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The structure of cellular prion proteins encoded by the prion protein gene (PRNP) impacts susceptibility to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer. The recent emergence of CWD in Northern European reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), moose (Alces alces alces) and red deer (Cervus elaphus), in parallel with the outbreak in North America, gives reason to investigate PRNP variation in European deer, to implement risk assessments and adjust CWD management for deer populations under threat. We here report PRNP-sequence data from 911 samples of German red, roe (Capreolus capreolus), sika (Cervus nippon) and fallow deer (Dama dama) as well as additional data from 26 Danish red deer close to the German border and four zoo species not native to Germany. No PRNP sequence variation was observed in roe and fallow deer, as previously described for populations across Europe. In contrast, a broad PRNP variation was detected in red deer, with non-synonymous polymorphisms at codons 98, 226 and 247 as well as synonymous mutations at codons 21, 78, 136 and 185. Moreover, a novel 24 bp deletion within the octapeptide repeat was detected. In summary, 14 genotypes were seen in red deer with significant differences in their geographical distribution and frequencies, including geographical clustering of certain genotypes, suggesting "PRNP-linages" in this species. Based on data from North American CWD and the genotyping results of the European CWD cases, we would predict that large proportions of wild cervids in Europe might be susceptible to CWD once introduced to naive populations.
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Ciervos , Enfermedad Debilitante Crónica , Animales , Ciervos/genética , Dinamarca , Variación Genética , Genotipo , Alemania/epidemiología , Polimorfismo Genético , Proteínas Priónicas/genética , Priones/genética , Enfermedad Debilitante Crónica/genética , Enfermedad Debilitante Crónica/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
Bacterial zoonotic pathogens are often the cause of diseases, sometimes with severe outcomes. They are mutually transferable between animals (both wild and domestic) and humans. The transmission paths are very variable and include oral intake via food, respiratory infection via droplets and aerosols, or infections via vectors such as tick bites or rodent contact. Furthermore, the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens is of paramount public health concern.The likelihood of further spread is influenced by various factors. These include the increase in international trade, the endangerment of animal habitats, and the increasingly closer contact between humans and wild animals. Additionally, changes in livestock and climate change may also contribute. Therefore, research into zoonoses serves to protect human and animal health and is of particular social, political, and economic importance.The aim of this review article is to present the range of infectious diseases caused by bacterial zoonotic pathogens in order to provide a better understanding of the important work in public health services, animal health services, and food safety control. The different transmission routes, epidemic potentials, and epidemiological measures of the exemplary selected diseases show the challenges for the public health system to monitor and control the spread of these bacterial pathogens in order to protect the population from disease.
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Zoonosis Bacterianas , Salud Pública , Animales , Humanos , Comercio , Incidencia , Alemania , Internacionalidad , Zoonosis/microbiologíaRESUMEN
Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) is a cattle disease that causes substantial financial losses, in particular to the dairy industry. Hence, several countries including Germany introduced compulsory disease control programs. For the case of Germany in particular, all animals had to be tested and persistently infected animals (PI animals) were removed from the population. The program was successful in reducing the number of PI animals, but was overtly expensive. Alternative approaches were therefore discussed to eliminate the remaining PI animals and alter the testing system in order to reduce costs. Contributing to these efforts, we developed an agent-based model that aimed to cover all relevant aspects of the disease biology and would allow to evaluate different control strategies. For the biological part of the infection spread, the model includes horizontal and vertical transmission, transient and persistent infections. Moreover, several control strategies including import of animals, trade restrictions, vaccination, as well as various testing schemes were included. The model was furthermore defined to be stochastic, event-driven and hierarchical, with cattle movements as the main route of spreading between farms. For the spread within farms, we included susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) dynamics with an additional permanently infectious class. The interaction between the farms was described by a supply and demand farm manager mechanism governing the network structure and dynamics. Additionally, we carried out a sensitivity analysis of the input parameters to study the impact of extreme values on the model. Since the population size in the model is limited, we tested the influence of the initial population size on the model results. Our results showed that the model could accurately describe the dynamics of the disease in the presence and absence of disease control. Although we developed the model for the spread of BVD, it may be adapted to similar diseases of cattle and swine.
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Diarrea Mucosa Bovina Viral , Virus de la Diarrea Viral Bovina , Animales , Diarrea Mucosa Bovina Viral/epidemiología , Diarrea Mucosa Bovina Viral/prevención & control , Bovinos , Industria Lechera , Diarrea/prevención & control , Diarrea/veterinaria , Ganado , PorcinosRESUMEN
West Nile virus (WNV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) transmitted by the bites of infected mosquitoes. WNV can also infect horses and humans, where it may cause serious illness and can be fatal. Birds are the natural reservoir, and humans, equines and probably other mammals are dead-end hosts. In 2018, WNV occurred for the first time in Germany, affecting birds and horses. Seroconversion of an exposed veterinarian has also been reported. It is therefore of importance to evaluate the circumstances, under which WNV may establish in Germany as a whole or in particular favourable regions. In our current work, we formulate a dynamic model to describe the spreading process of West Nile virus in the presence of migratory birds. To investigate the possible role of migratory birds in the dissemination of WNV in Germany, we include the recurring presence of migratory birds through a mechanistic ordinary differential equations (ODE) model system. We also perform a sensitivity analysis of the infection curves. Seasonal impacts are also taken into consideration. As result, we present an analytical expression for the basic reproduction number R0. We find that after introducing WNV into Germany, R0 will be above the critical value in many regions of the country. Furthermore, we observe that in the south of Germany, the disease reoccurs in the following season after the introduction. We include a potential distribution map associated with WNV cases in Germany to illustrate our findings in a spatial scale.
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Culex , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental , Virus del Nilo Occidental , Animales , Alemania/epidemiología , Caballos , Modelos Teóricos , Temperatura , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental/epidemiología , Fiebre del Nilo Occidental/veterinariaRESUMEN
Tick-borne diseases are a public health issue. To predict vector tick abundance and activity, it is necessary to understand the driving factors for these variables. In this study, the activity of Ixodes ricinus was investigated in forest and meadow habitats in Germany with a focus on abiotic factors. Ixodes ricinus adults, nymphs and larvae were caught by flagging over a period of 2 years. Microclimatic and weather conditions were recorded at the collection sites. Statistical models were applied to describe correlations between abiotic factors and tick activity in univariable and multivariable analyses. Tick activity was observed in a broad range of air temperature between 3 and 28 °C, and air humidity varied between 35 and 95%. In general, tick activity of nymphs and larvae was higher in forest habitats than that in meadows. With the exception of a single specimen of Dermacentor reticulatus, all ticks were Ixodes ricinus, most of them nymphs (63.2% in 2009 and 75.2% in 2010). For the latter, a negative binomial mixed-effects model fitted best to the observed parameters. The modelling results showed an activity optimum between 20 and 23 °C for air temperature and between 13 and 15 °C for ground temperature. In univariable analyses, the collection site, month, season, ground and air temperature were significant factors for the number of ticks caught and for all life stages. In the multivariable analysis, temperature, season and habitat turned out to be key drivers. Ixodes ricinus positive for RNA of tick-borne encephalitis virus was only found at a single sampling site. The results of this study can be used in risk assessments and to parameterise predictive models.
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Vectores Arácnidos/crecimiento & desarrollo , Ixodes/crecimiento & desarrollo , Animales , Vectores Arácnidos/virología , Dermacentor/crecimiento & desarrollo , Ecosistema , Virus de la Encefalitis Transmitidos por Garrapatas/aislamiento & purificación , Alemania , Ixodes/virología , Estadios del Ciclo de Vida , Estaciones del Año , Tiempo (Meteorología)RESUMEN
The importance of ticks and tick-borne pathogens for human and animal health has been increasing over the past decades. For their transportation and dissemination, birds may play a more important role than wingless hosts. In this study, tick infestation of birds in Germany was examined. Eight hundred ninety-two captured birds were infested with ticks and belonged to 48 different species, of which blackbirds (Turdus merula) and song thrushes (Turdus philomelos) were most strongly infested. Ground feeders were more strongly infested than non-ground feeders, sedentary birds more strongly than migratory birds, and short-distance migratory birds more strongly than long-distance migratory birds. Mean tick infestation per bird ranged between 2 (long-distance migratory bird) and 4.7 (sedentary bird), in some single cases up to 55 ticks per bird were found. With the exception of three nymphs of Haemaphysalis spp., all ticks belonged to Ixodes spp., the most frequently detected tick species was Ixodes ricinus. Birds were mostly infested by nymphs (65.1 %), followed by larvae (32.96 %). Additionally, ticks collected from birds were examined for several pathogens: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Sindbisvirus with real-time RT-PCR, Flaviviruses, Simbuviruses and Lyssaviruses with broad-range standard RT-PCR-assays, and Borrelia spp. with a Pan-Borrelia real-time PCR. Interestingly, no viral pathogens could be detected, but Borrelia spp. positive ticks were collected from 76 birds. Borrelia (B.) garinii, B. valaisiaina, B. burgdorferi s.s. and B. afzelii were determined. The screening of ticks and birds for viral pathogens with broad range PCR-assays was tested and the use as an "early warning system" is discussed.
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Enfermedades de las Aves/parasitología , Ixodes/clasificación , Ixodes/virología , Infestaciones por Garrapatas/veterinaria , Animales , Borrelia/genética , Femenino , Alemania , Humanos , Masculino , Ninfa , Prevalencia , Reacción en Cadena en Tiempo Real de la Polimerasa/veterinaria , Infestaciones por Garrapatas/epidemiología , Infestaciones por Garrapatas/parasitología , Virus/clasificación , Virus/aislamiento & purificaciónRESUMEN
Epidemiological analyses of vector-associated diseases such as bluetongue (BT), African horse sickness, or epizootic hemorrhagic disease require substantiated data on the species diversity and activity patterns of vector species. To this end, Spain and Italy implemented extensive Culicoides biting midge monitoring programs since 2000, as several other countries did after the arrival of BT in northern Europe in 2006. The seasonal occurrence, spatial distribution, and abundance of Culicoides species, as the major results of such monitoring programs, are used as parameters for assessing the risk of virus introduction and transmission in a given area. However, the quality of entomological monitoring results fundamentally depends on the collection techniques. In this publication, we describe a Latin Square design trial carried out in Germany under field conditions in 2009/2010 to compare the efficacy of four commonly used light baited/suction traps in collecting Culicoides. A total of 2651 Culicoides were caught over 18 nights. In both years, the Onderstepoort and BG-Sentinel traps caught significantly more Culicoides than the Rieb and the CDC trap. Most specimens were caught by the Onderstepoort trap (1246, i.e., 76 % in 2009 and 819, i.e., 82 % in 2010). Most were classified as midges of the Culicoides obsoletus group.
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Ceratopogonidae/fisiología , Control de Insectos/métodos , Insectos Vectores/fisiología , Animales , Lengua Azul/transmisión , Ceratopogonidae/clasificación , Alemania , Control de Insectos/instrumentación , Insectos Vectores/clasificación , Italia , España/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
Education on the use of economics applied to animal health (EAH) has been offered since the 1980s. However, it has never been institutionalized within veterinary curricula, and there is no systematic information on current teaching and education activities in Europe. Nevertheless, the need for economic skills in animal health has never been greater. Economics can add value to disease impact assessments; improve understanding of people's incentives to participate in animal health measures; and help refine resource allocation for public animal health budgets. The use of economics should improve animal health decision making. An online questionnaire was conducted in European countries to assess current and future needs and expectations of people using EAH. The main conclusion from the survey is that education in economics appears to be offered inconsistently in Europe, and information about the availability of training opportunities in this field is scarce. There is a lack of harmonization of EAH education and significant gaps exist in the veterinary curricula of many countries. Depending on whether respondents belonged to educational institutions, public bodies, or private organizations, they expressed concerns regarding the limited education on decision making and impact assessment for animal diseases or on the use of economics for general management. Both public and private organizations recognized the increasing importance of EAH in the future. This should motivate the development of teaching methods and materials that aim at developing the understanding of animal health problems for the benefit of students and professional veterinarians.
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Educación en Veterinaria/estadística & datos numéricos , Medicina Veterinaria/economía , Adulto , Europa (Continente) , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , EnseñanzaRESUMEN
Two separate analyses were carried out to understand the epidemiology of Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) in 2007 in North West Europe: First, the temporal change in transmission rates was compared to the evolution of temperature during that season. Second, we evaluated the spatio-temporal dynamics of newly reported outbreaks, to estimate a spatial transmission kernel. For both analyses, the approach as used before in analysing the 2006 BTV-8 epidemic had to be adapted in order to take into account the fact that the 2007 epidemic was not a newly arising epidemic, but one advancing from whereto it had already spread in 2006. We found that within the area already affected by the 2006 outbreak, the pattern of newly infected farms in 2007 cannot be explained by between-farm transmission, but rather by local re-emergence of the virus throughout that region. This indicates that persistence through winter was ubiquitous for BTV-8. Just like in 2006, we also found that the temperature at which the infection starts to spread lies close to 15 °C. Finally, we found that the shape of the transmission kernel is in line with the one from the 2006 epidemic. In conclusion, despite the substantial differences between 2006 and 2007 in temperature patterns (2006 featured a heat wave in July, whereas 2007 was more regular) and spatial epidemic extent, both the minimum temperature required for transmission and the transmission kernel were similar to those estimated for the 2006 outbreak, indicating that they are robust properties, suitable for extrapolation to other years and similar regions.
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Virus de la Lengua Azul/fisiología , Lengua Azul/epidemiología , Lengua Azul/transmisión , Brotes de Enfermedades/veterinaria , Temperatura , Animales , Lengua Azul/virología , Virus de la Lengua Azul/genética , Bovinos , Enfermedades de los Bovinos/epidemiología , Enfermedades de los Bovinos/transmisión , Enfermedades de los Bovinos/virología , Europa (Continente)/epidemiología , Enfermedades de las Cabras/epidemiología , Enfermedades de las Cabras/transmisión , Enfermedades de las Cabras/virología , Cabras , Modelos Teóricos , Estaciones del Año , Ovinos , Análisis EspacialRESUMEN
Introduction: Tick-borne pathogens, such as Borreliella spp., Rickettsia spp., and Anaplasma spp., are frequently detected in Germany. They circulate between animals and tick vectors and can cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Knowledge about distribution and prevalence of these pathogens over time is important for risk assessment of human and animal health. Methods: Ixodes ricinus nymphs were collected at different locations in 2009/2010 and 2019 in Germany and analyzed for tick-borne pathogens by real-time PCR and sequencing. Results: Borreliella spp. were detected with a prevalence of 11.96% in 2009/2010 and 13.10% in 2019 with B. afzelii and B. garinii as dominant species. Borrelia miyamotoi was detected in seven ticks and in coinfection with B. afzelii or B. garinii. Rickettsia spp. showed a prevalence of 8.82% in 2009/2010 and 1.68% in 2019 with the exclusive detection of R. helvetica. The prevalence of Anaplasma spp. was 1.00% in 2009/2010 and 7.01% in 2019. A. phagocytophilum was detected in seven tick samples. None of the nymphs were positive for C. burnetii. Discussion: Here, observed changes in prevalence were not significant after a decade but require longitudinal observations including parameters like host species and density, climatic factors to improve our understanding of tick-borne diseases.
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Ixodes , Enfermedades por Picaduras de Garrapatas , Animales , Alemania/epidemiología , Ixodes/microbiología , Prevalencia , Enfermedades por Picaduras de Garrapatas/epidemiología , Enfermedades por Picaduras de Garrapatas/microbiología , Ninfa/microbiología , Borrelia/aislamiento & purificación , Borrelia/genética , Humanos , Rickettsia/genética , Rickettsia/aislamiento & purificación , Anaplasma/genética , Anaplasma/aislamiento & purificación , Reacción en Cadena en Tiempo Real de la PolimerasaRESUMEN
Coxiella (C.) burnetii, a zoonotic bacterium, is prevalent in dairy farms. Some cows develop a persistent infection and shed C. burnetii into milk and occasionally by amniotic fluid at calving. Serological diagnosis of Q fever in humans is performed by phase (Ph)-specific antibody tests; PhII antibodies usually indicate an acute infection, while the development of a chronic infection is characterised by elevated PhI antibody titres. Phase-specific tests have now been established for diagnosis of coxiellosis in cattle. Additionally, an interferon-γ (IFN-γ) recall assay has been implemented to assess cellular immunity to C. burnetii in cattle. Milk samples from all lactating cows (n = 2718) of 49 Bavarian dairy farms were collected through a convenience sample and analysed for phase-specific antibodies. Antibody profiles were evaluated by age. Based on the seropositivity of first-lactation cows, three distinct herd profiles were observed: an 'acute' state of herd infection was characterised by a PhI-/PhII+ pattern. The detection of PhI antibodies (PhI+/PhII+) characterised the 'chronic' state, and seronegative results defined the 'silent' state of herd infection. If antibodies had not been detected in multiparous cows, the herd was considered as probably free of coxiellosis. The analysed cattle herds were noted to have an 'acute' (n = 12, 24.5%), 'chronic' (n = 18, 36.8%), or 'silent' state of herd infection (n = 16, 32.6%). Only three farms (6.1%) were classified as 'free' of C. burnetii. The detection of these herd states over a time period of 4 years in one farm indicated that the described states occur in a cyclical manner. Frequently, a wave-like profile was seen, i.e., a circumscribed seronegative age group was flanked by seropositive age groups. In seronegative animals, IFN-γ reactivity was demonstrated. Seroconversion after vaccination was observed by day 7 post-vaccination in chronically infected herds, whereas in the case of silent infection, it started by day 14. These data indicated a pre-existing immunity in seronegative animals in chronically infected herds. Additionally, IFN-γ reactivity was detected in seronegative calves (>3 months) and heifers from chronically infected farms compared to a negative farm. An infection prior to 3 months of age resulted in cellular immunity in the absence of detectable antibodies. An infection around calving would explain this. The aforementioned circumscribed seronegative age groups are, therefore, explained by an infection early in life during active shedding at calving. Based on these results, an endemic cycle of coxiellosis is proposed: Susceptible young heifers get infected by persistently infected cows. Subsequently, shedding of C. burnetii at calving results in infection and then in cellular immunity in offspring. When these calves enter the cow herd two years later, a maximum of herd immunity is achieved, shedding ceases, and new susceptible animals are raised. In an acutely infected dairy farm, the PhI+/PhII+ serological pattern prevailed in second-lactation cows. In this study, stored sera collected since birth were analysed retrospectively. From the earliest seroconversion, the peak of seroconversion took about 33 months. These data suggested a slow spread of infection within herds. The classification of dairy cow herds is a promising basis for further analysis of the clinical impact of coxiellosis.
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Camera traps are becoming widely used for wildlife monitoring and management. However, manual analysis of the resulting image sets is labor-intensive, time-consuming and costly. This study shows that automated computer vision techniques can be extremely helpful in this regard, as they can rapidly and automatically extract valuable information from the images. Specific training with a set of 1600 images obtained from a study where wild animals approaching wild boar carcasses were monitored enabled the model to detect five different classes of animals automatically in their natural environment with a mean average precision of 98.11%, namely 'wild boar', 'fox', 'raccoon dog', 'deer' and 'bird'. In addition, sequences of images were automatically analyzed and the number of wild boar visits and respective group sizes were determined. This study may help to improve and speed up the monitoring of the potential spread of African swine fever virus in areas where wild boar are affected.
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On a global scale, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a serious threat to the health of the human population. Not only humans can be infected, but also their companion animals. The antibody status of 115 cats and 170 dogs, originating from 177 German households known to have been SARS-CoV-2 positive, was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the results were combined with information gathered from a questionnaire that was completed by the owner(s) of the animals. The true seroprevalences of SARS-CoV-2 among cats and dogs were 42.5% (95% CI 33.5-51.9) and 56.8% (95% CI 49.1-64.4), respectively. In a multivariable logistic regression accounting for data clustered in households, for cats, the number of infected humans in the household and an above-average contact intensity turned out to be significant risk factors; contact with humans outside the household was a protective factor. For dogs, on the contrary, contact outside the household was a risk factor, and reduced contact, once the human infection was known, was a significant protective factor. No significant association was found between reported clinical signs in animals and their antibody status, and no spatial clustering of positive test results was identified.
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COVID-19 , Enfermedades de los Gatos , Animales , Gatos , Perros , Humanos , COVID-19/diagnóstico , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/veterinaria , SARS-CoV-2 , Anticuerpos Antivirales , Factores de Riesgo , Alemania/epidemiología , Enfermedades de los Gatos/diagnóstico , Enfermedades de los Gatos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
(1) Background: The oral vaccination of free-roaming dogs against rabies has been developed as a promising complementary tool for mass dog vaccination. However, no oral rabies vaccine has provided efficacy data in dogs according to international standards. (2) Methods: To test the immunogenicity and efficacy of the third-generation oral rabies virus vaccine strain, SPBN GASGAS, in domestic dogs, dogs were offered an egg-flavoured bait containing 3.0 mL of the vaccine (107.5 FFU/mL) or a placebo egg-flavoured bait. Subsequently, these 25 vaccinated and 10 control animals were challenged approximately 6 months later with a dog rabies virus isolate. Blood samples were collected at different time points postvaccination and examined by ELISA and RFFIT. (3) Results: All but 1 of the 25 vaccinated dogs survived the challenge infection; meanwhile, all 10 control dogs succumbed to rabies. The serology results showed that all 25 vaccinated dogs seroconverted in ELISA (>40% PB); meanwhile, only 13 of the 25 vaccinated dogs tested seropositive ≥ 0.5 IU/mL) in RFFIT. (4) Conclusions: The SPBN GASGAS rabies virus vaccine meets the efficacy requirements for live oral rabies vaccines as laid down by the European Pharmacopoeia and the WOAH Terrestrial Manual. SPBN GASGAS already fulfilled the safety requirements for oral rabies vaccines targeted at dogs. Hence, the egg-flavoured bait containing SPBN GASGAS is the first oral vaccine bait that complies with WOAH recommendations for the intended use of oral vaccination of free-roaming dogs against rabies.
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This study aimed to assess the risk of exposure to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) via milk for the Slovenian consumer. MAP is suspected to be associated with several diseases in humans, therefore the risk of exposure should be better understood. The primary source of MAP for humans is thought to be cattle, in which MAP causes paratuberculosis or Johne's disease. We developed a stochastic quantitative risk assessment model using Monte Carlo simulations. Considering the assumptions and uncertainties, we estimated the overall risk of exposure to MAP via milk to be low. For people consuming raw milk from MAP positive farms, the risk was high. On-farm pasteurisation reduced the risk considerably, but not completely. The risk of exposure via pasteurised retail milk was most likely insignificant. However, with a higher paratuberculosis prevalence the risk would also increase. Given the popularity of raw milk vending machines and homemade dairy products, this risk should not be ignored. To reduce the risk, consumers should heat raw milk before consumption. To prevent a potential public health scare and safeguard farmers' livelihoods, a reduction in paratuberculosis prevalence should be sought. Our results show that culling clinically infected cows was insufficient to reduce milk contamination with MAP.
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This study aimed to investigate the possible dynamics of paratuberculosis or Johne's disease in a typical Slovenian dairy herd of about 17 cows. Paratuberculosis is a worldwide endemic disease of cattle caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and is associated with significant economic losses. We developed a stochastic compartmental model with two pathways of disease progression, infections of adult cows and infections of young animals through horizontal and vertical transmission, and transmission through animal movements. The average proportions of subclinically and clinically infected cows were 4% and 0.47%, respectively. The prevalence within the herd, which included latently infected animals, averaged 7.13% and ranged from 0% to 70.59%. Under the given circumstances, the results showed a relatively high rate of spontaneous elimination (0.22 per herd per year) of the disease and a high rate of reinfection (0.18 per herd per year) facilitated by active animal trade. To our knowledge, this stochastic compartmental model is the first to be developed specifically to represent a small dairy herd and could apply to other countries with a similar structure of dairy farms. The results suggest that different models should be used to study MAP spread in herds of various sizes.
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Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic disease caused by the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Ticks of the genus Hyalomma are the main vectors and represent a reservoir for the virus. CCHF is maintained in nature in an endemic vertebrate-tick-vertebrate cycle. The disease is prevalent in wide geographical areas including Asia, Africa, South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It is of great importance for the public health given its occasionally high case/fatality ratio of CCHFV in humans. Climate change and the detection of possible CCHFV vectors in Central Europe suggest that the establishment of the transmission in Central Europe may be possible in future. We have developed a compartment-based nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) system to model the disease transmission cycle including blood sucking ticks, livestock and human. Sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number R0 shows that decreasing the tick survival time is an efficient method to control the disease. The model supports us in understanding the influence of different model parameters on the spread of CCHFV. Tick-to-tick transmission through co-feeding and the CCHFV circulation through transstadial and transovarial transmission are important factors to sustain the disease cycle. The proposed model dynamics are calibrated through an empirical multi-country analysis and multidimensional plot reveals that the disease-parameter sets of different countries burdened with CCHF are different. This information may help decision makers to select efficient control strategies.
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African swine fever (ASF) is an internationally-spreading viral pig disease that severely damages agricultural pork production and trade economy as well as social welfare in disease-affected regions. A comprehensive understanding of ASF risk factors is imperative for efficient disease control. As the absence of effective ASF vaccines limits disease management options, the identification and minimisation of ASF-associated risk factors is critical to preventing ASF outbreaks. Here, we compile currently known potential ASF risk factors identified through a systematic literature review. We found 154 observation-based and 1239 potential ASF risk factors, which we were able to group into the following defined risk categories: 'ASF-virus', 'Biosecurity', 'Disease control', 'Environment', 'Husbandry', 'Movement', 'Network', 'Pig', 'Society' and 'Surveillance'. Throughout the epidemiological history of ASF there have been similar risk categories, such as 'Environment'-related risk factors, predominantly reported in the literature irrespective of the ASF situation at the time. While ASF risk factor reporting has markedly increased since 2010, the majority of identified risk factors overall have referred to domestic pigs. The reporting of risk factors for ASF in wild boar mostly commenced from 2016 onwards. The compendium of ASF risk factors presented herein defines our current knowledge of ASF risk factors, and critically informs ASF-related problem solving.
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Virus de la Fiebre Porcina Africana , Fiebre Porcina Africana , Enfermedades de los Porcinos , Porcinos , Animales , Fiebre Porcina Africana/epidemiología , Fiebre Porcina Africana/prevención & control , Brotes de Enfermedades/prevención & control , Factores de Riesgo , Sus scrofa , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.688078.].
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Collaboration across sectors, disciplines and countries is a key concept to achieve the overarching One Health (OH) objective for better human, animal and environmental health. Differences in terminology and interpretation of terms are still a significant hurdle for cross-sectoral information exchange and collaboration within the area of OH including One Health Surveillance (OHS). The development of the here described glossary is a collaborative effort of three projects funded within the One Health European Joint Programme (OHEJP). We describe the infrastructure of the OHEJP Glossary, as well as the methodology to create such a cross-sectoral web resource in a collaborative manner. The new OHEJP Glossary allows OH actors to identify terms with different or shared interpretation across sectors. Being aware of such differences in terminology will help overcome communication hurdles in the future and consequently support collaboration and a more inclusive development of OHS. The OHEJP Glossary was implemented as a web-based, user-friendly and searchable infrastructure that complies with the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data principles. Maintenance, enrichment and quality control of the OHEJP Glossary is supported through a flexible and updatable curation infrastructure. This increases the uptake potential and exploitation of the OHEJP Glossary by other OH initiatives or tools and services.