Iran-Made Nano-Based Flooring Prevents Spread of Malta Fever, Other Infections
Making a nanotechnology product with disinfection features makes it possible for livestock and humans to be protected from common diseases that threaten them.
Zohreh Karimian, an Assistant Professor of the Health Department and Vice-President of Medical Sciences of the Islamic Azad University’s Shahr-e Kord branch, told ANA that the disinfectant flooring is a nanotechnology product.
“As you know, brucellosis is a common disease between animals and humans. One of the ways to transmit brucellosis disease is through the traffic of vehicles in slaughterhouses and livestock farms, and the disinfectant flooring can be effective in disinfecting vehicle tires and preventing the transmission of disease outside livestock and slaughterhouses,” she noted.
Karimian underlined that in addition to the disinfection feature, this multi-layer flooring also enjoys the possibility of self-cleaning with the help of nanotechnology.
Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever.
The bacteria causing this disease, Brucella, are small, Gram-negative, nonmotile, nonspore-forming, rod-shaped (coccobacilli) bacteria. They function as facultative intracellular parasites, causing chronic disease, which usually persists for life. Four species infect humans: B. abortus, B. canis, B. melitensis, and B. suis. B. abortus is less virulent than B. melitensis and is primarily a disease of cattle. B. canis affects dogs. B. melitensis is the most virulent and invasive species; it usually infects goats and occasionally sheep. B. suis is of intermediate virulence and chiefly infects pigs.
Symptoms include profuse sweating and joint and muscle pain. Brucellosis has been recognized in animals and humans since the early 20th century.
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