Prevalence of Alaria infection in companion animals in north central Oklahoma from 2006 through 2015 and detection in wildlife.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of Alaria infection in cats and dogs in north central Oklahoma over various periods and investigate whether wild animal species in this region were also infected. DESIGN Combined cross-sectional study and case series. SAMPLE Results of parasitological testing of fecal samples from 5,417 client-owned dogs and 1,246 client-owned cats (2006 through 2014); fecal samples from 837 shelter or rescue dogs and 331 shelter or rescue cats (2013 and 2014) and 268 feral cats (2015); tongue or jowl samples from cadavers of 43 wild pigs, 3 opossums, and 1 raccoon; and intestinal tract segments from cadavers of 48 cats and 5 coyotes. PROCEDURES Various parasite recovery techniques were performed to detect various Alaria stages in samples. Recovered adult trematodes and mesocercariae were used for PCR assay and sequencing of the 28S rRNA gene. RESULTS Prevalence of Alaria infection was significantly higher in feral cats (9.0%) than in shelter or rescue cats (0.6%) and client-owned cats (1.4%) and in shelter or rescue dogs (1.8%) than in client-owned dogs (0.2%). Mesocercariae were recovered from tissue samples from 11 (26%) wild pigs and 1 opossum. Amplicon sequences from adult trematodes and mesocercariae were 100% identical to each other and 99% homologous to GenBank sequences of Alaria alata and Alaria mustelae. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Prevalence of Alaria infection in the study area has increased in dogs and cats since 1990, when infections were rare. Prevalence in wild pigs was similar to that in Eurasia, where A alata is considered an emerging zoonotic parasite.

High-throughput screening of a diversity collection using biodefense category A and B priority pathogens.

One of the objectives of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Biodefense Program is to identify or develop broad-spectrum antimicrobials for use against bioterrorism pathogens and emerging infectious agents. As a part of that program, our institution has screened the 10 000-compound MyriaScreen Diversity Collection of high-purity druglike compounds against three NIAID category A and one category B priority pathogens in an effort to identify potential compound classes for further drug development. The effective use of a Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute-based high-throughput screening (HTS) 96-well-based format allowed for the identification of 49 compounds that had in vitro activity against all four pathogens with minimum inhibitory concentration values of ≤16 µg/mL. Adaptation of the HTS process was necessary to conduct the work in higher-level containment, in this case, biosafety level 3. Examination of chemical scaffolds shared by some of the 49 compounds and assessment of available chemical databases indicates that several may represent broad-spectrum antimicrobials whose activity is based on novel mechanisms of action.