ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PROFILES OF BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM CHICKEN DROPPINGS IN DAR ES SALAAM

Objective: To determine resistance profiles of bacteria isolated from chicken droppings.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study involving collection of fresh chicken droppings from 100 chickens from 13 localities; followed by microbiological analysis using standard procedures. Multiple antibiotic resistance indices (MAR) were also determined for each of the isolated bacteria.Results: A total of 188 bacteria were isolated and subjected to susceptibility testing against 9 commonly used antibiotics. All tested bacteria exhibited multiple resistance to the antibiotics with MAR rates in this order Escherichia coli>Pseudomonas aeruginosa>Klebsiella pneumoniae>Staphylococcus aureus. More than half of P. aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi isolates were resistant to Ceftriaxone and Amikacin, while 77% of K. pneumoniae isolates were resistant to Chloramphenicol.Conclusion: High rates of antibiotic resistance were observed to clinically used antibiotics among the isolated bacteria; suggesting that chicken rearing may serve as the reservoir of antibacterial resistant bacteria transmissible to human through the food chain.Â

Characterisation of the Trichinella spiralis deubiquitinating enzyme, TsUCH37, an evolutionarily conserved proteasome interaction partner.

Trichinella spiralis is a parasitic nematode that infects mammals indiscriminately. Although the biggest impact of trichinellosis is observed in developing countries, the parasite is found on all continents except Antarctica. In humans, Trichinella infection contributes globally to helminth related morbidity and disability adjusted life years. In animals, infection is implicated as a serious agricultural problem and drug treatment is largely ineffective. During chronic infection, larvae invade skeletal muscle cells, forming a nurse cell complex in which they become encysted. The nurse cell is a product of the severe disruption of the host cell homeostasis. Proteins of the Ub/proteasome pathway are highly conserved throughout evolution, and considering their importance in the regulation of cell homeostasis, provide interesting and novel therapeutic targets for various diseases. In order to target this system in parasites, pathogen proteins that play a role in this pathway must be identified. We report the identification of the first T. spiralis deubiquitinating enzyme, and show evidence that the function of this protein as a proteasome interaction partner has been evolutionarily conserved. We show that members of this enzyme family are important for T. spiralis survival and that the use of inhibitor compounds may help elucidate their role in infection

Modelling the transmission dynamics of cystic echinococcosis in donkeys of different ages from Tunisia

During the period from March 2006 to July 2009 a total of 2040 slaughtered donkeys were examined for cystic echinococcosis (CE). CE prevalence in donkeys was 8.48% and the infection pressure (0.0088 infections per year) and infection rate (0.0448 cysts per year) appeared to be lower than those previously reported for cattle, sheep, dromedaries and goats in Tunisia. However, the number of cysts per infection was relatively high (5.07 cysts per infection). Among the 901 collected hydatid cysts the majority were located in the liver (89.9%), 10.09% in the lungs and 4.77% were fertile (43/901). The amplification of a fragment within the mitochondrial gene coding for cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) revealed that donkeys were infected with both Echinococcus equinus (horse strain, G4 genotype) and Echinococcus granulosus (sheep strain, G1 genotype). E. granulosus G1 developed into fertile cysts (15,112 protoscoleces/ml) with a protoscoleces viability of 65.78%. This investigation is the first detailed epidemiological report on cystic echinococcosis infection in donkeys for any endemic region