Antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors in Escherichia coli from swedish dairy calves

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Sweden, knowledge about the role of enteropathogenic <it>Escherichia coli </it>in neonatal calf diarrhea and the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in <it>E. coli </it>from young calves is largely unknown. This has therapeutic concern and such knowledge is also required for prudent use of antimicrobials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a case control study <it>Esherichia coli </it>isolated from faecal samples from dairy calves were phenotyped by biochemical fingerprinting and analyzed for virulence genes by PCR. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Farm management data were collected and Fisher's exact test and univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 95 <it>E. coli </it>tested for antimicrobial susceptibility 61% were resistant to one or more substances and 28% were multi-resistant. The virulence gene F5 (K99) was not found in any isolate. In total, 21 out of 40 of the investigated virulence genes were not detected or rarely detected. The virulence genes <it>espP, irp</it>, and <it>fyuA </it>were more common in resistant <it>E. coli </it>than in fully susceptible isolates (<it>P </it>< 0.05). The virulence gene <it>terZ </it>was associated with calf diarrhea (<it>P </it>≤ 0.01).</p> <p>The participating 85 herds had a median herd size of 80 lactating cows. Herds with calf diarrhea problems were larger (> 55 cows; P < 0.001), had higher calf mortality (P ≤ 0.01) and calf group feeders were more in use (<it>P </it>< 0.05), compared to herds without calf diarrhea problems.</p> <p>There was no association between calf diarrhea and diversity of enteric <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Antimicrobial resistance was common in <it>E. coli </it>from pre-weaned dairy calves, occurring particularly in calves from herds experiencing calf diarrhea problems. The results indicate that more factors than use of antimicrobials influence the epidemiology of resistant <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Enteropathogenic <it>E. coli </it>seems to be an uncommon cause of neonatal calf diarrhea in Swedish dairy herds. In practice, calf diarrhea should be regarded holistically in a context of infectious agents, calf immunity, management practices etc. We therefore advice against routine antimicrobial treatment and recommend that bacteriological cultures, followed by testing for antimicrobial susceptibility and for virulence factors, are used to guide decisions on such treatment.</p

Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia intestinalis in Calf Diarrhoea in Sweden

The objective of this study conducted in 75 herds was to investigate the presence and significance of Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia intestinalis in Swedish dairy calves in comparison with rotavirus, coronavirus and Escherichia coli K99+. The farmers were asked to collect faecal samples from each heifer calf that had diarrhoea between birth and 90 days of age, and also from a healthy calf of the same age. In total, 270 samples were collected and analysed. C. parvum, either alone or together with G. intestinalis and/or rotavirus, was detected in 16 (11%) and 6 (5%) of the samples from diarrhoeic and healthy calves, respectively. Even though a higher proportion of diarrhoeic calves shed C. parvum, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.067), possibly due to the low number of positive samples. G. intestinalis was found in 42 (29%) of the diarrhoea samples and in 29 (23%) of the samples from healthy calves. Rotavirus and coronavirus were demonstrated in 24% and 3% of the diarrhoea samples, respectively, whereas E. coli K99+ was only found in samples from 2 healthy calves. C. parvum and G. intestinalis were found in samples from calves 7 to 84 days of age and during all seasons. The results confirm that C. parvum is present in Swedish dairy herds and might have clinical significance. G. intestinalis was the most common agent found but the importance of this parasite remains unclear. Both parasites have suggested zoonotic potential and thus warrant further attention. In addition, rotavirus is a major pathogen in neonatal enteritis in Sweden, whereas coronavirus and E. coli K99+ seem to be of less importance

Some important Ectoparasites of Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and Llama (Lama glama)

Abstract The most important ectoparasites infesting/infecting alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and llama (Lama glama) are reviewed. The clinical manifestation and the diagnosis of the different parasitic infections/infestations of Sarcoptes scabiei, Chorioptes sp., Psoroptes sp., Damalinia (Bovicola) breviceps and Microthoracius spp. are described as well as therapies against them. Demonstrating S. scabiei and Chorioptes sp. with available diagnostic methods are challengingly often due to the relatively small numbers of mites that may elicit clinical disease. In Chorioptes sp. infestations it has been shown that alpacas are often subclinically infested. Predilection places are between the toes and in the axillae. The variable response to modern acaricidal treatments emphazises the need of more evidence based studies. The lack of lanolin in the fibres of South American camelids may explain the poor response to topical applications of modern insecticidal/acaricidal products used on other animals. Pharmacokinetic studies of such substances are limited. Few products are licenced although several products that are used and are available for other animals are used off-label. Applying a combination of systemic and topical treatments may produce optimal results. The need to apply treatments against the mange mites more frequently and with higher dosages of some of the acaricidal substances than recommended for other livestock is indicated. Lice infestations are often easier to deal with. Systemic treatment should be applied against suckling lice and topical against the biting lice. All animals in affected herds should be treated at the same time and stringent biosecurity measures following treatment is recommended to avoid re-infections/infestations

Le risque d’erreur de diagnostic médical : étude d’un thème épistémique

International audienc

Corpus, classes d’exemples et collections en analyse de conversation

Les vingt dernières années ont vu l’apparition d’une convergence forte entre une démarche appliquée se consacrant à la création de corpus de grande taille, à leur codage et à leur étiquetage, et diverses théories linguistiques dont les analyses reposent sur de tels corpus. Pour l’analyse de conversation (ou linguistique interactionnelle) une telle convergence ne semble pas possible, car son approche est qualitative et s’appuie sur de « petits » corpus. De plus, un examen approfondi du contexte social des interactions recueillies est nécessaire, qui ne peut donc se réduire à la collecte de métadonnées. Une question surgit immédiatement : la notion de « petit » corpus a une validité sur le plan épistémologique ? Le présent article montre qu’une réponse positive peut être apportée à cette question et qu’il est possible de fonder en raison une pratique qui, le plus souvent, se drape sous les oripeaux de l’évidence.The last two decades showed a strong convergence between an applied approach devoted to the creation of large corpora, with coding standards, and new linguistic theories that depend crucially on the existence of such corpus and annotation schemes. Such a convergence does not seem to include conversation analysis (or interactional linguistics), which relies on small corpuses and proposes a qualitative analysis of interaction data. Therefore, the social context, which cannot be reduced to a metadata description, has to be carefully scrutinized. This article deals with the following issue: can the notion of “small corpus” be of any validity for conversational analysts? It offers a positive answer to this question

Do mundo para a sala de aula, da sala de aula para o mundo : estratégias de integração curricular na disciplina de Desenho A do 12º ano

Relatório da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, Ensino de Artes Visuais, Universidade de Lisboa, 2013O presente relatório centra-se na conceção e desenvolvimento do projeto pedagógico Do mundo para a sala de aula, da sala de aula para o mundo, realizado no âmbito da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, do Mestrado em Ensino das Artes Visuais da Universidade de Lisboa. O projeto, integrado na lecionação de Desenho A, foi conduzido com uma turma de alunos do 12º ano do curso de Produção Artística, especialização em Cerâmica, da Escola Secundário Artística António Arroio, no ano letivo 2012-2013. O principal objetivo deste projeto foi potenciar nos alunos o desenvolvimento de processos de apropriação artística, através da exploração de materiais (imagens, textos, objetos) recolhidos por eles, de modo a serem capazes de criar publicações próprias. Na base da dinamização deste projeto esteve a conceção de currículo integrado proposta por Bernstein (1986). Na linha das pedagogias ativas, integrámos e interrelacionámos, de forma estreita, os conteúdos e competências inerentes ao programa da disciplina de Desenho A, com as vivências e interesses dos jovens alunos, assim como com variados aspetos da sua cultura visual. A partir de uma abordagem do ensino-aprendizagem do Desenho inscrita numa perspetiva pluricultural da educação artística, procurámos proporcionar aos alunos, no próprio espaço-tempo escolar, uma vivência multidimensional e ativa da escola. Apesar do peso que a estrutura do sistema de ensino exerce na atividade docente, concluímos que os professores podem contribuir, de forma decisiva, para a mudança na escola através de projetos desta natureza, e em particular através da promoção de vivências em sala de aula, que aprofundem a democratização do ensino das artes e multipliquem os espaços de significação do trabalho escolar.The present report focuses on the design and development of the pedagogical project From the world to the classroom, from the classroom to the world, conceived in the scope of Supervised Teaching Practice of the Visual Arts Teaching Master of the University of Lisbon. The project, integrated in the subject of Drawing A, was carried out with a class of students from the 12th year of Artistic Production, specialty in Ceramics, at the Artistic High School Antonio Arroio, in the academic year 2012-2013. The main goal of this project was to empower students to develop artistic appropriation procedures, through exploration of materials (images, texts, objects) collected by them, so they were able to create their own publications. On the basis of the dynamization of the project was the concept of integrated curriculum proposed by Bernstein (1986). In agreement with the active learning pedagogies, we closely integrated and interconnected the content and skills inherent to the subject Drawing A with the experiences and interests of the young learners, as well as with various aspects of their visual culture. Based on a drawing learning approach enrolled on a pluricultural perspective of art education, we seek to provide students with a multidimensional and active experience of the school, in the school space-time itself. Despite the weight that the educational system structure has in the teaching activity, we conclude that, through this kind of projects and, in particular, promoting classroom experiences, teachers can play a relevant role in educational change, deepening democratization of art teaching and multiplying the meaning of school work