Diseases Of The Nile River

Insect-transmitted disease: It's that time of year again

West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEE) have been killing horses and birds for several weeks now across the USA. Last week we received reports of a new outbreak of EHD virus in deer in Montana that was killing deer "in droves."(1) This is reminiscent of the 2007 outbreak of that disease in Ohio deer. And last Saturday I saw my first horse fly of the season in Hocking County.

These observations serve to remind us that the fall season of insect-transmitted disease is in full swing. West Nile virus and EEE virus are transmitted by mosquitoes; EHD is transmitted by a biting midge or gnat called Culicoides; and biting flies like horse flies can transmit anaplasmosis to cattle. Last fall several outbreaks of anaplasmosis were documented in herds in Ohio.( 2 ) Anaplasmosis is transmitted by biting flies and mechanically by blood-contaminated objects such as hypodermic needles, some kinds of tagging instruments, surgical instruments, nose tongs, and possibly tattoo equipment. In some regions of the country, ticks are an important means of spread of the disease and may also serve as a reservoir for the anaplasma organisms. We don't have very much information about the natural history of anaplasmosis in Ohio, but because the majority of outbreaks are in the months of August through October, transmission by horse flies is strongly suspected. There is no evidence at this time of tick transmission in Ohio, and deer are not thought to be important reservoirs for cattle.(3)

Animals infected as calves usually do not get sick, but they remain carriers for life unless effectively treated. Animals that recover from the disease also remain carriers unless effectively treated. These carrier animals serve as a reservoir for the infectious agent and are perhaps the most common way the disease is spread within and between herds. It is believed that biting flies, like the horse fly, are not highly efficient transmitters of the disease and for transmission to occur between herds, very close contact between cattle of different herds would have to occur as the anaplasma organisms in blood on fly mouth parts are believed to be viable for only a short time. Recently published work suggests that spread by contaminated needles, such as might occur when vaccinating a group of animals, may be more efficient than previously thought.

The Geopolitics of Water in the Nile River Basin :: The Market Oracle ...

Prof. Majeed A. Rahman writes: In Africa, access to water is one of the most critical aspects of human survival. Today, about one third of the total population lack access to water. Constituting 300 million people and about 313 million people lack proper sanitation. (World Water Council 2006). As result, many riparian countries surrounding the Nile river basin have expressed direct stake in the water resources hitherto seldom expressed in the past. In this paper, I argue that due to the lack of consensus over the use of the Nile basin regarding whether or not “water sharing” or “benefit sharing” has a tendency to escalate the situation in to transboundary conflict involving emerging dominant states such as the tension between Ethiopia-Egypt over the Nile river basin.  At the same time, this paper further contributes to the Collier- Hoeffler conflict model in order to analyze the transboundary challenges, and Egypt’s position as the hegemonic power in the horn of Africa contested by Ethiopia.   Collier- Hoeffler model is used to predict the occurrence of conflicts as a result of empirical economic variables in African states given the sporadic civil strife in many parts of Africa. In order to simplify my argument and analysis, I focused on Ethiopia and Egypt to explicate the extent of water crisis in the North Eastern part of Africa.

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