Background The role of rodents in Leptospira epidemiology and transmission is well known worldwide. Rats are known to carry different pathogenic serovars of Leptospir a spp. capable of causing disease in humans and animals. Wild rats ( Rattus spp.), especially the Norway/brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) and the black rat ( R . rattus ), are the most important sources of Leptospira infection, as they are abundant in urban and peridomestic environments. In this study, we compiled and summarized available data in the literature on global prevalence of Leptospira exposure and infection in rats, as well as compared the global distribution of Leptospira spp. in rats with respect to prevalence, geographic location, method of detection, diversity of serogroups/serovars, and species of rat. Methods We conducted a thorough literature search using PubMed without restrictions on publication date as well as Google Scholar to manually search for other relevant articles. Abstracts were included if they described data pertaining to Leptospira spp. in rats ( Rattus spp.) from any geographic region around the world, including reviews. The data extracted from the articles selected included the author(s), year of publication, geographic location, method(s) of detection used, species of rat(s), sample size, prevalence of Leptospira spp. (overall and within each rat species), and information on species, serogroups, and/or serovars of Leptospira spp. detected. Findings A thorough search on PubMed retrieved 303 titles. After screening the articles for duplicates and inclusion/exclusion criteria, as well as manual inclusion of relevant articles, 145 articles were included in this review. Leptospira prevalence in rats varied considerably based on geographic location, with some reporting zero prevalence in countries such as Madagascar, Tanzania, and the Faroe Islands, and others reporting as high as >80% prevalence in studies done in Brazil, India, and the Philippines. The top five countries that were reported based on number of articles include India ( n = 13), Malaysia ( n = 9), Brazil ( n = 8), Thailand ( n = 7), and France ( n = 6). Methods of detecting or isolating Leptospira spp. also varied among studies. Studies among different Rattus species reported a higher Leptospira prevalence in R . norvegicus . The serovar Icteroha...

Eleven laboratories collaborated to determine the periodic prevalence of Salmonella in a population of dogs and cats in the United States visiting veterinary clinics. Fecal samples (2,965) solicited from 11 geographically dispersed veterinary testing laboratories were collected in 36 states between January 2012 and April 2014 and tested using a harmonized method. The overall study prevalence of Salmonella in cats (3 of 542) was <1%. The prevalence in dogs (60 of 2,422) was 2.5%. Diarrhea was present in only 55% of positive dogs; however, 3.8% of the all diarrheic dogs were positive, compared with 1.8% of the nondiarrheic dogs. Salmonella-positive dogs were significantly more likely to have consumed raw food (P = 0.01), to have consumed probiotics (P = 0.002), or to have been given antibiotics (P = 0.01). Rural dogs were also more likely to be Salmonella positive than urban (P = 0.002) or suburban (P = 0.001) dogs. In the 67 isolates, 27 unique serovars were identified, with three dogs having two serovars present. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 66 isolates revealed that only four of the isolates were resistant to one or more antibiotics. Additional characterization of the 66 isolates was done using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Sequence data compared well to resistance phenotypic data and were submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). This study suggests an overall decline in prevalence of Salmonella-positive dogs and cats over the last decades and identifies consumption of raw food as a major risk factor for Salmonella infection. Of note is that almost half of the Salmonella-positive animals were clinically nondiarrheic.

Livestock manures contain numerous microorganisms which can infect humans and/or animals, such asEscherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Mycobacterium paratuberculosis). The effects of commonly used manure treatments on the persistence of these pathogens have rarely been compared. The objective of this study was to compare the persistence of artificially inoculated M. paratuberculosis, as well as other naturally occurring pathogens, during the treatment of dairy manure under conditions that simulate three commonly used manure management methods: thermophilic composting at 55°C, manure packing at 25°C (or low-temperature composting), and liquid lagoon storage. Straw and sawdust amendments used for composting and packing were also compared. Manure was obtained from a large Ohio free-stall dairy herd and was inoculated with M. paratuberculosis at 10 6 CFU/g in the final mixes. For compost and pack treatments, this manure was amended with sawdust or straw to provide an optimal moisture content (60%) for composting for 56 days. To simulate liquid storage, water was added to the manure (to simulate liquid flushing and storage) and the slurry was placed in triplicate covered 4-liter Erlenmeyer flasks, incubated under ambient conditions for 175 days. The treatments were sampled on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 56 for the detection of pathogens. The persistence of M. paratuberculosis was also assessed by a PCR hybridization assay. After 56 days of composting, from 45 to 60% of the carbon in the compost treatments was converted to CO 2 , while no significant change in carbon content was observed in the liquid slurry. Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Listeria were all detected in the manure and all of the treatments on day 0. After 3 days of composting at 55°C, none of these organisms were detectable. In liquid manure and pack treatments, some of these microorganisms were detectable up to 28 days. M. paratuberculosis was detected by standard culture only on day 0 in all the treatments, but was undetectable in any treatment at 3 and 7 days. On days 14, 28, and 56, M. paratuberculosis was detected in the liquid storage treatment but remained undetectable in the compost and pack treatments. However, M. paratuberculosis DNA was detectable through day 56 in all treatments and up to day 175 in liquid storage treatments. Taken together, the results indicate that high-temperature composting is more effective than pack storage or liquid storage of manure in reducing these pathogens in dairy manure. Therefore, thermophilic composting is recommended for treatment of manures destined for pathogen-sensitive environments such as those for vegetable production, residential gardening, or application to rapidly draining fields.

Johne's disease (JD) caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a major threat to the dairy industry and possibly some cases of Crohn's disease in humans. A MAP vaccine that reduced of clinical disease and/or reduced fecal shedding would aid in the control of JD. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the efficacy of 5 attenuated strains of MAP as vaccine candidates compared to a commercial control vaccine using the protocol proposed by the Johne's Disease Integrated Program (JDIP) Animal Model Standardization Committee (AMSC), and (2) to validate the AMSC Johne's disease goat challenge model. Eighty goat kids were vaccinated orally twice at 8 and 10 weeks of age with an experimental vaccine or once subcutaneously at 8 weeks with Silirum® (Zoetis), or a sham control oral vaccine at 8 and 10 weeks. Kids were challenged orally with a total of approximately 1.44 × 109 CFU divided in two consecutive daily doses using MAP ATCC-700535 (K10-like bovine isolate). All kids were necropsied at 13 months post-challenge. Results indicated that the AMSC goat challenge model is a highly efficient and valid model for JD challenge studies. None of the experimental or control vaccines evaluated prevented MAP infection or eliminated fecal shedding, although the 329 vaccine lowered the incidence of infection, fecal shedding, tissue colonization and reduced lesion scores, but less than the control vaccine. Based on our results the relative performance ranking of the experimental live-attenuated vaccines evaluated, the 329 vaccine was the best performer, followed by the 318 vaccine, then 316 vaccine, 315 vaccine and finally the 319 vaccine was the worst performer. The subcutaneously injected control vaccine outperformed the orally-delivered mutant vaccine candidates. Two vaccines (329 and 318) do reduce presence of JD gross and microscopic lesions, slow progression of disease, and one vaccine (329) reduced fecal shedding and tissue colonization.

Isolation and characterization of the new species Chrysosporium ophiodiicola from a mycotic granuloma of a black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) are reported. Analysis of the sequences of different fragments of the ribosomal genes demonstrated that this species belongs to the Onygenales and that this species is genetically different from other morphologically similar species of Chrysosporium. This new species is unique in having both narrow and cylindrical-to-slightly clavate conidia and a strong, pungent odor. CASE REPORTA black, male rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) of undetermined age was presented with a history of prolonged anorexia and slow-growing facial masses. The snake was found as an adult at an old home site in an old barn near Sparta, GA, by the current owner, a wildlife educator. The snake had been in his possession for 4 years and was frequently used in public educational performances in the southeast. Upon presentation, the snake had a 1-cm by 1.5-cm subcutaneous, longitudinally ovoid swelling overlying his right ventral mandible area (Fig. 1A). He also had a 1-cm swelling overlying his right eye and extending down into the orbit, displacing the eyeball laterally and displacing the palate and dorsal limit of the choana ventrally. The masses were lobular, whitish in appearance, and enclosed in a thin capsule. The submandibular mass was removed in its entirety, as its capsule was very discrete. The other mass was very friable and locally extensive. Both masses were surgically removed and submitted for histopathological examination and culture. Not all portions of the second mass could be completely removed, due to the location of this mass, but the area enclosing it was debrided. At the time of surgery, the snake was treated with meloxicam (Metacam; Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., St. Joseph, MO) at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg of body weight once a day and enrofloxacin (Baytril; Bayer HealthCare, LLC, Animal Health Division, Shawnee Mission, KS) at a dose of 5 mg/kg twice a day. This was continued until the histopathology report indicating a fungal infection was received. Enrofloxacin was discontinued, and ketoconazole was initiated. A single oral administration of ketoconazole (Apotex, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada) at 50 mg/kg was administered daily. The snake was kept at 29.5°C and was tube fed Hill's a/d prescription diet (Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., Topeka, KS) A/D at 25 ml every 3 days. There was a moderate amount of postoperative swelling at the incision over the orbit. This was treated with warm wet compresses daily, and the swelling decreased. The snake passed away 2 months after surgery.The histopathological evaluation and primary culture were performed at the University of Georgia, Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory, Tifton, GA. Both masses consisted of multifocal-to-coalescing granulomas. The granulomas had central regions of amorphous eosinophilic and occasional cellular debris, surrounded by an inflammatory cell infiltrate consisting of histiocytes, lymphocyt...

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Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence in stream networks of the Satilla River Basin (SRB) were monitored monthly from August 2007 to August 2009 to study relationships between these pathogens and land use, presence of poultry houses and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge. Salmonella and Campylobacter were detected at all 10 stream sites and the three sites at the sole wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the study area. In all, 43% (129/299) and 62% (96/156) of samples were positive for Salmonella and Campylobacter, respectively, with detection frequency increasing in downstream sites with more poultry production and influence of WWTP discharge. Both Salmonella and Campylobacter detection frequencies were positively associated with the number of poultry houses in the subwatersheds, but agricultural land use as a proportion of the watershed was not a significant predictor of either pathogen. Fecal indicator bacterial levels were assessed and evaluated for their ability to predict the presence of pathogens. Of those examined, enterococci was most predictive; of the 129 samples positive for Salmonella, 88% (113/129) were detected when enterococci were above EPA single sample threshold (61 CFU 100 ml(-1)); and of the 96 samples positive for Campylobacter, 90% (86/96) were detected when enterococci levels exceeded this level. Comparatively, Escherichia coli concentrations were above EPA single sample thresholds in 38% (49/129) of the positive Salmonella samples. Detection of the pathogens throughout the watershed indicated that there was potential for waterborne transmission especially in downstream areas that were more likely to have recreational users.