No description available.

No description available.

Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine that causes major losses to pig production. CSF virus is a member of the genus Pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae and is closely related antigenically to other Pestiviruses, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) virus and Border Disease (BD) virus. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), CSF has been recognised as a disease that causes significant loss to the smallholder pig sector. However, there exists in Laos a deficiency in fully understanding the epidemiology and impact of CSF, together with limitations in being able to reliably detect CSF outbreaks in a timely manner. (For complete abstract open document)

This thesis examines the trajectory and role of development within the context of transition from a command to market economy, in a northern region of the Lao PDR. It looks at how the long-term effects of development interventions have contributed to a context of regional integration where the role of foreign investment and the private sector are increasing. In particular, it examines the role of development interventions in the processes of diversification and differentiation that accompany market integration. The village of Ban Jai illustrates this process as a site where despite the failures of development projects a diversification of livelihoods have developed. The implementation of UNDP projects in Ban Jai raises questions regarding the role of international projects and suggests that rather than alleviating poverty they produce a chain of effects that contribute to the tensions that result from structural changes to the village household economy. My analysis examines the tensions produced by such shifts and how villagers negotiate their engagement with the market economy. The experience of women traders illustrates how relations of solidarity are reworked in an attempt to negotiate tensions produced through processes of market integration. As structural shifts take place with increasing economic integration, international agencies also respond in particular ways by shifting strategies. I also ask what changes shifts in strategy introduce at the local level and how this intersects with the way policies are rationalized by local officials and the UNDP. An examination of this trajectory over a period of two decades, suggests that changing strategies in development have involved a shifting role between international development organizations and the private sector. I ask what kind of context this intersection of structural shifts, policy shifts and institutional shifts produces on the ground and how such shifts are negotiated locally.

Contexte : Environ 257 millions de personnes dans le monde sont infectées de manière chronique par le virus de l'hépatite B (VHB). La transmission mère-enfant représente la majorité des nouveaux porteurs chroniques du VHB, en particulier en Asie. Le VHB peut être transmis in utero, lors de l'accouchement ou pendant la petite enfance voire plus tard. Environ 80 à 90% des nourrissons infectés à la naissance développent une infection chronique par le VHB avec le risque élevé de développer de graves complications, notamment une fibrose du foie, une cirrhose, un carcinome hépatocellulaire jusqu’à un décès lié au foie à l’âge adulte. Nous avons évalué la proportion des enfants immunisés avec succès dans deux grands hôpitaux de Vientiane, en République démocratique populaire lao, où l’immunoglobuline HB (HBIg) n’est pas disponible. Méthodes : Nous avons étudié une cohorte prospective de femmes enceintes infectées par le VHB et de leurs enfants jusqu'à six mois après la naissance de janvier 2015 à mars 2017. Tous les nourrissons ont reçu le vaccin anti-HB à la naissance et six, 10 et 14 semaines après la naissance. Le statut d’infection par le VHB chez l’enfant a été évalué à l’âge de 6 mois. Le séquençage du gène de surface du VHB a été effectué chez des couples mère-enfant infectés. Résultats : Sur 153 mères ayant été dépistées positives pour l'antigène de surface HB (AgHBs), 60 (39%) avaient l'antigène HBe (AgHBe) positif. Les femmes enceintes ayant AgHBe-positif étaient plus jeunes que les femmes ayant d’AgHBe négatif ((âge médian 26 versus 28 ans; p = 0,02). et avaient une charge virale du VHB significativement plus élevée à l'accouchement (médiane 8,0 versus 4,0 log10 UI / mL, p <0,001). Au total, 141 nouveau-nés, dont une paire de jumeaux, sont nés pendant l'étude. Parmi les 112 nouveau-nés pour lesquels l’information concernant le délai entre la naissance et l’heure d’administration du vaccin contre le VHB était disponible, 110 (98%) ont reçu le vaccin dans les 24 heures suivant la naissance. Le délai médian entre la naissance et l'administration du vaccin était de 6 heures (EI 3 à 13), avec 95 (72%) dans les 12 heures suivant la naissance. Un nouveau-né a reçu le vaccin 26 heures après la naissance car le vaccin n'était pas disponible dans la salle d'accouchement et un autre nouveau-né a reçu le vaccin 3 jours après la naissance car, en raison d'une détresse respiratoire sévère à la naissance, le vaccin a été considéré comme contre-indiqué. Parmi les 120 enfants évalués à l'âge de 6 mois, 5 (4%) étaient positifs pour AgHBs et présentaient une charge virale détectable pour le VHB par réaction en chaîne avec une polymérase. Tous sont nés de mères ayant l’AgHBe positif et une charge virale> 8,5 log10 UI / mL. Cependant, seulement quatre enfants (3,3%, IC à 95%, 0,5% à 7,0%) avaient une souche virale étroitement apparentée à celle de leur mère. Des mutations du gène de surface du VHB (G145G/R, G145G/A, M133T, M133I) ont été détectées chez 4 des 5 enfants infectés. Le taux d'anticorps anti-HBs était supérieur à 10 UI / L chez 105 nourrissons (88%) à l'âge de 6 mois. Conclusions : La transmission de la mère à l'enfant s'est produite moins souvent que ce que nous avions prévu en absence de l'utilisation de HBIg. L’ajout d’une prophylaxie par HBIg et / ou antivirale maternelle aurait pu prévenir certaines de ces infections. L'observation du taux d'anticorps anti-HBs non satisfait chez 9% des enfants non infectés à 6 mois souligne la nécessité d'améliorer les procédures d'immunisation universelles / Background: An estimated 257 million people are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide. Mother-to-child transmission accounts for the majority of new chronic HBV carriers, especially in Asia. HBV can be transmitted in utero, during delivery or during infancy and later. About 80–90% of infants infected at birth will develop a chronic HBV infection, and will have a high risk of developing serious complications including liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related death during adult age. We aimed at assessing the percentage of infants successfully immunized in two major hospitals in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) where HB immune globulin (HBIg) is not available. Methods: We studied a prospective cohort of chronically HBV infected pregnant women and their infants until 6 months post-partum from January 2015 to March 2017. All infants received the HB vaccine at birth and 6, 10 and 14 weeks thereafter, and their HBV status was assessed at 6 months of age. HBV surface gene sequencing was performed in infected mother-infant pairs.Results: Of 153 mothers with HB surface antigen (HBsAg), 60 (39%) had detectable serum HBe antigen (HBeAg). HBeAg positive pregnant women were younger than those negative (median age 26 versus 28 years; p=0.02) and had a significantly higher HBV viral load at delivery (median 8.0 versus 4.0 log10 IU/mL, p <0.001). A total of 141 infants including a pair of twins were included in the study and information at the time of vaccine administration after birth was available for 112 newborns. Of these, 110 (98%) received the HepB-BD within 24 hours after birth. One newborn received the vaccine 26 hours after birth because the vaccine was not available at the delivery room, and another newborn 3 days after birth due to fetal distress, which was erroneously considered to be a vaccine contra-indication. Among the 120 infants assessed at 6 months of age, 5 (4%) were positive for HBsAg and had a detectable HBV viral load by polymerase chain reaction. All were born to mothers with HBeAg and a viral load >8.5 log10 IU/mL. However, only four (3.3%, 95% CI 0.5% to 7.0 %) had a virus strain closely related to their mother’s strain. HBV surface gene mutations were detected in 4 of the 5 infected infants (G145G/R, G145G/A, M133T, M133I). Anti-HBs antibody level was above 10 IU/L in 105 (88%) infants at 6 months of age. Conclusions: Mother-to-child transmission occurred less frequently than expected without the use of HBIg. Adding HBIg and/or maternal antiviral prophylaxis may have prevented some of these infections. The observation of unsatisfactory levels of anti-HBs antibodies in 9% of the uninfected infants at 6 months highlights the need for improvement of the universal immunization procedures

The aim of this study is to examine socio-economic transformation and gender relations in Lao PDR after the adoption of economic liberalization by the Lao government in the late 1980s. Against a background of general socio-economic transformation in Laos the main focus of the study is on the local level, with emphasis on how people in their everyday lives have engaged with and handled the changes. The application of economic liberalization shaped new conditions for people in local communities, and various livelihoods strategies were adopted under the new circumstances. The study examines gender relations, livelihoods and actors of change in two different contexts of globalization. The first context is the case of foreign direct investment in the Sepone mine, the largest gold-copper mine in the country located in Vilabury district, Savannakhet province. Five villages located close to the mine and directly affected by the operation were chosen as research site. The second case is the context of international tourism development in the small town of Vang Vieng, situated halfway between Vientiane Capital and the world heritage town of Luangprabang. The purpose with the two case studies is to examine how changes take place in different places of the same country under the same political direction and development policy. The study is inspired by theories of space and place and the view that phenomena are place-based and different places are constituted by different socio-spatial relations. The findings show that profound changes took place both in the economic and social-cultural spheres, including in gender relations. The two contexts experienced different processes of changes: in the context of Vilabury district, the transformation was produced through top-down development and created a dependency pattern where new social inequalities and social stratification emerged through unequal access to the new resources of the villagers. In the context of Vang Vieng and the expansion of international tourism, the development process proceeded more through a bottom-up pattern; the villagers perceived they were important actors of development, had more equal access to resources and could define livelihood strategies by themselves.

<p>In the wake of state borders becoming more porous the flows of people crossing them in search for opportunities have increased. This trend is evident in Greater Mekong Sub region where the economic boom of Thailand attracts thousands of migrant workers every year from neighboring countries making Thai industries dependent on the cheap labor. Alongside these developments, human trafficking, the slave trade of our time, has emerged as an increasing challenge.</p><p>In Lao PDR the historic ties to Thailand make for a long history of cross-border relations and flows. With the relative economic differences, labor migration to the richer neighbor is becoming an accepted way of improving family conditions. However, the risks involved, exploitation and trafficking, are not widely known in the communities.</p><p>Counter-trafficking work in Lao PDR has been evolving over the passed 10 years. This study has, through an ethnographic approach to organizational work combined with reflections and observations, tried to create a picture of the counter-trafficking work on the ground. Using semi-structured interviews projects, aims and assumptions could be derived and three main problems identified: Trafficking is hard to separate from labor migration, thus making it hard to effectively target; there is a dissonance between perceived and actual inter-sector communication, and; the trafficking sector is isolated from other sectors as dialogue across sector borders appear to be nonexistent. Reasons given for these discords mainly came down to dependency on donors and a need to meet their requirements. Essentially it seems that organizations working with this open-border phenomenon are rigidly closed to each other.</p>

This thesis examines the trajectory and role of development within the context of transition from a command to market economy, in a northern region of the Lao PDR. It looks at how the long-term effects of development interventions have contributed to a context of regional integration where the role of foreign investment and the private sector are increasing. In particular, it examines the role of development interventions in the processes of diversification and differentiation that accompany market integration. The village of Ban Jai illustrates this process as a site where despite the failures of development projects a diversification of livelihoods have developed. The implementation of UNDP projects in Ban Jai raises questions regarding the role of international projects and suggests that rather than alleviating poverty they produce a chain of effects that contribute to the tensions that result from structural changes to the village household economy. My analysis examines the tensions produced by such shifts and how villagers negotiate their engagement with the market economy. The experience of women traders illustrates how relations of solidarity are reworked in an attempt to negotiate tensions produced through processes of market integration. As structural shifts take place with increasing economic integration, international agencies also respond in particular ways by shifting strategies. I also ask what changes shifts in strategy introduce at the local level and how this intersects with the way policies are rationalized by local officials and the UNDP. An examination of this trajectory over a period of two decades, suggests that changing strategies in development have involved a shifting role between international development organizations and the private sector. I ask what kind of context this intersection of structural shifts, policy shifts and institutional shifts produces on the ground and how such shifts are negotiated locally.

Pluralities of people s crossings of the Mekong Thai-Lao border occur as locals subvert, reject, ignore, and embrace the logic of the national border. From a state-centric point of view, the everyday movements of these people, who rely mainly on a subsistence economy and have their own modes of crossing, are undocumented. I argue that people s mobility co-exists with the practice of sedentary assumption. The aim of this thesis is to promote theory related to the Third Space in Borderland Studies by the presentation and analysis of people s pluralities in border-crossings. The borderland area of Khong Chiam (Thailand)-Sanasomboun (Lao PDR) is the location of an in-between state in which spatial negotiations, temporal negotiations, and negotiations of political subjectivities contribute to the nature of mobility in the Third Space. To achieve the objective of this thesis, ethnographic methodology was used over six months of fieldwork from March to September 2016, and included participant observations, interviews and essay-readings that involved 110 participants in the borderland site. People s movements across the Mekong River border occur daily without formal state approval. From the perspective of the Thai Ban, the river is a lived space in which they catch food and use for transport. However, their interpretation of the Mekong as the state boundary does not completely disappear. This thesis examines the everyday banal pluralities of the Thai Ban s border-crossings by weaving together the three concepts of space, temporality, and negotiations of political subjectivities. The spatial and temporal negotiations involved in the border-crossings shape and are shaped by this other interpretation of the Mekong as a lived space, and different political subjectivities contribute to the pluralities of the crossings. The presentation of these pluralities of border-crossings adds to Borderland Studies specifically and the social sciences in general in the development of an understanding of the Third Space. As this thesis focuses on people s mobility at quasi-state checkpoints and in areas along the Mekong Thai-Lao border with no border checkpoints, it is suggested that future research examines the everyday practices of border-crossings at land borders.

In the wake of state borders becoming more porous the flows of people crossing them in search for opportunities have increased. This trend is evident in Greater Mekong Sub region where the economic boom of Thailand attracts thousands of migrant workers every year from neighboring countries making Thai industries dependent on the cheap labor. Alongside these developments, human trafficking, the slave trade of our time, has emerged as an increasing challenge. In Lao PDR the historic ties to Thailand make for a long history of cross-border relations and flows. With the relative economic differences, labor migration to the richer neighbor is becoming an accepted way of improving family conditions. However, the risks involved, exploitation and trafficking, are not widely known in the communities. Counter-trafficking work in Lao PDR has been evolving over the passed 10 years. This study has, through an ethnographic approach to organizational work combined with reflections and observations, tried to create a picture of the counter-trafficking work on the ground. Using semi-structured interviews projects, aims and assumptions could be derived and three main problems identified: Trafficking is hard to separate from labor migration, thus making it hard to effectively target; there is a dissonance between perceived and actual inter-sector communication, and; the trafficking sector is isolated from other sectors as dialogue across sector borders appear to be nonexistent. Reasons given for these discords mainly came down to dependency on donors and a need to meet their requirements. Essentially it seems that organizations working with this open-border phenomenon are rigidly closed to each other.