[A study of the epidemiological behaviour of bovine paratuberculosis using time series in Tandil in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina]. / Estudio del comportamiento epidemiológico de la paratuberculosis bovina mediante series cronológicas en Tandil, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The authors present the results of a study conducted using time series data from the 1993--2001 period in order to characterise the clinical behaviour of bovine paratuberculosis. The case data, confirmed by macroscopic examination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and comparative tuberculin test, came from the herd health register, located in Tandil in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The upper limit of customary variation was observed in April, with an incidence of 2.5%. In 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001 the disease was epidemic and a peak of 5.6% occurred in March 1999. Over the long term a rise in the total annual incidence was observed, from 0.7% in 1993 to 10.2% in 2001. Knowledge about the epidemiology of paratuberculosis will help to control the disease and minimise its impact on the national economy, and will also provide new information for use in public health.

Programa de investigación para detectar sensores epidemiológicos en áreas del sudeste bonaerense, Argentina

[Introducción] En América Latina se desarrollaron diversos cambios en salud animal en los últimos años. Por un lado se lograron avances en el control y erradicación de diversas enfermedades, estableciéndose áreas y países libres de algunas de ellas, mientras que por otra parte se sufrió la aparición de enfermedades nuevas y/o emergentes. Esto determinó que se le brinde especial importancia en los sistemas de salud animal a los programas relacionados a la vigilancia epidemiológica (VE).

Diagnosis of porcine trichinellosis: parasitological and immunoserological tests in pigs from endemic areas of Argentina.

In order to compare the reliability of serological and parasitological techniques for the diagnosis of porcine trichinellosis from endemic areas in Argentina, 116 pigs were studied: 61 animals from two separate outbreaks and 55 from a small abattoir. Direct diagnostic techniques included trichinoscopy and the artificial digestion method. Indirect diagnostic tests used in this study were the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), employing the excretory-secretory products of muscle larvae (ML) as antigen, and the indirect immunofluorescence assay using as antigen ML in suspension (IIF-susp), cryostat sections of infected rat muscle or of free ML (IIF-slide). The percentage of parasitologically positive pigs was invariably lower than that of serologically positive animals (IIF-slide), even when digestion studies were carried out individually with a greater amount of muscle sample than required by current regulations. Close correlation was found between IIF using as antigen tissue sections and IIF using free ML sections, while IIF-susp proved unsuitable for diagnosis since this assay presented a high percentage of false negative results (20%). The IIF-slide technique proved positive in all parasitologically positive animals. ELISA rendered a lower percentage of positive reactions than IIF-slide, especially when worm burden was low. Since most parasitologically positive animals rendered at least two positive serological tests (two variations of IIF or IIF plus ELISA), those negative by digestion and positive by two serological methods were strongly suspected of having trichinellosis. Upon studying swine from a abattoir it was found that 9% of the pigs were positive when assayed by two serological techniques, but Trichinella spiralis infection could not be parasitologically confirmed. To sum up, serological methods may be used for screening all pigs and positive findings should be tested by the digestion method by analysing a greater quantity of pork than that required by current regulations, above all in areas with reported clinical trichinellosis in humans, to ensure that the pork is safe for human consumption.