The detection of anti-Streptococcus equi antibodies in the blood serum of horses can assist with the identification of apparently healthy persistently infected carriers and the prevention of strangles outbreaks. The aim of the current study was to use genome sequencing data to develop an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) that targets two S. equi-specific protein fragments. The sensitivity and specificity of the antigen A and antigen C iELISAs were compared to an SeM-based iELISA marketed by IDvet - diagnostic Vétérinaire (IDvet). Individually, each assay compromised specificity in order to achieve sufficient sensitivity (SeM iELISA had a sensitivity of 89.9%, but a specificity of only 77.0%) or sensitivity to achieve high specificity. However, combining the results of the antigen A and antigen C iELISAs permitted optimisation of both sensitivity (93.3%) and specificity (99.3%), providing a robust assay for the identification of horses exposed to S. equi.

We describe the observed relationship of campylobacter in poultry operations to human cases in a closed environment. During 1999 in Iceland, domestic cases of campylobacteriosis reached peak levels at 116/100,000 and in 2000 dropped to 33/100,000. Approximately 62% of broiler carcass rinses were contaminated with Campylobacter spp. in 1999. During 2000, only 15% of the broiler flocks tested Campylobacter spp. positive. In 2000, carcasses from flocks which tested positive on the farms at 4 weeks of age were subsequently frozen prior to distribution. We suggest that public education, enhanced on-farm biological security measures, carcass freezing and other unidentified factors, such as variations in weather, contributed to the large reduction in poultry-borne campylobacteriosis. There is no immediate basis for assigning credit to any specific intervention. We continue to seek additional information to understand the decline in campylobacteriosis and to create a risk assessment model for Campylobacter spp. transmission through this well defined system.

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of bacterial food-borne infection in the industrial world. There is evidence that C. jejuni is present in eggs and hatchery fluff, opening the possibility for vertical transmission from hens to progeny. Poultry operations in Iceland provide an excellent opportunity to study this possibility, since breeding flocks are established solely from eggs imported from grandparent flocks in Sweden. This leaves limited opportunity for grandparents and their progeny to share isolates through horizontal transmission. While Campylobacter was not detected in all grandparent flocks, 13 of the 16 egg import lots consisted of eggs gathered from one or more Campylobacter-positive grandparent flocks. No evidence of Campylobacter was found by PCR in any of the 10 relevant quarantine hatchery fluff samples examined, and no Campylobacter was isolated from the parent birds through 8 weeks, while they were still in quarantine rearing facilities. After the birds were moved to less biosecure rearing facilities, Campylobacter was isolated, and 29 alleles were observed among the 224 isolates studied. While three alleles were found in both Sweden and Iceland, in no case was the same allele found both in a particular grandparent flock and in its progeny. We could find no evidence for vertical transmission of Campylobacter to the approximately 60,000 progeny parent breeders that were hatched from eggs coming from Campylobacter-positive grandparent flocks. If vertical transmission is occurring, it is not a significant source for the contamination of chicken flocks with Campylobacter spp.

No abstract

Objective: To investigate the in vitro microbicidal and cytocidal potency of monocaprin dissolved in pharmaceutical hydrogel formulations and to evaluate their potential use as vaginal microbicides against sexually transmitted pathogens such as herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Methods: Gel formulations were mixed with equal volumes of virus/bacteria suspensions in culture medium and incubated for 1 and 5 minutes. The reduction in virus/bacteria titre was used as a measure of microbicidal activity. Similarly, gels were mixed with human semen to study their eVect on leucocytes. The toxicity of the gels was tested in rabbits by the standard vaginal irritation test. Results: Gels containing 20 mM of monocaprin caused a greater than 100 000-fold inactivation of HSV-2 and Neisseria in 1 minute and of Chlamydia in 5 minutes. Similarly, the gels caused a greater than 10 000-fold inactivation of HIV-1 in semen in 1 minute. They caused more than a 10 000-fold reduction in the number of viable leucocytes in semen in 1 minute. No toxic eVect on the vaginal mucosa of rabbits was observed after daily exposure for 10 days. Conclusions: Hydrogels containing monocaprin are potent inactivators of sexually transmitted viruses and bacteria in vitro. This simple lipid seems to be a feasible choice as a mucosal microbicide for prevention of sexually transmitted infections. It is a natural compound found in certain foodstuVs such as milk and is therefore unlikely to cause harmful side eVects in the concentrations used. (Sex Transm Inf 1999;75:181-185)

The prevalence of resistant bacteria in food products in Iceland is unknown, and little is known of the prevalence in production animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genetic relatedness of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli from healthy pigs and broiler chicken, pork, broiler meat, slaughterhouse personnel and outpatients in Iceland. A total of 419 E. coli isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a microbroth dilution method (VetMIC), and resistant strains were compared using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). All samples were screened for enrofloxacin-resistant strains with selective agar plates. The resistance rates among E. coli isolates were moderate to high from caecal and meat samples of pigs (54.1% and 28%), broilers (33.6% and 52%) and slaughterhouse personnel (39.1%), whereas isolates from outpatients showed moderate resistance rates (23.1%). Of notice was resistance to quinolones (minimum inhibitory concentrations: nalidixic acid > or = 32, ciprofloxacin > or = 0.12 and enrofloxacin > or = 0.5), particularly among broiler and broiler meat isolates (18.2% and 36%), as there is no known antimicrobial selection pressure in the broiler production in Iceland. The majority (78.6%) of the resistant E. coli isolates was genotypically different, based on PFGE fingerprint analyses and clustering was limited. However, the same resistance pattern and pulsotype were found among isolates from broiler meat and a slaughterhouse worker, indicating spread of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli from animals to humans. Diverse resistance patterns and pulsotypes suggest the presence of a large population of resistant E. coli in production animals in Iceland. This study gives baseline information on the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli from production animals, and their food products in Iceland and the moderate to high resistance rates emphasize the need for continuing surveillance. Further studies on the origin of the resistant strains and the genetic relatedness of strains of different origin are needed.

Attempts have been made by several workers to prevent or to reduce colonization of Campylobacter in the intestines of broiler chickens by adding antibacterial agents to their food, but the results have varied. Monocaprin, the 1-monoglyceride of capric acid, has been found to be very active in killing Campylobacter in vitro. It was therefore studied whether Campylobacter infection in chickens would be affected by adding emulsions of monocaprin to their drinking water and feed. It was found that treatment with monocaprin in water and feed did not prevent spread of Campylobacter from artificially infected to noninfected 24-d-old chickens, but Campylobacter counts in cloacal swabs were significantly reduced, particularly during the first 2 d of treatment. There was also a significant reduction in the Campylobacter counts in cloacal swabs of naturally infected 36-d-old broilers that were treated for 3 d prior to slaughter. Addition of monocaprin to drinking water and feed 2 to 3 d before slaughter might therefore be considered as a means of reducing Campylobacter infection in broilers, possibly in conjunction with other antibacterial agents such as short-chain organic acids. Further studies are needed to determine whether this would reduce carcass contamination.

Forty-four of 50 arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) in Iceland harbored 15 species of intestinal parasites, including Protozoa: Eimeria sp. or Isospora sp. (in 4%); Trematoda: Cryptocotyle lingua (24%), Plagiorchis elegans (4%), Brachylaemus sp. (12%), Tristriata sp. (10%), and Spelotrema sp. (8%); Cestoda: Mesocestoides canislagopodis (72%), Schistocephalus solidus (2%), and Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (4%); Nematoda: Toxascaris leonina (50%), Toxocara canis (2%), Uncinaria stenocephala (4%), and eggs of the lung worm Capillaria aerophila (6%); and Acanthocephala: Polymorphus meyeri (8%) and Corynosoma hadweni (2%). Only four of the species previously had been recorded in Iceland. Eleven species are new records in Iceland and six appear to be new host records. Two additional nematodes, Stegophorus stercorarii and Syphacia sp., probably were ingested accidentally with the prey. Foxes from coastal habitats harbored 14 parasitic species while only five species were found in foxes from inland habitats. Arctic foxes from coastal habitats generally had higher helminth burdens and harbored more parasitic species per fox than foxes from inland habitats.