Zoonoses in Pet 1 birds: review and perspectives

in Veterinary Research (2013)

WATER-BORNE EMERGING ZOONOSE? CASE REPORT ON ERYSIPELAS (ERYSIPELOTHRIX RHUSIOPATHIAE) IN HARBOUR PORPOISES (PHOCOENA PHOCOENA) AND HARBOUR SEAL (PHOCA VITULINA).

Poster (2012, March 26)

An adult female harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and a juvenile male harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) have been found stranded dead on the Belgian coast in late 2001. As the two bodies were in good ... [more ▼]

An adult female harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and a juvenile male harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) have been found stranded dead on the Belgian coast in late 2001. As the two bodies were in good condition (CC = 2), necropsy and bacteriological analyses were performed as well as other postmortem investigations. Blood heart and organs (liver, digestive and respiratory tract, lungs, spleen, brain, kidneys) samples have been collected and analyzed. The porpoise showed evidence of septicaemia, and the seal presented lesions of acute enteritis. Pure and abundant growth of a small rod-shaped, Gram-labile bacterium was obtained aerobically and anaerobically on Columbia blood agar from heart blood, mouth, pharynx, lungs, intestine and anus of the porpoise, and from intestine, pharynx, mouth, nose and anus of the seal. The colonies were surrounded by a narrow zone of alpha-hemolysis. Catalase- and peroxydase-tests gave negative results. Rapid ID 32 Strepto (Biomérieux, France) sugar tests identified this isolate as Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. E. rhusiopathiae could be therefore considered as the cause of septicaemia on the porpoise as it was present in heart blood and internal organs, and could be associated primary or secondary with the enteritis reported on the seal as the bacterium was isolated in pure culture in the digestive tract. E. rhusiopathiae infections have been reported in captive dolphins and sea lions. This zoonotic pathogen is also involved in human local infections, like the “seal finger”, resulting from captive pinnipeds bites. However, it has not been so far described as systemic pathogens of wild cetaceans and pinnipeds. E. rhusiopathiae could be therefore considered as a potentially emergent pathogen which could have important repercussions on human health, particularly veterinarians, marine mammals rescue teams and zoos. [less ▲]

Effect of a fibrous diet for fattening pigs on growth performance, carcass characteristics and gut health

in 4th European Symposium of Porcine Health Management (2012)

Pyrosequencing of epizootic rabbit enteropathy inocula and rabbit caecal samples.

in Veterinary Journal (2012)

The aetiological agent of epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) is still unknown although a bacterial infection seems the most likely hypothesis. In this study, amplification of the V5 and V6 regions of ... [more ▼]

The aetiological agent of epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) is still unknown although a bacterial infection seems the most likely hypothesis. In this study, amplification of the V5 and V6 regions of 16SrDNA from four virulent and two non-virulent caecal samples was performed using a pyrosequencing platform. The virulent samples did not group in the same cluster. The bacterial flora identified was both different and richer than the cultivable bacterial flora. These findings highlight the need for biomolecular techniques to identify the aetiological agent of ERE. [less ▲]

Comparison between a bovine and a human enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli strain of serogroup O26 by suppressive substractive hybridization reveals the presence of atypical factors in EHEC and EPEC strains

in FEMS Microbiology Letters (2012), 330(2), 132-139

O157:H7 and O104:H4 Vero/Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli outbreaks: respective role of cattle and humans

in Veterinary Research (2012), 43

Comparison of bovine and human O26 EHEC strains by the Whole Genome PCR Scanning

Conference (2011, December)

IS621-based multiplex PCR printing method of O26 enterohaemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from humans and cattle

in Journal of Applied Microbiology (2011), 111

Epizootic rabbit enteropathy: comparison of PCR-based RAPD fingerprints from virulent and non-virulent samples

in Veterinary Journal (2011), 190(3), 416-417

Study of polymorphisms in tir, eae and tccP2 genes in enterohaemorrhagic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli of serogroup O26.

in BMC Microbiology (2011), 11

BACKGROUND: Enteropathogenic (EPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) Escherichia coli are responsible for food poisoning (enteritis and enterotoxaemia) in humans in developed countries. Cattle are considered ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: Enteropathogenic (EPEC) and enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) Escherichia coli are responsible for food poisoning (enteritis and enterotoxaemia) in humans in developed countries. Cattle are considered to be an important reservoir of EHEC and EPEC strains for humans. Moreover, some of the strains, belonging to the O26, O111, O118 serogroups, for example, are also responsible for digestive disorders in calves. The Translocated intimin receptor (Tir), the intimin (Eae) and the Tir-cytoskeleton coupling protein (TccP) represent three virulence factors implicated in the intimate attachment of the bacteria to the eukaryotic cell. Major variants have already been described for these genes among the different serogroups but minor variations have not often been studied. In this study, we examined the polymorphisms of the tir, eae and tccP2 genes of O26 strains (EPEC and EHEC isolated from bovines and from humans) with the aim to determine whether these polymorphisms are host specific or not. RESULTS: Of the 70 tested strains, 10 strains (14% of the strains) presented one or several polymorphisms in the tir and eae genes, which have never previously been described. Concerning tccP2 detection, 47 of the 70 strains (67% of the strains) were found to be positive for this gene. Most of the strains were found to possess tccP2 variants described in strains of serogroup O26. Nevertheless, three strains had tccP2 genes respectively described in strains of serogroup O111, O103 and O55. Moreover, none of the polymorphisms was statistically specific to the bovine or the human isolates. Nevertheless, the two major variants of tccP2 were statistically associated with the pathotype (EPEC or EHEC). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, tir and eae gene polymorphisms were found not to be numerous and not to be predominantly synonymous. Moreover, no difference was observed between human and bovine strains regarding the presence of polymorphisms. Finally, some tccP2 variants appeared to be pathotype specific. Further investigations need to be performed on a larger number of strains in order to confirm this specificity. [less ▲]