Baobab Index

We describe cases of contamination of The infectious pathogen of Buruli ulcer, The study reports the first contamination cases of

India's rapid population growth positively correlates with solid waste generation. Indiscriminate disposal in unsanitary landfills is dominant, and releases hazardous contaminants, that pose genotoxic risks to humans and biota. This study evaluated DNA damage and genome instability induced by solid waste emissions of Indian origin. Following PRISMA guidelines, 36 peer-reviewed studies published until 2025 were selected. These studies reported 40 bioindicators and 56 genotoxic biomarkers, with cell lines and comet assay most frequently reported. Significant DNA strand breaks, micronucleus formation, chromosomal aberrations, nuclear abnormalities, and sperm defects in exposed models were consistently reported, often in dose- and time-dependent patterns. Random-effects meta-analysis using pooled standardized mean differences showed significant positive effect sizes for micronucleus and comet endpoints (p ≤ 0.0001), confirming increased genetic damage in exposed groups. Although substantial heterogeneity was observed (I² = 95.73% for micronucleus; 87.66% for comet), the direction of effect remained consistently positive. Risk-of-bias assessment indicated overall moderate to high methodological quality, with common reporting gaps in exposure characterization and blinding procedures. Oxidative stress and ROS generation are dominant drivers of genome instability. Signaling pathways causing DNA adduct, DNA repair impairment, epigenetic dysregulation, and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis were other mechanisms. Despite strong evidence of somatic and germline genotoxicity, epidemiological data and quantitative exposure assessments remain inadequate. Integrated exposure monitoring, advanced molecular and epigenetic biomarkers, dose-response characterization and long-term population-level biomonitoring are needed to strengthen causal inference and human health risk assessment. Emissions from solid waste facilities in India represent a credible genotoxic hazard warranting improved waste management, and regulatory enforcement.

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 (

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. It is a major public health issue in tropical and subtropical areas. In West Africa, the most prevalent dengue virus (DENV) serotypes are DENV-1 and DENV-2, which are responsible for the majority of epidemics on the continent. In addition to environmental factors, genetics, including HLA class II alleles, could influence susceptibility or protection against disease. This study aimed to characterize HLA-DRB1*03 and HLA-DRB1*04 alleles in dengue patients, exploring their association with susceptibility or protection against disease in Burkina Faso. Case-control analysis performed in Ouagadougou, with typing of HLA-DRB1*03 and HLA-DRB1*04 alleles by SSP-PCR, followed by an analysis of allele frequencies and statistical associations, reveals that frequencies of HLA-DRB1*03; HLA-DRB1*04 were respectively 85.48% and 51.62% in dengue patients (case) whereas in the control group their freuencies were respectively 96.83% and 44.44%. Statistical analysis showed a significant association between the carriage of the HLA-DRB1*03 allele and the occurrence of dengue fever (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.01-1.00; p = 0.029). In contrast, no significant association was found with HLA-DRB1*04 (p = 0.533). No significant differences were observed by sex or progression to secondary dengue. These results highlight the importance of the HLA-DRB1*03 allele, it's carriage of this allele could be associated with a decrease in the odds of dengue occurrence, suggesting a potential protective, paving the way for future investigations into the involvement of HLA alleles in dengue immunity.

Mango productivity is threatened by dieback and fruit rot from

A collection of 21 bacterial isolates recovered from urine specimens collected between September 2018 and February 2019 at Saint-Camille and SCHIPHRA hospitals in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is presented. Isolates were identified using the API 20E system and tested for antibiotic susceptibility according to CASFM 2018 guidelines. Genomic DNA was extracted, barcoded with the SQK-RBK114.96 Rapid Barcoding Kit, and sequenced on an Oxford Nanopore MinION Mk1C using an R10.4.1 flowcell. Basecalling was performed with Dorado, and reads were quality filtered prior to de novo assembly with Flye, followed by polishing with Racon and Medaka. Assemblies were evaluated with QUAST, taxonomically assigned with Kraken2, and annotated with Bakta. The dataset comprises 21 barcode-specific raw read sets (1.5 million reads; 4.9 Gb), polished genome assemblies, per-isolate metadata including collection site, collection date, and antibiotic susceptibility measurements, and quality assessment outputs including read statistics, assembly metrics, and functional annotation completeness estimates. All data are available under NCBI BioProject PRJNA1307828. These data provide a useful resource for long-read bacterial genome assembly benchmarking, comparative genomics, and analyses integrating phenotypic and genomic antimicrobial resistance information.

Medicinal plants have historically been a source of drugs in multiple applications, including the treatment of malaria infections. The Cabo Verde archipelago harbors a rich diversity of native plants, most of which are used for medicinal purposes. The present study investigated the in vitro antiplasmodial activities of four native plants from Cabo Verde (i.e.,

Overfishing has been drastically changing food webs in marine ecosystems, and it is pivotal to quantify these changes at the ecosystem level. This is especially important for ecosystems with a high diversity of top predators such as the Eastern Atlantic marine region. In this work we used high-throughput sequencing methods to describe the diet of the two most abundant tuna species, the Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and the Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), highly targeted by fisheries off west Africa. We also explored prey diversity overlap between these tuna species and the seabird species breeding in Cabo Verde that are most likely to share prey preferences and suffer from bycatch, the Brown booby (Sula leucogaster) and Cape Verde shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii). Overall, the diet of both tuna species was more diverse than that of seabirds. Skipjack tuna diet was dominated by prey from lower trophic levels, such as krill, anchovies, and siphonophores, while the Yellowfin tuna diet was mainly based on epipelagic fish such as flying and halfbeak fishes. Some of the most abundant prey families detected in the Yellowfin tuna diet were shared with both seabird species, resulting in a high prey diversity overlap between this tuna species and seabirds These results have implications for the management of tuna fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic, because a large decrease of both tuna species might have cascading effects on both primary and secondary consumer levels, and the decrease of these underwater predators may have implications on the viability of tropical seabird populations.

Plants continue to constitute key elements of medical practice in West African countries. The Cabo Verde archipelago hosts a great diversity of medicinal plants and local markets are considered important sites for trading plants harvested by rural communities. This study has two main goals: (i) to assess the medicinal uses of native species in Santiago, the biggest island of the archipelago, and (ii) to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidiabetic/antihyperglycemic activities of two native trees (