Given Australia's isolation, both geographically and ecologically, it is important for Australia not to assume that the epidemiology of AIV from other geographic regions applies here. Despite all previous highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in Australian poultry being attributed to H7 subtypes, widespread detection of H5 subtypes in wild birds may represent an ongoing risk to the Australian poultry industry.

This study investigated the frequency of antimicrobial non-susceptibility (defined as the frequency of isolates with minimum inhibitory concentrations above the CLSI susceptible clinical breakpoint) among E. coli and Salmonella spp. isolated from healthy Australian finisher pigs. E. coli (n = 201) and Salmonella spp. (n = 69) were isolated from cecal contents of slaughter-age pigs, originating from 19 farms distributed throughout Australia during July-December 2015. Isolates underwent minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) susceptibility testing to 11 antimicrobials. The highest frequencies of non-susceptibility among respective isolates of E. coli and Salmonella spp. were to ampicillin (60.2 and 20.3%), tetracycline (68.2 and 26.1%), chloramphenicol (47.8 and 7.3%), and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (33.8 and 11.6%). Four E. coli isolates had MICs above the wild-type epidemiological cut-off value for ciprofloxacin, with two isolates from the same farm classified as clinically resistant (MICs of > 4 μg/ml), a noteworthy finding given that fluoroquinolones (FQs) are not legally available for use in Australian food-producing animals. Three of these four E. coli isolates belonged to the sequence type (ST) 10, which has been isolated from both humans and production animals, whilst one isolate belonged to a new ST (7573) and possessed qnrS1. This study shows that non-susceptibility to first line antimicrobials is common among E. coli and Salmonella spp. isolates from healthy slaughter age pigs in Australia. However, very low levels of non-susceptibility to critically important antimicrobials (CIAs), namely third generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones were observed. Nevertheless, the isolation of two ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli isolates from Australian pigs demonstrates that even in the absence of local antimicrobial selection pressure, fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli clonal lineages may enter livestock production facilities despite strict biosecurity.

The presence of unvaccinated free-roaming dogs (FRD) amidst human settlements is a major contributor to the high incidence of rabies in countries such as India, where the disease is endemic. Estimating FRD population size is crucial to the planning and evaluation of interventions, such as mass immunisation against rabies. Enumeration techniques for FRD are resource intensive and can vary from simple direct counts to statistically complex capture-recapture techniques primarily developed for ecological studies. In this study we compared eight capture-recapture enumeration methods (Lincoln–Petersen’s index, Chapman’s correction estimate, Beck’s method, Schumacher-Eschmeyer method, Regression method, Mark-resight logit normal method, Huggin’s closed capture models and Application SuperDuplicates on-line tool) using direct count data collected from Shirsuphal village of Baramati town in Western India, to recommend a method which yields a reasonably accurate count to use for effective vaccination coverage against rabies with minimal resource inputs. A total of 263 unique dogs were sighted at least once over 6 observation occasions with no new dogs sighted on the 7th occasion. Besides this direct count, the methods that do not account for individual heterogeneity yielded population estimates in the range of 248–270, which likely underestimate the real FRD population size. Higher estimates were obtained using the Huggin’s Mh-Jackknife (437 ± 33), Huggin’s Mth-Chao (391 ± 26), Huggin’s Mh-Chao (385 ± 30), models and Application “SuperDuplicates” tool (392 ± 20) and were considered more robust. When the sampling effort was reduced to only two surveys, the Application SuperDuplicates online tool gave the closest estimate of 349 ± 36, which is 74% of the estimated highest population of free-roaming dogs in Shirsuphal village. This method may thus be considered the most reliable method for estimating the FRD population with minimal inputs (two surveys conducted on consecutive days).

We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study among children aged <5 years in Thi-Qar Governorate, south-eastern Iraq, in order to examine the prevalence, risk factors and antimicrobial resistance associated with gastroenteritis caused by Salmonella infection. From 320 diarrhoea cases enrolled between March and August 2016, 33 (10·3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 8·4-12·4) cases were stool culture-positive for non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica. The most commonly identified serovar was Typhimurium (54%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds of Salmonella infection in children from households supplied by pipe water was 4·7 (95% CI 1·6-13·9) times higher compared with those supplied with reverse osmosis treated water. Similarly, children from households with domestic animals were found to have a higher odds (OR 10·5; 95% CI 3·8-28·4) of being Salmonella stool culture-positive. The likelihood of Salmonella infection was higher (OR 3·9; 95% CI 1·0-6·4) among children belonging to caregiver with primary vs. tertiary education levels. Lower odds (OR 0·4; 95% CI 0·1-0·9) of Salmonella infection were associated with children exclusively breast fed as compared with those exclusively bottle fed. Salmonella infection was three times lower (95% CI 0·1-0·7) in children belonging to caregiver who reported always washing hands after cleaning children following defecation, vs. those belonging to caregivers who did not wash hands. The antimicrobial resistance profile by disc diffusion revealed that non-susceptibility to tetracycline (78·8%), azithromycin (66·7%) and ciprofloxacin (57·6%) were the most commonly seen, and 84·9% of Salmonella isolates were classified as multi-drug resistant. This is the first study on prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella infection among children in this setting. This work provides specific epidemiological data which are crucial to understand and combat paediatric diarrhoea in Iraq.

Bacteriophage therapy has demonstrated promising results towards the control of bacterial infections within the aquaculture industry as an alternative therapy to antibiotics. This current research describes the efficacy of bacteriophage therapy in controlling vibriosis within abalone (Haliotis laevigata). Two bacteriophages were isolated and used in in vitro assays to determine the effect of each specific phage on the growth of specific Vibrio harveyi isolates. To demonstrate efficacy, an in vivo bioassay was performed using abalone (H. laevigata) at a water temperature of 24 °C. Characterisation of the two isolated phages revealed they were from the family, Siphoviridae. The phages had different antimicrobial abilities towards