No abstract

The plasmid types and serotypes of 164 Rhodococcus equi strains obtained from submaxillary lymph nodes of swine from different piggeries in 28 villages and towns located throughout the country were examined. The strains were tested by PCR for the presence of 15-to 17-kDa virulence-associated protein antigen (VapA) and 20-kDa virulence-associated protein antigen (VapB) genes. R. equi is an aerobic, gram-positive coccobacillus which frequently causes chronic suppurative bronchopneumonia with abscesses, lymphadenitis, and ulcerative enteritis in foals less than 6 months old (3,14). In addition to its virulence for foals, R. equi seems also to be an important pathogen to immunocompromised humans, such as organ transplant and AIDS patients (21). R. equi is also common in the submaxillary lymph nodes of pigs (2,8,15,25,27). Katsumi and others (8) isolated R. equi from 45.6% of the submaxillary lymph nodes of swine with lesions and from 9.4% of lymph nodes of swine without lesions. Takai and colleagues (19) described a 3.1% isolation rate on the basis of examination of 1,832 submaxillary lymph nodes collected from swine.Recently, the discovery of virulence-associated antigens and virulence plasmids has allowed classification of the virulence of More recently, we demonstrated that five of the seven clinical isolates of R. equi from immunocompromised patients expressed VapB and that they were of intermediate virulence and revealed that these human isolates contained a 95-kb type 5 plasmid which was also seen in the pig isolates in Hungary (10). The route of infection in human cases is not clear. The purpose of this study was to isolate virulent R. equi strains from submaxillary lymph nodes of swine in Hungary, to determine the genotypic diversity of virulence-associated plasmids found in them, and to examine the serotypes of the isolates with the aim of finding additional data to characterize the epidemiological relationship between human R. equi infections and pigs carrying R. equi in the submaxillary lymph nodes.Serotyping is a reliable method for examining R. equi strains. There are two systems for serotyping R. equi. Prescott de-* Corresponding author. Mailing address:

No abstract

No abstract

Q fever is an important zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii. There are few reliable data about C. burnetii infection available. The aim of this study was to assess the importance and potential infectious sources of Q fever in Hungary. A total of 215 milk samples (10 individual samples from each herd and 1 bulk tank milk sample from each cattle herd), and 400 serum samples (20 from each herd) were tested from 15 dairy cattle herds and 5 sheep flocks located in different parts of Hungary. The study found 19.3% (58/300) and 38.0% (57/150) seropositivity in cattle, and 0% (0/100) and 6.0% (3/50) seropositivity in sheep, by complement fixation test (CFT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. C. burnetii DNA was detected by IS1111 element-based TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 8.7% (13/150) of individual dairy cow milk samples, 4.0% (2/50) of individual sheep milk samples, and 66.7% (10/15) of dairy bulk tank milk samples. Samples taken from nine different commercially-available pasteurized cow milk products from different Hungarian producers were also tested for the presence of C. burnetii DNA, and eight of these samples were found to be positive (88.9%). The real-time PCR examination of 5402 ixodid ticks collected from different parts of the country yielded negative results. Knowledge of the true prevalence of Q fever is crucial for policymakers involved in evidence-based decision making.