Angiostrongylosis-related restrictive pneumopathy assessed by arterial blood gas analysis in a dog

Pulmonary angiostrongylosis was diagnosed by the Baermann method and larval identification from faecal and bronchoalveolar lavage samples in a five-month- old male mongrel dog with dyspnoea and cough. Arterial blood gas analysis indicated arterial hypoxaemia and restrictive pneumopathy. In addition to the palliative treatment, fenbendazole was administered (50 mg/kg/24 h per os) for 14 days. The respiratory signs subsided within a short time clinically, but serial arterial blood gas analysis demonstrated an ongoing ventilation disorder. Repeated haematology, thoracic radiography, bronchoscopy and blood gas analysis were performed to follow the course of the disease. The most severe eosinophilia was detected after the beginning of the anthelmintic therapy, and the arterial pO2 level was permanently low. Arterial blood gas analysis provided the most adequate information about the course of the pneumopathy and it greatly facilitated the patient’s medical management

National laboratory-based surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance: a successful tool to support the control of antimicrobial resistance in the Netherlands

An important cornerstone in the control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a well-designed quantitative system for the surveillance of spread and temporal trends in AMR. Since 2008, the Dutch national AMR surveillance system, based on routine data from medical microbiological laboratories (MMLs), has developed into a successful tool to support the control of AMR in the Netherlands. It provides background information for policy making in public health and healthcare services, supports development of empirical antibiotic therapy guidelines and facilitates in-depth research. In addition, participation of the MMLs in the national AMR surveillance network has contributed to sharing of knowledge and quality improvement. A future improvement will be the implementation of a new semantic standard together with standardised data transfer, which will reduce errors in data handling and enable a more real-time surveillance. Furthermore, the

Molecular characteristics of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in the Netherlands; results of the 2014–2018 national laboratory surveillance

Objectives: Carbapenem resistance mediated by mobile genetic elements has emerged worldwide and has become a major public health threat. To gain insight into the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem resistance in The Netherlands, Dutch medical microbiology laboratories are requested to submit suspected carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment as part of a national surveillance system. Methods: Meropenem MICs and species identification were confirmed by E-test and MALDI-TOF and carbapenemase production was assessed by the Carbapenem Inactivation Method. Of all submitted CPE, one species/carbapenemase gene combination per person per year was subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Results: In total, 1838 unique isolates were received between 2014 and 2018, of which 892 were unique CPE isolates with NGS data available. The predominant CPE species were Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 388, 43%), Escherichia coli (n = 264, 30%) and Enterobacter cloacae complex (n = 116, 13%). Various carbapenemase alleles of the same carbapenemase gene resulted in different susceptibilities to meropenem and this effect varied between species. Analyses of NGS data showed variation of prevalence of carbapenemase alleles over time with blaOXA-48 being predominant (38%, 336/892), followed by blaNDM-1 (16%, 145/892). For the first time in the Netherlands, blaOXA-181, blaOXA-232 and blaVIM-4 were detected. The genetic background of K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates was highly diverse. Conclusions: The CPE population in the Netherlands is diverse, suggesting multiple introductions. The predominant carbapenemase alleles are blaOXA-48 and blaNDM-1. There was a clear association between species, carbapenemase allele and susceptibility to meropenem

Cohabitation promotes high diversity of clownfishes in the Coral Triangle

Global marine biodiversity peaks within the Coral Triangle, and understanding how such high diversity is maintained is a central question in marine ecology. We investigated broad-scale patterns in the diversity of clownfishes and their host sea anemones by conducting 981 belt-transects at 20 locations throughout the Indo-Pacific. Of the 1508 clownfishes encountered, 377 fish occurred in interspecific cohabiting groups and cohabitation was almost entirely restricted to the Coral Triangle. Neither the diversity nor density of host anemone or clownfish species alone influenced rates of interspecific cohabitation. Rather cohabitation occurred in areas where the number of clownfish species exceeds the number of host anemone species. In the Coral Triangle, cohabiting individuals were observed to finely partition their host anemone, with the subordinate species inhabiting the periphery. Furthermore, aggression did not increase in interspecific cohabiting groups, instead dominant species were accepting of subordinate species. Various combinations of clownfish species were observed cohabiting (independent of body size, phylogenetic relatedness, evolutionary age, dentition, level of specialization) in a range of anemone species, thereby ensuring that each clownfish species had dominant reproductive individuals in some cohabiting groups. Clownfishes are obligate commensals, thus cohabitation is an important process in maintaining biodiversity in high diversity systems because it supports the persistence of many species when host availability is limiting. Cohabitation is a likely explanation for high species richness in other obligate commensals within the Coral Triangle, and highlights the importance of protecting these habitats in order to conserve unique marine biodiversity

Parasite infestation increases on coral reefs without cleaner fish

Mutualisms are pivotal in shaping ecological communities. Iconic images of cleaner fish entering the mouths of predatory fish clients to remove ectoparasites epitomize their mutual benefit. Experimental manipulations of cleaner wrasse reveal declines in fish size and growth, and population abundance and diversity of client fishes in the absence of cleaner wrasse. Fishes grow more slowly and are less abundant and diverse on reefs without cleaner wrasse, both for larger species that are regularly cleaned and have high ectoparasite loads (“attractive species”), and for those smaller species that are rarely cleaned and are rarely infested with parasites (“unattractive species”). We therefore considered whether these previously observed declines in individual and population parameters on reefs without cleaners were related to increased ectoparasite infestation using an attractive species (Hemigymnus melapterus, Labridae) and an unattractive species (Pomacentrus amboinensis, Pomacentridae). Traps with these fish as a form of bait were deployed to sample blood-sucking gnathiid ectoparasites (Gnathiidae: Isopoda) on reefs from which cleaners (Labroides dimidiatus, Labridae) have been removed for 13 yr. Cleaner fish could not enter traps to access the clients/hosts, but gnathiids could enter the traps to infest hosts; thus, this method sampled the indirect effect of cleaners on gnathiid infestation of fish. Infestation was higher on reefs without cleaners than on those with them. The effect was only detected during the daytime when cleaners are active and only on the attractive species (H. melapterus). Thus, cleaner presence indirectly reduced fish exposure to parasites in a species that is highly susceptible to parasites, but not in one that is rarely infested with parasites. This suggests that cleaner presence indirectly reduces exposure of a common fish species to harmful parasites, which may explain some observed benefits in fishes at this location