The sero‐epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) across livestock species and herding contexts in Laikipia County,Kenya

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Query fever (Q fever), is among the most highly infectious zoonotic pathogens transmitted among livestock, with chronic effects challenging to veterinary and medical detection and care systems. Transmission among domestic livestock species can vary regionally due to herd management practices that determine which livestock species are raised, whether or not livestock are in contact with wildlife, and the susceptibility of these livestock to infection. To explore how different livestock management practices are associated with the risk of infection in multispecies environments, we carried out a comparative study of three types of herd management systems in the central Kenyan county of Laikipia: agro‐commercial, mixed conservancy/commercial, and smallholder ranches. We tested C. burnetii antibody seroprevalence in four common livestock species. Across all management types, the highest seroprevalence was in camels (20%), followed by goats (18%), sheep (13%), and cattle (6%). We observed a lower odds of testing seropositive for young compared to adult animals (adjusted OR = 0.44 [95% CI 0.24, 0.76]), and for males compared to females (adjusted OR = 0.52 [95% CI 0.33, 0.80]). Animals from mixed conservancy/commercial and smallholder operations had a higher odds of testing seropositive compared to animals from agro‐commercial ranches (adjusted OR = 5.17 [95% CI 2.71, 10.44] and adjusted OR = 2.21 [95% CI 1.17, 4.43] respectively). These data suggest that herd management practices might affect the transmission dynamics of C. burnetiiin arid African ecosystems like those seen in Kenya where several transmission modes are possible, risk of drought has promoted new livestock species such as camels, and multiple wildlife species may co‐occur with livestock on the landscape. Further longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the mechanisms underlying these patterns, and further explore transmission patterns between wildlife, domestic animal, and human populations.     

Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serovars in apparently healthy slaughtered sheep and goats of central Ethiopia

The present study was undertaken to determine the occurrence, distribution and antimicrobial resistance pattern of Salmonella serovars in apparently healthy slaughtered sheep and goats in central Ethiopia. A total 1224 samples consisting of faeces, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and abdominal and diaphragmatic muscle samples were collected from 104 sheep and 100 goats. Salmonella was isolated from 12 of 104 (11.5%) sheep and 3 of 100 (3%) goats. Of the total 624 and 600 samples examined from sheep and goats, 18 (2.9%) and 4 (0.7%), respectively, were Salmonella positive. The 22 Salmonella isolates belonged to 9 different serovars. The common serovars isolated were S. typhimurium, followed by S. heidelberg, S. reading, S. give, and S. poona. Seven of the 22 isolates (31.8%) were multidrug-resistant to various antimicrobials.     

Effect of detomidine on visceral and somatic nociception and duodenal motility in conscious adult horses

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of detomidine on visceral and somatic nociception, heart and respiratory rates, sedation, and duodenal motility and to correlate these effects with serum detomidine concentrations.Study designNonrandomized, experimental trial.AnimalsFive adult horses, each with a permanent gastric cannula weighing 534 ± 46 kg.MethodsVisceral nociception was evaluated by colorectal (CRD) and duodenal distension (DD). The duodenal balloon was used to assess motility. Somatic nociception was assessed via thermal threshold (TT). Nose–to–ground (NTG) height was used as a measure of sedation. Serum was collected for pharmacokinetic analysis. Detomidine (10 or 20 μg kg^?1) was administered intravenously. Data were analyzed by means of a three–factor anova with fixed factors of treatment and time and random factor of horse. When a significant time × treatment interaction was detected, differences were compared with a simple t–test or Bonferroni t–test. Significance was set at p < 0.05.ResultsDetomidine produced a significant, dose–dependent decrease in NTG height, heart rate, and skin temperature and a significant, nondose–dependent decrease in respiratory rate. Colorectal distension threshold was significantly increased with 10 μg kg^?1 for 15 minutes and for at least 165 minutes with 20 μg kg^?1. Duodenal distension threshold was significantly increased at 15 minutes for the 20 μg kg^?1 dose. A significant change in TT was not observed at either dose. A marked, immediate decrease in amplitude of duodenal contractions followed detomidine administration at both doses for 50 minutes.Conclusions and clinical relevanceDetomidine caused a longer period of visceral anti–nociception as determined by CRD but a shorter period of anti–nociception as determined by DD than has been previously reported. The lack of somatic anti–nociception as determined by TT testing may be related to the marked decrease in skin temperature, likely caused by peripheral vasoconstriction and the low temperature cut–off of the testing device.     

Assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of circulating natriuretic peptide concentrations to distinguish between cats with cardiac and non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress

ObjectivesTo determine if serum natriuretic peptide (NP) concentrations could distinguish cardiac from non-cardiac causes of respiratory distress (RD) in cats.AnimalsSeventy-four cats from 1 university hospital were used.MethodsSerum NP concentrations were measured in 41 cats with non-cardiac respiratory distress (RD-NC) and compared to 33 cats with RD due to congestive heart failure (RD + CHF) using sandwich enzyme immunoassays (ELISA).ResultsRD-NC cats had lower (P = 0.0001) median NT-proANP and NT-proBNP concentrations (614 and 45 fmol/mL, respectively) than RD + CHF cats (1690 and 523 fmol/mL, respectively). The area under the curve was 0.88 and 0.96 for the receiver operating curve analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of NT-proANP and NT-proBNP concentrations to discriminate RD + CHF from RD-NC cats (P = 0.036). An optimum cut-off concentration of 986 fmol/mL for NT-proANP and 220 fmol/mL for NT-proBNP accurately discriminated RD-NC from RC + CHF cats with a sensitivity of 93.8% and 93.9% and a specificity of 80.3% and 87.8%, respectively.ConclusionsSerum NP concentrations were different in RD + CHF cats compared to RD-NC cats. Evaluation of circulating NP concentrations may be helpful in the initial approach to cats presenting with respiratory distress, particularly if advances in ELISA technology result in a rapid cage-side test.