The President’s Fund Reports
Report on 2nd International Conference on Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever The second international conference on tick-borne relapsing fever was held in Mvumi, near Dodoma, Central Tanzania. This is the second meeting to bring those working towards control of this spirochaetal disease endemic to this region. This disease caused by the Borrelia duttonii and transmitted by Ornithodoros moubata tick vectors, remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity throughout much of Tanzania. In this region, traditional houses are frequently infested
with the tick vector, and the disease particularly affects young children and pregnant women resulting in foetal loss and neonatal deaths (perinatal mortality rate of 436 per 1,000) Delegates were updated on the number of cases in the Mvumi and Mwanza districts. The annual incidence in children in Mvumi under a year is 384/1000 and 163/1000 in children under 5 years however, little data is collated from the local levels www.sfam.org.uk
on disease incidence for the remainder of Tanzania. Recent work on the tick vectors suggests that O. porcinus domesticus may be the principal vector of this disease in Tanzania. Phylogenetic analysis of ticks and patient samples has suggested the presence of a novel borrelial species showing closer resemblance to New World species rather than those present in Africa. The role of this spirochaete in clinical disease is yet to be determined. Molecular mechanisms of antigenic variation were also being studied, with different variable membrane protein genes being described. The need to have accurate surveillance to determine the size and extent of TBRF was highlighted. Although funds for this are currently not
available, local data collection from selected regions could be collated. This together with further work to understand both spirochaete-vector and host-spirochaete relationships will allow investigations on possible intervention strategies. Full details of this meeting can be viewed at www.mvumi.org. Sally J Cutler and Alison Talbert Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Surrey
The 17th SAAFoST Congress and exhibition Pretoria, South Africa, 1 - 4 September 2003 The 17th South African Association for Food Science and Technology (SAAFoST) International Congress and exhibition was held at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research Conference Centre, which provided excellent conference facilities. The speakers included an impressive compilation of international leaders in the field of Food Microbiology and Food Technology from Australia, the USA, New Zealand, the UK, Switzerland and South Africa. All poster contributors were afforded an opportunity to give five-minute oral presentations. Proceedings started with pre-congress workshops on the first day and the main congress opened on the second day with a keynote address from Dr. Robert Buchanan from the USFDA. The presentation entitled ‘Food Safety for the new Millenium’ discussed the impact of international trade and advances in Food Technology on the emergence of new food safety concerns. On a more positive note, advances in food technology and disease surveillance have enhanced the ability to anticipate and respond to new microbiological food safety challenges. Other highlights on the second day included addresses by the IUFoST President Dr Alan Mortimer (Australia) on world-wide trends in the food industry, Prof A van Holy of the University of the Witwatersrand on HACCP in the food industry and the role of air conditioning and
ventilation in HACCP. The day concluded with talks on global safety requirements and predictive microbial modelling as a tool in the food industry. The third day was a session on risk analysis and opened with a discussion on risk assessment, risk management and risk communication procedures. Other papers presented included: Quantitative microbiological risk assessment, GMO technology and its impact on food testing, and the feasibility of use of nonthermal technologies such as high hydrostatic pressure, irradiation, pulsed electric fields and antimicrobials including bacteriocins in the sterilization of foods. On the fourth and final day I attended a parallel session on Dairy Science and Technology. Presentations included: the use of natural protectants such as bacteriocins in the dairy industry, extended shelf-life milks (Tetrapak aseptic packaging), probiotic bacterial in fermented dairy products (M Nagle, Chr Hansen, UK), the lactoperoxidase system in milk, and emerging microbiological hazards in dairy processing. I presented two posters on the applicability of predictive modelling to Listeria monocytogenes growth in sous vide products and the effect of storage and processing temperatures on the microbiological status of sous vide extended shelf-life foods, and benefited from the interaction with fellow Food Microbiologists and the exposure to current developments in the field. I would like to thank SfAM for making attendance at this congress possible through an award from the President’s Fund. Hilda Nyati National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe
December 2003
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