Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is a notifiable infectious disease with sporadic fre-quency in Albania. EBL is not a zoonotic disease, but it has an important impact on the cattle trade. Diagnosis of this disease can be performed by many diagnostic proce-dures, including agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. In some cases, where persis-tent lymphocytosis is present, cell count can turn useful. This study aimed to evaluate serological and hematological tests' suitability for the diagnosis of EBL and assess the manual and automatic hematological count technique diagnostic parameters com-pared to the serological test. Results suggest that strategic use of hematological and AGID tests in parallel can increase the sensitivity of diagnosis and facilitate the detec-tion of infected animals in different disease stages. Moreover, our results indicate that this approach is feasible in small scale cattle herds size, which properly fits Albanian circumstances
The complete blood count analysis is of great importance in animals, as it can help in the initial diagnosis and the subsequent follow-up for these patients.For this purpose, the manual count is mainly used in rabbits to identify different cell populations and their respective percentages.Different studies have shown that complete blood count can also be performed using automatic methods to analyse rabbit cell populations.Flow cytometry is a relatively new technique in veterinary medicine that has been used for the diagnosis and staging of many medical disorders in many species.In this study, sixty-one peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy rabbits and analysed using both classic manual method and flow cytometry to evaluate the usefulness of flow cytometry in identifying different cell populations based only on their scatter properties.The results showed that flow cytometry is a reliable method to detecting different cell populations, such as granulocytes, small and large lymphocytes (for all: intra-class correlation coefficient >0.75) with high accuracy based on their scatter properties.Biases calculated using the Bland-Altman approach ranged from -0.1118to -1.256 for large lymphocytes and monocytes, respectively.However, further research with a larger number of cases and the implication of other helping techniques such as cell sorting, is necessary to fully confirm these results.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important bacterial infectious disease in Albania of concern to animal and human health; its prevalence is poorly documented.In this longitudinal study, we tested by ELISA 2661 serum samples, from 154 herds, with the aim of establishing the suitability of this approach to screen the bovine population for bTB. In a follow-on survey of 87 animals in three villages, we assessed the usefulness of the Mycobacterium bovis IDEXX ELISA (IDEXX M. bovis Antibody (Ab) Test. IDEXX Europe B.V P.O. Box 1334, 2130 EK Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) assay by comparing IDEXX results with the results of the single intradermal cervical skin test. Skin tests were performed either after or at the time of collection of blood samples, and therefore cattle were not sensitized by tuberculin before serological testing.The proportion of herds in which serologically positive cattle were found was 18.2 % (95 % CI, 1.9-25.8 %) and the prevalence of seropositive cattle was 1.4 % (95 % CI, 0.8-2.1 %). In the follow-up study, two of the 87 animals reacted positively to the skin test and two produced inconclusive reactions. No overlap was found between the four animals with positive IDEXX ELISA results and the four animals with non-negative skin test results.The lack of agreement between the results of the two tests may reflect different elements of the immune response (humoral and cell-mediated immunity). In future, cattle should be sensitized by the intradermal injection of tuberculin 14 days prior to the collection of blood samples, which would then be tested by the Mycobacterium bovis IDEXX ELISA Test in order to determine more accurately the prevalence of infection.
Purpose: The aim of the current review is to provide frequency estimates and spatial distribution of brucellosis in humans and animals over a century. Methods & Materials: Descriptive epidemiology of brucellosis in humans and animals is elucidated by a combined approach utilizing official data and literature review. Official data on disease occurrence from 1990 to present were collected from the Institute of Public Health and Food Safety and Veterinary Institute. A total of 77 national publications on brucellosis from 1938 to 2016 were reviewed and data were extracted. Results: Results are divided in different time periods according to disease patterns and control measures applied on animal populations. The first period 1925 – 1960 was marked by a rapid increase of cases both in humans and animals. The prevalence in small ruminants was 4% - 8% and 0.2% - 9% in cattle, meanwhile average annual incidence in humans was 23 cases per 100.000. During the next period 1960 – 1990, the disease was almost eradicated due to intensive test and slaughter and massive vaccination of animals. As a result the prevalence in small ruminants in 1989 has fallen to 0.02% and 0.001% in small ruminants and cattle respectively. During the 80s only sporadic cases were recorded in humans. In the third period 1991 - 2004 a comeback of brucellosis has been documented with similar trend like in the 60s. Interestingly the number of cases in 2004 was 1.139 which is almost the double of 614 cases in 1960, however the incidence was identical with 37 cases per 100.000 pop which is explained by rapid demographic changes that occurred in the country. The fourth period 2005 -2015 is characterized by a rapid decline with 5 cases per 100.000 pop in humans. The fall of the disease presumably has occurred also in animal species but due to veterinary interventions with mass vaccinations the data are not reliable. Conclusion: As shown by historical disease patterns the current risk for re-emergence of brucellosis is evident especially when veterinary activities are relaxed as a result of a false safety related to low rates of the disease.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a contagious bacterial infectious disease that affects animals and humans (OIE, 2009). It occurs worldwide and it is a OIE listed disease and interfere seriously with international trade of animals and animal products (Nikki le Roex, et al., 2015). In general, bTB is a typical chronic disease. Humblet, et al., (2009) listed a long list of bTB risk factors and age was classified as an individual factor that affects clinical disease. Despite that animals may be infected at early age of life the clinical disease may appear when animals become older. In addition, older animals are more likely to be exposed to M.bovis. The main route of transmission of bTB is by inhalation; however congenital and suckling colostrum and milk from infected animals are described widely (OIE, 2009). Diagnosis of bTB is an important factor that affects significantly the success of its control. Ante mortem diagnosis of bTB in cattle is based on tuberculin skin test (STs), Interferon Gama Assay (INF-), ELISA, Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA), etc. Sensitivity of diagnostic methods is low and both false positive and false negative affect their performance. Both STs and INF- tests are based on cell mediated immunity, STs have low sensitivity and acceptable specificity, while INF-, despite the diagnostic parameters are better than STs, its specificity and sensitivity are still low.
Clostridium difficile is an etiological agent of pseudomembranous colitis and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Adhesion is the crucial first step in bacterial infection. Thus, in addition to toxins, the importance of colonization factors in C. difficile-associated disease is recognized. In this study, we identified Fbp68, one of the colonization factors that bind to fibronectin (Fn), as a manganese-binding protein (K(D) = 52.70 ± 1.97 nM). Furthermore, the conformation of Fbp68 changed dramatically upon manganese binding. Manganese binding can also stabilize the structure of Fbp68 as evidenced by the increased T(m) measured by thermodenatured circular dichroism and differential scanning calorimetry (CD, T(m) = 58-65 °C; differential scanning calorimetry, T(m) = 59-66 °C). In addition, enhanced tolerance to protease K also suggests greatly improved stability of Fbp68 through manganese binding. Fn binding activity was found to be dependent on manganese due to the lack of binding by manganese-free Fbp68 to Fn. The C-terminal 194 amino acid residues of Fbp68 (Fbp68C) were discovered to bind to the N-terminal domain of Fn (Fbp68C-NTD, K(D) = 233 ± 10 nM, obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry). Moreover, adhesion of C. difficile to Caco-2 cells can be partially blocked if cells are pretreated with Fbp68C, and the binding of Fbp68C on Fn siRNA-transfected cells was significantly reduced. These results raise the possibility that Fbp68 plays a key role in C. difficile adherence on host cells to initiate infection.
Bovine tuberculosis is a bacterial contagious disease due by Mycobacterium bovis that primary affects cattle and widest range of mammals.Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae are responsible for zoonotic tuberculosis.In Albania, bovine tuberculosis is endemic, however information on the spread of disease is not available and sustainable control measures are not fully enforced.In this study, we present data from a pilot survey for bovine TB after receiving an unofficial information of generalized bovine TB in a slaughtered calf in Dibra region.In total, there were tested 277 cattle by comparative tuberculin skin test and prevalence of bovine tuberculosis was 1.1% at individual level and 1.4% at farm level.There were identify a variety of risk factors that facilitate spreading bovine tuberculosis in animals and interfere with its control programs, such as lack of correct animal identification, animal movement control, age structure etc. Active surveillance in the abattoirs and traced back to their farm of origin and tested all in-contact animals with simultaneous comparative cervical skin test is a rational approach as a first step for control of bovine tuberculosis disease.An active surveillance in large commercial farms must be initiate and when the necessary infrastructure will be available, a national active surveillance must be implemented.In addition to field tests, gross examination during meat inspection, histopathological, microbiological and molecular methods must be employed systematically for bTB diagnosis and epidemiological study.More efforts must be pay in collaboration with human health in the framework of "One Health" philosophy, which will provide the full background of zoonotic tuberculosis in human and animals.
Some European countries have successfully implemented country-specific control programs (CPs) for infectious cattle diseases that are not regulated or are regulated only to a limited extent at the European Union (EU) level. Examples of such diseases include bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), and Johne's disease (JD). The CPs vary between countries in the design and quality of collected data as well as methods used to detect infection and estimate prevalence or probability of freedom from infection. Differences in disease status between countries and non-standardized approaches to assess freedom from infection pose a risk for countries with CPs for non-regulated diseases as infected animals may influence the progress of the disease control or eradication program. The implementation of output-based standards allows estimation and comparison of the probability of freedom for non-regulated cattle diseases in European countries. The aim of the current study was to assess the existence and quality of data that could be used for estimating freedom from infection in European countries. The online data collection tool was sent to 32 countries participating in the SOUND control COST Action and was completed by 24 countries. Data on cattle demographics and data from CPs of IBR and BVD exist in more than 50% of the response countries. However, data describing risk factors and CP of JD was reported as existing in <25% of the countries. The overall quality of data in the sections on demographics and CPs of IBR and BVD were evaluated as “good”, but risk factors and JD data were mostly evaluated as “fair.” Data quality was considered less good mainly due to two quality criteria: accessibility and accuracy. The results of this study show that the quantity and quality of data about cattle populations and CPs are relatively similar in many surveyed countries. The outcome of this work provides an overview of the current situation in the European countries regarding data on EU non-regulated cattle diseases and will further assist in the development and implementation of output-based standards.
