Protection of agricultural workers from benign leptospiroses

Budući da su leptospiroze učestala oboljenja pretežno poljoprivrednika, potrebno je pristupiti njihovoj zaštiti od infekcija leptospirama. Daje se kratka patološka i epidemiološka karakteristika leptospiroza; iznose se načini infekcije poljoprivrednika i pripadnika drugih zanimanja leptospirama od domaćih životinja (psa, svinje, konja i goveda) i preko sredina kontaminiranih leptospirama iz urina murida. Zatim se razrađuje profilaksa leptospiroza, koja se sastoji od opće profilakse, s obzirom na muride, domaće životinje i osobne profilakse. Razmatraju se mogućnosti provođenja profilaktičkih mjera s obzirom na naše kulturno-ekonomske prilike.The benign leptospiroses are known to be occupational diseases of agricultural workers sometimes observed also among other professions like milkmen etc. In spite of the low fatality rate (0,5-1%) they represent a serious and long lasting illness with slow recovery. Frequent complications make the disease even worse. In 1947 the disease was first discovered in Croatia and since 1950 some systematic research has been started in that field. Two ways of infection are known: the direct, by contact with urine of rats or field and forest mice, or domestic animals (dogs, pigs, cattle. horse), and the indirect, by contact with surface water and soil (mamly during a flood period) infected with urine. The best prevention consists in avoiding the infection. Every case of leptospirosis should be registered. Physicians should try to make early diagnosis. Rats and mice should be ruthlessly destroyed. Through health propaganda the danger of the disease should be made clear to agricultural workers. Infected domestic animals should be treated with drugs which destroy leptospirae in kidneys (streptomycin and aureomycin). or if that cannot be done a desinfection of urine should be carried out. There should be a good water supply for men and cattle. Bathing on places admissible for cattle should not be permitted. Impermeable clothing should be worn as a personal prophylaxis and vaccination should be arranged for all those who are especially exposed

Exposure of slaughter-house-workers to infection with leptospirae

U vezi sa slučajem Weilove bolesti kod jednog mesara Zagrebačke klaonice, koji je bio liječen u Bolnici za zarazne bolesti u Zagrebu, i čija je bolest u radnji detaljno prikazana, izvršeno je anketiranje kod 89 drugih klaoničkih radnika te im je pregledana krv na antitijela za leptospire. Od 89 radnika, krv kojih je pregledana na aglutinaciju-lizu leptospira, 27 je pokazalo niže ili više titre antitijela. Raspravlja se o značenju ovih pozitivnih titrava. Predlažu se neke opće profilaktične mjere za zaštitu klaoničkih radnika od leptospiroza. Usto se kratko govori s jedne strane o ekspoziciji klaoničkih radnika leptospirama, a s druge o proširenosti Weilove bolesti kod nas i u nekim drugim zemljama.A serologically proved case of Weil\u27s disease with severe symptoms and a typhus like rash is reported. The patient was a butcher employed in the Zagreb Slaughter-House and was treated in the Fever Hospital, Zagreb (Head Prof. Dr. F. Mihaljević). The history of any previous leptospirosis and sera for the agglutination-Iysis reaction were taken from the other 89 workers of the same slaughter-house. None of the 89 persons had a history of a previous leptospirosis-like disease, but in 27 (30%) of them residual antibodies (agglutinations-lysins) for leptospiral antigens, ranging from 1:100 to 1:4000, mostly in lower titres, were found. The percentage of persons with positive reactions was lower than the percentage of the peasants in an area where leptospirosis was common. This was 54 percent as reported in a previous paper. The meaning of these positive titres is discussed. A single serological examination for leptospiroses gives only rough information on exposure to leptospiral infection; for an exact inquiry repeated examination of the workers during several years would be necessary. From the single examination made it is not possible to say whether a positive titre means previous disease or subclinical infection. The incidence of leptospiroses in slaughter-house-workers has been discussed and the frequency of Weil\u27s disease in P. R. Croatia and in some other countries has been shown in Table 3. Although leptospiroses are common in Croatia leptospirosis due to L. icterohaemorrhagiae, mostly the anicteric form, is rare, and had accounted for only 2.3% of all our casses of leptospiroses between 1950-1953. The incidence of leptospiroses in a smaller slaughter-house near Zagreb, with poorer hygienic conditions, was more frequent than in the Zagreb Slaughter-House where the reported case occurred

Genetic diversity of Actinobacillus lignieresii isolates from different hosts

Genetic diversity detected by analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) of 54 Actinobacilus lignieresii isolates from different hosts and geographic localities is described. On the basis of variances in AFLP profiles, the strains were grouped in two major clusters; one comprising strains isolated from horses and infected wounds of humans bitten by horses and another consisting of strains isolated from bovine and ovine hosts. The present data indicate a comparatively higher degree of genetic diversity among strains isolated from equine hosts and confirm the existence of a separate genomospecies for A. lignieresi-like isolates from horses. Among the isolates from bovine and ovine hosts some clonal lines appear to be genetically stable over time and could be detected at very distant geographic localities. Although all ovine strains investigated grouped in a single cluster, the existence of distinct genetic lineages that have evolved specificity for ovine hosts is not obvious and needs to be confirmed in other studies