Search Results (214)

Veterinary vaccines are essential tools for controlling infectious and zoonotic diseases, safeguarding animal welfare, and ensuring global food security. However, conventional vaccines are hindered by cold-chain dependence, thermal instability, and logistical challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This review explores next-generation veterinary vaccines, emphasizing innovations in thermostability and delivery platforms to overcome these barriers. Recent advances in vaccine drying technologies, such as lyophilization and spray drying, have improved antigen stability and storage resilience, facilitating effective immunization in remote settings. Additionally, novel delivery systems, including nanoparticle-based formulations, microneedles, and mucosal routes (intranasal, aerosol, and oral), enhance vaccine efficacy, targeting immune responses at mucosal surfaces while minimizing invasiveness and cost. These approaches reduce reliance on cold-chain logistics, improve vaccine uptake, and enable large-scale deployment in field conditions. The integration of thermostable formulations with innovative delivery technologies offers scalable solutions to immunize livestock and aquatic species against major pathogens. Moreover, these strategies contribute significantly to One Health objectives by mitigating zoonotic spillovers, reducing antibiotic reliance, and supporting sustainable development through improved animal productivity. The emerging role of artificial intelligence (AI) in vaccine design—facilitating epitope prediction, formulation optimization, and rapid diagnostics—further accelerates vaccine innovation, particularly in resource-constrained environments. Collectively, the convergence of thermostability, advanced delivery systems, and AI-driven tools represents a transformative shift in veterinary vaccinology, with profound implications for public health, food systems, and global pandemic preparedness. Full article

An important disadvantage of plastics is their fragmentation into smaller particles, classified according to size as microplastics and nanoplastics. These plastic particles persist for extended periods in aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems and can be incorporated into animal bodies through various routes, including inhalation, dermal contact, and the food chain. The accumulation of these debris generates toxicity on several organs, including the nervous system. In this review article, I will cover the detrimental consequences of plastic exposure on the nervous system, the impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on the genesis of neurons both in the embryonic period as well as in adulthood, and the reliability of 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling as a tool to analyze the effect of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure on the proliferative behavior of neuronal precursors. BrdU is a marker of DNA synthesis. It is widely used to identify proliferating neuroblasts and follow their fate during embryonic, perinatal, and adult neurogenesis. However, the use of BrdU labeling for analyzing neurogenesis may be inaccurate due to pitfalls and limitations. This is because BrdU exposure can induce apoptosis, cellular senescence, and alterations in DNA methylation. Interestingly, these cellular events also occur following exposure to plastic particles. Full article

Fish are a vital aquatic resource worldwide, and the sustainable development of aquaculture is essential for global food security and economic growth. However, the high incidence of fish diseases in complex aquaculture environments significantly hampers sustainability, and traditional manual diagnosis methods are inefficient and often inaccurate. To address the challenges of small-lesion detection, lesion area size and morphological variation, and background complexity, we propose YOLO-TPS, a high-precision fish-disease detection model based on an improved YOLOv11n architecture. The model integrates a multi-module synergy strategy and a triple-attention mechanism to enhance detection performance. Specifically, the SPPF_TSFA module is introduced into the backbone to fuse spatial, channel, and neuron-level attention for better multi-scale feature extraction of early-stage lesions. A PC_Shuffleblock module incorporating asymmetric pinwheel-shaped convolutions is embedded in the detection head to improve spatial awareness and texture modeling under complex visual conditions. Additionally, a scale-aware dynamic intersection over union (SDIoU) loss function was designed to accommodate changes in the scale and morphology of lesions at different stages of the disease. Experimental results on a dataset comprising 4596 images across six fish-disease categories demonstrate superior performance (mAP_0.5: 97.2%, Precision: 97.9%, Recall: 95.1%) compared to the baseline. This study offers a robust, scalable solution for intelligent fish-disease diagnosis and has promising implications for sustainable aquaculture and animal health monitoring. Full article

Potentially toxic elements, such as chromium (Cr) and zinc (Zn), play essential roles in humans and animals. However, the harmful effects of excessive exposure to these elements through food remain unknown. In this sense, this study aimed to evaluate the anthropogenic contamination of chromium and zinc in aquatic biota and seafood consumers. Based on the PRISMA protocol, 67 articles were selected for this systematic review. The main results point to a wide distribution of these elements, which have familiar emission sources in the aquatic environment, especially in highly industrialized regions. Significant concentrations of both have been reported in different fish species, which sometimes represent a non-carcinogenic risk to consumer health and a carcinogenic risk related to Cr exposure. New studies should be encouraged to fill gaps, such as the characterization of the toxicity of these essential elements through fish consumption, determination of limit concentrations updated by international regulatory institutions, especially for zinc, studies on the influence of abiotic factors on the toxicity and bioavailability of elements in the environment, and those that evaluate the bioaccessibility of these elements in a simulated digestion system when in high concentrations. Full article

Micro- and Nanoplastic (MNP) pollution is an emerging challenge globally, posing a significant threat to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. This review critically examines the sources, exposure routes, and impact of plastics, with particular focus on implications for the livestock sector. MNPs enter animals’ bodies primarily through ingestion of contaminated feed and water, inhalation, and dermal exposure, subsequently accumulating in various organs, disrupting physiological functions. Notably, MNPs facilitate the horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), exacerbating the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In agricultural environments, sources such as organic fertilizers, wastewater irrigation systems, surface runoff, and littering contribute to soil contamination, adversely affecting plant growth and soil health, which in turn compromises feed quality and ultimately animals’ productivity. This review synthesizes current evidence demonstrating how MNP exposure impairs animal production, reproduction, and survival, and highlights the interconnected risks to food safety and ecosystem health. The findings call for the urgent need for comprehensive research under controlled conditions to underscore the fine details regarding mechanisms of MNP toxicity and to inform effective mitigation strategies. Addressing MNP pollution is crucial for safeguarding animal health, ensuring sustainable livestock production, and promoting environmental sustainability and integrity. Full article

Aquaculture is a crucial food-producing sector that can supply more essential nutrients to nourish the growing human population. However, it faces challenges, including limited water quality and space competition. These constraints have led to the intensification of culture systems for more efficient resource use while maintaining or increasing production levels. However, intensification introduces stress risks to cultured organisms by, for instance, overcrowding, waste accumulation, and water quality deterioration, which can negatively affect the growth, health, and immunity of animals and cause diseases. Additionally, environmental changes due to climate and anthropogenic activities further intensify the environmental stress for aquaculture organisms, including crustaceans. Shrimp are one of the most widely cultured and consumed farmed crustacea. Relative to aquatic vertebrates such as fish, the physiology of crustaceans has simpler physiological structures, as they lack a spinal cord. Consequently, their stress response mechanisms follow a single pathway, resulting in less complex responses to stress exposure compared to those of fish. While stress is considered a primary factor influencing the growth, health, and immunity of shrimp, comprehensive research on crustacean stress responses remains limited. Understanding the stress response at the organismal and cellular levels is essential to identify sensitive and effective stress biomarkers which can inform the development of targeted intervention strategies to mitigate stress. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the physiological changes that occur in crustaceans under stress, including hormonal, metabolic, hematological, hydromineral, and phenotypic alterations. By synthesizing current knowledge, this article aims to bridge existing gaps and provide insights into the stress response mechanisms, paving the way for advancements in crustacean health management. Full article

The food industry widely uses dyes from animal and plant sources, but their discharge into water bodies can harm aquatic animals. Red food dyes increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, disrupting redox homeostasis in Artemia franciscana nauplii, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this study, we exposed Artemia franciscana cysts for 48 h to three different red dyes: E124 (synthetic), E120 (animal-based) or Vegan red (plant-based) and evaluated the oxidative metabolism and redox status in the hatched nauplii. Only E120 and VEG increased oxygen consumption. E124 and VEG increased mitochondrial Complex I activity, while all dyes enhanced the activity of Complex III. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NADPH oxidase activity were increased by all red dyes. E120 and E124 increased antioxidant enzyme activity to a greater extent than VEG. Additionally, only E120 and E124 increased total antioxidant capacity. Nevertheless, E124 exposure induced redox imbalance (increased lipid and protein oxidative damage). Our data, as a whole, allow us to conclude that red dyes can influence the oxidative capacity and redox state of Artemia franciscana nauplii with more harmful effects in the presence of E124, thus drawing attention to their potentially severe influence on aquatic life. Full article

Aquaculture, a vital component of global food supply, faces challenges from environmental stressors that compromise aquatic animal health and productivity. Astaxanthin, a potent carotenoid antioxidant, has shown promise in enhancing growth and stress resilience in aquaculture species, yet its effects remain inconsistent across studies. This meta-analysis systematically evaluates the efficacy of dietary astaxanthin supplementation on growth, feed utilization, antioxidant capacity, and immune function in aquaculture animals. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 64 studies (33 species, 964 comparisons) published prior to 2025 were analyzed using a random-effects model. Results demonstrated that astaxanthin significantly improved final body weight, weight gain rate, specific growth rate, survival rate, and protein efficiency ratio, while reducing feed conversion ratio. Additionally, it enhanced digestive enzyme activities, hepatopancreas antioxidant biomarkers, and immune parameters. The subgroup analysis revealed differences related to species, trophic level, and habitat, and estimated the optimal dose for key indicators. Despite heterogeneity and publication bias, adjusted effect sizes remained significant for most outcomes. These findings underscore astaxanthin’s potential as a multifunctional feed additive to promote sustainable aquaculture, though its efficacy depends on species, dosage, and environmental context, warranting further mechanistic and optimization studies. Full article

Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), formed through the degradation of larger plastic materials, are emerging pollutants of significant concern. While their impact on aquatic ecosystems is well documented, their effects on terrestrial, especially farm animals remain underexplored. This review assesses the potential threats of MPs and NPs to Bangladesh’s livestock sector by analyzing the results of experimental models and environmental studies. In Bangladesh, MPs and NPs have been detected in agricultural soils, air, water bodies, and aquatic organisms, indicating possible entry into animal systems through contaminated feed, water, and inhalation. Once internalized, these particles may trigger oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue damage, impairing vital biological systems. Documented health consequences include reduced fertility, hematotoxicity, gut microbiota imbalance, gut–brain axis disruption, skeletal disorders, and metabolic dysfunction. Additionally, MPs and NPs can induce genomic changes, including altered gene expression and DNA hypomethylation, intensifying physiological damage and reducing productivity. Therefore, managing plastic contamination is vital in protecting animal health, ensuring food safety, and preserving human well-being around the globe, especially in vulnerable regions like Bangladesh. Given the critical role of livestock and poultry in ensuring food security and public health, the findings highlight an urgent need for comprehensive research and mitigation strategies. Full article

The increasing prevalence and dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria represent a serious concern for public health. Aeromonas caviae is a pathogenic microorganism that causes a wide spectrum of diseases in fish and humans and is often associated with aquatic environments and isolated from foods and animals. Here, we present the isolation and characterization of the V15^T strain isolated from a drinking water storage tank in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The V15^T strain has a genome length of 4,443,347 bp with an average G + C content of 61.78% and a total of 4028 open reading frames. Its genome harbors eight types of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) involving resistance to beta-lactamases, macrolides, and quinolones. The presence of bla_MOX-6, bla_OXA-427/bla_OXA-504, and mutations in parC were detected. In addition, other ARGs (macA, macB, opmH, and qnrA) and multidrug efflux pumps (such as MdtL), along with several resistance determinants and 106 genes encoding virulence factors, including adherence (polar and lateral flagella), secretion (T2SS, T6SS), toxin (hlyA), and stress adaptation (katG) systems, were observed. The genome sequence reported here provides insights into antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, evolution, and virulence in Aeromonas strains, highlighting the need for more public health attention and the further monitoring of drinking water systems. Also, the results of physiological and phylogenetic data, average nucleotide identity (ANI) calculation, and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) analysis support the inclusion of the strain V15^T in the genus Aeromonas as a new subspecies with the proposed name Aeromonas caviae subsp. aquatica subsp. nov. (V15^T = P53320^T). This study highlights the genomic plasticity and pathogenic potential of Aeromonas within household drinking water systems, calling for the revision of water treatment protocols to address biofilm-mediated resistance and the implementation of routine genomic surveillance to mitigate public health risks. Full article

The preservation of fermented stinky sea bass (FSSB) has always been a major challenge. In this study, four preservation methods, including partial freezing (PF), freezing (F), irradiation + partial freezing (IPF), and irradiation + freezing (IF), were employed, and their effects on the storage quality of vacuum-packed fermented stinky sea bass were investigated. The results revealed that histamines and coliforms were not detected in any of the four preservation methods. Meanwhile, the TVB-N, peroxide value, pH, and cooking loss showed an increasing trend, while the hardness, springiness, and chewiness showed a decreasing trend, following FSSB vacuum packaging during the 30-day preservation period. Compared with PF or F only, irradiation significantly reduced the total plate number, TVB-N, pH, L*, and whiteness of the FSSB samples but increased the peroxide value content while maintaining the cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness. Furthermore, the of 1-butanol, propanal, and (E)-2-pentenal contents increased. In contrast, IPF preservation showed a better ability to maintain the texture quality of the FSSB. The safety index of the FSSB samples complied with the Chinese Standard GB10136-2015 National Food Safety Standards Animal Aquatic Products, following the 30-day preservation period under the four preservation methods. Overall, the experimental results suggest that the IPF preservation method is the most preferable approach to preserving FSSB, which can significantly maintain the product quality and save energy. Full article

This study investigates the species diversity of the Convolvulaceae family in Udon Thani Province, Thailand, and was conducted from January to December 2022. A total of 52 species across fifteen genera were identified. Ipomoea was the most diverse genus in the region. The Ipomoea family was found in five ecological areas: deciduous dipterocarp forests, mixed deciduous forests, aquatic areas, open areas and roadsides, and cultivated areas like home gardens. Most species flower during the rainy season, especially from June to August, while some bloom in the winter, around January to March. Out of the total number of species, 29 were evaluated as rare and 23 as common. Meanwhile, 44 species were proposed for conservation as Not Evaluated and six species as Least Concern. Traditional uses of these species include food, animal fodder, horticultural cultivation, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. The whole plant is the most used part followed by leaves, stems, roots or storage roots, and inflorescence, respectively. This research contributes valuable data on the biodiversity, conservation status, and cultural significance of Convolvulaceae species in Udon Thani Province, offering a foundation for future studies and potential sustainable resource management. Full article

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an aquatic animal pathogen. Recently, the detection rate of V. parahaemolyticus in freshwater products has exceeded that in seafood products, and the strains isolated from freshwater products exhibit better growth conditions in low-salinity environments. This study is based on a food risk detection activity in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, investigating the variation of halophilism and the virulence of two groups of strains under different salt concentrations. Under 0%, 0.5%, and 1% salt, the strains from the freshwater showed faster growth than those from the seawater. In comparison, the strains from the seawater group under 2% and 3% salt grew faster than the growing status under the foregoing low-salt concentration environment. The cytotoxicity produced by the two strains was approximately 1.4 times higher in the 0.5% and 1% salt concentration groups compared to the 3% corresponding experimental group. Under the 0%, 0.5%, and 1% salt, the cytotoxicity of strains in the freshwater group increased by nearly 20% compared to that in the seawater groups. The freshwater strains showed altered halophilism and adapted to the low-salt environment. This research will be helpful in establishing a local and global control strategy against the diseases resulting from V. parahaemolyticus. Full article

Feeding is an elementary human need from which we obtain the energy and nutrients necessary for development and survival. Health heavily depends on food, which can be a means of different microbial hazards when contaminated at any stage of the food chain, compromising food safety and consumer health. Fish are considered widely produced foods (fishing or aquaculture) and are marketed worldwide; they are also a basic element of the human diet because they are a source of proteins and lipids. On the other hand, owing to their chemical properties (neutral pH and water activity), fish are highly susceptible to contamination by saprophytic and pathogenic microorganisms related to spoilage and risk to human health. Among the contaminating microorganisms in fish are bacteria of the genus Klebsiella, which are considered important in human and animal health worldwide due to their opportunistic pathogenicity, resistance to various antimicrobials, and association with numerous infections at the community and hospital levels, where foods such as fish and other products can serve as important sources of transmission. Therefore, this document presents a bibliographic review focused on describing, in a general way, the genus Klebsiella and its relationship with human health, aquatic animal health, and the safety of fish and products, as well as laboratory analysis procedures and identification of control and prevention measures of this biological hazard in fish and products to safeguard public health. Full article

Microplastics are an increasingly common threat to the aquatic environment, and, due to their small size, it is easy for them to spread and enter the seas and oceans. Micro- and mesoplastic particles are often ingested by marine organisms, especially those that have the potential for successful settlement on artificial substrata, including plastic. In laboratory experiments, we tested the tendency of the sea anemone Exaiptasia diaphana to consume plastic fragments and fibers of various sizes and shapes; these organisms are widely distributed in coastal waters, tide pools, and coral reefs. The plastic fragments and fibers were placed either in natural food or covered with a special food in gel form, which allowed them to retain their original shape. Our studies have shown that plastic in the shape of fibers is less readily consumed than in the form of fragments. The E. diaphana anemones with oral discs of diameter 10–12 mm had difficulty consuming long fibers. A total of 67% of the studied animals were unable to consume fibers of 13 mm length, while those of 3 and 7 mm length were consumed by 100% of the sea anemones. We have also established that microplastics taken with food are harmful to these cnidarians: mechanical injury to the body column was caused by the ingested polypropylene microfragments, and we also observed significantly increased mortality. Injuries, combined with the possible toxicological effects of the polymers, may have been the cause of increased mortality of the Exaiptasia diaphana. Full article