The prevalence, virulence, and serogroups of Dichelobacter nodosus and prevalence of Fusobacterium necrophorum in footrot lesions of sheep and cattle in Morocco

Background and Aim: Footrot is a contagious disease of ruminants leading to severe economic losses. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence, virulence, and serogroups of Dichelobacter nodosus and the prevalence of Fusobacterium necrophorum in footrot lesions of sheep and cattle. Materials and Methods: A total of 106 pathogenic lesion samples were taken from 74 sheep and 32 cattle exhibiting typical footrot lesions and were analyzed for the presence of D. nodosus and F. necrophorum by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Both virulence and serogroup were estimated for D. nodosus positive samples. Results: Among the 106 samples, 89 were positive by PCR for F. necrophorum, D. nodosus, or both. Dichelobacter nodosus was detected at a rate of 78.3% versus 28.3% for F. necrophorum. Virulent D. nodosus strains were detected in 67.5% of positive samples, with a higher rate in sheep (73.4%) than in cattle (47.4%). Benign D. nodosus strains were detected in 57.8% of samples, with a lower prevalence rate in sheep (50%) than in cattle (84.2%). The positive samples of D. nodosus revealed the presence of three dominant serogroups (D, H, I) and three minor serogroups (G, C, A) by serogroup-specific multiplex PCR. Conclusion: The findings provided information on the prevalence of D. nodosus and F. necrophorum strains in footrot lesions of sheep and cattle in some regions of Morocco, which will be useful for developing an effective autovaccine for the prevention of this disease in cattle and sheep in these regions

Distribution épidémiologique du virus de la Bronchite infectieuse aviaire autour du monde

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is ubiquitous in most parts of the world where poultry are reared. A large number of IBV variants exist worldwide; some being unique to a particular area, others having a more general distribution. The purpose of this review is to give an update on IBV strains currently circulating in commercial chickens worldwide and present a clear picture of the relationship between many of these viruses. Keywords: Infectious bronchitis virus, Variant strains, Review, World.Le virus de bronchite infectieuse aviaire fait partie des virus aviaires majeurs rencontrés chez les poulets depuis les débuts de l’élevage industriel. On retrouve la maladie de bronchite infectieuse dans la plupart des pays producteurs de volailles au niveau mondial. Malgré l’utilisation de vaccins qui contribuent au contrôle des signes cliniques, l’émergence de nouveaux virus sauvages variants conforte le fait que la bronchite infectieuse est une cible mouvante difficile à maîtriser. Le présent article est une mise à jour des connaissances sur la distribution épidémiologique et moléculaire des variants de l’IBV dans les différents pays du monde. Mots clés: Virus de la bronchite infectieuse, Variants, Revue bibliographique, Monde.   &nbsp

Risk factors for MERS coronavirus infection in dromedary camels in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Morocco, 2015

Understanding Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) transmission in dromedary camels is important, as they consitute a source of zoonotic infection to humans. To identify risk factors for MERS-CoV infection in camels bred in diverse conditions in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Morocco, blood samples and nasal swabs were sampled in February-March 2015. A relatively high MERS-CoV RNA rate was detected in Ethiopia (up to 15.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.2-28.0), followed by Burkina Faso (up to 12.2%; 95% CI: 7-20.4) and Morocco (up to 7.6%; 95% CI: 1.9-26.1). The RNA detection rate was higher in camels bred for milk or meat than in camels for transport (p = 0.01) as well as in younger camels (p = 0.06). High seropositivity rates (up to 100%; 95% CI: 100-100 and 99.4%; 95% CI: 95.4-99.9) were found in Morocco and Ethiopia, followed by Burkina Faso (up to 84.6%; 95% CI: 77.2-89.9). Seropositivity rates were higher in large/medium herds (≥51 camels) than small herds (p = 0.061), in camels raised for meat or milk than for transport (p = 0.01), and in nomadic or sedentary herds than in herds with a mix of these lifestyles (p < 0.005).published_or_final_versio

MERS coronaviruses from camels in Africa exhibit region-dependent genetic diversity

International audienceMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) causes a zoonotic respiratory disease of global public health concern, and dromedary camels are the only proven source of zoonotic infection. Although MERS-CoV infection is ubiquitous in dromedaries across Africa as well as in the Arabian Peninsula, zoonotic disease appears confined to the Arabian Peninsula. MERS-CoVs from Africa have hitherto been poorly studied. We genetically and phenotypically characterized MERS-CoV from dromedaries sampled in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Viruses from Africa (clade C) are phylogenetically distinct from contemporary viruses from the Arabian Peninsula (clades A and B) but remain antigenically similar in microneutralization tests. Viruses from West (Nigeria, Burkina Faso) and North (Morocco) Africa form a subclade, C1, that shares clade-defining genetic signatures including deletions in the accessory gene ORF4b. Compared with human and camel MERS-CoV from Saudi Arabia, virus isolates from Burkina Faso (BF785) and Nigeria (Nig1657) had lower virus replication competence in Calu-3 cells and in ex vivo cultures of human bronchus and lung. BF785 replicated to lower titer in lungs of human DPP4-transduced mice. A reverse genetics-derived recombinant MERS-CoV (EMC) lacking ORF4b elicited higher type I and III IFN responses than the isogenic EMC virus in Calu-3 cells. However, ORF4b deletions may not be the major determinant of the reduced replication competence of BF785 and Nig1657. Genetic and phenotypic differences in West African viruses may be relevant to zoonotic potential. There is an urgent need for studies of MERS-CoV at the animal-human interface

Étude de la mouillabilité des roches réservoir à l'échelle du pore par cryomicroscopie électronique à balayage Wettability of Reservoir Rock At the Pore Scale: Contribution of Cryo-Scanning Electron Microscopy

Le but de cette étude est de caractériser, à l'échelle du pore, la mouillabilité des roches réservoir, en relation avec leur géométrie et/ou leur minéralogie. Cette caractérisation se fait, après congélation des échantillons, par l'observation de la distribution des fluides au sein du milieu poreux (saumure et huile brute), en microscopie électronique à balayage. Les expériences ont d'abord été effectuées sur des roches modèles parfaitement mouillables à l'eau, verre fritté et grès naturels. Certains de ces minéraux ont été rendus hydrophobes par greffage de silane. L'étude de ces systèmes a mis en évidence une corrélation entre la mouillabilité et la distribution des fluides. Puis, une roche réservoir (grès argileux de la formation de Brent, de mer du Nord) connue comme étant de mouillabilité intermédiaire a été étudiée. Un travail précédent (étude de déplacements eau/huile par tomographie X) avait abouti à la conclusion que si ces roches présentaient des hétérogénéités de mouillabilité, l'échelle de ces hétérogénéités devait être inférieure au millimètre. Les études de cryomicroscopie ont montré le caractère hydrophobe de la kaolinite, tandis que les illites, le quartz et les feldspaths sont préférentiellement mouillables à l'eau. L'imbibition spontanée d'huile pourrait ainsi être attribuée à l'existence au sein de la roche d'un réseau de kaolinite, tandis que l'imbibition spontanée de saumure serait due à l'existence d'un second réseau plus ou moins imbriqué avec le premier et constitué des autres minéraux. Un autre cas de roche réservoir a été étudié, à savoir un carbonate du Moyen-Orient. Les mésopores intergranulaires y ont été observés comme étant mouillables à l'huile tandis que les micropores restaient mouillables à l'eau. Dans ce cas, la mouillabilité intermédiaire de ces échantillons s'explique par la géométrie plutôt que par la minéralogie qui est plutôt homogène. Wettability is generally considered to be one of the principal parameters influencing the distribution, saturation and flow of fluids in porous media. Reservoir rock wettability has long been approached by overall or indirect methods [1] (capillary pressure or relative permeability curves, contact angle, fluid displacement, etc. ). Few studies until now have led to a detailed description of porous media with intermediate wettability. - Is there any evidence of an intermediate behavior of fluids in contact with minerals distributed homogeneously throughout the medium, or is there a heterogeneous distribution of water- and oil-wettabilities within the porous medium?- What influence does the local heterogeneity of the minerals (size, geometry, surface chemistry, etc. ) have on fluid distribution [2 to 7]?The answer to these questions requires a microscopic-scale description of saturated porous media [8 to 11]. By using the imaging and analytical capabilities of a scanning electron microscope coupled with a cold stage unit, fluids can be visualized and identified by detection of their natural tracer element (sulfur for oil and chlorine for brine), and their relative distribution within the pore space can be analyzed in terms of wettability. Results presented here illustrate both the interest of the method and its applicability to actual reservoir rocks. Small cores of the chosen porous media were first saturated with brine, flooded to irreducible water saturation by centrifuging in oil, aged in oil for one month and finally flooded to residual oil saturation by centrifuging in brine. Samples were then frozen in nitrogen slush, freeze fractured and coated before being transferred to the cold stage of the microscope for observation. Experiments were first conducted on porous media with controlled wettability : model sintered glass media, natural clean sandstone (Fontainebleau) and clayey sandstones (Vosges, Velaines). All these porous media are naturally water wet. Some of them were treated with alkyltrichlorosilane so as to become oil wet. - The analysis of the relative distribution of fluids within the pore space enables conclusions to be drawn about the wettability of the pore walls. The residual non wetting fluid appears as globules trapped in the center of the pores, while the irreducible wetting fluid appears as films surrounding some grains. Films observed were rather thick (1 to 5 microns) and rare, but this does not exclude the systematic presence of a film less than 0. 1 micron thick, this being the limit resolution in the operating conditions. - The porous media made of spherical glass beads, eroded quartz grains or silica overgrowth with no or low content of clays, have a comparable behavior. - Quartz and feldspars are naturally water-wet; the wettability of the quartz grains is efficiently reversed by silanation. - Illite has a marked affinity for brine even after silanation. - The presence of small size minerals (weathered feldspars and clays) enhances oil entrapment by reducing the pore throats. Experiments were then conducted on actual field cores with intermediate wettability (i. e. spontaneously imbibing both brine and oil), a sandstone and a limestone. Both led to interesting conclusions concerning the origin of their behavior. The main results concerning a sandstone from the North Sea (Brent formation) composed of quartz and feldspar grains, and a high content of clay minerals (mainly kaolinite and some illite) are as follows :- residual oil is systematically associated with kaolinite,- illite and weathered feldspars are always observed associated with brine,- quartz and feldspar grains are preferentially water-wet. In some cases, detrital feldspar grains were observed partially covered by oil. Dissolution roughness then seems to play a role in oil entrapment. The hydrophobic character of this sandstone can then be attributed mainly to the presence of kaolinite and its affinity for oil. Spontaneous imbibition in both crude oil and brine can be interpreted as a consequence of two coexisting networks that are oil- or water-wet : kaolinite on one hand (due to high content, and homogeneous distribution), and essentially quartz, feldspar and illite on the other. A quantitative analysis of phase distribution could confirm this hypothesis. - The difference between the Wettability Index measured for oil and water zone samples could be due to differences in clay distribution (depending on the diagenetic history). For an actual field limestone, cryo-SEM observations of fluid distribution lead to an interpretation of sample behavior during displacement tests. They show that intergranular mesopores are preferentially oil-wet, whilst cement micropores remain water-wet. This points out a wettability heterogeneity at the pore scale, leading to an intermediate wettability on a macroscopic scale and thus demonstrates the importance of pore size and geometry. Wettability alteration could be related to geometric parameters during oil invasion. When oil invaded the initially waterwet pore space, its distribution was controlled by both pore size and prevailing capillary pressure : the largest pores were invaded by oil while the smaller ones remained oil free. Aging then caused adsorption of polar oil compounds on the exposed surface. Spontaneous imbibition of oil could therefore be due to a continuous pore network within the oil-wet intergranular mesopores, whilst spontaneous imbibition of brine could be related to brine circulation in water-wet micropores of the calcitic cement. Cryo-SEM has a resolution below the size of minerals constituting natural porous media. It makes it possible to study in situ the influence of various parameters (pore mineralogy, geometry, surface chemistry, etc. ) on wettability. Microscopic studies of oil-brine-rock systems (associated with other imaging techniques such as the X-ray computed tomography) contribute to a better understanding of intermediate wettability causes and can thus explain the macroscopic behavior of some reservoir rocks

Étude de la mouillabilité des roches réservoir à l'échelle du pore par cryomicroscopie électronique à balayage

Le but de cette étude est de caractériser, à l'échelle du pore, la mouillabilité des roches réservoir, en relation avec leur géométrie et/ou leur minéralogie. Cette caractérisation se fait, après congélation des échantillons, par l'observation de la distribution des fluides au sein du milieu poreux (saumure et huile brute), en microscopie électronique à balayage. Les expériences ont d'abord été effectuées sur des roches modèles parfaitement mouillables à l'eau, verre fritté et grès naturels. Certains de ces minéraux ont été rendus hydrophobes par greffage de silane. L'étude de ces systèmes a mis en évidence une corrélation entre la mouillabilité et la distribution des fluides. Puis, une roche réservoir (grès argileux de la formation de Brent, de mer du Nord) connue comme étant de mouillabilité intermédiaire a été étudiée. Un travail précédent (étude de déplacements eau/huile par tomographie X) avait abouti à la conclusion que si ces roches présentaient des hétérogénéités de mouillabilité, l'échelle de ces hétérogénéités devait être inférieure au millimètre. Les études de cryomicroscopie ont montré le caractère hydrophobe de la kaolinite, tandis que les illites, le quartz et les feldspaths sont préférentiellement mouillables à l'eau. L'imbibition spontanée d'huile pourrait ainsi être attribuée à l'existence au sein de la roche d'un réseau de kaolinite, tandis que l'imbibition spontanée de saumure serait due à l'existence d'un second réseau plus ou moins imbriqué avec le premier et constitué des autres minéraux. Un autre cas de roche réservoir a été étudié, à savoir un carbonate du Moyen-Orient. Les mésopores intergranulaires y ont été observés comme étant mouillables à l'huile tandis que les micropores restaient mouillables à l'eau. Dans ce cas, la mouillabilité intermédiaire de ces échantillons s'explique par la géométrie plutôt que par la minéralogie qui est plutôt homogène

Development and field application of a new combined vaccine against Peste des Petits Ruminants and Sheep Pox

A combined vaccine against Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Sheep/Goat Pox (SGP) was developed and applied in the field, using a new association of vaccine strains: PPR Nigeria 75 strain with a titre of 104.1 TCID50 and Sheep Pox Romania strain with a titre of 104.0 TCID50. Safety and efficacy were evaluated on goats and sheep in comparison with monovalent PPR and SGP vaccines. Goats were challenged by PPR virulent strain and sheep by SP virulent strain. The result shows that the combined PPR/SGP vaccine confers a good protection against both PPR and SGP infection with no significant difference with monovalent vaccines. The combined vaccine was used in the field on sheep flocks and good sero-conversion was detected for both diseases as soon as 14 days post vaccination

Development of Mice Model for the West Nile Virus (Strain Mor/1996)

La présente étude a pour objectif l’élaboration et la validation d’un modèle souris pour l’infection in vivo du virus de la West Nile (WNV). Pour ce faire, 90 souris albinos natives non vaccinées ont été réparties en trois lots selon trois modes d’inoculation, à savoir: Intracérébral (IC), Sous-cutanée (SC) et Intrapéritonéale (IP). Chaque lot a été composé de 25 animaux chalengés et cinq témoins. Après inoculation, des observations quotidiennes de symptômes cliniques ont été réalisées selon un tableau de scoring préétabli sur une période de 2 mois. Après la mort des animaux, une autopsie et une décérébration ont été réalisées, en vue d’une analyse histo-pathologique, et un test RT-PCR. Les résultats ont montré que le tableau clinique le plus complet était observé chez les animaux inoculés par voie IP et SC, à savoir: ataxie, amaigrissement, une déshydratation, signes de constipation, une fasciculation et une cécité. Cependant, pour la voie IC, la majorité des souris sont mortes d’une mort foudroyante sans manifester de signes cliniques en dehors de l’ataxie. Le taux de mortalité parmi les animaux inoculés était de 96% pour la voie IC, 56% pour la voie IP et 44% pour la voie SC. L’examen histo-pathologique a montré des signes non pathognomoniques mais bien marqués comme: une gliose discrète à modérée, focale périvasculaire et une dégénérescence et nécrose neuronale discrète à modérée. En revanche, tous les échantillons testés par RT-PCR ont été positifs au WNV. Par ailleurs, le calcul de la DL50 a révélé des valeurs de 104,3 et de 104,8 respectivement pour les IC et IP. Il ressort de la présente étude que les voie d'inoculation validées pour le modèle souris de l’infection avec le virus du Nil occidental (WNV), sont les voie IP et SC. Mots-clés:&nbsp; West Nile, Modèle-souris, Challenge, RT-PCRThe present study aims to develop and validate a mouse model for in vivo infection with West Nile Virus (WNV). To achieve this, 90 non-vaccinated native albino mice were divided into three groups according to three modes of inoculation: Intracerebral (IC), Subcutaneous (SC), and Intraperitoneal (IP). Each group consisted of 25 challenged animals and five controls. After inoculation, daily observation of clinical symptoms was conducted based on a predetermined scoring chart over a period of 2 months. After the animals' deaths, autopsy and decerebration were performed for histopathological analysis and an RT-PCR test. The results showed that the most comprehensive clinical presentation was observed in animals inoculated via the IP and SC routes, including ataxia, weight loss, dehydration, signs of constipation, fasciculation and blindness. However, for the IC route, the vast majority of mice suddenly died without exhibiting clinical signs, apart from ataxia. The mortality rate among inoculated animals was 96% for the IC route, 56% for the IP route and 44% for the SC route. Histopathological examination revealed non-pathognomonic but well-marked signs such as discrete to moderate focal perivascular gliosis and mild to moderate neuronal degeneration and necrosis. On the other hand, all samples tested by RT-PCR were positive for WNV. Furthermore, the calculation of the LD50 revealed values of 104.3 and 104.8 for IC and IP routes respectively. It results from this study that the validated inoculation routes for the mouse model of West Nile virus infection are the IP and SC routes. Keywords:&nbsp; West Nile, Mice- Model, Challenge, RT-PC