Steers in the GRW/FIN system were on feed for fewer (P &amp;lt; 0.01) days compared with FIN steers. Average daily gain (ADG) and DMI (kg·steer-1·d-1) were greater (P &amp;lt; 0.01) for GRW/FIN. Steers in GRW/FIN had a greater (P ≤ 0.02) feed:gain ratio than those placed directly into a finishing system. There were no differences (P ≥ 0.10) in USDA Yield Grade, marbling, ribeye area (REA), or back-fat thickness (BFT) between finishing systems. Steers in FIN had a greater (P &amp;lt; 0.01) dressing percentage (DP) and lighter (P ≤ 0.01) hot carcass weight (HCW) than those for GRW/FIN. Finishing system has an impact on performance and efficiency of dairy-beef hybrid steers, but minimal impact on carcass quality.

Development of an Animal Farm Robotic Feeding System

Feeding of farm animals is an essential factor for animal growth and productivity. The traditional manual feeding systems of farm animals have been posed with lots of challenges ranging from the high cost of manpower to poor feed management. Existing automatic feeding systems are expensive and are usually fixed systems. This paper presents an autonomous robotic system that collects and delivers feed to farm animals. The system design consists of an automatic feed dispensing system and an unmanned ground robotic vehicle. The vehicle collects feeds from the feed dispensing unit for delivery at the animal pen house in a soft real-time order. An enclosed environment, as is found in many farm animal production settings, is used to enable auto-navigation of the robot system within the farm. Auto-navigation, feed collection and delivery functions are implemented using ultrasonic sensor and infrared (IR) proximity sensors in a microcontroller (Atmega328p) based hardware and firmware control algorithm. Control parameter variation was achieved through Bluetooth (HC-05) interface communication with a mobile device. Experimental test and data collection from the system indicates the system can autonomously supply 26.6kg worth of feed within 1hr at a speed of 1.233km/h and apply to feeding various kinds of farm animals.

Design and creation of local mobile plants for stock watering and sheep wool washing units in Kalmykia

The purpose of the study The article deals with the issues of theoretical and experimental study of water purification processes for mobile watering points based on local underground water supply sources and the creation of a mobile installation with a closed cycle of water purification of wool washing, taking into account the regional characteristics of farms of the Republic of Kalmykia. Groundwater abstraction in the area of animal pens is justified; water purification up to the regulatory requirements for watering. The issues of purification production with the use of chocolate clays as a reagent, deposits of which are available in the northern part of Kalmykia, in the Priergeninsky district; determination of the total income from the practice of increasing the efficiency of farming; mobile purification technologies with the reuse of purified water have been developed.

PSV-A-11 The Effect of Days on Feed for Feedyard Performance, Health, Carcass, and Organ Characteristics of Angus X Holstein Heifers

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of days on feed (DOF) on performance, health, carcass, and organ characteristics of composite Angus x Holstein heifers (n = 3,676). At time of arrival (d 0), heifers from a single source were placed into large (~300 animal) pens at two commercial feedlot locations in the Texas Panhandle. At administration of final implant (Revalor® 200; d 240), heifers, within lot, were randomly assigned to one of four smaller pens, creating a block (location A block n = 6, location B block n = 7). Pens within blocks were randomly assigned to treatment (323, 344, 365, or 386 DOF). Data were analyzed using DOF as the fixed effect; block was nested within location as a random effect. Linear and quadratic effects were also tested; pen was experimental unit (n = 52). Heifer DMI did not differ across DOF (P = 0.72). Heifer ADG decreased linearly (1.52, 1.37, 1.31, and 1.27 kg/d; P ≤ 0.01). Heifer HCW (372, 387, 401, and 414 kg), longissimus dorsi muscle area (88.63, 89.55, 90.80, and 91.95 cm2), marbling score (535, 553, 563, and 594) and percentage of Prime QG (6.6, 11.2, 12.8, and 19.0 %) linearly increased (P ≤ 0.01) as DOF increased. Frequency of liver scores (edible, minor, or major abscess) did not change over DOF (P ≥ 0.82). Frequency of ideal heart score linearly decreased with DOF (53.0, 44.3, 25.7, and 15.0 %; P ≤ 0.01). Frequency of YG 3 did not change (P = 0.68), however YG 4 linearly increased with DOF (6.2, 12.0, 14.0, and 22.5 %; DOF P ≤ 0.01). Data collected in this trial indicate that DOF led to increased HCW, LM area, marbling, YG, and QG with minimal changes to DMI or liver scores for Angus x Holstein heifers.

The potential of a light spot, heat area, and novel object to attract laying hens and induce piling behaviour

Piling behaviour of laying hens often results in smothering or death due to suffocation. Mechanisms leading to piling are not yet understood though various potential factors have been suggested. In this experimental study, we predicted that the presence of a light spot, a novel object (metal foil), or a heat area within animal pens would increase animal numbers around the stimulus leading to piling behaviour. We presented the cues in a 4 × 2 Latin-square design in eight identical experimental pens including each 55 Lohmann Selected Leghorn hens. The cues were presented in two test areas per pen, at two bouts per day in the morning, consecutively for 5 days, over four periods (age: 20, 22, 24, 26 weeks). Each pen received a cue and control condition simultaneously (test areas without cue presentation) once. For a bout, each cue was presented for 35 min except for the light spot where the duration was 10 min. Birds’ responses to the cues during bout and non-bout times were video recorded and analysed for the first bout of each period. To assess the cues’ attractiveness, the number of hens during bout times was counted at predefined times within the test and control areas. To assess the cues’ effects on piling, we described piling behaviour (pile number, duration, animal numbers, trigger) in control and test areas during bout times. Furthermore, we described piling behaviour during bout times and non-bout times on the first day of the first period and fourth period. The best model explaining the number of hens included the interactions of treatment and bout time, and treatment and area. Over the bout’s time course, more hens were attracted to the light spot compared to the control condition, and more to test areas compared to control areas. In the novel object condition, more hens were drawn to the test areas compared to the control areas. Hens were not attracted to the heat area. Piling in bout times was observed twice when hens pecked at the novel object. During non-bout times, piling behaviour occurred frequently at midday and in the late morning compared to the afternoon, mostly in corners and mainly preceded by the mutual attraction of hens. Overall, hens were attracted to light spots and less so to the novel object though neither reliably induced piling behaviour. The occurrence of piling behaviour in non-bout times shows that more work is needed to understand mechanisms eliciting piling behaviour.

Expanded geographic distribution and host preference of Anopheles gibbinsi (Anopheles species 6) in northern Zambia

BackgroundNchelenge District in northern Zambia suffers from holoendemic malaria transmission despite a decade of yearly indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated net (ITN) distributions. One hypothesis for this lack of impact is that some vectors in the area may forage in the early evening or outdoors. Anopheles gibbinsi specimens were identified in early evening mosquito collections performed in this study area, and further insight was gleaned into this taxon, including characterizing its genetic identity, feeding preferences, and potential role as a malaria vector.MethodsMosquitoes were collected in July and August 2019 by CDC light traps in Nchelenge District in indoor sitting rooms, outdoor gathering spaces, and animal pens from 16:00–22:00. Host detection by PCR, COI and ITS2 PCR, and circumsporozoite (CSP) ELISA were performed on all samples morphologically identified as An. gibbinsi, and a subset of specimens were selected for COI and ITS2 sequencing. To determine risk factors for increased abundance of An. gibbinsi, a negative binomial generalized linear mixed-effects model was performed with household-level variables of interest.ResultsComparison of COI and ITS2 An. gibbinsi reference sequences to the NCBI database revealed > 99% identity to “Anopheles sp. 6” from Kenya. More than 97% of specimens were morphologically and molecularly consistent with An. gibbinsi. Specimens were primarily collected in animal pen traps (59.2%), followed by traps outdoors near where humans gather (24.3%), and traps set indoors (16.5%). Host DNA detection revealed a high propensity for goats, but 5% of specimens with detected host DNA had fed on humans. No specimens were positive for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites. Animal pens and inland households > 3 km from Lake Mweru were both associated with increased An. gibbinsi abundance.ConclusionsThis is the first report of An. gibbinsi in Nchelenge District, Zambia. This study provided a species identity for unknown “An. sp. 6” in the NCBI database, which has been implicated in malaria transmission in Kenya. Composite data suggest that this species is largely zoophilic and exophilic, but comes into contact with humans and the malaria parasites they carry. This species should continue to be monitored in Zambia and neighbouring countries as a potential malaria vector.

Understudied Anophelines Contribute to Malaria Transmission in a Low-Transmission Setting in the Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia.

ABSTRACT.Malaria transmission has declined substantially in Southern Province, Zambia, which is considered a low-transmission setting. The Zambian government introduced a reactive test-and-treat strategy to identify active zones of transmission and treat parasitemic residents. This study was conducted in the Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia, concurrently with an evaluation of this strategy to identify vectors responsible for sustaining transmission, and to identify entomological, spatial, and ecological risk factors associated with increased densities of mosquitoes. Anophelines were collected with CDC light traps indoors and near animal pens in index cases and neighboring households. Outdoor collections captured significantly more anophelines than indoor traps, and 10 different anopheline species were identified. Four species (Anopheles arabiensis, An. rufipes, An. squamosus, and An. coustani) were positive for Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein by ELISA, and 61% of these 26 anophelines were captured outdoors. Blood meal assays confirm plasticity in An. arabiensis foraging, feeding both on humans and animals, whereas An. rufipes, An. squamosus, and An. coustani were largely zoophilic and exophilic. Linear regression of count data for indoor traps revealed that households with at least one parasitemic resident by polymerase chain reaction testing was associated with higher female anopheline counts. This suggests that targeting households with parasitemic individuals for vector interventions may reduce indoor anopheline populations. However, many vectors species responsible for transmission may not be affected by indoor interventions because they are primarily exophilic and forage opportunistically. These data underscore the necessity for further evaluation of vector surveillance and control tools that are effective outdoors, in conjunction with current indoor-based interventions.

Eyzehu M'koman Shel Zevakhim? [What is the Site of the Ritual Sacrifice?] Yiddish Writers Encounter the Chicago Meatpacking Industry

Eyzehu M'koman Shel Zevakhim? [What is the Site of the Ritual Sacrifice?]Yiddish Writers Encounter the Chicago Meatpacking Industry Jessica Kirzane (bio) Yiddish poet Pessie Pomerantz-Honigbaum's poem "Vintn" ["Winds"] depicts Chicago by following the path of winds that sweep through the city, rushing in from Lake Michigan where the poet loves to stroll, making their way through the smog of the city and back out of the dense cityscape to its wide parks at the city's outskirts.1 The poem begins and ends with beauty and natural expanse, the pleasures of a walk on the shoreline, the elegant symphony of the winds dancing through the parks. In its center, though, winds howl through crowded, dusty streets, past the "raykh zaln" [halls of wealth], presumably the business district and stock exchange, and the "geshtank fun dayne shlakht-heyzer" [stink of your slaughterhouses].2 According to the poem, the central features of the city itself were these twin entities: wealth and poverty, capitalism and industrialism, steel-framed skyscrapers and stockyards. Pomerantz-Honigbaum's concise description of what she understood to be the emblematic features of her city was consistent with the way the city was represented and understood within and beyond Yiddish-language writing in the early twentieth century. For Yiddish writers, the word "Chicago" was often synonymous with the stockyards or shekht-heyzer [slaughterhouses] with which they closely associated the city and its role in American industrialism and the abuses of capitalism.3 In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the stockyards of Chicago stood as symbols of the new industrial economy of America, its modern innovation and its human costs, not just for Yiddish writers, of course, but the world over. The "Square Mile" of packinghouses and animal pens was encircled by railroad lines that pumped livestock into the Chicago market and meat out into the world. Visitors to [End Page 31] Chicago by rail were immediately confronted by this spectacle of thousands of cattle, calves, hogs, and sheep being led to the famed meatpacking plants.4 The stockyards were a tourist destination that defined Chicago for a fascinated public in the post-Civil War era and beyond.5 Together with the wealth of the city's wide boulevards and skyscrapers, the stockyards came to be central to an understanding of the economic role of the city, and the meaning of modern American capitalism itself. Yiddish writers, whether visiting or living in Chicago, were taken by the spectacle of the meatpacking industry, where the efficient factory-style slaughter attracted thousands of tourists eager to witness the processes that constituted the pinnacle of modern human productivity. They expressed their impressions of the factory in a distinctly Yiddish and Jewish idiom, drawing upon Jewish language, ritual, and memory, as well as shared leftist politics, to represent the stockyards for their reading communities. By examining Yiddish writers' views of the Chicago stockyards, one can explore the Jewishly inflected ways that writers approached their participation in a popular tourist activity that is not specifically understood as a Jewish or immigrant activity. One can also discover the ways they participated in broader American literary culture and linked it to global Yiddish politics and writing. An examination of these sources demonstrates how the Yiddishreading community understood and judged the social and political landscape of America using the interpretive tools and cultural understandings they embedded in their shared Yiddish language and culture. An examination of these sources also illuminates what seems to have been a common phenomenon of Yiddish writing about Chicago—that it was often describing a transient experience. Chicago boasted a large Yiddish-speaking community, much of it concentrated around the city's Near West Side, with a wealth of Yiddish newspapers, charitable and relief organizations, schools, and other institutions. But a significant percentage of Yiddish writing depicting Chicago was penned by tourists, visiting literary figures giving readings or lectures, and individuals who spent only a short time in Chicago before moving on to other Yiddish communities such as Los Angeles.6 A focus on Chicago Yiddish writing could easily overlook these perspectives in order to paint a picture of Chicago Yiddish writers from among the literary figures and cultural activists living...

The Hobbit and the Hermeneutics of the Barnyard

The Hobbit and the Hermeneutics of the Barnyard Nathan Kowalsky (bio) The Mirkwood Elves in The Hobbit subvert the broadly agrarian landscape hermeneutics which the rest of Tolkien's classic book (along with the fantasy genre more generally) reinforces. These Elves represent a healing of the breach between Civilization and the Wild more effectively than Tolkien was able to achieve with the competing Baggins and Took instincts in Bilbo. As such, the Mirkwood Elves present an opportunity for reconciliation between indigenous peoples and Westerners who might otherwise perpetuate the narrative of heroic conquest in their own fairy stories. To make this case, I must begin with an excursus into philosophical anthropology, specifically the landscape hermeneutics of agrarian material culture. The first part of this paper, therefore, does not concern The Hobbit, but rather the theoretical framework I am applying to it: the hermeneutics of the barnyard. While scholarly notice of this hermeneutics began in the late 1950s and continues to be fruitfully advanced in modern scholarship (for example, in James C. Scott's 2017 work on early political states), it is usually underappreciated or overlooked. Readers may be unfamiliar with the hermeneutics of the barnyard—even though it structures vast stretches of the Western tradition—and so a fairly detailed sketch of its main outlines is needed to provide a basis of application to Tolkien's Hobbit. The payoff for this approach comes in sections two and three. In section two, I show how The Hobbit embodies many salient aspects of the barnyard hermeneutic, from the bucolic scenes of domestic life in Bag End to the subterranean hells of Goblin-town under the Misty Mountains. In section three, I argue that the Elves of Mirkwood (and to a lesser extent, the Elves of Rivendell) rupture the barnyard hermeneutic by being "Good People." Even though they dwell in the Wilderland's forest of darkness and evil, the Elves expose a crack in the agrarian dualisms that characterize the rest of the novel. I then conclude by gesturing towards ways in which this Elvish fracturing can contribute "to a truer and more perilous Faërie" (Hillman 37) than perhaps even Tolkien envisioned. [End Page 47] I. The Hermeneutics of the Barnyard As early as 1958, the radical environmental theorist Paul Shepard proposed the Neolithic Revolution as the decisive event in humanity's ecological and intellectual history. Agriculture profoundly affected—and continues to affect—both our species' relationship to the land and the symbolic renderings of that relationship. Agriculture (including horticulture, tillage, and herding)1 is a manipulative technique applied to animals, plants, or landscapes which aims at the production of greater quantities of food than foraging for pre-existing food sources can achieve. While it permitted exponential population growth and (with the exception of nomadic pastoralism) required human sedentism, the agricultural revolution lowered human nutritional intake and life expectancy, caused soil depletion and salinization, accelerated erosion, and removed native flora and fauna in favor of domesticated cultivars and livestock. Moreover, the agrarian task-scape fostered the belief that "the subjugation of nature, and the domination and manipulation of living creatures" was normal, natural, and essential to the human condition (Serpell 175). Moreover, because the land and its denizens do not naturally conform to being managed, cultures founded on agriculture tend to frame the world in terms of oppositions that valorize whatever lies within a farmer's control and denigrate that which lies outside it. Shepard identifies this dualistic value schema as an "ethic of the barnyard" (60–61), whereby animals are expected to behave according to norms dictated by life in an enclosure. For example, aggression is counter-productive when living inside a pen with other animals; domesticated (literally "house-trained") livestock are therefore artificially selected for docility. Predators, however, wreak havoc in pens of docile animals, stealing the lives of the stock from the farmer. This violence makes their predatory instincts appear bloodthirsty, vicious (i.e., "filled with vice"), and opposed to the perceived peace, harmony, and order of the fenced settlement. Ethically, therefore, animals are expected to behave in ways conducive to life on the farm (from the French, ferme, "[en]closed"); virtuous behavior follows the dictates...

Agritourism and Kidding Season: A Large Outbreak of Human Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157) Infections Linked to a Goat Dairy Farm-Connecticut, 2016.

The objective of this study was to determine sources of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157) infection among visitors to Farm X and develop public health recommendations. A case-control study was conducted. Case-patients were defined as the first ill child (aged <18 years) in the household with laboratory-confirmed STEC O157, or physician-diagnosed hemolytic uremic syndrome with laboratory confirmation by serology, who visited Farm X in the 10 days prior to illness. Controls were selected from Farm X visitors aged <18 years, without symptoms during the same time period as case-patients. Environment and animal fecal samples collected from Farm X were cultured; isolates from Farm X were compared with patient isolates using whole genome sequencing (WGS). Case-patients were more likely than controls to have sat on hay bales at the doe barn (adjusted odds ratio: 4.55; 95% confidence interval: 1.41–16.13). No handwashing stations were available; limited hand sanitizer was provided. Overall, 37% (29 of 78) of animal and environmental samples collected were positive for STEC; of these, 62% (18 of 29) yielded STEC O157 highly related by WGS to patient isolates. STEC O157 environmental contamination and fecal shedding by goats at Farm X was extensive. Farms should provide handwashing stations with soap, running water, and disposable towels. Access to animal areas, including animal pens and enclosures, should be limited for young children who are at risk for severe outcomes from STEC O157 infection. National recommendations should be adopted to reduce disease transmission.