Mycobacteriosis in wild birds: the potential risk of disseminating a little-known infectious disease.

Avian mycobacteriosis is important for animal and human health; wild birds play an important role in mycobacterial species' ecology and movement. This review was aimed at reporting the role of birds in the spread of avian mycobacteriosis in human and animal populations at risk and thus a systematic review was made of PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo and Scirus databases. Mycobacteria are classified into the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and non-tuberculous mycobacteria; the Mycobacterium avium complex represents the most important part of the latter because it is primarily responsible for mycobacterial infection in wild birds and is a potential pathogen for mammals, especially for immunocompromised patients. The clinical signs in birds are variable as it is a chronic and debilitating disease, involving emaciated carcasses, white nodules in different organs and microscopically it presents granulomatosous multifocal inflammation. Diagnosis begins by suspicion based on clinical signs and finishes with microbiological confirmation. New diagnostic techniques include testing with DNA-RNA probes. No effective treatment is currently available and chemoprophylaxis on suspicion of infection is not recommended at the start; these factors increase the potential risk of mycobacteriosis becoming one of the most frequently documented zoonotic diseases which is difficult to treat in birds and humans. Recent concern regarding mycobacterial infection lies in the increased frequency of these opportunistic infections occurring in immunocompromised individuals and these infections' potential impact on bird conservation, this being increased by greater contact between humans and wild and captive birds.

Mycobacteriosis in wild birds: the potential risk of disseminating a little-known infectious disease / Micobacteriosis en aves silvestres: riesgo potencial de diseminación de una infección poco conocida en el mundo

Avian mycobacteriosis is important for animal and human health; wild birds play an important role in mycobacterial species' ecology and movement. This review was aimed at reporting the role of birds in the spread of avian mycobacteriosis in human and animal populations at risk and thus a systematic review was made of PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo and Scirus databases. Mycobacteria are classified into the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and non-tuberculous mycobacteria; the Mycobacterium avium complex represents the most important part of the latter because it is primarily responsible for mycobacterial infection in wild birds and is a potential pathogen for mammals, especially for immunocompromised patients. The clinical signs in birds are variable as it is a chronic and debilitating disease, involving emaciated carcasses, white nodules in different organs and microscopically it presents granulomatosous multifocal inflammation. Diagnosis begins by suspicion based on clinical signs and finishes with microbiological confirmation. New diagnostic techniques include testing with DNA-RNA probes. No effective treatment is currently available and chemoprophylaxis on suspicion of infection is not recommended at the start; these factors increase the potential risk of mycobacteriosis becoming one of the most frequently documented zoonotic diseases which is difficult to treat in birds and humans. Recent concern regarding mycobacterial infection lies in the increased frequency of these opportunistic infections occurring in immunocompromised individuals and these infections' potential impact on bird conservation, this being increased by greater contact between humans and wild and captive birds.

La micobacteriosis aviar es de importancia para la salud animal y humana. El objetivo de esta revisión fue reportar el papel de las aves en la diseminación de la micobacteriosis aviar en poblaciones vulnerables. Se realizó una revisión sistemática en las bases de datos PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo and Scirus. Las aves silvestres juegan un papel importante en la ecología y movimiento de micobacterias. Estas se clasifican en el Complejo Mycobacterium tuberculosis y las micobacterias no tuberculosas, dentro de este último grupo se destaca el Complejo Mycobacterium avium , principal responsable de micobacteriosis en aves silvestres y patógeno potencial para los mamíferos principalmente pacientes inmunosuprimidos. Los signos clínicos son variables, siendo una enfermedad debilitante y crónica, e involucra carcasas emaciadas, nódulos blanquecinos en diferentes órganos, microscópicamente presenta inflamaciones granulomatosas multifocales. El diagnóstico inicia por la sospecha basada en los síntomas clínicos y termina con la confirmación microbiológica. Adicionalmente, las nuevas técnicas diagnósticas incluyen pruebas con sondas de ADN-ARN. Actualmente, no existe un tratamiento efectivo y no se recomienda iniciar quimioprofilaxis; estos factores incrementan el riesgo potencial para convertir la micobacteriosis aviar en una enfermedad zoonótica más frecuente de lo documentado y de difícil tratamiento en aves y humanos. La reciente preocupación de las infecciones micobacterianas, radica en el aumento de la frecuencia de estas infecciones oportunistas en personas inmunocomprometidas y el impacto potencial de estas infecciones sobre la conservación de las especies de aves, favorecido por el mayor contacto entre humanos y aves tanto silvestres como cautivas.

Primate TNF promoters reveal markers of phylogeny and evolution of innate immunity.

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a critical cytokine in the immune response whose transcriptional activation is controlled by a proximal promoter region that is highly conserved in mammals and, in particular, primates. Specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) upstream of the proximal human TNF promoter have been identified, which are markers of human ancestry. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a comparative genomics approach we show that certain fixed genetic differences in the TNF promoter serve as markers of primate speciation. We also demonstrate that distinct alleles of most human TNF promoter SNPs are identical to fixed nucleotides in primate TNF promoters. Furthermore, we identify fixed genetic differences within the proximal TNF promoters of Asian apes that do not occur in African ape or human TNF promoters. Strikingly, protein-DNA binding assays and gene reporter assays comparing these Asian ape TNF promoters to African ape and human TNF promoters demonstrate that, unlike the fixed differences that we define that are associated with primate phylogeny, these Asian ape-specific fixed differences impair transcription factor binding at an Sp1 site and decrease TNF transcription induced by bacterial stimulation of macrophages. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Here, we have presented the broadest interspecies comparison of a regulatory region of an innate immune response gene to date. We have characterized nucleotide positions in Asian ape TNF promoters that underlie functional changes in cell type- and stimulus-specific activation of the TNF gene. We have also identified ancestral TNF promoter nucleotide states in the primate lineage that correspond to human SNP alleles. These findings may reflect evolution of Asian and African apes under a distinct set of infectious disease pressures involving the innate immune response and TNF.

Revisión de estomatitis ulcerativa en ofidios / A review of ulcerative stomatitis in snakes

La estomatitis en ofidios es una condición de frecuente diagnóstico en la clínica de animales silvestres.Se relaciona principalmente con eventos estresantes como deficiencias medio ambientales,nutricionales o una enfermedad subyacente, las cuales terminan favoreciendo el crecimientode gérmenes patógenos y, de esta forma, llevan a la muerte del animal. Los signos clínicos pueden pasar inadvertidos por un tiempo variable, por lo que se recomienda hacer revisiones periódicas alos ofidios en cautiverio. Debido a que es una entidad multifactorial, uno o varios agentes etiológicosse implican como causales y perpetuantes de la condición, por lo que es de gran importanciasometer las muestras colectadas a análisis específicos, para así poder identificarlos y garantizar un mayor éxito en el momento de instaurar un tratamiento. En casos avanzados el pronóstico casisiempre es malo debido a la posibilidad de una diseminación hematógena, con sus efectos secundarioscomo neumonía y osteomielitis, o por continuidad, causando gastroenteritis. Por ello, laprincipal herramienta de combate frente a la entidad es minimizar la exposición de los ofidios afactores predisponentes o estresantes, que sin lugar a dudas ponen en peligro la vida del animal...