Trueperella pyogenes is an opportunistic pathogen causing purulent infections in pigs and other animal species. T. pyogenes infections in pigs are local and/or generalized depending on the immune status of the animals, their individual susceptibility and environmental factors. The occurrence of these infections on pig farms causes substantial economic losses in breeding and rearing. In sows from the breeding herd, the disease leads to infertility, embryonic death, abortion, and disorders of the menstrual cycle and lactation. Mastitis is the major cause of losses in piglets. Disorders of the musculoskeletal system, including inflammatory polyarthritis, fractures and degenerative joint disease results in the culling of animals with high breeding value. In other technological groups, multi-organ inflammations and movement disorders dominate, leading to a reduction of the slaughter value and elimination of pigs from breeding. Understanding of the clinical and pathological aspects of T. pyogenes infections in pigs will enable the development of effective methods of combating this disease on pig farms.
The purpose of the study was the in vivo diagnosing of E. cuniculi invasions in pet rabbits with neurological symptoms using the Real-Time PCR, and determination of the rate of invasion, in this group of animals. The study involved 103 pet rabbits with neurological symptoms. Parasitic invasions were diagnosed using Real-Time PCR. The DNA of the parasites for molecular tests was isolated from the urine of the diseased animals. Out of the 103 tested DNA samples, the presence of the E. cuniculi genetic material was detected in 27 samples (26.21%). The melting temperature (Tm) of all products was 77.5 o C. The presence of parasitic DNA in the urine of 26.21% of examined animals indicates that E. cuniculi infections occur widely in pet rabbits in Poland and are a significant cause of neurological disorders in those animals.
The present study reports the possible vertical transmission of Babesia canis canis from an infected bitch to her puppies. The study concerns a bitch that had developed babesiosis in week seven of pregnancy and her litter, three puppies that exhibited symptoms of the disease in Weeks 8-9 post-partum. In all animals, the infection with protozoa was confirmed by the results of a PCR blood test. The identity of the nucleotide sequences of the amplified fragment of the gene (18S RNA) isolated from the blood of the puppies and the bitch was 100%, which indicates that all the dogs were infected with the same strain of protozoa. This result, together with the exclusion of other possible routes of babesiosis transmission in puppies, suggests that they were infected with Babesia canis canis in utero.
Rhodococcus equi is an important bacterial pathogen in foals up to 6 months old, widespread in horse farms all over the world. It was found that only virulent R. equi strains expressing 15–17 kDa virulence-associated protein (VapA) and having large virulence plasmid of 85–90 kb containing vapA gene are pathogenic for horses. To date, 12 plasmid types have been reported in VapA positive strains from horses. There are no data concerning plasmid types of Polish field R. equi strains isolated from horses and horse farm environment. The aim of the study is to determine plasmid profiles of virulent R. equi strains isolated in Poland from dead foals as well as from soil samples taken from horse breeding farms. Plasmid profiles of 10 clinical strains derived from 8 farms and 11 environmental strains from 3 farms, confirmed as virulent by PCR, were compared with 12 reference strains containing the known plasmid size and type. Plasmid DNAs were analysed by digestion with the restriction endonucleases BamHI, EcoRI, EcoT22I, and HindIII for detailed comparison and estimation of plasmid sizes. The results of RFLP analysis revealed that all except one isolates used in the study are classified as VapA 85 kb type I plasmid. One strain harboured VapA 87 kb type I plasmid. This is the first report of plasmid types of Polish field R. equi strains. The results of our preliminary investigations on horse farms located in central and eastern Poland indicate that the virulent R. equi strains thus far isolated from diseased foals and horse farms environment represent a highly uniform plasmid pattern.
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