BackgroundLeptospirosis is an important worldwide zoonosis. This disease is caused by pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira which are maintained in the environment via chronic renal infection of carrier animals which can be asymptomatic excretors of the organisms in their urines and become a source of infection for humans and other hosts. The prevalence of animal leptospirosis in Algiers, Algeria, is unknown.Methodology/principal findingsReal-time PCR and standard PCR and sequencing were used to detect pathogenic Leptospira organisms in the urines of stray dogs and cats in Algiers. In the presence of appropriate controls, none of the 107 cat urine samples were positive while 5/104 (4.8%) canine urine samples (asymptomatic mixed-breed dogs, three females and two males) were positive in two real-time PCR assays targeting the rrs and hsp genes. The positivity of these samples was confirmed by partial PCR-sequencing of the rpoB gene which yielded 100% sequence similarity with Leptospira interrogans reference sequence. In this study, L. interrogans prevalence was significantly higher in dogs aged < one year (16.46% - 29.41%) than in adults (0%) (P value = 0.0001) and then in the overall dog population (2.68% - 4.8%) (P = 0.0007).Conclusions/significanceThese results suggest that dogs are maintenance hosts for zoonotic leptospirosis in Algiers, Algeria. To face this situation, effective canine vaccination strategies and raising public health awareness are mandatory. Further investigations incorporating a larger sample in more localities will be undertaken to document the epidemiology of urban animal leptospirosis in Algeria at large.
Salmonella Dublin is a causative agent of a gastrointestinal bacterial infection prevalent in many cattle herds worldwide. Hence, the goal of this research was to evaluate the prevalence of Salmonella Dublin carriage in fecal and milk samples from dairy cattle from Algeria, and to investigate potential risk factors associated with the presence of S. Dublin antibodies. A total of 307 cows from 39 farms were analyzed in this study. Bacteriological and immunological methods were used to isolate and detect S. Dublin antibodies in feces and cow’s milk. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disc diffusion method. Logistic regression was used to study risk factors associated with S. Dublin antibodies. The bacteriological results showed the absence of S. Dublin and a prevalence of 0.97 % (3/307) (IC 95% 0 - 2.08)for S. Mbandaka. The immunological analysis of milk by the ELISA technique showed a prevalence of 36.33% (95% CI 30.44 - 42.22) for S. Dublin. Final multivariate regression models showed that the breed, the region and introduction of purchased cattle were associated with the presence of S. Dublin antibodies. This study is the first that reports the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with S. Dublin infection in Algeria and could be considered as a comparison point for further studies in Algeria.
This cross-sectional questionnaire study was designed to determine the prevalence of food-borne illnesses and potential risk factors among Algerian sausage consumers, and to assess antibiotics use behavior among sick consumers. From August, 2018 to June, 2019, a total of 800 structured questionnaires were distributed randomly to sausage consumers from ten (10) departments of Algiers, Algeria. The data collected were analyzed with different statistical approaches. The results showed that out of the 384 sausage consumers surveyed, 22.39% reported having food-borne illnesses after sausage consumption, with 8.14% of sick consumers hospitalized. The prevalence of foodborne illnesses among sausage consumers was significantly higher among males (25.69%) than females (21.09%) (OR=1.36), and also significantly higher (p<0.01) among consumers without children (24.54%) than among those who had children (17.12%). Sausage consumers who were immuno-deficient had the highest frequency of being sick, 41.38% (OR=3.62, p<0.0001), followed in descending order by consumers who had children, 34.85% (OR=1.9, p=0.01), and pregnant consumers, 28.12% (OR=1.56, p=0.03). For antibiotic use behavior, out of 86 sick consumers, 59.3% had self-medicated on antibiotics, and 17.44% had interrupted the antibiotics treatment. This study provides for the first-time information about baseline of the attitude and behavior regarding antibiotic use among Algerian sausage consumers who developed food-borne illness. Thus, it can be concluded that raw sausage must be consumed with precaution for vulnerable groups at risk. Public education programs should be developed to target misconceptions of antibiotics use and vulnerable groups at risk.
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