bioRxiv Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.11.15.623876

Dynamic analysis of Q-fever transmission among cattle in the Tropical Savannah Grassland zone of Ghana.

Otoo, D.·Mensah, K.·Adjei, E.·Danquah, B. A.·Adusei, H.·Chuaya, R. G.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Livestock morbidity and death from Q-fever have been high, endangering local farmers livelihoods and affecting food security in Ghana. It is essential to understand the transmission dynamics of Q-fever to protect both the health of the animals and the main source of income for the community. A non-linear ordinary differential equation incorporating a vaccinated compartment was formulated and analyzed to gain insights into the spread of Q-fever. Routh Hurwitz criterion and Lyapunov function were used respectively to analyze the local and global stability of the disease-free equilibrium (Q0). We analyzed the behavior of the model compartments and discovered that many key factors significantly influence the persistence or eradication of Q-fever. Increased vaccination rates decrease the susceptible livestock while increasing the vaccinated livestock, potentially reducing the risk of outbreaks and limiting the spread of infections. A higher recovery rate leads to a quicker recovery, which aids in epidemic control by boosting population immunity and reducing the infectious time. The infection level rises when R0 > 1, indicating a typical transcritical bifurcation behavior, but this growth stays steady and does not result in unbounded advancement. Author summaryQ-fever presents considerable health hazards to livestock in Ghanas Tropical Savannah Grassland, adversely affecting local farmers income and food security in regions such as North Tongu municipality. To elucidate the transmission dynamics of the disease and safeguard both animal health and the communitys principal economic resource, we proposed a mathematical model employing non-linear differential equations that incorporate a vaccine compartment. This model enables the evaluation of how parameters such as vaccination and recovery rates influence the transmission of Q-fever in livestock. Our findings indicate that increased vaccination rates may diminish the population of susceptible livestock, hence reducing the possibility of outbreaks. In addition, a rapid recovery rate not only diminishes the duration of infectiousness in livestock but also enhances herd immunity, assisting in the containment of possible epidemics. The proposed model indicates that as R0 exceeds 1, the infection level rises, displaying transcritical bifurcation behavior. However, this rise stabilizes and prevents uncontrolled spread. These findings emphasize the value of vaccination and recovery techniques in controlling and possibly eliminating Q-fever in cattle, which would ultimately help Ghanaian farming communities remain sustainable.

Explore related subjects

microbiologyPreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Otoo, D., Mensah, K., Adjei, E., Danquah, B. A., Adusei, H., Chuaya, R. G.. 2024-11-16. Dynamic analysis of Q-fever transmission among cattle in the Tropical Savannah Grassland zone of Ghana.. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.15.623876

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

A population-scale landscape of the subgingival microbiome reveals divergent routes to periodontal dysbiosis

Periodontitis is an archetypical mucosal inflammatory disease in which microbiome dysbiosis at the tooth-epithelial interface interacts with host genetic and behavioral risk factors to drive immune-mediated tissue destruction. Although subgingival microbiome compositional shifts are thought to parallel disease severity, microbiome variation at the population-level and its relationship to periodontal clinical phenotypes and disease-modifying factors remain poorly defined. Here, we use unsupervised manifold learning to map the compositional landscape of the subgingival microbiome in 1,355 adults spanning periodontal health to severe periodontitis. We identified eight latent microbiome states organized along a branching continuum from eubiosis to dysbiosis. An intermediate microbial configuration marked ecological destabilization and bifurcation into two distinct periodontitis-associated dysbiotic trajectories, distinguished by links to gingival inflammation and smoking. Although the microbiome trajectories broadly tracked periodontal destruction, a minority of individuals showed discordant microbiome-clinical phenotypes, with some individuals with periodontitis retaining otherwise eubiotic microbiomes enriched for low-abundance pathobionts, while some cases of health or mild disease had highly dysbiotic communities, suggesting distinct host susceptibility. Together, these findings define a population-scale ecological landscape of the subgingival microbiome, reveal divergent trajectories to periodontal dysbiosis, and highlight heterogeneity in the relationship between microbial community structure and clinical disease expression.

microbiology↗
bioRxiv2026

The iron-binding siderophore enterobactin is required for the response of multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae to zinc limitation

To persist during infection Klebsiella pneumoniae must overcome nutrient iron and zinc limitation imposed by the host immune system through a process called nutritional immunity. Secreted small molecule siderophores are a major virulence determinant of Klebsiella pneumoniae pathogenesis and are presumed to overcome nutritional immunity by binding iron for bacterial acquisition. In this work, we set out to identify how a multi-drug resistant K. pneumoniae grows in zinc limited environments. Using unbiased transcriptomics, proteomics, and an arrayed transposon screen, we identified that synthesis and uptake of the siderophore enterobactin is required to allow for growth in low zinc conditions. Iron-specific chelators did not replicate this phenotype and addition of supplemental iron through heme in growth media could not complement severe growth defects of enterobactin mutant K. pneumoniae experiencing zinc limitation. Finally, zinc starvation induced enterobactin production independent of the canonical zinc uptake regulator (Zur) transcription factor suggesting an unidentified regulatory mechanism by which Gram-negative pathogens may respond to zinc stress. Together, these studies expand the role of enterobactin beyond iron regulation and highlight a previously unreported link between iron and zinc homeostasis in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

microbiology↗
bioRxiv2026

A microbiota-derived protease links phage susceptibility to host epithelial responses

Bacteriophages are major ecological drivers of gut microbial ecology, yet whether bacterial mechanisms that determine phage susceptibility have consequences for the mammalian host remains poorly understood. Here, we identify dipeptidyl peptidase 11 (Dpp11a), the predominant active serine protease of the prevalent gut commensal Phocaeicola vulgatus, as an unexpected bacterial defence factor. Dpp11a protects against environmental proteases and confers resistance to bacteriophage infection. Metatranscriptomic analyses further reveal increased expression of both dpp11a and P. vulgatus-associated phage transcripts in ulcerative colitis stool samples, indicating that both components of this interaction are transcriptionally active in disease-associated human microbiomes. Using the microfluidic gut-on-a-chip co-culture model HuMiX, we show that the absence of Dpp11 is accompanied by altered epithelial tight-junction remodelling during phage-bacterial infection. Together, our findings reveal that the consequences of bacterial phage defence can extend beyond phage-bacterium interactions to the mammalian epithelium.

microbiology↗