Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences
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Captive collared peccary carries ESBL-producing diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes
Get PDFCollared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) roam the forests of natural areas in America. Wild collared peccary appears to be a carrier for bacteria associated with infections in humans and animals, however, the presence of diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC) pathotypes has not been studied in the captive collared peccary. This study aimed to study the prevalence of DEC, the susceptibility to antibiotics, and the frequency of β-lactamase genes (ESBL) in captive collared peccary faeces. DEC strains were identified in 44.4% (N=56) of the E. coli-carrying peccaries under study. The following DEC strains were identified: ETEC (35.7%), EAEC (28.6%), STEC (21.4%) and EPEC (14.3%). Most of the identified DEC strains belonged to clade I (58.9%). The genetic marker rfbO157 was not found in any STEC strain. Of the DEC strains, 67.9% (N=38) were considered multidrug resistant and were not susceptible to ampicillin (75%) nor to carbenicillin (51.8%). The combination of the genes blaTEM + blaCTX and blaTEM + blaSHV (6 strains respectively) was the most frequent among the DEC strains. It is concluded that captive collared peccaries are carriers of DEC strains that carry β-lactamase blaTEM, blaCTX and blaSHV genes and are not susceptible to ampicillin. Given the current efforts of the Wildlife Management Units (WMU) to reintroduce the collared peccary into natural areas, these captive collared peccaries act as carriers of diarrheagenic E. coli strains and therefore a potential source of gastrointestinal disease in humans and animals
Domestic dog and alien North American mink as reservoirs of infectious diseases in the endangered Southern river otter
Get PDFIntroduced alien carnivores are host to infectious diseases that may become an important threat for native carnivore species conservation. Canine distemper virus (CDV) is thought to be transmitted among individuals by direct contact and to present viral dynamics associated with a density-dependent multi-host carnivore community. In contrast, Canine Parvovirus (CPV) is mostly transmitted by indirect contact and does not depend only on the density, but also on the social behaviour of infected as well as susceptible hosts. The objective of this study was to assess how introduced American mink (Neovison vison) can act as a bridge-host between domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and Southern river otter (Lontra provocax) in different dog and mink population density scenarios. Our data show that otters are seropositive to both CDV and PV, as well as a molecular identity to Parvovirus in dogs and minks. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation between dog population density and observed seroprevalence of CDV in dogs, minks, and otters was recorded. For Parvovirus, the observed seroprevalence in mink and otters was not correlated to a higher dog population density, but instead a relationship between dog and mink population densities and social behaviour. Our results suggest that introduced American mink and domestic dogs are reservoirs of CDV and PV, both being diseases of major importance for the conservation of native endangered carnivores in Patagonia
Assessment of the CPL-0015 isolate as a vaccine strain for the control of canine parvovirus in Cuba
Get PDFThe safety and protective efficacy of the CPL-0015 Cuban isolate of canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) were evaluated for its possible use as a vaccine strain candidate. The study included a total of 23 healthy Beagle dogs of both sexes, aged 84 days and without specific maternal antibodies against canine parvovirus. Safety was analysed by comparing clinicopathological values, food consumption, body weight, rectal temperature and white blood cell counts for 14 consecutive days between control dogs (n=5) and dogs subcutaneously injected (n=10) with 2 mL (equivalent to two doses) of the CPL-0015 strain with an antigenic titer of 106.0 infectious dose50 in cell culture/mL. The protective effectiveness was determined by measuring and comparing anti-CPV-2 IgG levels and clinical signs during 56 experimental days between control dogs (n=2) and dogs inoculated (n=6) with double doses of 1 mL each, separated by a 21-day interval. All animals were challenged orally on day 35 with the virulent strain Cornell-780916 (105.0 infective dose50 in cell culture/mL). The results showed that the CPL-0015 strain did not negatively impact the physiological condition of the exposed animals. The inoculated and challenged animals showed not only significantly increased levels of anti-CPV-2 IgG (P<0.05) when compared to days 0, 35, and the control group animals but also had 100% survival without clinical signs of the disease, unlike the control group. It is concluded that CPL-0015 is safe and provides effective protection against homologous virulent strains
Force-sensitive resistors to measure the distribution of weight in the pads of sound dogs in static standing position
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to measure how weight is distributed in the pads of each of the 4 limbs of dogs and evaluate the intra-investigator reproducibility and inter-investigator reliability of the measurement method. Eight dogs were examined 3 times a day by 3 investigators at 1 week intervals for 3 weeks to determine the weight distribution to each of the pads. The force-sensitive resistor was used for measurement and specific software (PetLAB2) was used to calculate the weight applied to each pad. The intra-investigator reproducibility showed moderate to good reliability (ICC range, 0.575-0.873) and the inter-investigator reliability was moderate (ICC range, 0.525-0.746). Based on this study, it can be observed whether the weight distributed to each pad approaches the normal value after treatment in patients with orthopaedic and neurologic diseases. It is expected that this experimental method will be one of the objective indicators to evaluate the degree of recovery in patients with orthopaedic and neurologic diseases
2020: A challenging but extraordinary year for science
Get PDFEditorial January 2021
Special Issue - Half century spreading veterinary science
Molecular characterisation and antibiotic sensitivity profile of Pasteurella multocida isolated from poultry farms in Malaysia
Get PDFFowl cholera has caused significant economic losses in many poultry producing countries worldwide. In Malaysia, outbreaks of fowl cholera are frequently reported and encountered in different types of poultry productions. The objective of this study was to characterise 13 avian Pasteurella multocida, isolated from fowl cholera outbreaks in Central Peninsular Malaysia in the period between 2000 and 2018. The isolates were subjected to multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for capsular serotyping, disc diffusion method for antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, and molecular genotyping using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The capsular serotyping showed all 13 Pasteurella multocida isolates belonging to capsular serotype A. The antimicrobial susceptibility showed several multidrug resistance strains among the P. multocida isolates. All the isolates were resistant to erythromycin (100%), streptomycin (68%), tetracycline (37%), enrofloxacin (37%), florfenicol (23%), penicillin G (14%), gentamicin (14%), and amoxicillin (14%). The PFGE analysis clustered the isolates into three clones. Group A included isolates with a similarity of 87% from the year 2000, 2013, and 2018. Three sequence types were identified using MLST typing namely, ST129, ST231, and ST355. The ST355 was assigned for the first time in the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) database. Besides, ST129 has been reported in India, China, and Sri Lanka, which highlights the possibility of transmission between Asian countries. This study provides an insight into epidemiological information of Pasteurella multocida that causes fowl cholera outbreaks in the central region of Peninsular Malaysia
Improvisation or planning the control of an infectious disease outbreak?
Get PDFChile has more than 6,000 commercial cattle dairy producers, which are mainly located in Los Rios and Los Lagos regions. The country has one million hectares of grassland, 500,000 dairy cows and many dairy plants including some multinationals. Nevertheless, this productive sector faces certain animal-health problems which undermine the production, economic return, and potentially limit international trade. Additionally, they diminish the overall health of the herds, and some of them also represent a public health hazard.Livestock handlers, veterinarians, abattoir workers, meat inspectors, laboratory staff handling biological samples from infected cattle, people consuming unpasteurized milk or other dairy products and improperly prepared meats, infants, the elderly, the immunocompromised, and those with other underlying health conditions are at increased risk of contracting bovine zoonotic infections.Extensive outbreaks of zoonotic disease are not uncommon in Chile, as seen recently in southern Chile due to an outbreak of human Q fever. The perception of the general public regarding the risks involved considerably influences policy-making in the health field. In this regard, the WHO makes the following recommendations to deal with emerging diseases:-New mechanisms of surveillance and response are required, using new tools (satellite remote sensing data, analytical molecular epidemiology) and bringing together different disciplines (medical, veterinary, population biology, information technology, diagnosis).-Integrating the early warning and alert systems of international organizations (WHO, FAO and OIE) to facilitate early detection of potentially linked animal and public health events.-Integrating animal and human health data at national and regional levels, including an inter-sectoral committee for zoonosis preparedness and control.Perhaps, this may be a good opportunity to propose a zoonosis health network (at least at a regional base) in order to manage outbreaks in the future with the structure and level of information recommended by the WHO
Animal models of chronic pain. Are naturally occurring diseases a potential model for translational research?
Get PDFDespite the vast amount of molecular data obtained from classical pain studies, there is an ongoing translational pain model crisis reflected by the reduced amount of new effective and safe compounds developed to treat chronic pain in humans. Naturally occurring chronic pain in animals may offer some advantages over induced models of chronic pain, including a natural development of the condition that induces pain, the heterogenicity of the population that affects, and the chronologic age in which they develop, among others. The identification and study of naturally occurring painful diseases that resemble a particular chronic painful condition in humans has been proposed as a potential tool to investigate the molecular mechanisms and thus, accelerating drug development at the preclinical and clinical level. Currently, certain types of chronic pain in companion and large animals have gained attention as potential translational models of chronic pain. Examples of these include canine and feline osteoarthritis, neoplastic diseases as osteosarcoma and bovine and equine lameness. The present review describes the limitations of animal models of chronic pain and briefly enters in how naturally occurring pain models could represent a translational approach to chronic pain
Impact Factor: No metric is perfect
Get PDFThe Impact Factor has the hard task to measure the quality of a scientific journal and the impact on the community, based on the number of citations of articles from a given journal. Using this number, we may rank journals across different fields. However, this quality criterion rests on the assumption that its creator, Eugene Garfield, stated as: “The more frequently a journal’s articles are cited, the more the world’s scientific community implies that it finds the journal to be a carrier of useful information”. This rank would actually help librarians to improve the management in their collections. However, since 1975, this number has become a fashionable and trendy topic that researchers pursue to escalate because of a wide range of reasons, including more chances for financial support. Thus, as expected, an index made for journal evaluation has switched to being a quantitative measure of scientific achievement and individual performance.The evaluation of scientific quality is complex, as is the scientific community itself. Several other indexes have tried to accomplish a similar goal, but the Impact Factor has prevailed among others because Journals persist in reminding us about it. In consequence, where to publish is based mainly on the Journal’s Impact Factor, influencing back on this number. Our journal has been recently granted with an Impact Factor of 0.206. This number represents the number of citations during the previous two years given the number of citable source items published during those years. The median for the Subject Area, Veterinary Sciences, is 1.013 (2018). As a growing Journal, our goal in the mid-term is to position Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences in the second quartile. During the last four years, our journal has experienced significant transformations with the only purpose to improve the quality of manuscripts that our readers deserve. Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences has transitioned from being bilingual to English-only and has improved and enhanced the editorial processes by using an online platform. We expect to increase our audience, which requires work from the Editors to persuade researchers to submit articles of better quality. Therefore, many more challenges await our Editorial team in the short-term.As an Open Access journal, reaching the community may come from different perspectives that are not being covered by the single parameter called Impact Factor. Thus, just as Journals have made progress and changes to increase their quality, readability, and visibility, including the Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences, we expect no less from the Impact Factor. We shall wait and see how perfectible this metric can be.
Editorial CommitteeAustral Journal of Veterinary Science