Paratuberculosis at European scale: an overview from 2010 to 2017

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is the etiological agent of paratuberculosis (PTB), a disease affecting domestic and wild ruminants. MAP may also play a zoonotic role in Crohn's disease. Although both governments and industries are carrying out programmes to prevent and control the infection, there is a lack of harmonization across Europe. Moreover, the success of these programmes is influenced by the current lack of sensitivity of the diagnostic tests used. For these reasons, it is complex to evaluate the overall epidemiological situation of this disease. This study describes the European distribution of PTB from 2010 to 2017 using the information reported by Member Countries to the OIE. Countries were classified in three categories ('Absent', 'Epizootic', 'Enzootic') depending on the disease epidemiology, and the trend of countries reporting the disease presence was computed throughout the study period. A multilevel model with random slope was built for twelve countries, with complete reporting history. Most of the countries (57.44%) were classified as 'Enzootic'. The percentage of countries reporting the disease presence slightly increased along the study period, probably due to the improvement of PTB monitoring, rather than to a deterioration of the epidemiological situation of the disease in Europe. Results of the model account for different dynamics in the number of outbreaks reported by 'Enzootic' and 'Epizootic' countries

Genetic Characterization of Resistant S. Aureus Strains Isolated From Cow’s Milk with Mastitis

Mastitis therapy is generally unsuccessful due to pathological changes that occur in the breast as a result of the inflammatory response, factors associated with the causes of mastitis, the pharmacokinetic properties of antimicrobial drugs, etc. The main reason for the low effectiveness of antibiotic treatment of mastitis caused by staphylococci is especially, among other things, the resistance of bacteria, where is recognized that Staphylococcus aureus is the first penicillin-resistant bacteria. Laboratory techniques based on phenotypic characteristics of resistance have low sensitivity. PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) as a method for detecting gene mecA is considered as gold standard test. Detection of mecA gene through PCR is one of the most effective methods for the detection of MRSA. Using this method we identified six methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus isolated from cow’s milk with mastitis. Our study presents the first survey carried out in our country regarding the presence of the mecA gene for antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus which is isolated from cow’s mastitis. This study has a special importance for food products of animal origin, like milk contaminated with MRSA may constitute a main source of consumer’s infection.Keywords: MRSA, cattle, antibiogram, mecA

Epidemic intelligence data of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, European Region, 2012 to 2022: a new opportunity for risk mapping of neglected diseases

Background: The Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system, jointly developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and various part-ners, is a web-based platform that facilitate the moni-toring of information on public health threats in near real-time from thousands of online sources. Aims: To assess the capacity of the EIOS system to strengthen data collection for neglected diseases of public health importance, and to evaluate the use of EIOS data for improving the understanding of the geographic extents of diseases and their level of risk. Methods: A Bayesian additive regression trees (BART) model was implemented to map the risk of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) occurrence in 52 countries and territories within the European Region between January 2012 and March 2022 using data on CCHF occurrence retrieved from the EIOS system. Results: The model found a positive association between all temperature-related variables and the probability of CCHF occurrence, with an increased risk in warmer and drier areas. The highest risk of CCHF was found in the Mediterranean basin and in areas bordering the Black Sea. There was a general decreasing risk trend from south to north across the entire European Region. Conclusion: The study highlights that the information gathered by public health intelligence can be used to build a disease risk map. Internet-based sources could aid in the assessment of new or changing risks and planning effective actions in target areas

Long‐term persistence of neutralizing SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in pets

We monitored the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody response in seven dogs and two cats by using two multispecies ELISA tests, plaque reduction neutralisation test and virus neutralization. SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in pets persisted up to 10 months since the first positive testing, thus replicating observations in COVID-19 human patients

Natural reactivation of caprine herpesvirus 1 in latently infected goats

CAPRINE herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) is responsible for a gener-alised disease characterised by high morbidity and mortality and ulcerative and necrotic lesions throughout the enteric tract in one- to two-week-old kids. In adult goats, CpHV-1 often causes subclinical infections of the reproductive tract (abortion, vulvo-vaginitis, balanoposthitis) and, less frequently, of the respiratory tract. CpHV-1 infection has been reported in several countrie