Toxoplasmosis in animals and humans: a neglected zoonotic disease in Bangladesh.

Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is a zoonotic disease that affects a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The parasite undergoes both sexual and asexual reproduction in intermediate hosts (humans and animals) and definitive hosts (cats). Transmission in humans occurs through consuming oocyst-contaminated water, fruits, vegetables, and raw or undercooked meats. In Bangladesh, several factors contribute to an increased risk of contracting toxoplasmosis. The parasite is reported to cause diseases among livestock such as goats and sheep in this country, and it has also been associated with some human illnesses. Toxoplasmosis prevalence varies significantly worldwide, with developing countries like Bangladesh experiencing higher rates. Diagnostic methods include both conventional non-DNA-based tests and molecular detection techniques, while treatment options involve using antiparasitic drugs like sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine. To control toxoplasmosis, essential steps include improving sanitation, promoting safe food handling, and educating the public about risks related to cat ownership and undercooked meat consumption. Implementing prenatal screening and treatment is also important. With the growing popularity of pet ownership in urban areas, it becomes essential to emphasize the veterinary and public health significance of toxoplasmosis in Bangladesh. This article comprehensively reviews various aspects of toxoplasmosis, with a specific focus on the situation in Bangladesh.

Confronting the complexities of antimicrobial management for Staphyloccous aureus causing bovine mastitis: an innovative paradigm.

Globally, Mastitis is a disease commonly affecting dairy cattle which leads to the use of antimicrobials. The majority of mastitis etiological agents are bacterial pathogens and Staphylococcus aureus is the predominant causative agent. Antimicrobial treatment is administered mainly via intramammary and intramuscular routes. Due to increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) often associated with antimicrobial misuse, the treatment of mastitis is becoming challenging with less alternative treatment options. Besides, biofilms formation and ability of mastitis-causing bacteria to enter and adhere within the cells of the mammary epithelium complicate the treatment of bovine mastitis. In this review article, we address the challenges in treating mastitis through conventional antibiotic treatment because of the rising AMR, biofilms formation, and the intracellular survival of bacteria. This review article describes different alternative treatments including phytochemical compounds, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), phage therapy, and Graphene Nanomaterial-Based Therapy that can potentially be further developed to complement existing antimicrobial therapy and overcome the growing threat of AMR in etiologies of mastitis.

First report of knowledge and practices towards toxoplasmosis among cat owners: A cross-sectional survey in Bangladesh.

Raising awareness about Toxoplasma gondii infection among cat owners in Bangladesh is indispensable to formulate persuasive management tactics to avoid zoonotic infections from pet cats. However, to the authors' best knowledge, no studies have been performed in Bangladesh to determine knowledge and practices of toxoplasmosis in cat owners. Therefore, the objectives of the current study were to cover this research gap. We carried out a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh from June 2020 through December 2021. A structured online questionnaire was distributed to cat owners, which were voluntarily completed by them. The questionnaire included socio-demographic data, aetiology, transmissions, clinical signs, and preventive practices towards toxoplasmosis. Overall, 1,019 cat owners participated voluntarily in the cross-sectional survey. Among them, 793 (77.82%) participants showed poor knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis. Under specific knowledge sections, 62.51% of the participants revealed incorrect knowledge that toxoplasmosis was a zoonotic disease. In the same way, (72.03-85.77) % of the cat owners were unaware that the disease could be transmitted from improperly washed vegetables, raw or undercooked meat and fish, and contaminated water and milk with cat faeces. Respondents' age, education, occupation, residence type, and marital status were significantly (p < .05) associated with their knowledge level. Besides, 94.11% of cat owners had a good practice level. They followed good practices in different issues; however, they practiced those activities without knowing their impacts on disease control. Cat owners' age, education, occupation, and residence type had a significant (p < .05) association with the practice level against toxoplasmosis. This is the first study highlighting the low level of knowledge among cat owners about toxoplasmosis in Bangladesh. These knowledge gaps could increase the risk and transmission of Toxoplasma gondii infection among them and their families. The survey recommends the arrangement of educational training and programmes to increase the awareness of toxoplasmosis among cat owners.

Subclinical mastitis in dairy cows in south-Asian countries: a review of risk factors and etiology to prioritize control measures.

Mastitis is a major production disease, causing significant economic losses for dairy farmers in South-Asian countries, as well as other parts of the world. Udder health control programs (UHCP) have been established in developed countries as an effective strategy for mastitis control but have not yet been introduced in South-Asian low-income countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. To launch UHCP successfully in dairy herds in South-Asia, it is important to know the current prevalence and risk factors for subclinical mastitis (SCM). Therefore, a narrative literature review was conducted with the aim to describe the dairy sector, the prevalence of SCM and its causal agents, risk factors for mastitis occurrence and the control measures suggested by different studies conducted in the selected countries. The literature revealed that India had the highest cattle population. Milking was mainly done by hand in all of the studied countries. Stall feeding was done in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and limited access to grazing was also reported in some farms in India and Pakistan. There was substantial variation in the prevalence of SCM between studies in all 4 countries, ranging from about 20% to about 80%, but the average prevalence across all studies was high (50%). The most common causal agents for SCM were non-aureus staphylococci (NAS), Staphylococcus (S.) aureus, Streptococcus spp. and Escherichia (E.) coli. The management related risk factors reported for SCM were stall feeding of cows, a higher stock density, cracked floors, open drains, the presence of flies, poor drainage, peri-parturient diseases, infrequent dung removal and earth floors. The control measures suggested in these studies were to improve the hygiene and sanitation of cows, to improve the cleanliness of farms and milker's hands, to apply dry cow therapy, supplementing micronutrients and routine screening for SCM combined with taking intervention measures like isolation of cows or milking infected cows last, and proper treatment. Also, full hand milking, complete milking, machine milking, and providing feed and water immediately after milking have been recommended. Finally, we show that current literature often studies the same set of (non-manageable) risk factors, so more research is needed to obtain a comprehensive picture of the determinants of SCM. Randomized controlled trials are needed to truly quantify the effect of intervention under field conditions. Altogether, our work gives an overview of the udder health situation in South-Asia and provides the basis for the design of UHCP in this region.

Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii in aborted fetuses of goats in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that is responsible for the major cause of congenital diseases, abortion, and stillbirth in humans and farm animals. Primary infection in pregnant goats due to T. gondii leads to abortion and significant economic losses in the livestock industry. Moreover, very few studies have been performed for the identification of T. gondii from aborted fetuses of goats. The study was conducted for the molecular identification of Toxoplasma gondii from aborted fetuses of goats in Chattogram, Bangladesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty aborted fetuses of goats were collected from 52 farms in the study area. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the B1 gene was performed, and a positive sample yield of 197 bp amplified DNA products consistent with T. gondii. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the aborted fetus of goats was 35%. Heart muscle, liver, brain, and placenta showed positive PCR results. The risk factors related to the does age, presence of cats in farms, and aborted fetus age were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Our results showed that T. gondii is a major possible causal factor for abortion and reproductive failure in goats. The high prevalence of T. gondii infection in aborted fetuses of goats revealed that T. gondii could be imperative in causing reproductive failure in goats. CONCLUSION: Active or congenital toxoplasmosis was shown by the presence of T. gondii in fetal tissues, which is a matter of concern as this parasite has zoonotic significance and causes economic hazards to the livestock industry by causing various reproductive problems. Therefore, proper control measures and strategies are needed to reduce the rate of abortion in goats, ultimately saving the livestock industry.

Incidence, Etiology, and Risk Factors of Clinical Mastitis in Dairy Cows under Semi-Tropical Circumstances in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Clinical mastitis (CM) is an important production disease in dairy cows, but much of the knowledge required to effectively control CM is lacking, specifically in low-income countries where most farms are small and have specific dairy management, such as regular udder cleaning and practicing hand milking. Therefore, we conducted a 6-month-long cohort study to (a) estimate the incidence rate of clinical mastitis (IRCM) at the cow and quarter level, (b) identify risk factors for the occurrence of CM, (c) describe the etiology of CM, and (d) quantify antimicrobial susceptibility (AMS) against commonly used antimicrobial agents in S. aureus and non-aureus Staphylococcus spp. (NAS) in dairy farms in the Chattogram region of Bangladesh. On 24 farms, all cows were monitored for CM during a 6-month period. Cases of CM were identified by trained farmers and milk samples were collected aseptically before administering any antimicrobial therapy. In total, 1383 lactating cows were enrolled, which totaled 446 cow-years at risk. During the study period, 196 new cases of CM occurred, resulting in an estimated crude IRCM of 43.9 cases per 100 cow-years, though this varied substantially between farms. Among the tested CM quarter samples, Streptococci (22.9%) followed by non-aureus staphylococci (20.3%) were the most frequently isolated pathogens and resistance of S. aureus and NAS against penicillin (2 out of 3 and 27 out of 39 isolates, respectively) and oxacillin (2 out of 3 and 38 out of 39 isolates, respectively) was common. The IRCM was associated with a high milk yield, 28 to 90 days in milk, and a higher body condition score. Our results show that there is substantial room for udder health improvement on most farms.

Subclinical Mastitis in Selected Bovine Dairy Herds in North Upper Egypt: Assessment of Prevalence, Causative Bacterial Pathogens, Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence-Associated Genes.

Mastitis is a significant disease affecting dairy cattle farms in Egypt. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and major bacterial pathogens causing subclinical mastitis (SCM) in three bovine dairy herds, with a history of SCM, at three Governorates in North Upper Egypt. The antimicrobial resistance profiles and specific virulence-associated genes causing bovine SCM were investigated. One thousand sixty-quarter milk samples (QMS) were collected aseptically from 270 apparently healthy cows in three farms and examined. The total prevalence of SCM was 46% and 44.8% based on California Mastitis Test (CMT) and Somatic Cell Count (SCC), respectively. Bacteriological examination of CMT positive quarters revealed that the prevalence of bacterial isolation in subclinically mastitic quarters was 90.4% (26 and 64.3% had single and mixed isolates, respectively). The most frequent bacterial isolates were E. coli (49.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (44.9%), streptococci (44.1%) and non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) (37.1%). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of isolates revealed a high degree of resistance to the most commonly used antimicrobial compound in human and veterinary medicine. Implementation of PCR revealed the presence of mecA and blaZ genes in 60% and 46.7% of S. aureus isolates and in 26.7% and 53.3% of NAS, respectively. Meanwhile 73.3% of streptococci isolates harbored aph(3')-IIIa gene conferring resistance to aminoglycosides and cfb gene. All E. coli isolates harbored tetA gene conferring resistance to tetracycline and sul1 gene conferring resistance to sulfonamides. The fimH and tsh genes were found in 80% and 60%, respectively. A significant association between the phenotypes and genotypes of AMR in different bacteria was recorded. The presence of a high prevalence of SCM in dairy animals impacts milk production and milk quality. The coexistence of pathogenic bacteria in milk is alarming, threatens human health and has a public health significance. Herd health improvement interventions are required to protect human health and society.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Antibiotic Use and Resistance among Veterinary Students in Bangladesh.

The use of antibiotics in animals for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes is a major driver of the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). While several studies have investigated prescription and consumption patterns in humans, little attention has been paid to the veterinary sector. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3002 veterinary students (VS) and non-medical students (NMS) from 12 universities in Bangladesh to explore their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about antibiotics and AMR using a self-administered questionnaire, and assess the influence of the veterinary curriculum. KAP regarding antibiotic use and AMR was significantly higher in veterinary than non-medical students, and in first-year than final-year students. However, gaps in knowledge and practices were highlighted, suggesting deficiencies in training. Moreover, final-year veterinary students were found to be more likely than first-year students to use antibiotics without instructions, which could indicate deficiencies in their curriculum. Although the study suggested a positive impact of the veterinary curriculum on KAP about antibiotics and AMR in Bangladesh, critical gaps remain that are likely to contribute to inadequate use in their future practice. Therefore, there is scope for improving educational programs on AMR in professional curricula.