Detection of Salmonella spp. by Traditional and PCR Assays in Raw Milk, Maysan, Iraq.

Salmonella spp are characterized as rod- shaped, motile, gram- negative bacteria which has the ability to infect animals and human. Salmonella spp occasionally causes sickness while in most cases not lead to severe symptoms. Analyzing milk for Salmonella spp. is not routine but traditional culture methods are used to evaluate the health condition of the dairy products. However, the antibody-based and nucleic-acid- based methods are practical for identifying Salmonella spp. Therefore, this research was designed to evaluate the use of traditional culture methods and PCR in detection of the presence of Salmonella spp. in raw milk samples in, Maysan Iraq. A total number of 130 raw milk samples collected from Maysan Iraq. All the samples were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella spp. using traditional culture method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The culture method used in this experiment were done by using pre-enrichment, enrichment, selective plating and biochemical tests. The results of this traditional technique were compared with the results obtained from PCR method. The PCR was performed using a 284bp sequence of the invA gene. The results showed that 8 (7.07%) of samples were identified as salmonella positive using traditional culture technique but 14 (12.3%) samples were detected as salmonella positive by PCR method. The results of the current research revealed that the traditional culture based methods are generally time costuming and labor intensive but the development of new rapid methods including DNA based methods such as PCR are more sensitive and have dramatically decreased the time necessary for the detection of bacteria.

Presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dairy Farms located in Najaf, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Erbil, Iraq.

It has been approved that one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogenic bacteria is E. coli O157:H7, which is responsible for several infection and death cases worldwide. It is well documented that in the developing countries E. coli O157:H7 is considered the main causative pathogen of human gastrointestinal infections. Therefore, the current research was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in dairy cattle's milk using a rapid method, in Iraq (Najaf, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Erbil). Over a period of 6 months (During hot months) samples were obtained and investigated by culturing on selective media (CT-SMAC). The multiplex PCR (m-PCR) also used for milk sample direct investigation. Using biochemical tests the recorded data showed that, 2 recognized isolates were E. coli, while the recorded data obtained from m-PCR assay revealed that none of the isolated E. coli was toxigenic E.coli O157:H7. The results of m-PCR on the milk samples revealed that 45 milk samples contained at least one of the following genes: O157, H7, stx1, stx2 genes. Also the results of the m-PCR revealed that 2 samples (raw milk) were toxigenic O157:H7 positive. In conclusion, to the best of authors' knowledge, this investigation was the first report on the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in the raw milk samples in Iraq. The results showed that the proportion of contaminated milk samples contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 identified in the current survey were similar to that the results of the previously published research from different dairy products across different countries in the Middle East region.

The Influence of Rumen-Protected Choline and α-tocopherol Supplementation on Early Lactating Dairy Cows Metabolism.

It is well documented that choline is known as one of the essential ingredients of phospholipids. Choline acts as a determinative element for appropriate cell membrane functions. On the other hand α-tocopherol (Vit E) is a fat-soluble vitamin. This vitamin acts as a strong antioxidant in the living body's defense system against oxidative stress. Lipid peroxidation in peripartum and early lactating cows is significantly increased while the level of serum Vit E is decreases dramatically. These concomitant physiological changes demonstrate a higher level of oxidative stress subsequently leads to serious health issues in dairy cows. Therefore, the present research was designed to investigate the following items in dairy cattle: 1) evaluation of the possible changes in serum protein fractions, and 2) comparing the oxidative status of orally RPC and vitamin E supplementation in dairy cows in early lactation period. In the current study 30 early lactating primiparous and multiparous Holstein cows (body condition score (BCS)=2.51 ± 0.10) were used beginning five weeks postpartum. All the animals were randomly divided in to three groups (n=10) (number of lactation=2.61). The animals were randomly assigned to receive one of the following treatments. Group 1 served as control group were not received any supplement. The second group was supplemented with 90 g/d of RPC (Reashre Choline, Balchem, USA). The third group was administrated 4400 IU/d vitamin E (Roche, Vitamins Ltd; Switzerland). In the current study, serum protein electrophoresis showed four main fractions as follows: albumin, α-globulin, ß-globulin, and γ-globulin. The recorded data showed that the percentages of albumin and γ-globulin fractions were higher in treated groups compared to the control group. In the animals supplementing with RPC and vitamin E the percentages of serum albumin increased to the value of 37. 70±1.63 and 38.21±1.28 respectively compare to the control group (34.69±1.21), which were significant (P<0.05).