Virulence traits of avian pathogenic (APEC) and fecal (AFEC) <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> isolated from broiler chickens in Algeria

Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is the etiologic agent of avian colibacillosis, the most common disease responsible for chicken morbidity in the world. Although multiple virulence-associated factors were identified, their prevalence in Algeria is still poorly known. In the present research, 92 avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) isolates were recovered from broilers with clinical signs and lesions of colibacillosis. In addition, 32 E. coli isolates collected from feces of healthy birds (AFEC) were included for comparison. All isolates were investigated by PCR for the presence of a total of 11 virulence-associated genes described for avian pathogenic (iroN, ompT, hlyF, iss, iutA, and fimC) and diarrheagenic E. coli (eae, stx, elt/est, ipaH, and aggR). The sensitivity of 39 APEC isolates to 16 antibiotics was also determined using antimicrobial pretreated microplates. Here, we report that 98% of the examined isolates host at least one of the tested virulence factors. The most prevalent genes in APEC were iutA (90.6%), ompT (86.9%), and iss (85.8%); whereas, iutA (78.1%), fimC (78.1%), and iroN (68.7%) were the highest prevalent genes in AFEC. Our data showed that none of the AFEC isolates harbor any of the tested diarrheagenic genes. Moreover, only elt/est (5.4%), stx (2.1%), and ipaH (2.1%) genes were carried by APEC isolates. We further established that ceftazodime, ceftiofur, mequindox, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and meropenem were the most efficient antibiotics against the analyzed APEC isolates. Overall, our findings provide more insights about APEC and AFEC virulence potential in Algeria which could participate in the fight against colibacillosis.     

Feeding behavior of feedlot lambs fed diets containing levels of cassava wastewater

In this study, we evaluated the effects of including cassava wastewater in the diet on the feeding behavior of feedlot lambs in 35 male uncastrated Santa Inês × Dorper crossbred lambs at an approximate age of 3 months, with an average live weight of 20.0?±?3.4 kg. Diets were formulated with hay of cassava shoots (roughage) and a concentrate based on corn and soybean, with a roughage:concentrate ratio of 50:50, plus inclusion of cassava wastewater at the levels of 0, 12, 24, 36, or 48 g/kg of the total diet. Feeding behavior was evaluated between the 46th and 52nd days of the experiment. Increasing cassava wastewater levels in the diet reduced (P?<?0.05) the intakes (kg/day) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber as well as the efficiency of rumination (g/cud and g/h) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber. The other behavioral parameters were not affected by wastewater inclusion in the diet. Therefore, the inclusion of up to 48 g/kg of cassava wastewater on fresh matter of diets is not recommended for feedlot lambs.     

Prevalence and risk factors of mycobacterial infections in farm and trade cattle in southwestern Nigeria

We evaluated the prevalence of mycobacterial infections (i.e., Mycobacterium bovis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria [NTM]) and their associated risk factors among cattle herds and trade cattle in southwestern Nigeria. Through cross-sectional study design, cattle herds from three locations were screened using the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test based on two diagnostic standards; more than 4 mm (? 4 mm) and more than 2 mm (? 2 mm) cut-off points. Abattoir study involved screening trade cattle for tuberculous lesions. Overall, 515 cattle from 45 herds were screened. Using >?4 mm, animal level and herd prevalence of 11.7 and 46.7% were recorded, respectively. Applying the ? 2 mm cut-off, animal level and herd prevalence increased to 31.1 and 60.0%, respectively. Significantly, using the ? 2 mm cut-off, cattle in medium size herds/extensive management system (OR?=?1.6; 95% CI 1.1–2.5) and Sokoto Gudali (OR?=?2.3; 95% CI 1.4–3.8) were more at risk of being positive reactors, while Rahaji (OR?=?0.3; 95% CI 0.1–0.7) breeds of cattle and cows in the peri-urban area (OR?=?0.4; 95% CI 0.2–0.9) were less at risk of being positive reactors. Again, M. avium reactor of 21.7% was observed. In the abattoir, 1797 cattle were examined with 126 lesions suggestive of tuberculosis (TB). Culture/molecular analyses confirmed 2.2% M. bovis and 0.9% NTM infections. Risk factors associated with bovine TB among trade cattle were sex (OR?=?4.0; 95% CI 1.2–13.5) and age (OR?=?0.3; 95% CI 0.1–0.9). We confirm 11.7% prevalence of mycobacterial infections among populations of cattle screened with breed and herd size being major risk factors.     

紫茎泽兰对萨能奶山羊血常规及重要脏器病理学的影响

紫茎泽兰(Eupatorium adenophorum)在中国作为入侵物种,可造成食草动物中毒死亡,并给畜牧业带巨大的损失。为研究反刍动物采食紫茎泽兰后的中毒机理,本研究探讨了日粮中添加不同剂量的紫茎泽兰对萨能奶山羊(Saanen goat)血常规及肝、脾、肾的病理学影响。选择16只5~6月龄健康萨能奶山羊,随机分成对照组(日粮中未添加紫茎泽兰)和试验Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ组(日粮配比中分别添加紫茎泽兰40%、60%和80%),每组4只。试验Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ组分别饲喂含40%、60%和80%紫茎泽兰的混合日粮3个月,每两周检测一次血常规,试验末屠宰奶山羊,并观察其肝、肾、脾的病理学变化。结果表明,与对照组相比,各试验组血液中的白细胞(white blood cell,)和中性粒细胞(neutrophil,NEUT)均显著升高(P0.05),试验后期极显著高于对照组(P0.01);而各试验组血液中淋巴细胞(lymphocyte,LY)与血红蛋白(hemoglobin,HGB)均呈下降趋势,试验后期均极显著低于对照组(P0.01)。肝和脾肿大,肝组织出现淤血,肝细胞发生水泡变性及脂肪变性等,肾组织伴有出血、坏死、颗粒变性及水泡样变性的现象。因此,本研究结果说明紫茎泽兰对萨能奶山羊血液指标有显著影响,且长期摄入紫茎泽兰可引起动物肝、肾、脾等主要实质器官不同程度的损伤。     

2016年江苏省猪伪狂犬病血清流行病学调查

为了解江苏省猪伪狂犬病病毒（PRV）感染和免疫情况,采用ELISA方法,对2016年采集的2 715份猪血清样品进行PRV gE和gB抗体检测。结果显示：PRV gE样品阳性率为18.49%,场点阳性率为25.07%;PRV gB样品阳性率为55.35%,场点阳性率为70.21%。结果表明：江苏省PRV野毒感染情况较严重,且免疫效果并不理想;各地市的防控效果差异较大;规模场是净化该病的关键。     

社会网络方法在兽医流行病学中的应用

为揭示社会网络方法在兽医流行病学领域的发展趋势,通过对国内外文献进行检索分析,以"社会网络分析或社会网络""兽医学或动物"为关键词,在CNKI和PubMed数据库中检索并整理2000—2017年的相关文献,随后运用内容分析法,从研究主体、研究病种、数据获取、软件应用、指标计算以及数据验证等多个角度,比较国内外社会网络方法在兽医流行病学中的应用。结果显示:社会网络分析起源于20世纪30年代,2005年才被应用到兽医流行病学领域,此后研究热度不断上升,尤其在美国、英国和澳大利亚等国家,且在其带领下逐渐形成了不同国家和学科间的交流体系;研究者更倾向于有重大影响力的动物卫生事件研究;兽医流行病网络研究中可利用的数据和质量有限,因而限制了社会网络方法在兽医流行病学领域的发展;社会网络分析中,使用R软件的占比最高,其次为UCINET软件;社会网络方法虽在兽医流行病学领域起步晚,但研究深度已完成了从理论研究到网络分析及应用的过渡;研究指标仍局限在通过利用网络基本概念和测度来研究个体网络,缺乏对整体网络动态模式的研究。研究结果提示,社会网络方法在兽医流行病学领域的应用还很有限,研究者需要通过加强理论与实际的结合,构建网络时空模型,控制关键点,从而为疫病监测和防控做准备。     

Heritability of the resistance to pepper huasteco yellow vein virus in wild genotypes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Capsicum annuum</Emphasis>

Pepper huasteco yellow vein virus (PHYVV) is the main virus of pepper crop in Mexico. No resistant cultivars are available and resistance breeding is hampered by the lack of knowledge of heritability (h ²) of PHYVV resistance. This is a continuation of previous studies and the objectives were to analyze the h ² and the behavior of the resistant trait to PHYVV. Four resistant assays were done with three resistant wild lines (UAS12, UAS13 and UAS10) of Capsicum annuum in the S4, S5, S6 and S7 generation under greenhouse conditions. Plants from all tests were inoculated with PHYVV through Bemisia tabaci. Line UAS12 was the most resistant showing a significantly proportion of resistant plants, less disease symptoms and longer incubation time, followed by the lines UAS13 and UAS10 in all assays. Distribution of symptoms showed a bimodal tendency in all the trials, suggesting that two groups of genes are involved in this resistance trait. The lines UAS12, UAS13 and UAS10 showed the same pattern of response to selection with an average of h ² of 0.17, 0.06, 0.02 and 0.00 in the S4, S5, S6 and S7, respectively. These results indicate that all lines responded positively to the selection in the S4, S5 and S6, whereas in the S7 there was no response by the possible exhaustion of variation. Line UAS12 is the most promising genotype and the lines UAS13 and UAS10 are genetic resources that can be supplemented to breed the resistance of PHYVV. These results provides basic information for resistance breeding.     

Research Progress on Bacterial Resistance in Environment

Antibiotic resistance genes have become a recognized environmental pollutant, threatening the ecological safety and human health. The application of antibiotics in the clinical and animals breeding, making the environmental microorganisms living with the impact of the residue of antibiotics and elements of resistance genetic and leading to antibiotic resistant bacteria to gain a competitive advantage and destroyed the stability of ecosystem. In this paper, we expounded the concept of resistance gene transmission by the view of macro environment. Through analyzing the mechanism of resistance development,environmental pollution caused by drug resistance and the impact of environmental microorganism for drug resistance, we clarified the key role of the environment in the development of the characteristics of bacterial resistance and analysis environmental resistance.Such as the ecological diversity of flora, the types and the spread of resistant bacteria, the residues of antibiotics and the transmission of the resistance genes.     

Environmental heterogeneity and biotic interactions as potential drivers of spatial patterning of shorebird nests

Context

Species distributions are driven by a wide variety of abiotic and biotic factors, including nest placement for breeding individuals. As such, the spatial distribution of nests within a landscape can reflect environmental heterogeneity, habitat preferences, or even interactions with predators and other species.

Objectives

We determined the extent to which environmental heterogeneity and predation risk accounted for the observed spatial distribution of nests.

Methods

We assessed the spatial distribution of 112 nests of a migratory shorebird, the Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), at Beluga River, Alaska, from 2009 to 2012, and explicitly tested for the relative influence of habitat characteristics and predation risk on nest locations. We also evaluated the effect of nest location, distance to conspecific nests, and proximity to roads on nest fate using 64 nests that were monitored through completion.

Results

Hudsonian Godwit nests were clustered across the landscape despite a lack of significant spatial autocorrelation (i.e., patchiness) in vegetation characteristics at either the micro- or landscape scale. Nest fate also was not predicted by either the distance to the nearest conspecific neighbor or proximity to roads. Thus, neither habitat characteristics nor predation risk explained the clustering of godwit nests.

Conclusions

These results suggest that godwits may select nest locations based more on social cues than underlying heterogeneity in vegetation or predation risk. As such, intra- and inter-specific interactions should be considered when developing management plans for species of conservation concern.

     

A rapid assessment of landscape biodiversity using diversity profiles of arthropod morphospecies

Context

The assessment of land-use impacts on biodiversity is one of the central themes of landscape ecology and conservation biology. However, due to the complexity of biodiversity, it is impossible to obtain complete information about the diversity of all species even for small areas, necessitating the selection of individual species or assemblages thereof as species surrogate. In parts of the world where taxonomic expertise is lacking, species identification has hindered progress in biodiversity conservation, and the only practical, relatively-accurate option, is the use of taxonomic minimalism.

Objective

We carried out a rapid biodiversity assessment based on three surrogates—land-use (driver-surrogate), terrestrial arthropods (species-surrogate) and morphospecies (taxonomic-surrogate)—to determine the impacts of land-use on biodiversity of the Western Region (Ghana), an area covering ~4 % of the West African biodiversity hotspot.

Method

We used diversity profiles to visualize the distribution of a total of 8848 arthropod individuals over seven land-use types which define the complete heterogeneity of the landscape.

Results

Here, we present both sample and asymptotic diversity profiles of arthropod morphospecies for each land-use type and the potential of each land-use type for conserving arthropods.

Conclusions

We conclude that (1) the morphospecies approach is useful for detecting differences in species diversity of land-use types; (2) the concept of asymptotic diversity may not be necessary for land-use based biodiversity comparison; and (3) maximum diversity profiles are useful for determining the land-use conservation values in cases where pristine areas are not available.