A la recerca de la pesta porcina

La pesta porcina és una malaltia infecciosa molt contagiosa que causa una alta mortalitat en el bestiar. Atès que no existeix un tractament per a aquesta malaltia, les autoritats sanitàries sacrifiquen els animals quan es produeix un brot d'aquest tipus. Investigadors de la UAB van observar un cas ocorregut a Catalunya per estudiar els passos que segueix aquest mortal virus.La peste porcina es una enfermedad infecciosa muy contagiosa que causa una alta mortalidad en el ganado. Dado que no existe un tratamiento para esta enfermedad, las autoridades sanitarias sacrifican los animales cuando se produce un brote de este tipo. Investigadores de la UAB han monitorizado un caso ocurrido en Cataluña para estudiar los pasos que sigue este mortal virus

La persistència de la tuberculosi bovina

La tuberculosi bovina és una malaltia crònica que afecta les vaques, però que també pot afectar els humans. Les campanyes de control d'aquesta malaltia que s'han estat duent a terme des de 1956 no han aconseguit eradicar-la i han quedat estancades en un romanent d'aproximadament un 1%. Investigadors de la UAB han estudiat l'èxit d'aquestes campanyes a tot el territori de l'estat i han conclòs que el patró d'eliminació de la malaltia no ha estat homogeni en el territori, sinó que hi ha zones en què la taxa d'eliminació ha estat més gran que en altres.La tuberculosis bovina es una enfermedad crónica que afecta a las vacas, pero que también puede afectar a los humanos. Las campañas de control de esta enfermedad que se han estado llevando a cabo desde 1956 no han conseguido erradicarla, quedando estancadas en un remanente de alrededor de un 1%. Investigadores de la UAB han estudiado el éxito de estas campañas en todo el territorio del estado y han concluído que el patrón de eliminación de la enfermedad no ha sido homogéneo en el territorio, sino que existen zonas en que la tasa de eliminación ha sido mayor que en otras

Caso clínico : agresividad por dominancia

De los perros que acuden a la consulta por trastornos de comportamiento, el problema más frecuente y preocupante es el de la agresividad. En este artículo se describe un caso de agresividad por dominancia en una perra mestiza de 2 años de edad. Este tipo de agresividad se manifiesta hacia las personas que conviven normalmente con el perro. Se trata de un caso estándar en el que se aporta un protocolo de diagnóstico y seguimiento a través de una amplia anamnesis y la elaboración de encuestas, así como un detallado programa de tratamiento.Out of all the dogs that are assisted in the consulting room because of problems in their behavior, the one which worries most and the commonest of all is aggression. In this article ít's described a case of dominant aggression in a two year oid mongrel. This type of aggression is normally projected on the owners of the animal. It's a standard case in which we give a protocol when suggesting the diagnosis, after that on observation through the results of a request, as well as a detailed treatment program

Targeting the search of African swine fever-infected wild boar carcasses : A tool for early detection

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICThis study analyses the temporal and spatial distribution of found dead African swine fever (ASF)-positive wild boar carcasses from 2017 to January 2021 in affected European countries: Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia. During this period, a total of 21,785 cases were confirmed in 19,071 unique locations. The temporal analysis of aggregated cases per month evidenced that most countries located in southern latitudes showed a higher number of cases between January and April, whereas in northern latitudes there was no clear temporal pattern. The space-time K-function evidenced a space-time clustering in the ASF-positive wild boar carcasses, which was most prominent within distances of 2 km and within 1 week. A Bayesian hierarchical spatial model was calibrated to evaluate the association between the probability of finding ASF-positive wild boar carcasses and landscape factors (i.e. the presence of a path and paved road), land use and wild boar abundance. Results showed the highest likelihood of finding ASF-positive wild boar carcasses in areas of transition between woodland and shrub, green urban areas and mixed forests. The presence of a path and a higher abundance of wild boar also increased slightly the odds of finding an ASF-positive dead wild boar. In summary, this paper aims to provide recommendations to design a search strategy to find ASF-infected wild boar carcasses, which is a crucial activity in the management of the disease, not just for surveillance purposes (i.e. the early detection of an introduction and the regular monitoring to understand the epidemiology and dynamics), but also for control, namely the disposal of infected carcasses as a virus source

Introduction of a PRRSV-1 strain of increased virulence in a pig production structure in Spain : virus evolution and impact on production

A strain of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), showing characteristics of enhanced virulence, affected a pyramidal production system from Spain with 7600 sows in 4 genetic nuclei and 13,000 sows in multipliers. Different PRRSV strains circulating in this production system from December 2020 to October 2021 were detected and sequenced. The spread of each isolate was examined and their impact on health and production in three of the affected farms was evaluated. The newly emerged PRRSV isolate with enhanced virulence entered the system before the onset of the study (January 2020) and afterwards four significantly different clades were detected during the study period in different farms, probably because of independent introduction events. The diversification of the enhanced virulence strain was higher for those clades (substitution rates up to 1.1% nucleotides/year) compared to other PRRSV strains present in the production system (up to 0.17%), suggesting a faster spread and adaptation. The impact of the infection in the first affected farm was dramatic, with an average abortion rate above 27% during 17 weeks before returning to the baseline production. Fertile sow mortality reached 6.5% for 39 weeks. In two farms infected later by other clades of this enhanced virulence strain, the impact was less acute; despite the fact that for parameters such as the proportion of stillbirths or mummies, more than 10 months were needed to recover pre-outbreak values. In the examined nurseries, mortalities reached peaks between 28 and 50% and several months were needed to return to normality. Introduction of a PRRSV strain of enhanced virulence in a production system where several farms were previously positive for other PRRSV strains, resulted in a fast spread such as would be observed in naïve farms. The productive and health impact was very high taking several months to return to normality. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40813-022-00298-3

Description of a New Clade within Subtype 1 of Betaarterivirus suid 1 Causing Severe Outbreaks in Spain

This report describes 28 genome sequences from a new clade within subtype 1 of Betaarterivirus suid 1, formerly known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus 1. All share a potential recombinant pattern, with a highly pathogenic Italian strain as the putative major parental sequence and three other possible parents

Improving the communication between farmers and veterinarians to enhance the acceptability of bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABFrance and Spain have been fighting against bovine tuberculosis (bTB) for years, even though new outbreaks continue to appear on both sides of the border, generating misconceptions about the disease and social distrust in the eradication programme and competent authorities. The perceived disease risk and the commitment of all interested parties are key factors for the successful implementation of control programmes, as they might influence the acceptability of recommended measures. Effective communication can contribute to increasing knowledge, trust and stakeholders' engagement, thus ensuring the acceptability of the eradication programme. This study was conducted in Catalonia (Spain) and Pyrenees-Atlantiques (France) in the frame of the INNOTUB project (https://innotub.eu/) to characterise the communication on bTB in the trans-Pyrenees region and provide recommendations to improve it. The communication on bTB was characterised by analysing 153 (Spain) and 66 (France) online freely available texts, publishedbetween 2018 and 2020, through Content Analysis and Critical Metaphor Analysis. Moreover, six farmers and four veterinarians were in-depth interviewed in each area to gather information about the communication on bTB. Interviews were made in original languages and analysed using a qualitative thematic approach. A pilot participatory intervention inspired by the Systematic Tool for Behavioural Assumption Validation and Exploration (STAVE) method was used to develop a list of proposals to improve communication and to promote the creation of territorial networks/committees on bTB prevention and control. It included three focus groups with farmers and veterinarians, a meeting with representatives of the regional veterinary services, and a final deliberative workshop. Results highlight the existence of a controversial debate on bTB and a heterogeneous understanding between stakeholders. Institutional and scientific communication mainly focus on bTB detection and control while other aspects are left in the background. On the contrary, farmers extend their communication to a greater variety of topics. The metaphorical framing strongly differed among actors, while veterinary services and researchers "fight" against bTB and "progress" toward the eradication, farmers place themselves in a framework of "sacrifice" and, particularly in Spain, they play a passive role. The proposals developed by the participants to improve the current communication on bTB included: (i) create participatory meeting spaces to share opinions and information; (ii) improve data accessibility (on epidemiological situations); (iii) develop clearer and written protocols and informative visual material; (iv) redesign the training courses (v) increase the stakeholders' participation in the design of protocols

L'Encefalopatia Espongiforme Bovina a Galícia

Galícia ha estat una de les zones d'Espanya on l'Encefalopatia Espongiforme Bovina (EEB) ha tingut més incidència. Va ser a Galícia on es va donar el primer cas d'una vaca afectada per aquesta malaltia, l'any 2000. Un investigador del CRESA ha analitzat la distribució geogràfica dels casos d'EEB i del risc d'infecció a aquesta comunitat autònoma.Galicia is one of the Spanish regions where the Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathy (BSE) has more impact. The first case of a cow with BSE took place in 2000 in Galicia. Now, a group of researchers has analysed the geographic distribution of BSE cases and the infection risk in this Spanish autonomous community

Quantitative assessment of the probability of bluetongue virus overwintering by horizontal transmission : application to Germany

Even though bluetongue virus (BTV) transmission is apparently interrupted during winter, bluetongue outbreaks often reappear in the next season (overwintering). Several mechanisms for BTV overwintering have been proposed, but to date, their relative importance remain unclear. In order to assess the probability of BTV overwintering by persistence in adult vectors, ruminants (through prolonged viraemia) or a combination of both, a quantitative risk assessment model was developed. Furthermore, the model allowed the role played by the residual number of vectors present during winter to be examined, and the effect of a proportion of Culicoides living inside buildings (endophilic behaviour) to be explored. The model was then applied to a real scenario: overwintering in Germany between 2006 and 2007. The results showed that the limited number of vectors active during winter seemed to allow the transmission of BTV during this period, and that while transmission was favoured by the endophilic behaviour of some Culicoides, its effect was limited. Even though transmission was possible, the likelihood of BTV overwintering by the mechanisms studied seemed too low to explain the observed re-emergence of the disease. Therefore, other overwintering mechanisms not considered in the model are likely to have played a significant role in BTV overwintering in Germany between 2006 and 2007

Long-term efficacy of BCG vaccination in goat herds with a high prevalence of tuberculosis

Vaccination of goats against tuberculosis (TB) has been promoted as an ancillary tool for controlling the disease in infected livestock herds. A three-year trial to assess the efficacy of BCG vaccine was carried out in five goat herds. At the beginning of the trial (month 0), all animals were tested for TB using thee different diagnostic tests. Animals negative to all tests were vaccinated with BCG and all replacement goat kids were also systematically vaccinated throughout the trial. All animals were tested by Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) using vaccine compatible reagents at months 6, 12, 24, and 36. The risk factors for TB infection were also evaluated. At the end of the study, four out of five farms showed variable reductions of the initial prevalence (93.5%, 28.5%, 23.2%, and 14.3% respectively), and an overall incidence reduction of 50% was observed in BCG vaccinated goats, although adult vaccinated goats showed higher incidences than vaccinated goat kids. The unvaccinated positive animals remaining in herds and adult BCG vaccinated goats significantly enhanced the risk of infection in vaccinated animals. A systematic vaccination of goats with BCG, together with the removal of positive unvaccinated animals, may contribute to reducing the TB prevalence in goat herds