Direct Detection of Bacillus cereus and its Enterotoxigenic Genes in Meat and Meat Products by Polymerase Chain Reaction

This study was conducted to standardize a method to directly detect B. cereus (gyrB) and its enterotoxigenic genes (hblDAC, nheABC, cytK and entFM) from the meat and meat products by PCR, without going for isolation and identification procedures. The method employed was compared with the standard microbiological procedures to determine its efficacy. Among the 150 food samples (raw meats and meat products) analyzed, 60 (40%) were positive for isolation and 59 (39.33%) turned out positive by direct PCR (targeting sequence within gyrB gene). Food samples screened directly by multiplex-PCR showed almost similar enterotoxin gene profile as of isolates from these samples. Among the positive samples, only two samples from the meat products showed different enterotxigenic gene pattern compared to isolates from these samples. The incidences of various enteroxigenic genes hblD, hblA, hblC, nheA, nheB, nheC, cytK and entFM was 66.10%, 66.10%, 67.78%, 96.61%, 96.61%, 93.22%, 67.78% and 100%, respectively. Therefore, the current method can be employed for the direct detection of B. cereus and its enterotoxigenic genes in the meat and meat products without going for isolation and identification procedures and the method can be extended to other foods as well

Incidence and virulence properties of E. coli isolated from fresh fish and ready-to-eat fish products

Aim: To investigate the incidence and virulence properties of E. coli in fresh fish and ready-to-eat fish products from retail markets of the Ludhiana the present study was conducted. Materials and Methods: Total of 184 samples comprising 96 raw fish and 88 ready- to-eat (RTE) fish products were collected from Ludhiana and other parts of Punjab and were subjected to suitable microbiological methods for E. coli isolation. E. coli isolates were subjected for haemolytic activity and indicators of plausible cytotoxicity (lecithinase, protease and gelatinase production), congo red dye biding assay. To assess virulence potential isolates were molecularly screened for stx 1 and 2 genes. Results: From raw fish samples 47(48.95%), E. coli, were isolated. From RTE fish products 7(12.96%), E. coli were isolated. Overall incidence for E. coli was 54 (29.34%). In vitro virulence characterization of isolates exhibited that all E. coli isolates were haemolytic while indicators of plausible cytotoxicity ( lecithinase, protease and gelatinase production) were in the range of 16.67% to 35.19% indicated that though the isolates were haemolytic they were perhaps less likely to be cytotoxic. Congo Red binding assay for E. coli isolates revealed that majority (88.89%) of the isolates failed to uptake the dye and only few (11.11%) could bind the dye. Results of serotyping revealed a total of 15 different serotypes among the E. coli isolates. More variation was observed among isolates from raw fish samples (12 serotypes) while RTE fish products harboured only 5 different serotypes. Molecular characterization of E. coli isolates revealed that PCR screening of isolates revealed that total 39 (72.22%) samples out of 54 E. coli isolates were positive for stx1 gene and 28 (51.85%) of isolates were positive for stx2 gene. Sources wise, 36 (66.66%) of isolates from raw fish and 3(5.55%) of isolates from RTE fish products were positive for stx1 while and stx2 gene could be detected in 24(44.44%) isolates from raw fish and 4(7.4%) isolates from RTE fish products.Interestingly, about 20% (37.03%) isolates were positive for both stx1 and stx2 genes. Among these multivirulent isolates majority (n=18) belonged to raw fish samples compared to a few (n=2) from RTE fish products. Conclusion: The results of the present study highlighted the possible risks to consumers of fish and fish products in the region that demand action to address this public health concern. [Vet World 2013; 6(1.000): 5-9

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Not AvailableEnterotoxin gene profile and antibiogram of Bacillus cereus strains isolated from raw meats and meat products.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMolecular detection of food-borne Aeromonas species.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableEconomic losses due to cystic echinococcosis in India: need for urgent action to control the disease.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMulti drug resistance patterns of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli...human diarrhoeic samples of Punjab, India.Not Availabl

Cost-benefit analysis of intervention policies for prevention and control of brucellosis in India

Background: Brucellosis is endemic in the bovine population in India and causes a loss of US$3·4 billion to the livestock industry besides having a significant human health impact. Methods: We developed a stochastic simulation model to estimate the impact of three alternative vaccination strategies on the prevalence of Brucella infection in the bovine populations in India for the next two decades: (a) annual mass vaccination only for the replacement calves and (b) vaccination of both the adult and young population at the beginning of the program followed by an annual vaccination of the replacement calves and, (c) annual mass vaccination of replacements for a decade followed by a decade of a test and slaughter strategy. Findings: For all interventions, our results indicate that the prevalence of Brucella infection will drop below 2$ 4·16 billion for intervention (a), US $8·31 billion for intervention (b) and, US$ 4·26 for intervention (c). For buffalo, the corresponding NPVs were US $8·77 billion, US$ 13·42 and, US $ 7·66, respectively. The benefit cost ratio (BCR) for the first, second and the third intervention for cattle were 7·98, 10·62 and, 3·16, respectively. Corresponding BCR estimates for buffalo were 17·81, 21·27 and, 3·79, respectively. Conclusion: These results suggest that all interventions will be cost-effective with the intervention (b), i.e. the vaccination of replacements with mass vaccination at the beginning of the program, being the most cost-effective choice. Further, sensitivity analysis revealed that all interventions will be cost-effective even at the 50% of the current prevalence estimates. The results advocate for the implementation of a disease control program for brucellosis in India. © 2018 Singh et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Data and the associated R code used to estimate health and economic burden of neurocysticercosis in India

This article contains epidemiological, demographic and other data used for estimating health and economic burden of neurocysticercosis (NCC)-associated active epilepsy in India [1]. Most of the data are embedded in the R-code used for analyses so that the reader is able to replicate the results or adapt the code to their own data. However, data used to conduct sensitivity analyses to evaluate the effect of changing important input values such as prevalence and per capita income on health and economic impact of NCC in India are included in tables. Results from sensitivity analyses are also presented in tables and figures. The paper also includes three scenarios with different age weighting (k) and time discounting (r) values used to estimate health and economic burden of NCC in India. The data for the scenario without any age weighting and time discounting are presented in “Estimation of the health and economic burden of neurocysticercosis in India” [1]

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for rapid diagnosis and its role in prevention of human brucellosis in Punjab, India.

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Not AvailableComparative evaluation of the Rose Bengal plate test, standard tube agglutination test and complement fixation test for the diagnosis of human brucellNot Availabl