International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to send contributions to the special issue of IJERHP entitled “Global Health: An Unique and Comprehensive Perspective”.

The WHO defines the One Health concept as “… an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes”. It is now recognized worldwide that the multiple links between the life and the conditions of humans, animals, plants, and the environment influence the real health status of each compartment, previously studied in an independent matter as standalone worlds .

Indeed, researchers and health and environmental operators can adopt this vision in almost all fields of Health Science: zoonoses, vector borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, integrated surveillance of infectious diseases, and foodborne diseases, but also in environmental contaminations, global climate changes, natural disasters, food security, and biodiversity. Moreover, a crucial challenge for health scientists is to persuade decision makers and politicians that all the sanitary interventions need to be effective to be associated to environmental and socioeconomical control measures.

The aim of this issue is to collect manuscripts which can add knowledge and experiences in the field of One Health. We will give priority to papers with an integrated multidisciplinary approach in the surveillance of Public Health phenomena. A particular focus is aimed at the management of Big Data, which can give an important contribution to the general improvement of passive surveillance and to the development of predictive models on the diseases’ insurgence and diffusion. More generally, we will consider contributions on the use of new technologies in diseases surveillance and control.

Dr. Paola Scaramozzino
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

One health
Zoonoses
Foodborne diseases
Surveillance
Vectorborne diseases
Chemical pollution
Surveillance
Antimicrobial resistance

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1192 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mesocosm Experiments to Quantify Predation of Mosquito Larvae by Aquatic Predators to Determine Potential of Ecological Control of Malaria Vectors in Ethiopia

by Beekam Kebede Olkeba, Peter L. M. Goethals, Pieter Boets, Luc Duchateau, Teshome Degefa, Kasahun Eba, Delenasaw Yewhalaw and Seid Tiku Mereta

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(13), 6904; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136904 - 27 Jun 2021

Viewed by 2024

Abstract

Malaria parasites are transmitted to humans by infectious female Anopheles mosquitoes. Chemical-insecticide-based mosquito control has been successful in reducing the burden of malaria. However, the emergence of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors and concerns about the effect of the chemicals on the environment, human health, and non-target organisms present a need for new or alternative vector control intervention tools. Biocontrol methods using aquatic invertebrate predators have emerged as a potential alternative and additional tool to control mosquito populations. Ecological control specifically makes use of species insights for improving the physical habitat conditions of competitors and predators of vectors. A first step towards this is to gain knowledge on the predation potential of several typically present macroinvertebrates. Hence, this study aimed at (1) examining the influence of the predation of hemipterans on the number of emerging adult mosquitoes and (2) detecting Anopheles mosquito DNA in the gut of those predators. The prey and predators were collected from a range of water bodies located in the Gilgel Gibe watershed, southwest Ethiopia. A semi-field study was carried out using mesocosms which were constructed using plastic containers mimicking the natural aquatic habitat of immature Anopheles mosquitoes. Adult mosquitoes that emerged from the mesocosms were collected using a mechanical aspirator. At the end of the experiment, predators were withdrawn from the mesocosms and identified to genus level. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was employed to identify sibling species of Anopheles gambiae s.l. and to detect Anopheles mosquito DNA in the gut of the predators. Data were analysed using R software. Giant water bugs (belostomatids) were the most aggressive predators of Anopheles larvae, followed by backswimmers (notonectids) and water boatmen (corixids). All female Anopheles gambiae s.l. emerged from the mesocosms were identified as Anopheles arabiensis. Anopheles arabiensis DNA was detected in the gut content of hemipteran specimens analysed from the three families. The number of the adult mosquitoes emerging from the mesocosms was affected by the presence of predators. The findings of this study provide evidence of the potential use of aquatic macroinvertebrate predators as biocontrol agents against immature Anopheles mosquitoes and their potential to be considered as a component of integrated vector management for insecticide resistance and the combined restoration of aquatic ecosystems via smart ecological engineering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health: An Unique and Comprehensive Perspective)

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Other

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6 pages, 625 KiB

Open AccessViewpoint

Lysenko and the Screwworm Fly—When Politics Interferes with Science and Public Health

by Carlos Brisola Marcondes, Angelo Canale and Giovanni Benelli

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(18), 6687; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186687 - 14 Sep 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4971

Abstract

In the One Health scenario, a deep understanding of the dynamics potentially threatening the development and implementation of useful pest and vector management tools is of key importance. The New World screwworm fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is characterized by a wide host range. It acts as an important agent of myiasis in humans and warm-blooded animals in the Neotropics, and has been eliminated from a wide region through genetic methods. Of note, Serebrovsky had already proposed in 1940 the principles of autocidal control by the translocation of segments between two chromosomes, but his work was negated by Lysenko, based on the negation of Mendelian genetics. This entomological case study emphasizes the danger of politics interfering with science, a still contemporary hot issue. The negation of global warming or current pandemics are further examples of this noxious influence. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Health: An Unique and Comprehensive Perspective)

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