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Fulltext Vector compositions change across forested to deforested ecotones in emerging areas of zoonotic malaria transmission in Malaysia

Hawkes FM, Manin BO, Cooper A, Daim S, R H, Jelip J, et al.

Sci Rep, 2019 09 16;9(1):13312.
PMID: 31527622 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49842-2

In lowland areas of Malaysia, Plasmodium knowlesi infection is associated with land use change and high proportions of the vector Anopheles balabacensis. We conducted a 15-month study in two Malaysian villages to determine the effect of habitat on vector populations in understudied high-altitude, high-incidence districts. Anopheles mosquitoes were sampled in human settlements, plantations and forest edges, and screened for Plasmodium species by PCR. We report the first An. donaldi positive for P. knowlesi. This potential vector was associated with habitat fragmentation measured as disturbed forest edge:area ratio, while An. balabacensis was not, indicating fragmented land use could favour An. donaldi. Anopheline species richness and diversity decreased from forest edge, to plantation, to human settlement. Greater numbers of An. balabacensis and An. donaldi were found in forest edges compared to human settlements, suggesting exposure to vectors and associated zoonoses may be greater for people entering this habitat.
Fulltext Author Correction: Vector compositions change across forested to deforested ecotones in emerging areas of zoonotic malaria transmission in Malaysia

Hawkes FM, Manin BO, Cooper A, Daim S, R H, Jelip J, et al.

Sci Rep, 2019 Nov 20;9(1):17510.
PMID: 31745193 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53744-8

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Assessing knowledge, acts of discrimination, stigmatizing attitudes and its associated factors towards people living with HIV (PLHIV) among Family Medicine trainees in Malaysia

Chan HN, Mohamad A, Abdul Rashid A, Ho BK, Abdul Aziz Cooper A, Mukhtar Aajamer H, et al.

Malays Fam Physician, 2022 Nov 30;17(3):33-42.
PMID: 36606169 DOI: 10.51866/oa1298

INTRODUCTION: Human immunodeficiency virus (HlV)-related stigmatisation and discrimination adversely affect health outcomes in terms of timely diagnosis, treatment and care. Despite global efforts, they remain common among healthcare workers worldwide. In Malaysia, family medicine specialists are entrusted with the care of HIV patients at the primary care level. This study aimed to assess HIV-related knowledge, acts of discrimination, stigmatising attitudes and their associated factors among family medicine trainees in Malaysia.
METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 397 family medicine trainees in Malaysia using a validated, self-administered questionnaire that assessed the participants' sociodemographic information, HIV/AIDS knowledge, stigmatising attitudes (attitudes of blame, attitudes towards imposed measures, comfort in dealing with HIV patients) and acts of discrimination.
RESULTS: The most common stigmatisation was "attitudes of blame" (mean [SD] score: 3.0 (0.74); range score:1-5), and the most frequent discriminatory act was breaching patient confidentiality (54.9%). Around 82.1% had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Married participants and participants who had 7 years or less in service were more stigmatising in "attitudes of imposed measures" towards people living with HIV (p=0.006).
CONCLUSION: Family medicine trainees exhibited stigmatisation and discrimination towards HIV patients despite having good HIV knowledge. Hence, appropriate and concerted health education should be given to all family medicine trainees to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination.
Lions and brown bears colonized North America in multiple synchronous waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge

Salis AT, Bray SCE, Lee MSY, Heiniger H, Barnett R, Burns JA, et al.

Mol Ecol, 2022 Dec;31(24):6407-6421.
PMID: 34748674 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16267

The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far northeast Asia) and Eastern Beringia (northwest North America), changing the faunal community composition of both continents. The Pleistocene glacial cycles also had profound impacts on temperature, precipitation and vegetation, impacting faunal community structure and demography. While these palaeoenvironmental impacts have been studied in many large herbivores from Beringia (e.g., bison, mammoths, horses), the Pleistocene population dynamics of the diverse guild of carnivorans present in the region are less well understood, due to their lower abundances. In this study, we analyse mitochondrial genome data from ancient brown bears (Ursus arctos; n = 103) and lions (Panthera spp.; n = 39), two megafaunal carnivorans that dispersed into North America during the Pleistocene. Our results reveal striking synchronicity in the population dynamics of Beringian lions and brown bears, with multiple waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge coinciding with glacial periods of low sea levels, as well as synchronous local extinctions in Eastern Beringia during Marine Isotope Stage 3. The evolutionary histories of these two taxa underline the crucial biogeographical role of the Bering Land Bridge in the distribution, turnover and maintenance of megafaunal populations in North America.