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Pollution levels of the Ave River above those recommended by the EU

ICBAS researchers warn of the impact of pollution caused by farming in the Ave river basin.

A study of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar of the University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), part of the ATLANTIDA Project (financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the NORTE 2020 Program), and recently published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, demonstrated that the use of pesticides from agricultural practices still has a significant negative impact on the Ave river.

What was, about 30 years ago, one of the most polluted rivers in the country and in Europe, the result of discharges from the textile industry characteristic of that region, continues today to face problems related to the pollution caused by the agricultural exploitation located in its hydrographic basin.

For Maria João Rocha, responsible for the study, these results are very relevant, in the sense that pollution in the Ave River is associated with the presence of industries, often forgetting that the effluents also come from agricultural areas.

Read the full text here.

Source: Notícias UP / Image credits: Câmara Municipal de Vila do Conde

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OH Know More

Malaria – no solution without One Health

By Begoña Pérez-Cabezas, ICBAS

PORTO - Malaria is a disease caused by the parasite Plasmodiumwhich is transmitted by the bite of infected Anophelesmosquitoes. Although it is preventable and usually treatable, there were an estimated 247 million cases of malaria and 619000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2021. The most affected continent was Africa, with 95% of malaria world cases and 96% of malaria deaths. Children under 5 years of age accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths in this continent. The disease also has consequences for economy, education, and equity, impairing the development of the affected communities.

Although there is a vaccine against malaria approved and being implemented, its efficacy is modest and short-lived. Moreover, resistance to antimalarial drugs has been confirmed in some of the parasite species. So, vector-control tools are crucial to prevent infection and to reduce disease transmission. To act at the vector level, it is essential to understand the ecology of the Anopheles mosquitoes and the environmental conditions that contribute to the spread of these mosquito species and, consequently, of the disease. Increase population’s literacy on this topic is also essential to enhance prevention.

Core interventions against the mosquito are insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying. However, resistance to insecticides among Anopheles mosquitoes has also been emerging. Other threats of these control measures are limited access, loss of nets due to day-to-day life damages, and changing behaviour of mosquitoes, which appear to be biting early before people go to bed. Warming temperatures related with climate change are also moving mosquitoes to higher elevations and away from the Equator. This expands malaria’s range, which can be devastating for countries unprepared to manage with the disease.

One Health is essential to deal with vector-borne diseases like malaria. In order to address the challenges of malaria prevention, the approach has to be supported by multiple stakeholders and to integrate the communities. Improving surveillance methods and information sharing will be key to ensure early detection (drug and insecticide resistance, mosquito presence, changes on behaviour) and to adapt prevention and treatment policies.

Image credits: Pixabay

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Noticias

Increase of marine bacteria on beaches endangers public health

Vila Nova de Gaia, 19/08/2022 - Praias em Vila Nova de Gaia estão interditas a banhos por causa de uma bactéria. Praia de Canide Norte em Vila Nova de Gaia. ( José Carmo / Global Imagens )

The scientist's alert follows a study by ICBAS, subsidized by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), on water quality on beaches in the North region.

The researcher from the University of Porto Adriano Bordalo Sá warned about the danger to public health in beach waters, due to the increase in non-fecal pathogenic bacteria during the summer, and recommends an urgent national diagnosis.

In an interview with the Lusa agency in the context of climate change that is increasing the temperature of sea water in the north of the country, the scientist and professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto, recommended to the Health authorities to perform an “immediate diagnosis at national level”, because the situation found on the northern beaches could be happening along the coast, which is about 900 kilometers long.

Read the full text here.

Source: Diário de Notícias | Image Credits: José Carmo/Global Imagens

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Noticias

ICBAS wants to make Porto a “pilot city” of the “One City, One Health” concept

The Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar of the University of Porto (ICBAS), which has been working on the One Health concept for four years, wants to make Porto a "pilot city" in the reflection around the relationship between animals, humans and the environment.

“The objective is to use Porto, a city with international visibility, and with an important regional and national weight, as a pilot for the 'One city, One Health' project and think about health with these three components [animals, environment and people] and not individually. Thinking about the animals that are on the streets without forgetting environmental policies, including people, seeing the characteristics of the environment where they live, thinking, for example, that a health support infrastructure can not be created without respect for the environment”, said the director of ICBAS, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho.

In an interview with the Lusa agency – on the One Health subject, a concept and vision that ICBAS leads and which has already taken Cyrne Carvalho to the European Parliament this year, after having been on the Ethics Committee National Council for Life Sciences in the Portuguese Parliament – he said that he has already met with the Porto municipality and that the partnership is “being worked on”.

Read the full text here.

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Noticias

ICBAS Center for Human and Animal Health will have riding stables

The Center for Research in Human and Animal Health, a project of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar of the University of Porto (ICBAS), that will be located in Maia, will include riding stables to promote community contact with horses.

In an interview with the Lusa agency, the director of ICBAS, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, highlighted that the project, in addition to the scientific and research aspect, includes as its objective “a very marked connection to the community, using horses for the benefit of mental health and some groups of pathologies.”.

“We know that hippotherapy is of enormous benefit to various disorders of the autism spectrum, among others. On the other hand, by having riding stables, we can promote the interaction and proximity of the community with the horses”, said Henrique Cyrne Carvalho.

Read the full text here.

Source: SAPO24

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Noticias

One Health protagonist of 'History' in the media

The path is made by walking, wrote Antonio Machado (1875-1839) in what was the poem that left him for the eternity of letters. It is in this slow path made of persistent steps that the One Health concept is forming a school, which may come to revolutionize the way of looking at Health, the one that guides us, comforts us, makes us believe that it is possible to be better, which gives us quality of life and circumvents the void of pessimism even when the scenario is the darkest and the days seem shortened to death.

Read the full piece here.

Source: Notícias Magazine.

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Training

Summer Research School '1Health1Welfare'

The course, for students and graduates, will have a strong laboratory component aimed at protecting human and animal welfare.

A week of theoretical-practical component followed by at least 3 weeks of intense practical-laboratory work linked to the One Health. This is the challenge of the Summer Research School 1Health1Welfare that the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) will host between July 10th and September 8th. This is one of the first training opportunities resulting from the One Health strategy that the School has been reinforcing lately.

Based on the connection between animal and human well-being, widely associated with the One Health concept, the course aims to provide participants with the opportunity to acquire knowledge and research methods in one of these five areas: Immunology and infection; Animal nutrition; Parasitology; Conservation and management of wild populations; Animal welfare and human-animal interaction.

The research work can be carried out at ICBAS or at one of the institutions associated with the course, namely the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) or the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources of the University of Porto (CIBIO).

The objective, according to the researcher in charge, Anna Olson, is to “bring students and research closer together”: “Participants will gain a theoretical and practical basis in the One Health research methodology and will experience the scientific process in its real context”, ensures the coordinator.

The applications are open until the 19th of May and are intended for students, from the University of Porto and other institutions, who are attending, or who have completed, a cycle of studies (bachelor, master or doctorate) in the area of Life and Health sciences.

1Health1Welfare
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Noticias

ICBAS professor launches book “Many Species, One Veterinary Medicine”

A new release by U. Porto Press proposes a reflection on the evolution of veterinary medicine and the relationship between humans and animals.

“What does a veterinarian do?”, “What animal species is he/she dedicated to?”, “How is his/her training structured?” or “Is it a difficult profession?”, reads on the back cover of Many Species, One Veterinary Medicine. This short questionnaire sets the tone for reading one of the most recent editorial novelties of the U.Porto Press, the number four of the Studies and Teaching collection of the publishing office.

“This book reflects, precisely, on the evolution of veterinary medicine and on the evolution of the relationship between humans and animals”, defends Paulo Martins da Costa, professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar and author of the publication.

In response to the question about whether Veterinary Medicine is a difficult profession, Paulo Martins da Costa says yes. “A veterinarian needs dedication, knowledge, worldview and a keen ethical sense”, adding that “it is less and less frequent for people to understand (and respect) animals in their essence, tending now to humanize them, now to mechanize them”.

According to the author, the profession is complex, being “at the center of a circle of important animals for man”. These animals fall into several quadrants, being attributed different “human meanings” to them – domestic, wild, experimental, sports, pests, disease vectors, adorable, symbolic, dangerous, faithful…

Read the full article on Notícias UP.

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Noticias

Aquatic science at ICBAS at the service of the health of the Biosphere

A Ciência da água
A Ciência da água

There is a lot of water on the Planet. But since it is 97% salty, it cannot be directly used by most land, air and freshwater aquatic beings. If 2000 years ago we had the same amount of water available as today, at the time for the consumption of 72 million inhabitants, the 8 billion people today have to share it among everyday uses, such as domestic, industrial and agricultural, requiring ever-increasing amounts. The pressure on the water resource has never been so high, but with ongoing climate change, globally applicable measures must be taken to protect the hydrosphere.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly approved a historic resolution considering access to drinking water as a human right, along with other enshrined rights. Part of the water returns to the aquatic environment, but with different chemical, physical and even microbiological characteristics. In other words, polluted. Contaminated water means a sick environment and, ultimately, leads to the degradation of the health of the Biosphere, the thin layer of the Earth where living beings are distributed.

Read the full article here.

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Noticias

Director of ICBAS participates in a public hearing at the European Parliament

Diretor do ICBAS no Parlamento Europeu

On February 28, 2023, the director of ICBAS, Professor Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, participated in a public hearing on One Health in the European Parliament, in Brussels.

The session “Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future”, aimed to discuss the link between the accelerated loss of biodiversity and the spread of zoonoses such as COVID-19, and their impacts on health human. The objective of this hearing was to gather contributions on how the European Union can implement the One Health One Health in its policies.

Prof. Henrique Cyrne Carvalho at the session “Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future”.

For Prof. Henrique Cyrne “This was a unique opportunity to share the One Health plan of action that we have in course at ICBAS and, above all, to contribute to our local action to reflect on the implementation of actions of global impact, notably through the European Union”. 

Watch and hear the full session here.
 

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