3 research outputs found

    Longitudinal monitoring of Ehrlichia ruminantium infection in Gambian lambs and kids by pCS20 PCR and MAP1-B ELISA

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The epidemiology of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection in extensively managed young animals is not adequately understood. Thus in this study, we monitored the onset (age at first infection) and kinetics of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection and antibody response in extensively managed newborn lambs and kids at three sites in The Gambia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used a nested pCS20 PCR and MAP1-B ELISA in a longitudinal study to monitor the onset (age at first infection) and kinetics of <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection and antibody response respectively, in 77 newborn lambs and kids under a traditional husbandry system at three sites (Kerr Seringe, Keneba, Bansang) in The Gambia where heartwater is known to occur. The animals were monitored for field tick infestation and the comparative performance of the two assays in detecting <it>E. ruminantium </it>infection was also assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The infection rate detected by pCS20 PCR varied between 8.6% and 54.8% over the 162-day study period. Nineteen per cent of the animals in week 1 post-partum tested positive by pCS20 PCR with half of these infections (7/14) detected in the first 3 days after birth, suggesting that transmission other than by tick feeding had played a role. The earliest detectable <it>A. variegatum </it>infestation in the animals occurred in week 16 after birth. Antibodies detected by MAP1-B ELISA also varied, between 11.5% and 90%. Although there is considerable evidence that this assay can detect false positives and due to this and other reasons serology is not a reliable predictor of infection at least for heartwater. In contrast to the pCS20 PCR, the serological assay detected the highest proportion of positive animals in week 1 with a gradual decline in seropositivity with increasing age. The pCS20 PCR detected higher <it>E. ruminantium </it>prevalence in the animals with increasing age and both the Spearman's rank test (<it>r</it><sub><it>s </it></sub>= -0.1512; P = 0.003) and <it>kappa </it>statistic (-0.091 to 0.223) showed a low degree of agreement between the two assays.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The use of pCS20 PCR supported by transmission studies and clinical data could provide more accurate information on heartwater epidemiology in endemic areas and single-occasion testing of an animal may not reveal its true infection status. The view is supported because both the vector and vertical transmission may play a vital role in the epidemiology of heartwater in young small ruminants; the age range of 4 and 12 weeks corresponds to the period of increased susceptibility to heartwater in traditionally managed small ruminants.</p

    Detection of antibodies to the Ehrlichia ruminantium MAP1-B antigen in goat sera from three communal land areas of Zimbabwe by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

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    A total of 1 286 caprine serum samples collected from three communal land areas in Zimbabwe from March 1999 to February 2000 were tested for Ehrlichia ruminantium antibodies using the indirect MAP1-B enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of the 480 samples tested from Mudzi, a non-heartwater area, 425 (89.4%) were positive. In the heartwater endemic areas, of the 441 samples 352 (79.4 %) from Gwanda and 300 of the 365 samples (83.2 %) from Bikita tested positive. The seroprevalence in the Bikita and Gwanda (approaching 90 %) is consistent with reports in related serological surveys that puts the seroprevalence of E. ruminantium in goats from endemic areas of Zimbabwe at 90 %. However, the high seroprevalence in the non-heartwater area of Mudzi is unexpected and can be a result of the presence of a serologically cross-reacting organism, which has to be isolated and characterized. The results need to be confirmed by alternative tests based on molecular diagnostic tools. There were no significant differences in seroprevalence between the three sampling areas as there were between the three sampling periods. The highest corresponded with the period January to February (peak tick activity) and the lowest with the period July to September (minimal tick activity).The articles have been scanned with a HP Scanjet 8300; 600dpi, saved in TIFF format. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201
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