Bovine brucellosis in the southern regions of the Somali Democratic Republic

Summary For the first time a survey of the prevalence of bovine brucellosis in three regions of the Democratic Republic of Somalia has been carried out. Blood sera were tested by the SAT and CFT and milk samples by the MRT. An average prevalence rate of 9.5 per cent (SAT) and 12.0 per cent (MRT) was found. There were considerable differences between regions and the reasons for this are discussed.

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Brucelosis Bovina En Las Regiones Meridionales De La Reúpblica Democrática De Somalía

Resumen Una encuesta epidemilógica sobre la prevalencia de brucelosis se Ilevó a cabo por primera vez en tres regiones meridionales de la república democrática de Somalía.El suero sanguíneo se analizó mediante las pruebas SAT y CFT y las muestras de leche mediante la prueba MRT. Se encontro una prevalencia promedia de 9.5 por ciento (SAT) y 12.0 por ciento (MRT). Se encontraron diferencias considerables entre regiones lo cual se discute en el trabajo.

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La Brucellose Bovine Dans Les Régions Sud De La République Démocratique De Somalie

Résumé L'existence de la brucellose bovine est signalée pour la première fois en République démocratique de Somalie. Des échantillons de sang ont été testés par les techniques du SAT et du CFT et des échantillons de lait par le MRT. 9 p. 100 par le SAT et 12 p. 100 par le MRT ont été trouvés.Il existe entre les régions de larges différences dont les raisons sont discutées.

     

Bovine cysticercosis in Denmark. A study of possible causes of infection in farms with heavily infected animals

Epidemiological studies were made on 14 farms from which, during a 2 year period, 38 cattle had been condemned at slaughter, due to massive infections with Cysticercus bovis. By on-site investigations and interviews, attempts were made to identify the transmission routes of Taenia saginata eggs from human faeces into the environment and further on to cattle. The most frequent sources of infection were found to be sludge from septic tanks illegally applied on pasture or crops, in some cases after having been mixed with animal slurry. Animals in permanently housed herds were infected through the fodder or by contamination of the indoor environment by such slurry containing Taenia eggs. Other herds were infected by grazing pastures in close proximity to municipal sewage treatment plants. In contrast to earlier Danish observations, application on farmland of sewage sludge from municipal treatment plants was not involved in any of the reported outbreaks. This apparent change coincides with the implementation of more restrictive legislation for the agricultural use of sewage sludge in Denmark.     

An epizootic of bovine cysticercosis.

In March, 1973, a large feedlot near Phoenix, AZ, reported an increased incidence of bovine cysticercosis. Approximately 10% of cattle sent to slaughter from January to April, 1973, were infected with the cysticercus stage of Taenia saginata. One employee who worked at the feed mill and loaded hay in the fields was also found to be infected with T saginata. Recommendations for control of similar epizootics included educating employees about mode of transmission and improved personal hygiene, the inauguration of a surveillance program that included examination of employees prior to employment and periodically thereafter, maintenance of animal source and destination records, restriction of unauthorized personnel to critical areas, and periodic microbiologic assay of water supply.     

Bovine cysticercosis: preliminary observations on the immunohistochemical detection of Taenia saginata antigens in lymph nodes of an experimentally infected calf

A newly developed immunohistochemical test was used for the first time to demonstrate the presence of Taenia saginata (Cysticercus bovis) antigens in the lymph nodes of a heifer calf experimentally inoculated with Taenia saginata eggs. The new test should aid in the differential diagnosis of eosinophilic lymphadenitis in cattle.     

Vaccines against cysticercosis and hydatidosis.

The recombinant vaccines that have been developed against cysticercosis and hydatidosis in sheep and cattle are remarkable for their effectiveness and are prominent as examples of the very few non-living vaccines against parasitic diseases. Their development has been through practical application of molecular parasitology, utilising immunochemical techniques in antigen identification and recombinant DNA methods in antigen production. This brief overview discusses the contribution of molecular techniques to the successful development of recombinant vaccines against Taenia ovis, Taenia saginata and Echinococcus granulosus as well as the immunological and genomic studies that have arisen from their development.     

A sero-epidemiological study of bovine cysticercosis in Zambia.

A sero-epidemiological study of Taenia saginata cysticercosis was carried out in adult cattle in Zambia to determine the prevalence and study the influence of the farming system on the infection rate. Serum samples were examined for circulating parasite antigen by a monoclonal-based sandwich ELISA. Thirty-eight of 628 serum samples were found positive (prevalence 6.1%). Cysticercosis was significantly more prevalent in feedlots and in traditional farming systems than in dairy farms. It is suggested that the continuous man to animal contact and the use of casual workers in feedlots may be factors that are conductive to T. saginata transmission.     

家兔豆状囊尾蚴病的防治

兔豆状囊尾蚴病是由豆状带绦虫的中绦期幼虫豆状囊尾蚴引起的一种绦虫蚴病,主要寄生于兔的肝脏、肠系膜和腹腔内.豆状囊尾蚴病是家兔常见的寄牛虫病,笔者对其防治措施简要介绍如下,希望能引起养兔专业户的重视,及时采取各种措施,避免该病的发生.     

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus seroprevalence and vaccination usage in dairy and beef herds in the Republic of Ireland

Background

Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is an infectious disease of cattle with a worldwide distribution. Herd-level prevalence varies among European Union (EU) member states, and prevalence information facilitates decision-making and monitoring of progress in control and eradication programmes. The primary objective of the present study was to address significant knowledge gaps regarding herd BVD seroprevalence (based on pooled sera) and control on Irish farms, including vaccine usage.

Methods

Preliminary validation of an indirect BVD antibody ELISA test (Svanova, Biotech AB, Uppsala, Sweden) using pooled sera was a novel and important aspect of the present study. Serum pools were constructed from serum samples of known seropositivity and pools were analysed using the same test in laboratory replicates. The output from this indirect ELISA was expressed as a percentage positivity (PP) value. Results were used to guide selection of a proposed cut-off (PCO) PP. This indirect ELISA was applied to randomly constructed within-herd serum pools, in a cross-sectional study of a stratified random sample of 1,171 Irish dairy and beef cow herds in 2009, for which vaccination status was determined by telephone survey. The herd-level prevalence of BVD in Ireland (percentage positive herds) was estimated in non-vaccinating herds, where herds were classified positive when herd pool result exceeded PCO PP. Vaccinated herds were excluded because of the potential impact of vaccination on herd classification status. Comparison of herd-level classification was conducted in a subset of 111 non-vaccinating dairy herds using the same ELISA on bulk milk tank (BMT) samples. Associations between possible risk factors (herd size (quartiles)) and herd-level prevalence were determined using chi-squared analysis.

Results

Receiver Operating Characteristics Analysis of replicate results in the preliminary validation study yielded an optimal cut-off PP (Proposed Cut-off percentage positivity - PCO PP) of 7.58%. This PCO PP gave a relative sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 98.57% and 100% respectively, relative to the use of the ELISA on individual sera, and was chosen as the optimal cut-off since it resulted in maximization of the prevalence independent Youden’s Index.The herd-level BVD prevalence in non-vaccinating herds was 98.7% (95% CI - 98.3-99.5%) in the cross-sectional study with no significant difference between dairy and beef herds (98.3% vs 98.8%, respectively, p = 0.595).An agreement of 95.4% was found on Kappa analysis of herd serological classification when bulk milk and serum pool results were compared in non-vaccinating herds. 19.2 percent of farmers used BVDV vaccine; 81% of vaccinated herds were dairy. A significant association was found between seroprevalence (quartiles) and herd size (quartiles) (p < 0.01), though no association was found between herd size (quartiles) and herd-level classification based on PCO (p = 0.548).

Conclusions

The results from this study indicate that the true herd-level seroprevalence to Bovine Virus Diarrhoea (BVD) virus in Ireland is approaching 100%. The results of the present study will assist with national policy development, particularly with respect to the national BVD eradication programme which commenced recently.