Increased Prevalence of Trichinella spp., Northeastern Germany, 2008

Migration of raccoon dogs from Poland may have caused this change

1st National ring trial on detection of antibodies to trichinella in pigs

Regulation (EC) 2075/2005 ensures official inspection of food of animal origin with specific rules on official controls for Trichinella in meat. Regarding certification of Trichinella-free farms, this regulation recommends serological methods for monitoring. The aim of the ring trial was to evaluate a new ELISA regarding test accuracy and practical usage. The participants of the ring trial tested 22 sera prepared by the German National Reference Laboratory for Trichinellosis and additionally 22 field samples from their own sample collection using the commercial ELISA kit. This ELISA demonstrated a very good diagnostic sensitivity and robustness in the ring trial

Comparative examination and validation of ELISA test systems for Salmonella diagnosis of slaughtering pigs

Infections with Salmonella enterica are one of the most important sources of human gastroenteritis. The consumption of contaminated pork products was found to be assoc1ated with 20% of human salmonellosis in Germany, whereas S. Typhimurium, especially phagetype DT 104, is the most frequently isolated Salmonella serotype from pork (Steinbach and Kroell, 1999)

Distribution of Leptospira Serogroups in Dogs from Berlin, Germany

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis in which dogs can act as a reservoir for human infection. The annual vaccination of dogs can prevent leptospirosis caused by serovars included in the vaccine. To date, all available vaccines in Germany include only the serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola, the most commonly found serovars prior to the introduction of the leptospirosis vaccines. Yet, the involvement of additional serovars in the clinical presentation of leptospirosis in dogs has been described. The objective of this sero-epidemiological study was to examine the different Leptospira serovars currently circulating in a population of dogs suspicious for leptospirosis from Berlin. In 329 dogs presenting at the Small Animal Clinic in Berlin, the predominant serogroup was Australis (24%), followed by Grippotyphosa (20%) and Pomona (9%). A total of 18% of the dogs were diagnosed with clinical leptospirosis; here the most prevalent serogroups were also Australis (28%), Grippotyphosa (18%), and Pomona (14%). The serovar prevalence data presented here confirm that a change of pattern of infecting Leptospira serovars in dogs has taken place in Berlin. This data corresponds to further sero-epidemiological studies from other regions in Germany. To ensure human and canine health, available vaccines should be adapted to include the most important circulating serovars

Canan

Peyami Safa'nın Tasvir'de tefrika edilen Canan adlı romanıTelif hakları nedeniyle romanın tam metni verilememiştir

Validation of a Western Blot for the detection of anti- Trichinella spp. antibodies in domestic pigs

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease in humans caused by Trichinella spp. According to international regulations and guidelines, serological surveillance can be used to demonstrate the absence of Trichinella spp. in a defined domestic pig population. Most enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests presently available do not yield 100% specificity, and therefore, a complementary test is needed to confirm the diagnosis of any initial ELISA seropositivity. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a Western Blot assay based on somatic Trichinella spiralis muscle stage (L1) antigen using Bayesian modeling techniques. A total of 295 meat juice and serum samples from pigs negative for Trichinella larvae by artificial digestion, including 74 potentially cross-reactive sera of pigs with other nematode infections, and 93 meat juice samples from pigs infected with Trichinella larvae were included in the study. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the Western Blot were ranged from 95.8% to 96.0% and from 99.5% to 99.6%, respectively. A sensitivity analysis showed that the model outcomes were hardly influenced by changes in the prior distributions, providing a high confidence in the outcomes of the models. This validation study demonstrated that the Western Blot is a suitable method to confirm samples that reacted positively in an initial ELIS

Rapid Identification of the Foodborne Pathogen Trichinella spp. by Matrix- Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Human trichinellosis occurs through consumption of raw or inadequately processed meat or meat products containing larvae of the parasitic nematodes of the genus Trichinella. Currently, nine species and three genotypes are recognized, of which T. spiralis, T. britovi and T. pseudospiralis have the highest public health relevance. To date, the differentiation of the larvae to the species and genotype level is based primarily on molecular methods, which can be relatively time consuming and labor intensive. Due to its rapidness and ease of use a matrix assisted laser desorption / ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) reference spectra database using Trichinella strains of all known species and genotypes was created. A formicacid/acetonitrile protein extraction was carried out after pooling 10 larvae of each Trichinella species and genotype. Each sample was spotted 9 times using α-cyano 4-hydoxy cinnamic acid matrix and a MicroFlex LT mass spectrometer was used to acquire 3 spectra (m/z 2000 to 20000 Da) from each spot resulting in 27 spectra/species or genotype. Following the spectra quality assessment, Biotyper software was used to create a main spectra library (MSP) representing nine species and three genotypes of Trichinella. The evaluation of the spectra generated by MALDI-TOF MS revealed a classification which was comparable to the results obtained by molecular methods. Also, each Trichinella species utilized in this study was distinct and distinguishable with a high confidence level. Further, different conservation methods such as freezing and conservation in alcohol and the host species origin of the isolated larvae did not have a significant influence on the generated spectra. Therefore, the described MALDI-TOF MS can successfully be implemented for both genus and species level identification and represents a major step forward in the use of this technique in foodborne parasitology

An Emerging Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome in Dogs: Similar to the Human Leptospiral Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome?

Severe pulmonary haemorrhage is a rare necropsy finding in dogs but the leptospiral pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome (LPHS) is a well recognized disease in humans. Here we report a pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome in dogs that closely resembles the human disease. All 15 dogs had massive, pulmonary haemorrhage affecting all lung lobes while haemorrhage in other organs was minimal. Histologically, pulmonary lesions were characterized by acute, alveolar haemorrhage without identifiable vascular lesions. Seven dogs had mild alveolar wall necrosis with hyaline membranes and minimal intraalveolar fibrin. In addition, eight dogs had acute renal tubular necrosis. Six dogs had a clinical diagnosis of leptospirosis based on renal and hepatic failure, positive microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and/or positive blood/urine Leptospira-specific PCR. Leptospira could not be cultured post mortem from the lungs or kidneys. However, Leptospira-specific PCR was positive in lung, liver or kidneys of three dogs. In summary, a novel pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome was identified in dogs but the mechanism of the massive pulmonary erythrocyte extravasation remains elusive. The lack of a consistent post mortem identification of Leptospira spp. in dogs with pulmonary haemorrhage raise questions as to whether additional factors besides Leptospira may cause this as yet unrecognized entity in dogs

Comparing validation of four ELISAsystems for detection of Salmonella Derby- and Salmonella Infantis-infected pigs

The objective of this study was the comparative evaluation of four indirect Salmonella ELISA tests at study time approved in Germany to detect Salmonella infection in pigs. Three tests are based on a LPS-antigen mix and directed against specific IgG antibodies. The fourth test is based on a purified S. Typhimurium whole-cell lysate antigen and discriminates between Salmonella- specific IgM-, IgA-, and IgG- antibodies. In a longitudinal study, two groups of six weeks old hybrid piglets were orally infected with a porcine S. Infantis or S. Derby strain. Clinical and bacteriological parameters were monitored weekly during an observation period of 130 days after infection and serum samples were investigated in parallel with the respective ELISAs. Apparently, the LPS-based ELISA systems used in this study failed to recognize S. Infantis-infected pigs although those animals shed the pathogen in high amounts throughout the study until day 81 post infection (p. i.). In contrast, the isotype-specific Salmonella Typhimurium whole-cell-lysate based ELISA was capable of detecting Salmonella-infected pigs from day ten p. i. at all tested serotypes and revealed the highest sensitivity in detection of S. Infantis- infected pigs. Furthermore, it became apparent that the often used surveillance cut-off value of 40 OD% is not appropriate for intra-vitam detection of S. Infantis- and S. Derbyinfected pigs. In contrast, the cut-off values of the ELISAs given by the suppliers result in considerable higher detection rates