Clinical and morphological features of salmonellosis in cows and calves affected by heat stress

Exposure to abnormally high temperatures in the Middle Urals has ledtochronic heat stress in cattle. Despitethe measures taken toprotect thedairy herdfrom overheating (fans, irrigationwith coolwater, livestocksunshades), the heatstressunderminedtheimmunityofanimals, thus, leadingtoan excessiverisein Salmonella population in the gastrointestinal tract, increasedin test in alpermeability, and could also bethecause of increasedvirulence of such serotypes as – Salmonella choleraesuis, that are not typical for cattle. The simultaneous presenceof twopathogensof Salmonella entericasubsp. entericaspecies: i.e. Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella choleraesuis – causeda number of clinical and morphological changesin adultcows. In cows, the infection manifested itself by persistent diarrhea with mucus, reduced milkproduction and intoxication. In calves, the disease was accompanied by septic signs, severein toxication, hyperthermia (40.5–41.0 °C), severed ehydration (morethan 7%) and death. Histopathological examination of bovineparenchymal organs revealed changes typical for salmonellos is pathological process: specific salmonella granulomas were foundin parenchymalorgans (liver, spleen). Some pathological processestypical for sepsiswere foundin other parenchymalorgans (kidneys, heart). The nature of pathological changes in dicates that there is as epticprocess that spreads both hematogenically and lymphogenically, and the structure of granulomas most likely indicates that such apathogen as Salmonelacholeraesuis circulates in cattle

The CONSTANCES cohort: an open epidemiological laboratory

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prospective cohorts represent an essential design for epidemiological studies and allow for the study of the combined effects of lifestyle, environment, genetic predisposition, and other risk factors on a large variety of disease endpoints. The CONSTANCES cohort is intended to provide public health information and to serve as an "open epidemiologic laboratory" accessible to the epidemiologic research community. Although designed as a "general-purpose" cohort with very broad coverage, it will particularly focus on occupational and social determinants of health, and on aging.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The CONSTANCES cohort is designed as a randomly selected representative sample of French adults aged 18-69 years at inception; 200,000 subjects will be included over a five-year period. At inclusion, the selected subjects will be invited to fill a questionnaire and to attend a Health Screening Center (HSC) for a comprehensive health examination: weight, height, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, vision, auditory, spirometry, and biological parameters; for those aged 45 years and older, a specific work-up of functional, physical, and cognitive capacities will be performed. A biobank will be set up. The follow-up includes a yearly self-administered questionnaire, and a periodic visit to an HSC. Social and work-related events and health data will be collected from the French national retirement, health and death databases. The data that will be collected include social and demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, life events, behaviors, and occupational factors. The health data will cover a wide spectrum: self-reported health scales, reported prevalent and incident diseases, long-term chronic diseases and hospitalizations, sick-leaves, handicaps, limitations, disabilities and injuries, healthcare utilization and services provided, and causes of death.</p> <p>To take into account non-participation at inclusion and attrition throughout the longitudinal follow-up, a cohort of non-participants will be set up and followed through the same national databases as participants.</p> <p>A field-pilot was performed in 2010 in seven HSCs, which included about 3,500 subjects; it showed a satisfactory structure of the sample and a good validity of the collected data.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The constitution of the full eligible sample is planned during the last trimester of 2010, and the cohort will be launched at the beginning of 2011.</p

Quality profile of milk from high producing dairy cows vaccinated against mastitis

One of the raw milk quality criteria is the count of somatic cells, produced by the cow’s immune system to fight infectious diseases of the mammary gland. The paper presents the analysis of somatic cell count and total bacteria count of milk from cows, vaccinated against mastitis using Startvac vaccine. Tests were performed as a comparison between a dairy unit and a farm under different management conditions and using different milking techniques. Six months after the start of the vaccine application the somatic cell count at the dairy unit decreased by 60 thousand/ml, at the farm by 182 thousand/ml. The agent profile was represented by the following bacteria: Entеrococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Entеrococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Bacillus, Lactobacillus were also isolated from udder secretion. After a year of immunization somatic cell count both at the unit and on the farm decreased by 245 and 216 thousand/ml respectively; it is noteworthy that 43.75% of microflora isolated from mammary gland secretion was represented by Streptococcus spp. After two years of the vaccine use the somatic cell count was equal to 371 and 725 thousand/ml at the unit and on the farm respectively. Tests of mammary gland secretions revealed Streptococcus spp. in 27.27% of cases, Staphylococcus aureus and Entеrococcus faecium were isolated in 18.18% of tested samples. It was established that after three years of the vaccine use the major cause of mastitis in cows was Streptococcus spp. (55.00%). During four years of tests, a downward trend in somatic cell count of bulk milk from high producing dairy cows as well as in the number of agents responsible for inflammation in a mammary gland was detected. Somatic cell count of milk from vaccinated animals decreased by 286 and 432 thousand/ml at the unit and on the farm respectively. During the test period Staphylococcus aureus isolation rate declined by 19.41%