Chapters authored
Welfare of Pet Birds and Potential Zoonoses
The human-animal interaction had long been established and currently emerged in multiple aspects including housing of animals for food and as pets. The “pet birds” are the wild or exotic birds having high genetic value and are housed under captivity as companions or for ornamental purposes. The commonly housed pet birds are either passeriformes or psittaciformes. These birds are housed under conditions to meet standard requirements for welfare of pet birds. Besides the pet birds and human relationship, these birds are potential carriers or transmitters of several pathogens considered responsible for zoonotic diseases. The range of the zoonotic diseases consisted of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal diseases. The mode of transmission is also an important entity for understanding the spread mechanism of zoonotic diseases. The transmission and spread is predominantly through the direct contact and in the few conditions through the vectors; termed as vector-borne transmission. Altogether, in this chapter, the authors have discussed different aspects of welfare of pet birds, categories of zoonotic diseases along with mode of transmission and spread of zoonoses. At the last, few aspects of welfare of pet birds and prevention and control guidelines of zoonoses are suggested for the personal biosafety and public health.
Part of the book: Animal Welfare
Antimicrobial Resistance
Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) pose an emerging threat to public health sector worldwide. They are one of the potent nosocomial pathogens and cause variety of infections including pneumonia, septicaemia, wound infections, urinary tract infections and catheter-associated infections. From the last two decades, these pathogens are becoming more powerful due to the acquisition of resistomes on different types of plasmids and transposons. There are four main mechanisms of antibacterial resistance such as efflux pump, target alteration, membrane permeability and notably enzymes hydrolysis. K. pneumoniae produce different types of enzymes but most importantly extended spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL), carbapenemase and metallo-β-lactamase (MBL). K. pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs) and New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM) producing isolates displayed resistance not only against the β-lactam drugs (penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems) but also to other classes of antibiotics (aminoglycosides and quinolones). Therapeutic options available to treat serious infections caused by these extensively drug-resistant pathogens are limited to colistin, tigecycline and fosfomycin. Hence, combination therapy has also been recommended to treat such bacteria with clinical side effects, therefore, new treatment regime must be required. Moreover, we are relying on conventional diagnostic tools, however, novel techniques must be required for robust identification of multi-drug-resistant bacteria.
Part of the book: Antimicrobials, Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiofilm Strategies and Activity Methods
Hurdles in Vaccine Development against Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a major cause of severe respiratory disease in infants and young children worldwide and also forms a serious threat for the elderly. Vaccination could significantly relieve the burden of the RSV disease. However, unfortunately there is no licensed vaccine available so far. This is partly due to disastrous outcome of a clinical trial of formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV) in children in 1960s; leading to enhanced respiratory disease upon natural infection. These findings contributed significantly to the delay of RSV vaccine development. Other key obstacles in development of RSV vaccine such as a peak of severe disease at 2–3 months of age, challenging biochemical behavior of key vaccine antigens and dependence on animal models that may not truly reflect human disease processes. These challenges could be overcome through maternal immunization, structure-based engineering of vaccine antigens, the design of a novel platform for safe infant immunization, and the development of improved animal models. Currently, several vaccine candidates are in pre-clinical and clinical trials targeting the diverse age groups; young children or older adults from the infection or can reduce incidence, mortality and morbidity among the RSV infected individuals.
Part of the book: The Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in the Young
Carbapenem Resistance: Mechanisms and Drivers of Global Menace
The emergence of carbapenem-resistant bacterial pathogens is a significant and mounting health concern across the globe. At present, carbapenem resistance (CR) is considered as one of the most concerning resistance mechanisms and mainly found in gram-negative bacteria of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Although carbapenem resistance has been recognized in Enterobacteriaceae from last 20 years or so, recently it emerged as a global health issue as CR clonal dissemination of various Enterobacteriaceae members especially E. coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae are reported from across the globe at an alarming rate. Phenotypically, carbapenems resistance is in due to the two key mechanisms, like structural mutation coupled with β-lactamase production and the ability of the pathogen to produce carbapenemases which ultimately hydrolyze the carbapenem. Additionally, penicillin-binding protein modification and efflux pumps are also responsible for the development of carbapenem resistance. Carbapenemases are classified into different classes which include Ambler classes A, B, and D. Several mobile genetic elements (MGEs) have their potential role in carbapenem resistance like Tn4401, Class I integrons, IncFIIK2, IncF1A, and IncI2. Taking together, resistance against carbapenems is continuously evolving and posing a significant health threat to the community. Variable mechanisms that are associated with carbapenem resistance, different MGEs, and supplementary mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in association with virulence factors are expanding day by day. Timely demonstration of this global health concern by using molecular tools, epidemiological investigations, and screening may permit the suitable measures to control this public health menace.
Part of the book: Pathogenic Bacteria