Controlling Coxiella burnetii in naturally infected sheep, goats and cows, and public health implications: a scoping review.

Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic disease which domestic ruminants are the main source of infection for humans. This scoping review summarizes the control measures currently available to reduce Coxiella burnetii (Cb) infection in naturally infected sheep, goat and cattle herds. A total of 28 articles were included in the review. A lack of methodological standardization was noted in the articles analyzed. The results indicated that long-term vaccination in cows reduces bacterial excretion in milk and environmental contamination. In small ruminants, the results of vaccination in terms of efficacy are variable. In goats, there is a reduction in bacterial excretion, unlike in sheep, where a long-term vaccination program is necessary to reduce bacterial excretion. Moreover, the high persistence of viable Cb in the environment means that control measures for sheep are needed for several years. The use of antibiotics as a control measure in cows and sheep was not found to reduce excretion. However, the combination of vaccination with antibiotic therapy appears to have positive effects in small ruminants in terms of controlling outbreaks of Q fever. Hygiene and biosecurity measures are the basic means for controlling Cb infection on ruminant farms and ensuring public health.

Organ xenotransplantation acceptance in veterinary students: A multicentric opinion study in Spain.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of available transplant organs has made it necessary to search for alternatives, one of which is xenotransplantation. However, the use of animal organs could face rejection from society and the personnel involved in its implementation. OBJECTIVES: (a) to analyze the attitudes of Veterinary Degree students in six Spanish Universities towards xenotransplantation; and (b) to determine the factors that affect its acceptance. METHODS: Of the 2815 students surveyed in the degree program, 2683 valid surveys were obtained. Attitudes towards organ xenotransplantation were evaluated using a validated questionnaire of organ donation. RESULTS: If xenotransplantation was confirmed as a clinical reality, 93% (n = 2493) of those surveyed would accept a xenotransplanted organ, whilst 7% would not. If the results of xenotransplantation were worse than those obtained with human donors and it entailed more risk, 12% (n = 318) would be in favor. 56% (n = 1497) of the students would accept a xenotransplantation provisionally pending the arrival of a human organ. Attitudes towards xenotransplantation were affected by the academic year in which a student was studying, with more favorable attitudes among students in the last year (88% in first year vs. 95% in fifth year; p < .001). More favorable attitudes are also observed depending on the attitude they have towards organ transplantation, with those students being more in favor of donating their organs when they die (94% vs. 88%; p < .001). CONCLUSION: Veterinary students would have a very favorable attitude toward xenotransplantation if these animal organs functioned as well as human organs. Therefore, these students could play an important role in the future promotion of this technique.

Vaginal Microbiota Is Stable throughout the Estrous Cycle in Arabian Maress.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) dominate human vaginal microbiota and inhibit pathogen proliferation. In other mammals, LAB do not dominate vaginal microbiota, however shifts of dominant microorganisms occur during ovarian cycle. The study objectives were to characterize equine vaginal microbiota in mares by culture-dependent and independent methods and to describe its variation in estrus and diestrus. Vaginal swabs from 8 healthy adult Arabian mares were obtained in estrus and diestrus. For culture-dependent processing, bacteria were isolated on Columbia blood agar (BA) and Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) agar. LAB comprised only 2% of total bacterial isolates and were not related to ovarian phases. For culture-independent processing, V3/V4 variable regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified and sequenced using Illumina Miseq. The diversity and composition of the vaginal microbiota did not change during the estrous cycle. Core equine vaginal microbiome consisted of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria at the phylum level. At the genus level it was defined by Porphyromonas, Campylobacter, Arcanobacterium, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Fusobacterium, uncultured Kiritimatiaellae and Akkermansia. Lactobacillus comprised only 0.18% of the taxonomic composition in estrus and 0.37% in diestrus. No differences in the relative abundance of the most abundant phylum or genera were observed between estrus and diestrus samples.

Veterinary Spanish Students' Attitude Toward Presumed Consent in Organ Donation.

Veterinarians often are involved in transplantation research projects. They are a fundamental social group who can influence public opinion about organ donation and transplantation (ODT). OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine the knowledge of Spanish veterinary students about the concept of brain death and the law of presumed consent. METHODS: A sociologic, multicenter, and observational study was carried out in the veterinary students enrolled in Spain (n = 9000) in a complete academic year. A sample of 2815 students was stratified by geographic area and academic year. The students' attitudes on the psychosocial aspects of ODT were evaluated using a psychosocial validated questionnaire (PCID-DTO Rios). It was self-administered and completed anonymously. Veterinary schools were randomly selected. The questionnaire was applied to each academic year at compulsory sessions. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Student t test, χ2 test, and logistic regression analysis were used. RESULTS: The completion rate was 91% (n = 2558). Of students, 66% (n = 1664) understood the concept of brain death, 30% had doubts, whereas 5% believed that a person with brain death can recover and lead a normal life. Concerning legislation, 63% (n = 1615) were against the law of presumed consent, and 37% were in favor. An analysis of variables determining more favorable acceptance of the law showed that year of study (P = .000), knowing a donor (P = .020), and attitude toward ODT (P = .000) did have an effect on acceptance. Most students, 71% (n = 1875), were interested in attending a talk about ODT. CONCLUSION: Only 37% of Spanish veterinary students would accept the law of presumed consent. Most students were interested in attending an informative talk about ODT.

Intracellular bacteria find the right motion.

Benanti et al. report that Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei bacteria express proteins that mimic Ena/Vasp family proteins to polymerize actin, thereby inducing actin-based motility. Thus, bacteria can use the various cellular actin polymerization mechanisms for intra- and inter-cellular dissemination.

Deletion of the membrane protein Lmo0412 increases the virulence of Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes gastroenteritis, meningitis, encephalitis and maternofetal infections. 20-30% of eubacterial ORFs are predicted to encode membrane proteins. The bacterial cytoplasmic membrane is a macromolecular structure, which plays a key role for the pathogenesis. Despite this, little knowledge exists regarding the function of cytoplasmic membrane proteins of Listeria during infection. Here, we investigated a predicted membrane protein of the pathogen L. monocytogenes, Lmo0412, of unknown function. Lmo0412 is only present in the Listeria genus and low conserved in the non-pathogenic species L. innocua. Bacterial fractionation and western blot analyses showed that Lmo0412 was only detectable in the membrane of L. monocytogenes EGDe during logarithmic growth phase. lmo0412 expression in L. monocytogenes was down-regulated during in vitro infection of JEG-3 epithelial cells. An L. monocytogenes mutant deficient in this membrane protein showed increased invasion of Caco-2 and NRK-49F host cells using in vitro infection models. Moreover, the lack of Lmo0412 in this deletion mutant increased the viable bacteria counts in the spleen and liver of mice compared to the wild type strain. Taken together, these data suggest a selective advantage conferred by the absence of Lmo0412 for the virulence of L. monocytogenes.

Cytokines transcript levels in lung and lymphoid organs during genotype 1 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) infection.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most economically important diseases of swine. PRRS virus (PRRSV) infection in the pig is characterized by a weak or absent host innate immune response. The underlying mechanisms of PRRSV pathogenesis are still unclear. The analysis of transcript levels represents an alternative to immunoassays for the detection of cytokines that sometimes are difficult to detect due to their low amounts. This study sets out to determine the differences in pathogenesis and the immune response between lung, tonsil, tracheobronchial lymph node (Tb-LN) and retropharyngeal LN (Rf-LN) of PRRSV 2982 strain infected pigs. PRRSV strain 2982 avoided the onset of an effective innate immune response, especially in PRRSV main target (lung) and reservoir (tonsil) organs. PRRSV lead to an impaired expression of IFN-α and TNF-α gene expression, which finally induced a weak and delayed adaptive immune response through an inefficient IL-12 and IFN-γ expression. Finally, PRRSV replication favored the expression of the anti-inflammatory IL-10 cytokine in infected pigs.

Virulence and genotype-associated infectivity of interferon-treated macrophages by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses.

The polarization into M1 and M2 macrophages (MΦ) is essential to understand MΦ function. Consequently, the aim of this study was to determine the impact of IFN-γ (M1), IL-4 (M2) and IFN-ß activation of MΦ on the susceptibility to genotype 1 and 2 porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus (PRRSV) strains varying in virulence. To this end, monocyte-derived MΦ were generated by culture during 72h and polarization was induced for another 24h by addition of IFN-γ, IL-4 or IFN-ß. MΦ were infected with a collection of PRRSV isolates belonging to genotype 1 and genotype 2. Undifferentiated and M2 MΦ were highly susceptible to all PRRSV isolates. In contrast, M1 and IFN-ß activated MΦ were resistant to low pathogenic genotype 1 PRRSV but not or only partially to genotype 2 PRRSV strains. Interestingly, highly virulent PRRSV isolates of both genotypes showed particularly high levels of infection compared with the prototype viruses in both M1 and IFN-ß-treated MΦ (P<0.05). This was seen at the level of nucleocapsid expression, viral titres and virus-induced cell death. In conclusion, by using IFN-γ and IFN-ß stimulated MΦ it is possible to discriminate between PRRSV varying in genotype and virulence. Genotype 2 PRRSV strains are more efficient at escaping the intrinsic antiviral effects induced by type I and II IFNs. Our in vitro model will help to identify viral genetic elements responsible for virulence, an information important not only to understand PRRS pathogenesis but also for a rational vaccine design. Our results also suggest that monocyte-derived MΦ can be used as a PRRSV infection model instead of alveolar MΦ, avoiding the killing of pigs.