Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine at which production stages hepatitis E virus (HEV) is shed by the highest number of pigs and to estimate the relative risk associated with each stage. For this purpose, 146 fecal samples of pigs from 21 farms were studied. In addition, 1 sample from the manure ditch and another sample of drinking water, collected directly from the trough located in the pen, were taken from 16 farms. HEV RNA was detected in fecal samples from 34 pigs (23.29%). The production stages in which most pigs excreted HEV were weaners (41.7%) and pigs in the first month of feeding (60%). The results of the statistical analysis showed that the principal significant risk stage in HEV shedding was the first month of feeding (odds ratio [OR] 19.5, 95% CI 3.59-106.07, P 5 0.001) followed by the weaners stage (OR 9.3, 95% CI .78-48.42, P 5 0.008). In 8 out of 16 farms tested (50%) HEV RNA was detected in raw manure and in the water trough of only 1. Detection of HEV in manure ditches raises the concern of how to deal with manure of swine origin, because it is used as soil fertilizer.
The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and the risk factors for the acquisition of the virus in a population in contact with swine and unexposed to swine. A total of 198 individuals, 97 unexposed (49%) and 101 exposed (51%) to swine, were tested for the presence of HEV infection. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG in the exposed group was 18.8% versus 4.1% in the unexposed to swine group. People exposed to swine were observed to be 5.4 times (P = 0.03) at risk of having anti-HEV IgG. Ten (52.6%) of the IgG-positive individuals showed two concomitant risk factors: untreated water consumption and exposure to swine. These data support that HEV infection should be treated as a vocational illness in swine workers. Therefore, systematic application of hygiene measures in this collective is highly recommended to avoid the exposition to this virus.
Currently the universally accepted standard procedure for characterizing and identifying strains of Leishmania is isoenzyme analysis. However, in the Mediterranean area, despite their very wide geographical distribution, most Leishmania infantum strains belong to zymodeme MON-1. In order to increase our understanding of polymorphism in strains of L. infantum, we developed PCR assays amplifying 10 microsatellites and sequenced PCR products.
This study of several techniques for detecting cryptic leishmaniasis in dogs from areas in Spain where Leishmania infantum is highly endemic concludes that immunological techniques (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence antibody test, Western blotting, delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, and in vitro lymphocyte proliferation assay) do not clearly differentiate between noninfected and infected asymptomatic dogs and that culture and PCR are more reliable diagnostic tools.
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