Previous reports have suggested that T. orientalis group species may be non-pathogenic in healthy cattle, and an incidental finding in blood samples. However, this investigation provided evidence that in New Zealand, this pathogen is capable of causing clinical disease in cattle not necessarily debilitated by another disease. The potential for disease should be considered when naive cattle are brought in from non-endemic to endemic regions, for instance cattle from the South Island moved to regions where the vector for T. orientalis group species, Haemaphysalis longicornis, is active, and T. orientalis is present.

Cattle persistently infected with BDV can act as a source of virus for infection of other cattle. The benefit of testing cattle for bovine viral diarrhoea could be enhanced by using tests that also detect BDV.

No abstract

real-time PCR venerealis subspecies Campylobacter fetus

Many developing countries face significant health burdens associated with a high incidence of endemic zoonoses and difficulties in integrated control measures for both the human and animal populations. The objective of this study was to develop and apply a multicriteria ranking model for zoonoses in Mongolia, a country highly affected by zoonotic disease, to inform optimal resource allocation at the national level. Diseases were evaluated based on their impact on human health, livestock sector health and the wider society through affects on the economic value of livestock, as well as the feasibility of control in both the human and livestock population. Data on disease in Mongolia were collected from various government departments including the Mongolian State Central Laboratory, the Mongolian Department of Veterinary and Animal Breeding, the Mongolian Ministry of Health, Mongolian National Center for Communicable Diseases, the National Center for Zoonotic Disease and expert opinion from a workshop with a number of Mongolian Government officials and researchers. A combined score for both impact of the disease and feasibility of its control was calculated. Five zoonotic diseases were determined to be of high priority from this assessment (i.e. ovine brucellosis, echinococcosis (hydatids), rabies, anthrax and bovine brucellosis). The results supported some of the findings for high-priority diseases (namely brucellosis, rabies and anthrax) from a previous priority setting exercise carried out in Mongolia in 2011, but also identified and ranked additional animal diseases of public health importance. While the process of model development was largely Mongolian specific, the experience of developing and parameterizing this multicriteria ranking model could be replicated by other countries where zoonoses have substantive impacts on both animal and human health.