Cryptosporidium spp. in adult goats from family farms in northwestern Argentina: Prevalence and epidemiological insights

Cryptosporidium infection in goats has been reported in several countries. However, information is scarce for South America, including Argentina. This study aimed to identify Cryptosporidium spp. infections in adult goats of 11 rural communities from Luracatao Valley (Argentina), and to evaluate associated risk factors through socio-productive surveys. Fecal samples were collected of 409 adult goats from 51 family farms. Oocysts compatible with Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in 0.48 % (2/409) of samples by microscopy. A total of 4.89 % (20/409) of goats and 36.36 % (4/11) of communities tested positive by nested PCR targeting 18S rRNA gene fragments. The sequences were consistent with C. ubiquitum (n = 15), C. xiaoi (n = 3), and C. parvum (n = 2). 51 surveys were conducted with goat-raising families, providing contextual data on herd management, health practices, and environmental conditions. Multivariate analysis showed a significant protective association between antiparasitic treatment and Cryptosporidium infection (OR = 0.073; p < 0.05). These findings provide valuable information to better understand cryptosporidiosis in family goat systems, a system that is often overlooked in public policy, despite goats being a significant source of livelihood for many families.IPAF Región PampeanaFil: Basset, Carina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Basset, Carina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Cátedra de Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias; ArgentinaFil: Basset, Carina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Steffen, Kevin D. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Steffen, Kevin D. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Cátedra de Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias; ArgentinaFil: Steffen, Kevin D. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: De Felice, Lorena. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: De Felice, Lorena. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Cátedra de Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias; ArgentinaFil: Fitte, Bruno. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Fitte, Bruno. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Olaizola, Paula L. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar Región Pampeana; ArgentinaFil: Gos, María Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Gos, María Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Cátedra de Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias; ArgentinaFil: Unzaga, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Unzaga, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Cátedra de Parasitología y Enfermedades Parasitarias; Argentin

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in family farming goats from the Luracatao Valley, Salta, Argentina

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum infections are important causes of abortion in ruminants. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and frequency of T. gondii and N. caninum titers in goats raised by family farmers in the Luracatao Valley of Salta province, Argentina. A total of 259 serum samples were collected from adult goats in 42 family farms in nine communities and tested for indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT, cut-off 1:100). Seroprevalences were 34.36% (89/259) for T. gondii and 64.09% (166/259) for N. caninum. Co-infection was found in 25.86% (67/259) of the goats tested. The most frequent IFAT titer of T. gondii found was 100 (23.93%; 62/259), and only 2% (5/259) of the goats presented titer 800. For N. caninum, the most frequent titers were 100 (25.86%; 67/259), and titers 200 (20.46%; 53/259) and 400 (14.61%, 38/259). The titers found for T. gondii could suggest a chronic infection in goats, being of importance for the region due to meat consumption and cheese production. The elevated seroprevalence of N. caninum identified in this study may be attributed to the community-specific dog population and the close interaction between dogs and goats, despite the absence of a statistically significant association. Subsequent research is warranted to assess the productive implications of T. gondii and N. caninum.Fil: Basset, Carina Mabel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Gos, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; ArgentinaFil: Steffen, Kevin Denis. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Helman, María Elisa. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fitte, Bruno. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Olaizola, Paula Lucia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar Región Pampeana; ArgentinaFil: Unzaga, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública. Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Rationale and design of the pragmatic clinical trial tREatment with Beta-blockers after myOcardial infarction withOut reduced ejection fracTion (REBOOT)

Abstract Aims There is a lack of evidence regarding the benefits of β-blocker treatment after invasively managed acute myocardial infarction (MI) without reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods and results The tREatment with Beta-blockers after myOcardial infarction withOut reduced ejection fracTion (REBOOT) trial is a pragmatic, controlled, prospective, randomized, open-label blinded endpoint (PROBE design) clinical trial testing the benefits of β-blocker maintenance therapy in patients discharged after MI with or without ST-segment elevation. Patients eligible for participation are those managed invasively during index hospitalization (coronary angiography), with LVEF &amp;gt;40%, and no history of heart failure (HF). At discharge, patients will be randomized 1:1 to β-blocker therapy (agent and dose according to treating physician) or no β-blocker therapy. The primary endpoint is a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal reinfarction, or HF hospitalization over a median follow-up period of 2.75 years (minimum 2 years, maximum 3 years). Key secondary endpoints include the incidence of the individual components of the primary composite endpoint, the incidence of cardiac death, and incidence of malignant ventricular arrhythmias or resuscitated cardiac arrest. The primary endpoint will be analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Conclusion The REBOOT trial will provide robust evidence to guide the prescription of β-blockers to patients discharged after MI without reduced LVEF. </jats:sec

Prospects for a survey of the galactic plane with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Approximately one hundred sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays are known in the Milky Way, detected with a combination of targeted observations and surveys. A survey of the entire Galactic Plane in the energy range from a few tens of GeV to a few hundred TeV has been proposed as a Key Science Project for the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO). This article presents the status of the studies towards the Galactic Plane Survey (GPS). We build and make publicly available a sky model that combines data from recent observations of known gamma-ray emitters with state-of-the-art physically-driven models of synthetic populations of the three main classes of established Galactic VHE sources (pulsar wind nebulae, young and interacting supernova remnants, and compact binary systems), as well as of interstellar emission from cosmic-ray interactions in the Milky Way. We also perform an optimisation of the observation strategy (pointing pattern and scheduling) based on recent estimations of the instrument performance. We use the improved sky model and observation strategy to simulate GPS data corresponding to a total observation time of 1620 hours spread over ten years. Data are then analysed using the methods and software tools under development for real data. Under our model assumptions and for the realisation considered, we show that the GPS has the potential to increase the number of known Galactic VHE emitters by almost a factor of five. This corresponds to the detection of more than two hundred pulsar wind nebulae and a few tens of supernova remnants at average integral fluxes one order of magnitude lower than in the existing sample above 1 TeV, therefore opening the possibility to perform unprecedented population studies. The GPS also has the potential to provide new VHE detections of binary systems and pulsars, to confirm the existence of a hypothetical population of gamma-ray pulsars with an additional TeV emission component, and to detect bright sources capable of accelerating particles to PeV energies (PeVatrons). Furthermore, the GPS will constitute a pathfinder for deeper follow-up observations of these source classes. Finally, we show that we can extract from GPS data an estimate of the contribution to diffuse emission from unresolved sources, and that there are good prospects of detecting interstellar emission and statistically distinguishing different scenarios.Thus, a survey of the entire Galactic plane carried out from both hemispheres with CTAO will ensure a transformational advance in our knowledge of Galactic VHE source populations and interstellar emission