Antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Dublin from dairy source calves in the central San Joaquin Valley, California (1998-2002)

The present study describes antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Dublin (S. Dublin) in clinical submissions from calves and temporal and farm-type trends in antimicrobial resistance patterns of the isolates. A total of 300 isolates of S. Dublin were obtained from fecal or internal organs of calves fewer than 120 days of age originating from 84 dairies and 18 calf ranches from July 1998 to December 2002. The isolates were susceptibility tested to a panel of 10 antimicrobials using the disk diffusion assay. Temporal and farm-type trends in individual antimicrobial inhibition zone sizes were assessed and antimicrobial resistance patterns were described using cluster analysis. Isolates obtained from calf ranches compared with dairies exhibited decreased susceptibility to florfenicol, gentamicin, neomycin, sulfisoxazole, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and tetracycline. During the years 1998-2002, decreasing susceptibility was seen for ceftiofur, enrofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim. There were 20 different antimicrobial resistance patterns in the isolate set, indicating that S. Dublin has the ability to transfer and pick up resistance genes with relative ease. The trends seen in antimicrobial resistance in S. Dublin may likely be linked to antimicrobial drug use in young calves.     

Packed red blood cell transfusions in dogs with gastrointestinal hemorrhage: 55 cases (1999-2001)

Fifty-five dogs received packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusions for gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage during a 26-month period (1999 to 2001), accounting for 11.7% of the PRBC transfusions in that time. Thirty-nine (61%) dogs had an intestinal pathology (primary or secondary) as the cause of GI hemorrhage, including intestinal masses, gastroenteritis, hepatic disease, and renal disease. Nonsteroidal and steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use was found frequently in dogs with GI hemorrhage. Sixteen (39%) dogs were identified as having immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (IMT) and associated GI hemorrhage. Dogs with IMT received more transfusions of PRBC than nonIMT dogs (P<0.03) and received a significantly larger total volume of PRBC (P<0.01) during hospitalization.     

Socio-economic factors influencing control of vector-borne diseases in the pastoralist system of south western Uganda

Research in control of tick-borne diseases and trypanosomosis, and their vectors, namely, ticks and tsetse flies respectively, has been on going for decades. However, very little attention has been paid to the socio-economic factors that are likely to influence the outcome of the interventions in the control of these diseases. Thus, this study was designed to investigate these factors, mainly the intra-household factors influencing decision-making in the control of Vector-borne diseases in the pastoralist areas of Uganda. These factors included: indigenous technical knowledge, household economic factors, and gender. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the collection and analysis of data. The tools used for data collection included among others, participatory learning and action (PLA), and Case studies. The findings included the following: In pastoralist households, a big proportion of the household budget was allocated to vector-borne diseases control. In the male-headed households, men dominated decision-making on vector-borne diseases control, although the goals and priorities of men and women in these households were not the same. Also, vector-borne disease control was predominantly by use of modern veterinary drugs, and pastoralists treated sick cattle by themselves even in situations where there were veterinary personnel.     

Vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease: the implications for Canada

Vaccination of susceptible animals against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a well established strategy for helping to combat the disease. Traditionally, FMD vaccine has been used to control a disease incursion in countries where the disease has been endemic rather than in countries considered free of the disease. In 2001, the use of vaccine was considered but not implemented in the United Kingdom (1), whereas vaccine was used to help to control FMD in The Netherlands (2,3). Canadian contingency plans provide for the use of vaccine; Canada is a member of the North American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank, which could supply vaccine if needed. This article explains why Canada might use FMD vaccine to combat an outbreak and the factors that are relevant to the disposal of vaccinated animals and their products. It concludes that vaccination is an important mechanism in Canada's preparedness for an outbreak of FMD and that products from vaccinated animals are safe for human consumption.     

Perceptions of risk, risk aversion, and barriers to adoption of decision support systems and integrated pest management: an introduction

Rational management of plant diseases, both economically and environmentally, involves assessing risks and the costs associated with both correct and incorrect tactical management decisions to determine when control measures are warranted. Decision support systems can help to inform users of plant disease risk and thus assist in accurately targeting events critical for management. However, in many instances adoption of these systems for use in routine disease management has been perceived as slow. The under-utilization of some decision support systems is likely due to both technical and perception constraints that have not been addressed adequately during development and implementation phases. Growers' perceptions of risk and their aversion to these perceived risks can be reasons for the "slow" uptake of decision support systems and, more broadly, integrated pest management (IPM). Decision theory provides some tools that may assist in quantifying and incorporating subjective and/or measured probabilities of disease occurrence or crop loss into decision support systems. Incorporation of subjective probabilities into IPM recommendations may be one means to reduce grower uncertainty and improve trust of these systems because management recommendations could be explicitly informed by growers' perceptions of risk and economic utility. Ultimately though, we suggest that an appropriate measure of the value and impact of decision support systems is grower education that enables more skillful and informed management decisions independent of consultation of the support tool outputs.     

The spore coat of the bean anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is required for adhesion, appressorium development and pathogenicity

The spores (conidia) of the bean anthracnose fungal pathogen, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, adhere to the aerial parts of plants to initiate the infection process. In previous studies we have shown that the Colletotrichum spores are surrounded by a fibrillar spore coat, comprising several major glycoproteins. Previous evidence showed that a monoclonal antibody (UB20) that recognised these glycoproteins was able to inhibit adhesion of spores to a hydrophobic surface. In this paper we have further studied the role of the spore coat in adhesion, germination and fungal development by studying the effects of UB20 and protease treatment of spores. The latter treatment has previously been shown to remove the spore coat. Spores germinate on glass, polystyrene and water agar, however, appressoria only develop on glass or polystyrene, showing a requirement for a hard surface. Removal of the spore coat with protease inhibits adhesion at 30 min, before the secretion of ECM glycoproteins. Protease treatment also inhibits the development of appressoria and reduces pathogenicity on leaves. Incubation of spores with the MAb UB20 inhibits adhesion at 30 min, but does not affect appressorium formation or pathogenicity. The results suggest that an intact spore coat has two functions; it is required for adhesion to a hydrophobic surface and for the detection of a hard surface necessary for appressorium formation. We suggest that contact with a hard surface, rather than adhesion, is the key event leading to appressorium formation.     

Optimizing aphid biocontrol with the predator Aphidoletes aphidimyza,based on biology and ecology

Aphidoletes aphidimyza is one of the most important predators used in the augmentative biological control of aphids, key pests of many crops worldwide. Adult females are very efficient in locating aphid infestations over a relatively long range, up to 45 m, and deposit eggs near or within aphid colonies. The predatory larvae are aphid generalists preying on several agriculturally important aphid species. The successful use of this biocontrol agent in agricultural systems depends on several biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic factors, aphid species, plant structure, interspecific competition and intraguild predation may significantly impact the predator´s population dynamics. Key abiotic conditions include day lengths (above a critical threshold to prevent diapause), availability of mating sites in the crop, temperature (above 15 °C to enable egg laying), air relative humidity (above 70%) and availability of pupation sites. Although several successes have been reported in open field crops with naturally occurring or released populations, commercial releases are primarily used in protected crops. Optimized emergence boxes combining provisioning of food sources for the adults, integration with the technological advances that occurred in the greenhouse environment lately, insights into the nutritional ecology in open field crops and exploration of the genetic variability are proposed as future directions to improve adoption and efficacy of A. aphidimyza in crop protection. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Isolation and molecular characterization of entomopathogenic nematode,Heterorhabditis sp. from an arable land in Nigeria

The occurrence of entomopathogenic nematodes(EPNs) in arable soil samples from Nigeria was investigated using Baermann extraction tray and insect-bait(White's trap) techniques. Isolates were tested for infectivity using the larvae of Galleria mellonella(greater moth) and Tenebrio molitor(mealworm). The study revealed a new species of Heterorhabditis(MT371593) in soil samples that were randomly collected from an arable farmland cultivated with cassava TMS-30572 at the Teaching and Research Farm of Landmark University, Nigeria. Amplification of the internal transcribed spacer region(ITS) of the ribosomal DNA produced a nucleotide sequence of 933 base pairs(bp). A BLASTN search of Gen Bank showed that the sequence of the Nigerian isolate is identical at 99% similarity to that of Heterorhabditis sp. from Thailand. Infectivity test of the isolate showed 100% mortality against T. molitor larvae within 48 h of exposure while only 80% mortality was recorded for G. mellonella after 1 week of exposure. This is the first account of Heterorhabditis sp. in Nigeria. The varying degrees of infectivity against mealworm and greater moth observed in this study proved that the Nigerian isolate of Heterorhabditis sp. could potentially be an attractive option in the management of insect pests of cash crops.