Indigenous and scientific knowledge: the choice and management of cultivation sites by bedouin in Upper Egypt

Abstract. This paper investigates the ways in which some bedouin in the Nubian Desert of southeastern Egypt take decisions about both the choice of site for cultivation and the subsequent management of their soils. It explores the complementarity of formal and informal sciences and how each might profitably inform the other. Results show that the bedouin understand the physical limitations and nutrient supply properties of soils, but not aspects such as pH. Decisions on the choice of cultivation site are often made with regard to other perceived risks, such as soil loss and intermittent inundation, rather than just soil quality. It is also apparent that there exists among bedouin a plurality of indigenous knowledge mediated by factors such as experience, wealth levels, household circumstances and production priorities. Understanding indigenous knowledge is essential in helping to develop better use of the soil in this area, about which little is known and which has only a short history of small scale cropping.     

Ocular infection of donkeys (Equus asinus) with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Setaria equina</Emphasis>

Seven donkeys raised in different locations in Egypt were found to have a unilateral eye showing motile white worms in the aqueous humor. The parasites were surgically removed from the anterior chamber of the eye in five out of the seven donkeys, and were cleared, mounted and identified as Setaria equina based on light microscopic features. The ocular infection with S. equina reported herein may be the first reported aberrant cases in the Egyptian animals.     

Boron: Spatial Distribution in an Area of North Nile Delta,Egypt

Boron (B) toxicity might be a problem, especially in dry regions of the world, however; its distribution still largely unappreciated and ignored by soil and crop scientists. Therefore, this study aimed to assess B spatial distribution in an area of northern Nile Delta, the most fertile and populated area in Egypt. Soil B was extracted by Mehilch-3 extraction and measured by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP). The mean B concentration was recorded as 5.19, 6.04, and 6.41 ug/g in surface (S), subsurface (Ss), and lower (L) layers, respectively. . The data were interpolated in ArcGIS software. The highest B concentration was observed in the central part of this area, which may be attributed to many reasons such as pollution sources and management practices. Our results indicated that more than 50% of the studied area highly concentrated in B, which represents a threat to soil and ecosystems in North Nile Delta.     

Insecticide resistance in Egyptian populations of the cotton whitefly,Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Three collections of Bemisia tabaci were taken from cotton and vegetable crops at the beginning of the growing season in Egypt. These displayed marked resistance to the carbamates carbosulfan (ca 20- to 50-fold) and aldicarb (ca 40- to 80-fold) and moderate resistance to the pyrethroids cypermethrin (ca 10- to 30-fold) and lambda-cyhalothrin (ca 10- to 25-fold). They displayed no resistance to the organophosphates profenofos and pirimiphos-methyl, or to imidacloprid. Another population, collected at the end of the growing season, differed markedly in its response. In this population, resistance to carbosulfan remained high (ca 40-fold), resistance to profenofos and cypermethrin was increased (ca 20- and 50-fold respectively) and a slight resistance to imidacloprid was detected (ca 6-fold). Resistance to cypermethrin and profenofos was shown to be similar among adults and nymphs. Irrespective of collection date, none of the populations showed resistance to pyriproxyfen. These Egyptian populations were compared with two representative Israeli populations. The differences between their resistance profiles is discussed in terms of their collection date, their geographical proximity and the patterns of insecticide use at their sites of collection.     

Extracts of wild Egyptian plants from the desert inhibit the growth of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in vitro

Wild medicinal plants have been traditionally used as antimicrobial agents. Here, we evaluated the in vitro activity of extracts from wild Egyptian desert plants against Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum. From 12 plant extracts tested, the methanolic extracts from Artemisia judaica, Cleome droserifolia, Trichodesma africanum, and Vachellia tortilis demonstrated potent activity against the growth of T. gondii, with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀s) of 2.1, 12.5, 21.8, and 24.5 µg/ml, respectively. C. droserifolia, an ethanolic extract of P. undulata, T. africanum, A. judaica, and V. tortilis demonstrated potent efficacy against N. caninum, with mean IC₅₀s of 1.0, 3.0, 3.1, 8.6, and 17.2 µg/ml, respectively. Our data suggest these extracts could provide an alternative treatment for T. gondii and N. caninum infections.     

Molecular characterization of a novel Camelus dromedarius papillomavirus

Papillomaviruses affect both human and non-human hosts. In camels, papillomatosis is caused by Camelus dromedarius papillomavirus type 1 and 2 (CdPV1 and CdPV2, respectively). In late 2018, an outbreak of camelpox occurred in a herd of fattening camels in Egypt. Several animals were found to be co-infected with camelpox and camel papillomaviruses. The morbidity with papillomatosis was 35 %. The infection was confirmed by PCR then Illumina sequencing revealed the presence of a complete genome of two CdPVs. One of these was CdPV1 (MT130101) and the other was a putative novel virus, tentatively named as CdPV3 (MT130100). Seven ORFs and a long upstream regulatory region were identified in the genomes of both viruses. Pairwise comparisons of L1 gene revealed 98.92 % nt identity between MT130101/CdPV1/Egypt/2018 and HQ912790/CdPV1/Sudan/2009 with 100 % coverage. However, MT130100/CdPV3/ Egypt/2018 showed only 68.99 % nt identity with the closest genome HQ912791/CdPV2/Sudan/2009. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that CdPV1 and CdPV3 belonged to the genus Deltapapillomavirus. These results should be useful for future CdPVs molecular surveillance and construction of evolutionary characteristics of this virus.     

A single dose of inactivated oil-emulsion bivalent H5N8/H5N1 vaccine protects chickens against the lethal challenge of both highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses

In this study, two highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 viruses were isolated from chicken and geese in 2018 and 2019 (Chicken/ME-2018 and Geese/Egypt/MG4/2019). The hemagglutinin and neuraminidase gene analyses revealed their close relatedness to the clade-2.3.4.4b H5N8 viruses isolated from Egypt and Eurasian countries. A monovalent inactivated oil-emulsion vaccine containing a reassortant virus with HA gene of the Chicken/ME-2018/H5N8 strain and a bivalent vaccine containing same reassortant virus plus a previously generated reassortant H5N1 strain (CK/Eg/RG-173CAL/17). The safety of both vaccines was evaluated in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. To evaluate the efficacy of the prepared vaccines, 2-week-old SPF chickens were vaccinated with 0.5 mL of a vaccine formula containing 10⁸/EID₅₀ /dose from each strain via the subcutaneous route. Vaccinated birds were challenged with either wild-type HPAI-H5N8 or H5N1 viruses separately at 3 weeks post-vaccine. Results revealed that both vaccines induced protective hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) antibody titers as early as 2 weeks PV (≥5.0 log₂). Vaccinated birds were protected clinically against both subtypes (100 % protection). HPAI-H5N1 virus shedding was significantly reduced in birds that were vaccinated with the bivalent vaccine; meanwhile, HPAI-H5N8 virus shedding was completely neutralized in both tracheal and cloacal swabs after 3 days post-infection in birds that had been vaccinated with either vaccine. In conclusion, the developed bivalent vaccine proved to be efficient in protecting chickens clinically and reduced virus shedding via the respiratory and digestive tracts. The applicability of the multivalent avian influenza vaccines further supported their value to facilitate vaccination programs in endemic countries.     

Detection and molecular characterization of bovine leukemia virus in beef cattle presented for slaughter in Egypt

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the etiological agent of enzootic bovine leukosis, the most common neoplastic disease of cattle worldwide and a serious problem for the cattle industry. Previous studies have shown the molecular prevalence of BLV and the coexistence of BLV genotype-1 and -4 in Egyptian dairy cattle; however, the molecular characteristics of BLV in Egyptian beef cattle are unknown. Therefore, we collected blood samples of 168 beef cattle from slaughterhouses in three governorates in Egypt. Based on BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2 targeting long terminal repeats and nested PCR targeting the env-gp51 gene, the BLV provirus infection rates were found to be 47/168 (28.0%) and 42/168 (25.0%), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on 501 bp of the BLV env-gp51 gene from 42 BLV isolates revealed that at least six distinctive strains (b, e, f, g, x, and z) were prevalent in cattle across the examined regions. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis of the 420 bp sequence of the BLV env-gp51 region of the six strains against 11 known genotypes showed that the strains b, e, f, and g were clustered into genotype-1, and strains x and z were clustered into genotype-4. Our results also indicated that strains b and x exist in both dairy and beef cattle in Egypt. The present study is the first to detect and genotype BLV among beef cattle in Egypt.     

埃及土地资源退化及其防治

土地资源包括土壤资源和水资源，土地退化是指土地生产力下降的现象，在这里包括水资源污染，土壤沙漠化、盐渍化及其化学污染等引起的退化现象。本文简要介绍了埃及土地资源概况、土地退化现象及其治理措施。     

Land suitability assessment for perennial crops using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems: A case study in northwestern Egypt

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to develop a Geographic Information Systems-based model for land suitability assessment for guava, olive and date palm in the North-western coast of Egypt. Soil, climatic and landscape database as well as satellite image have been integrated through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A Landsat ETM+ image dated 2001, was classified using maximum likelihood classifier to produce land use/land cover map. Physical and chemical analyses of 57 soil profiles were interpolated to produce continuous land characteristic maps that are relevant to the requirement of the considered crops. These maps with climate and land cover map were integrated using GIS to produce land suitability maps for guava, olive and date palm. Two types of land suitability maps were produced in this study namely: Continuous land suitability maps and conventional land suitability classified maps. For each of them six land suitability maps were produced for the three crops in which three are for actual land suitability and the other three for potential land suitability. It was found that the suitability was higher for date palm followed by olive and the lowest suitability was assigned for guava.