Thursday 24 April 2014

International Workshop on Zoonotic Parasites:PGI Compiles Data To Fight Parasitic Infections

By 1 2 1 News Reporter
Chandigarh 23rd April:-- The 1st international "ZooPa" workshop on
'Zoonotic waterborne/ foodborne parasites' enters its second day on
Thursday at PGI, Chandigarh. This workshop kicks-off a three-year
educational exchange project between India and Norway, in which the
Department of Medical Parasitology, PGIMER, Chandigarh is the Indian
partner and the Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology,
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) is the Norwegian partner.
During the second day of the workshop, group discussions were
conducted about risk ranking of foodborne parasites in the context of
the Indian scenario.
Prof. Rakesh Sehgal, Head of the Department of Medical Parasitology,
PGIMER, highlighted the medical importance of zoonotic waterborne/
foodborne parasites. He emphasized that over 60 % of human pathogens
are considered to originate from animals. Prof. Lucy Robertson from
Norway discussed the concept of 'One Health and One Planet' – in which
human infections, animal infections, and environmental factors are
considered together. The importance of zoonotic infections, that is,
the infections which are transmitted from animals to humans, were also
addressed. The department of Medical Parasitology is also conducting
research with their Norwegian and Spanish partners to investigate the
effect of climatic change in transmission of waterborne parasites.
PGIMER is also compiling the data of routine stool examination for
parasitic ova/cyst for the last 50 years. The data will be analysed in
relation to climatic data and will be useful for modelling the affects
of climate change on transmission and in formulating guidelines for
the control of intestinal parasitic infections. Water samples will
also be collected and analyzed for parasites by specialized
techniques; as contaminated water is a common source of infection.
Globally, contaminated water is a serious problem that can cause
severe illness, disability and even death. Common water-related
diseases caused by parasites include amebiasis, cryptosporidiosis and
giardiasis. People become infected with these diseases when they
swallow water that has been contaminated by these parasites. Proper
sanitation and hygiene are essential for prevention of waterborne
illness.India possess a favourable environment for the transmission of
both known and novel diseases between animals and humans as it
harbours the second largest human populations and one of the world's
greatest densities of tropical livestock. Nevertheless, zoonoses
research and control in India is fragmented and systematic studies are
lacking. Zoonotic waterborne/ foodborne parasites can infect large
numbers of common people in India. Throughout India, problems of
foodborne parasitic zoonoses differ because of varied food habits.
Other factors such as unhygienic living conditions, lack of education,
poor personal hygiene and poverty also contribute to the dissemination
of parasitic infections. This workshop aims to promote integrated
zoonotic disease prevention and control among the medical and
veterinarian students. Many food outbreaks can be linked to zoonotic
parasites. Many different types of food can be contaminated by
parasites such as raw vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products. Many
factors in the modern world may promote transmission of foodborne
pathogens, including changes in dietary habits (such as eating raw
produce and salads), increased international travel, and greater
import of different food products. The ZooPa project is funded through
the UTFORSK programme of the Norwegian Centre for International
Cooperation in Education (SIU). As well as this first workshop, the
project will include further workshops in Chandigarh and Norway,
"hands-on" practical courses, and scientific exchanges. In subsequent
workshops hands-on training will be provided for the detection of
parasites in water and food samples. This will help in establishing an
epidemiological link between animal source and human infection, so
that preventive and control measures can be taken.

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