Branched broomrape, an obligate root parasitic weed, has recently re-emerged in tomato fields in several California counties. California produces more tomato than any other state, and the outbreak of this noxious weed could potentially wreak havoc on the industry’s economy. Preventive measures must be taken to stop or reduce the spread of branched broomrape seeds to other areas. Branched broomrape can produce thousands of tiny seeds, which can easily spread with farm machinery over short and long distances. To prevent branched broomrape seed dispersal, sanitation and disinfection of farm equipment are necessary before entering a new farm. We tested the effectiveness of various ammonium compounds, including didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC), alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (ADBC), didecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DDAB), ammonium bromide (AB), and ammonium chloride (AC) on prevention of branched broomrape seed germination. Dose-response analysis showed that three chemical products, ADBC, DDAB, and DDAC, could completely inhibit branched broomrape seeds (potentially making them nonviable) at 1%, 1%, and 10% wt/vol concentrations, respectively. These three compounds were further tested in an exposure duration experiment that additionally included Egyptian broomrape. Only 10 min of exposure to these compounds was needed to prevent germination of both branched and Egyptian broomrape seeds at 1% (ADBC, DDAB) and 10% wt/vol (DDAC). Lower concentrations can provide similar inhibition effects when combined with longer exposure times. Egyptian broomrape seeds were more sensitive than branched broomrape seeds. Findings suggest that quaternary ammonium compounds could be used as potential sanitation agents to disinfect agriculture machinery from branched and Egyptian broomrape seeds.

The pollutants discharged untreated into water bodies become a challenge in Ethiopia. This study aims to assess sanitation and hygiene status and the associated problems. A total of 500 households were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Questionnaires, interviews, and site observation were employed. The absence of public and communal latrines had been seen as the constraint. The present study confirmed that waste disposal management has serious problems. In conclusion, these findings revealed that part of the households are living in communities with the town-owned poor sanitary facilities and that further studies are encouraged on waste disposal management.

From the mid-nineteenth century, seamen were increasingly identified as vectors of epidemic diseases such as cholera. The rising acceptance of the germ theories of disease and contagion and the transition from sail to steam at this time increased the fear of the rapid spread of contagious diseases through these mobile people. This article examines how the British naval authorities, ship surgeons and the medical and municipal authorities in the Calcutta sailortown sought to improve maritime health and hygiene to prevent the spread of cholera among and by British seamen. Nineteenth century Calcutta is an ideal context for this study on account of its epidemiological notoriety as a disease entrepot and the sea route between Calcutta and British ports was one of the most closely monitored for disease in the Empire. The article argues that a study of cholera among British seamen can generate important insights into the relationship among disease, medicine and colonialism and in doing so shed light into a neglected aspect of the history of nineteenth century cholera, the British anxiety regarding disease dispersion, practice of hygiene and sanitation and British seamen’s health.

We conducted a paleoparasitological study on sediment samples from two trash pits and a cesspool, collected during an archaeological assessment of a building located in the historic downtown of the city of Córdoba, Argentina. People have used these premises for residential and commercial purposes since the beginning of the seventeenth century, although the samples analyzed correspond to nineteenth-century contexts. Light microscopy examination revealed the presence of parasite eggs of whipworm (Trichuris sp.), possibly roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), and tapeworm (taeniid). The presence of these fecal-oral and food-borne transmitted helminths supports other lines of evidence that indicate poor sanitation and hygiene habits and inadequate food processing, which may have contributed to the high incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal diseases recorded at that time. The paleoparasitological data agree with the historical information on the health status of the populations that inhabited the city of Córdoba in the past, especially in relation to their habits and diet.

Metam potassium (metam-K) is a soil fumigant used commonly in Florida at the end of the tomato and pepper production season. The fumigant essentially cleans a field by killing the established weeds and crops after harvest. The goal of this project was to determine the optimal rate of metam-K for the effective termination of tomato, pepper, and established weeds such as purple nutsedge, goosegrass, and dogfennel. Tomato, pepper, and purple nutsedge at bed center were effectively terminated with the metam-K rate of 65 kg ha−1. Optimal rates required for the termination of goosegrass and dogfennel were 91 and 156 kg ha−1, respectively. In contrast, metam-K at 500 to 680 kg ha−1 was required to terminate purple nutsedge on bed edges. The reduced efficacy of metam-K at bed edge might be related to the limited movement of metam-K in soil.

Information on safe water, sanitation and hand washing obtained in large scale surveys are used to validate its responsiveness to childhood ailments. Definition of these variables are uniform to enable comparison within and across countries and devoid of the context and circumstance. Associating these variables with prevalence of diarrhoea overlooking the context seem to distort the relationship and lead to spurious results. An empirical verification of such an association in an Indian context based on the most recently conducted NFHS-4 data set brings to the fore apparent contradictions that cautions on the use of these variables as they are obtained. It calls for a redefinition of these variables prior to verifying their responsiveness to childhood diarrhoea as illustrated here.

Diarrhoeal disease is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children and is usually measured at individual level. Shared household attributes, such as improved water supply and sanitation, expose those living in the same household to these same risk factors for diarrhoea. The occurrence of diarrhoea in two or more children in the same household is termed ‘diarrhoea clustering’. The aim of this study was to examine the role of improved water supply and sanitation in the occurrence of diarrhoea, and the clustering of diarrhoea in households, among under-five children in India. Data were taken from the fourth round of the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-4), a nationally representative survey which interviewed 699,686 women from 601,509 households in the country. If any child was reported to have diarrhoea in a household in the 2 weeks preceding the survey, the household was designated a diarrhoeal household. Household clustering of diarrhoea was defined the occurrence of diarrhoea in more than one child in households with two or more children. The analysis was done at the household level separately for diarrhoeal households and clustering of diarrhoea in households. The presence of clustering was tested using a chi-squared test. The overall prevalences of diarrhoea and clustering of diarrhoea were examined using exogenous variables. Odds ratios, standardized to allow comparison across categories, were computed. The household prevalence of diarrhoea was 12% and that of clustering of diarrhoea was 2.4%. About 6.5% of households contributed 12.6% of the total diarrhoeal cases. Access to safe water and sanitation was shown to have a great impact on reducing diarrhoeal prevalence and clustering across different household groups. Safe water alone had a greater impact on reducing the prevalence in the absence of improved sanitation when compared with the presence of improved sanitation. It may be possible to reduce the prevalence of diarrhoea in households by targeting those households with more than one child in the under-five age group with the provision of safe water and improved sanitation.

Existing histories of public health in Iran often center on elite or urban narratives. This paper shifts the focus to Iran’s villages by examining the twentieth century public health history of rural northern Khuzestan. It argues that Khuzestani villagers desired, rather than resisted, modern medical services. However, vertical decision-making and the prioritization given by public health planners to economic concerns over social well-being led to the uneven distribution of services and failure to fulfill the expectations of Khuzestan’s villagers. This paper uses memoirs, official reports, correspondence, and other records from the Development & Resources Corporation, along with reports from Iran’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health, to bring a richer picture of Iranian villagers’ twentieth century history into focus.

Many developing countries lack universal sanitation services for residents. Years of inappropriate disposal of solid waste and wastewater have increased the potential for devastating environmental and health issues. An economic valuation of sanitation services may help in planning investment projects by demonstrating the benefits that households derive from having access to improved sanitation. We examine Guatemala as a case study and employ a series of hedonic models to estimate the value that households in Guatemala assign to the sanitation services of solid waste collection and connections to sewer infrastructure. Findings indicate that residents are willing to pay higher rents for both wastewater and solid waste removal. Policy implications are discussed.