Search Results (547)

Background: Cervical cancer remains a major public health problem, causing approximately 660,000 new cases and 348,000 deaths annually, with more than 90% occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO African Region accounts for approximately 20% of global cases and 30% of deaths. In November 2020, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Strategy for Cervical Cancer Elimination with 90–70–90 targets for 2030. Multi-age cohort (MAC) campaigns have emerged as a high-impact strategy for achieving population-level HPV vaccination coverage. This study documents the implementation and outcomes of HPV MAC campaigns across Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in 2025. Methods: This multi-country mixed-methods analysis integrated quantitative administrative campaign data with qualitative programmatic assessments across eight operational readiness domains from the WHO Immunization Readiness Assessment Tool. Data were collected between January and December 2025 from national reports, WHO supervision missions, and partner reports. Coverage analysis used administrative data triangulated with independent monitoring. Equity analysis used school enrolment data and geographic accessibility indices. Results: The campaigns targeted 7,376,096 girls aged 9–18 years and reached approximately 6,306,294, achieving 85.5% overall coverage. Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone reported administrative coverage of 88.0%, 84.5%, 60.0% and 100%, respectively. All four countries achieved the minimum operational readiness threshold of 80% across all assessed domains. A total of 35,860 health workers were trained, with post-training competency scores increasing from 58.8% to 89.5%. Cold chain functionality exceeded 98% across all campaigns. A total of 314 cases of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFIs) were reported, all classified as mild, giving an approximate rate of 5.0 per 100,000 doses. Coverage gaps between in-school and out-of-school girls ranged from 18 to 35 percentage points. Conclusions: The findings suggest that large-scale adolescent HPV immunization can be successfully implemented in resource-limited settings when supported by political commitment, multisectoral coordination and adequate operational resources. The single-dose schedule transition under Gavi 6.0 offers opportunities to simplify delivery. Priority actions include integrating HPV into routine immunization, scaling equity strategies for out-of-school girls and ensuring sustainable financing. Full article

Leishmaniasis is an emerging zoonotic disease recognized by WHO as a priority neglected tropical disease (NTD) targeted for elimination by 2030. The disease is transmitted through bites of infected female phlebotomine sand flies and presents in three main forms: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has two distinct epidemiological cycles: anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) cycle, caused by L. donovani and transmitted between humans, and zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) cycle, caused by L. infantum, with domestic dogs as the main reservoirs. ZVL represents the most severe clinical form and poses a public health risk due to a high fatality rate. In Kenya, the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of Leishmania infection among the canine population in endemic areas such as Baringo are poorly characterized. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in Baringo County, Kenya, one of the endemic foci for human visceral leishmaniasis. Blood samples were collected from 140 dogs in Rabai, Sabor, Mbechot, Kapkuikui, and Chemolingot and analyzed using Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data on potential epidemiological factors and clinical status for dogs were collected using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson’s chi-square (χ²) test or Fisher’s exact test to assess associations between Leishmania seropositivity and potential risk factors. A stepwise logistic regression procedure with an entry significance level of p < 0.20 was employed to identify factors associated with leishmaniasis seroprevalence. Cohen’s kappa (κ) agreement was used to assess the diagnostic performance and accuracy of the two serological tests in the absence of a gold standard. The overall seropositivity in dogs was 7.79% and 12.14% at 95% CI for the RDT and ELISA, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified breed and clinical signs as significant factors associated with Leishmania seropositivity in dogs. Local-breed dogs were more likely to be Leishmania seropositive than mixed-breed dogs (OR = 11.92; 95% CI: 1.79–79.37; p = 0.010). Dogs without clinical signs exhibited significantly lower odds of ELISA seropositivity (OR = 0.06; 95% CI: 0.01–0.29; p < 0.001). Dogs with proper care and housing conditions had reduced risk of Leishmania seropositivity compared with poorly managed dogs. Significant association with seropositivity was observed for sex, age, origin, and reason for keeping dogs. Diagnostic evaluation showed that the RDT had an excellent specificity and Positive Predictive Value (100%), with good overall agreement with ELISA, although sensitivity was 64.7%. Hence, RDT can be a reliable alternative screening tool compared with ELISA as the reference standard. The study demonstrated the presence of Leishmania infection in the dog population in Baringo County, Kenya, a significant public health risk. Early detection and diagnosis of infections in dogs through an integrated One Health approach during routine surveillance are essential. This will facilitate treatment and/or culling of infected dogs and vector control, subsequently reducing the risk of human transmission. Hence, it will go a long way to achieving WHO’s roadmap of eliminating leishmaniasis by 2030. Full article

Extreme heat events are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. However, evidence from disadvantaged urban settings in Africa remains scarce. This systematic review aimed to synthesize existing research on the health impacts of extreme heat in Africa’s disadvantaged urban communities. A systematic literature search was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines across eleven databases (PubMed, Cochrane, VHL, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Research4Life, DOAJ, Emerald, Taylor & Francis, Annual Reviews, and IRIS), carried out over two search periods (December 2023–March 2024 and December 2024–February 2025). Eligible studies were published between 2010 and 2024 in English, French, or Portuguese, and examined direct or indirect heat-health effects in disadvantaged urban settings. Screening of 96,608 titles and 59 abstracts yielded 21 eligible studies. Geographically, the evidence was concentrated in South Africa (n = 7), Kenya (n = 6), and Tanzania (n = 4), with single studies from Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ghana. Heat-related morbidity was examined in 17 studies and mortality in four. Commonly reported conditions included dehydration, heat exhaustion, skin rashes, heatstroke, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Extreme heat was further associated with mortality from non-communicable diseases, pneumonia, and acute respiratory infections. Children, older adults, and the most economically deprived communities exhibited heightened vulnerability, driven by adverse socioeconomic and environmental conditions. The available evidence confirms substantial heat-health impacts on disadvantaged urban populations across Africa, while revealing a notable research gap in French- and Portuguese-language literature. These findings underscore the urgent need for expanded, geographically and linguistically diverse research to inform climate adaptation strategies and health protection policies. Full article

We study a delayed semilinear evolution equation with a Caputo time derivative and the spectral fractional Dirichlet Laplacian on a bounded connected domain. The model separates two forms of memory: the Caputo operator retains the distributed Volterra history, whereas the nonlinear production samples the single past state $u(t-\tau )$. Working in the strongly continuous phase space $C_0(\Omega )$, we prove local well-posedness, positivity, a sup-norm continuation criterion, and a compatible weak formulation. In the delayed-source case with $\mu =0$, the solution exists globally and remains bounded on every finite time interval, while the first Dirichlet mode admits an explicit recursive sequence of positive lower bounds across successive delay windows. In the dissipative case $\mu >0$, $p>q>1$, histories satisfying the explicit smallness conditions remain in an invariant order interval and the $L^2$-energy decays at a Mittag–Leffler rate. The scalar computations are presented only as heuristic first-mode surrogate experiments. In addition, an independent spatially resolved sine spectral-Galerkin/L1 computation of the PDE, with temporal and spectral refinement studies, is included as a numerical illustration. Full article

Background/Objectives: Zoonotic tuberculosis (TB) remains a persistent public health challenge worldwide. It is particularly common in settings with close human–livestock–environment interactions. In Tanzania, progress toward TB control is increasingly threatened by multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), yet genomic data from regions characterized by pastoralist and mining activities remain scarce. This study employed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to characterize M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains circulating among human and cattle populations in the Manyara region of northern Tanzania, with a focus on resistance-associated mutations and phylogenetic relationships. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2024 and February 2025. A total of 178 presumptive human TB cases provided sputum samples. From cattle, 161 samples were collected (110 milk samples and 51 lymph node aspirates), with each animal contributing only one type of sample. Specimen were analyzed using GeneXpert MTB/RIF, Lowenstein–Jensen culture, and WGS. Phylogenetic reconstruction was performed using SNP-based methods and IQ-TREE2 version 2.2.0. Results: Among human participants, 14 (7.8%) sputum samples were GeneXpert positive and were confirmed as members of MTBC by LJ culture. In cattle, one (0.62%) lymph node aspirate was positive for MTBC. Significant predictors of MTBC positivity included previous TB history, weight loss, and occupation involving mining and cattle keeping. WGS of five human isolates identified Lineages 1, 3, and 4. One isolate (Sample 98) harbored mutations associated with XDR-TB. Conclusions: WGS revealed M. tuberculosis Lineages 1, 3 and 4 circulating in the Manyara region, with diverse genetic mutations conferring with resistance to first- and second-line anti-TB drugs. These findings highlight the importance of integrated genomic surveillance to monitor drug resistance patterns in Tanzania and similar settings across human and animal populations. Full article

Background/Objectives: Effective antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is vital for containing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), yet evidence regarding existing regulatory frameworks in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains scarce. This study conducted a landscape analysis of policies, laws, and regulations governing AMS across human and animal health sectors in ten LMICs to identify gaps and inform national action plans. Methods: Between October 2019 and September 2022, data were collected through desk reviews of national documents and a standardized, structured questionnaire administered to key national informants in ten countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. Results: Findings were analyzed across five core regulatory domains. While all countries maintained national medicine policies and regulatory authorities, antimicrobial-specific measures were often insufficient, particularly in the animal health sector. Human health frameworks were generally more advanced; however, overarching regulations for marketing authorization, post-marketing surveillance, and pharmacovigilance frequently lacked the necessary specificity for antimicrobials. Conclusions: Addressing these gaps requires strengthening One Health legal frameworks, particularly through targeted animal health policies and multisectoral coordination. Enhanced investments in capacity-building and systematic enforcement are essential to optimize antimicrobial use and strengthen the AMR response. Full article

Band selection is a crucial step in hyperspectral imaging to reduce spectral redundancy and processing costs whilst retaining information useful for classification. Most existing approaches require the number of bands to be retained to be set manually or rely on parameters that are difficult to adjust. This work proposes the Clustering-Unified Schur complement for Diversity with Hierarchical Clustering (CUSD-HC). This fully unsupervised band selection method combines Ward’s hierarchical clustering with a greedy selection based on the Schur complement. Bands are grouped by spectral similarity, and then a representative band is chosen from each group to preserve diversity and informational content. The number of bands is determined automatically using a multi-detector k-fold criterion combined with an intrinsic dimension threshold estimated via PCA. Evaluated on six benchmark datasets using four classifiers (SVM-RBF, Random Forest, XGBoost, LightGBM), CUSD-HC achieves an average rank of between 2.7 and 3.3 among nine compared methods, placing it consistently among the leading group. The Nemenyi test shows no statistically significant difference between CUSD-HC and the top-ranked competitors, while CUSD-HC significantly outperforms the weakest baselines (p < 0.05); unlike the best-ranked alternatives, it reaches this level of performance without any manual selection of the number of bands, which is determined automatically from the data. An inter-scene transferability experiment on the WHU-Hi datasets shows a maximum degradation of 3.9 points in overall accuracy (OA), and the transferred bands even outperform the native selection in three cases out of six. Furthermore, the selected bands naturally cover the main spectral regions (visible, near-infrared, and SWIR), which facilitates the interpretation of results for applications such as precision agriculture and environmental monitoring. Full article

Flood susceptibility mapping is crucial for understanding flood-prone areas and mitigating the associated risks in vulnerable regions like the Sebeya Catchment. This study adopted a GIS-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (GIS-AHP) integrated with local community knowledge to evaluate flood susceptibility using 10 conditioning factors: Topographic Wetness Index (TWI), Elevation, Rainfall, Slope, Land use/Land cover (LULC), Soil types, Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI), Distance to roads, Distance to rivers, and drainage density. These factors were selected based on their established influence on flood susceptibility as identified through literature review, expert consultation, and local community experience in the flood-affected zones. Spatial datasets were gathered from remote sensing platforms, Digital Elevation Models, Meteorological records, and existing geospatial databases, and were processed within a GIS environment. The pairwise comparison matrix of the AHP was used to derive weighting coefficients representing the relative contribution of each factor in inducing flood, with Rainfall (0.23), Slope (0.15), Distance to river (0.12), drainage density (0.12), and Elevation (0.11) as the most influential criteria. The findings revealed that 88.4% of the study area falls within a moderate flood-susceptible zone, whereas 6.4% and 5.2% fall within high and low susceptible zones, respectively. The current study indicates that damage to infrastructure, loss of livelihoods, displacement of communities, and increased costs of disaster response are key consequences observed in affected regions. A confusion matrix approach was employed to validate the flood susceptibility map, and the results indicate 0.97 as an overall accuracy, confirming strong model performance and reliability. The proposed adaptive strategies for enhancing flood resilience include improvement in land use planning, use of early warning systems, and sustainable catchment management. Full article

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is expanding across West Africa, driving deforestation, water contamination, and land degradation that require scalable monitoring approaches. Deep learning (DL) models applied to Sentinel imagery have shown acceptable performance for ASM mapping within individual countries, but their ability to transfer across national boundaries remains poorly understood. This study evaluates four DL segmentation models for ASM mapping in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, two major gold-producing countries with contrasting mining landscapes. The models were trained under three geographic scenarios of Ghana only, Côte d’Ivoire only, and both countries combined, using the SmallMinesDS benchmark dataset for Ghana and a newly compiled dataset for Côte d’Ivoire, both combining Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 optical imagery. Models performed best when trained and tested on the same country, with U-Net++ (EfficientNet-B3) reaching IoU = 0.748 (F1 = 0.856) on Ghana. On the harder Côte d’Ivoire domain, models trained on Ghana alone transferred poorly (IoU = 0.488, F1 = 0.656), but training on both countries together gave the best result (IoU = 0.568, F1 = 0.724). Overall, the geography of the training data, rather than the model architecture or the use of SAR data, was the main factor driving performance, though some differences may also reflect the datasets being collected at different times. Full article

Here we report the draft genome sequences of three Enterococcus faecalis strains, LAB1, LAB10, and LAB11, isolated from the pond water of a tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) aquaculture farm at the University Nangui Abrogoua, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. These strains were previously characterised for their probiotic, plant growth-promoting (PGP), and nitrifying properties. All three strains were assigned to sequence type ST19 by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The draft genomes of LAB1, LAB10, and LAB11 consist of 34, 35, and 34 contigs, totalling 2.94 Mb each (GC content 37.40%). Prokka annotation predicted 2872, 2873, and 2875 protein-coding sequences (CDS) for LAB1, LAB10, and LAB11, respectively. Genomic screening revealed no vancomycin resistance genes; however, tet(M) and lsa(A) resistance determinants were identified in all three strains, located on a repUS43-type plasmid replicon. Fourteen virulence factor homologs conserved in the E. faecalis reference strain V583 were detected, including Ebp pili, gelatinase (gelE), Fsr quorum-sensing system, and capsule biosynthesis genes, but no cytolysin operon was identified. Genes associated with stress tolerance (katA, sodA), bile salt hydrolysis (cbh), siderophore transport (fepC, fhuD), and ethanolamine nitrogen metabolism (eutB/eutC) were identified in all three genomes. Pan-genome analysis with the E. faecalis reference strain revealed 551 core gene clusters and 279 gene clusters exclusive to the three aquaculture isolates. Despite their high genomic similarity, we report the three genomes as distinct isolates due to observed differences in their expressed phenotypic properties. These sequences provide a genomic resource supporting the development of multifunctional probiotic consortia for integrated aquaponic systems. Full article

This study was conducted to understand the reinfection pattern of cocoa swollen shoot disease (CSSD) in rehabilitated plots in the cocoa landscape of the Nawa region (Soubré) in Côte d’Ivoire. CSSD was monitored over time on a sample of 200 farms randomly selected from 1200 rehabilitated cocoa farms. Disease epidemiological parameters were assessed through field observations and molecular diagnostic analysis at farm and landscape levels. The results of this study showed that reinfection occurred earlier than expected, with a high disease incidence estimated at 6.95% from 2020 to 2022. Grafting with clones on mature cocoa trees was more susceptible to reinfection than grafting on seedlings and hybrids. The use of PCR as a molecular diagnostic tool indicated missed infections in the current removal strategy when considering the buffer zone recommended in the cutting out process currently in place. Recommendations for the efficient protection of rehabilitated farms after cutting out campaigns are highlighted. Full article

Leishmaniasis is an endemic zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania and transmitted by infected female phlebotomine sandflies. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it among the 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), ranking eighth globally. The disease predominantly affects resource-limited populations in tropical regions. Kenya bears a significant global burden of leishmaniasis, with Baringo County identified as a major endemic area. A cross-sectional survey on knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) was conducted from July 2025 to January 2026 among 135 residents of Baringo South Sub-County using a structured questionnaire. The study evaluated sociodemographic characteristics, disease awareness, perceptions, preventive practices, and treatment-seeking behaviors. Additionally, 12 healthcare professionals were interviewed regarding their diagnostic and treatment capacities. Associations between variables were analyzed using Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression. Overall awareness of leishmaniasis was high (94.8%), with KAP scores of 86.7%, 76%, and 77.7%, respectively. Despite this, critical knowledge gaps persisted regarding transmission dynamics, the role of dogs as reservoir hosts, and preventive measures. Significant associations were found for awareness of local cases, recognition of clinical signs, knowledge of vector activity, community control measures, and attitudes toward treatment preferences. Age and education level predicted KAP outcomes. Healthcare practitioners demonstrated technical capacity to diagnose and treat human Leishmania infections, whereas veterinarians lacked awareness of Leishmania infection in dogs, including its diagnosis and treatment. Integration of human, animal, and vector surveillance within a One Health framework is recommended to enhance disease monitoring and control in Baringo County. Full article

Understanding how irrigation water management shapes crop performance is critical for improving productivity and resource-use efficiency in peri-urban agriculture. This study investigated the socio-technical factors driving sprinkler system abandonment and assessed how irrigation water variability influences vegetable yield variability at two market gardening sites (Bogdin and 14 Yaar) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Survey data from 50 farmers and field measurements of soil properties, irrigation water application, and lettuce yield were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and principal component analysis. More than 80% of farmers had ceased using the sprinkler system within two years of installation, 76% reported major equipment failures, and 70% expressed willingness to re-adopt an improved system. Irrigation dose and yield showed considerable variability across sites (CV = 20.9–42.3% and 36.4–44.0%, respectively). At 14 Yaar, irrigation dose was strongly associated with yield (r = 0.862, p = 0.006), indicating that uneven water application was a major constraint on productivity. At Bogdin, where irrigation was more uniform, no single soil or water variable dominated yield variability. Although soil fertility variables contributed to multivariate patterns, nutrient–yield correlations were not statistically significant under the available sample size, and their potential influence on yield requires confirmation with larger datasets. Overall, operational constraints, equipment failures, and inadequate support services contributed to sprinkler system abandonment, while variability in manual water application was associated with variability in crop productivity. These findings highlight the need for irrigation strategies that are both technically robust and adapted to farmers’ realities. Full article

Endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are important contributors to respiratory infections, yet genomic data from sub-Saharan Africa remain limited. We analyzed 13,530 nasopharyngeal samples collected through the national influenza sentinel surveillance network in Côte d’Ivoire between 2022 and 2024 to characterize the circulation and genomic diversity of endemic HCoVs. A subset of 52 RT-qPCR-positive samples with Ct values ≤ 28 was selected for targeted hybrid-capture sequencing using the Twist Bioscience Respiratory Virus Research Panel. Genome recovery metrics were available for 28 samples, including HCoV-NL63 (n = 9), HCoV-229E (n = 8), HCoV-OC43 (n = 9), and HCoV-HKU1 (n = 2). Endemic HCoVs circulated throughout the study period, with temporal variation across species and increased detections during several rainy-season months. No co-presence of multiple endemic HCoV species was identified in the final analytical dataset. Genome recovery differed by species, with broader and more consistent coverage for HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 than for HCoV-229E and HCoV-HKU1. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all recovered HCoV-229E genomes clustered within genotype L6 and all recovered HCoV-HKU1 genomes within genotype A, whereas HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 were distributed across multiple genotypes among recovered genomes. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first genomic data on endemic HCoVs from Côte d’Ivoire and support the feasibility and further targeted integration of targeted hybrid-capture sequencing into routine genomic surveillance of respiratory viruses. Full article

Large-scale production of Bacillus thuringiensis, one of the most widely used biopesticides, is often limited by the high cost of conventional culture media. In this study, fermented cassava paste water (EFM), ripe mango pulp juice (CM), and cashew apple juice (JPC) were evaluated as alternative substrates for the liquid fermentation of B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-1. Physicochemical analyses revealed acidic pH values and classified the substrates into two clusters: CM with high C/N ratios, organic matter, total sugars, and proteins, and EFM and JPC with lower C/N ratios and nutrient levels. Fermentation results indicated that JPC supported the highest biomass production (8.29 × 10¹³ CFU mL⁻¹), exceeding that in the standard Tryptone Soy Broth (TSB) medium. However, CM promoted the highest sporulation rate (1.46 × 10¹³ CFU mL⁻¹) and the greatest bioactive lipopeptides—iturins (102.2 mg L⁻¹) and surfactins (554.7 mg L⁻¹)—surpassing TSB. The antifungal activity of crude fermented CM, EFM, and TSB was evaluated against Sclerotium rolfsii. All samples significantly inhibited mycelial growth of the pathogen with no significant differences among substrates or concentrations tested. This study highlights the potential of B. thuringiensis-fermented agrowaste as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly biocontrol tool for Sclerotium rolfsii. Full article