Encuesta sobre vacunación anti-rábica en veterinarios de fauna silvestre en Chile / Wildlife veterinarians rabies vaccination in Chile: a survey

Introduction: Rabies is a lethal but preventable disease. Knowing the extent of immunization coverage among at risk populations, may help to guide immunization efforts, as well as increase the effectiveness of rabies control and prevention programs. Aim: To determine the proportion of wildlife veterinarians in Chile, as part of a group at risk of rabies transmission. Methods: An electronic survey was sent to wildlife veterinarians in Chile. Results: We found that veterinarians in Chile work mainly with carnivores and deer compared to other mammals (p < 0.001), rarely works with bats (p = 0.6572). Most of the participants had been bitten by domestic animals, while a lesser proportion (29%) by wild animals. Most of the participants never received rabies vaccination (53%), while within the group that had started a rabies vaccination scheme, a substantial proportion (39%) did not complete it. Discussion and conclusion: Identify the vaccination status of risk groups is important for infectious disease control and prevention programs, as this information helps to identify priority groups during outbreaks or vaccine scarcity. Wildlife veterinarians in Chile are at risk of rabies transmission and should be included in rabies prevention programs, especially considering their vulnerability and lack of biosafety practices. Increasing education in rabies epidemiology and prevention is urgently needed in veterinary faculties in Chile.

Introducción: La rabia es una enfermedad infecciosa mortal pero prevenible. Establecer si existe una adecuada inmunización pre-exposición contra la rabia en un grupo de riesgo, puede ayudar a enfocar los esfuerzos de inmunización para hacer efectivos los programas de control y prevención de la enfermedad. Objetivo: Determinar mediante una encuesta la proporción de veterinarios de fauna silvestre como grupo de riesgo que han recibido inmunización contra la rabia. Métodos: Se realizó una encuesta electrónica a veterinarios de fauna de vida silvestre de Chile. Resultados: Los veterinarios encuestados tienden a trabajar con carnívoros y ciervos en comparación con otros mamíferos (p < 0,001), rara vez con murciélagos (p = 0,6572). La mayoría de los encuestados había sido mordido por animales domésticos y una proporción menor (29%) por animales silvestres. La mayoría nunca había sido vacunado contra la rabia (53%), mientras que del grupo que sí había recibido vacunación anti-rábica, una importante proporción (39%) no completó el esquema de vacunación. Sorprendentemente, este grupo de profesionales rara vez trabaja con murciélagos (p = 0,6572), lo que puede reducir su exposición a linajes de rabia transmitida por murciélagos. Discusión y Conclusión: Identificar el estado de inmunización contra la rabia en grupos de riesgo es una información importante para evaluar los programas de prevención y control de enfermedades infecciosas y podría ayudar a identificar grupos prioritarios en situaciones de brote o escasez de vacuna. Los veterinarios de fauna de vida silvestre en Chile constituyen un grupo vulnerable: no mantienen prácticas de bioseguridad necesarias y tienen riesgo de adquirir la encefalitis rábica por lo que deberían ser considerados en los programas de prevención pre-exposición de la enfermedad. La educación sobre la epidemiología y prevención de la rabia es urgente en las facultades de medicina veterinaria en Chile.

Prevalence and patterns of self-reported animal-related injury among veterinarians in metropolitan Kampala

To establish the prevalence, patterns and risk factors of animal-related injuries among veterinarians, self-administered questionnaires were given to 60 veterinarians practicing in metropolitan Kampala. The prevalence of animal-related injuries in metropolitan Kampala was 72% (95%CI, 57~84). Some veterinarians (34%) suffered multiple injuries with a mean and median of 2.1 and 2.0 injuries per veterinarian, respectively. Of a total of 70 self-reported animal related injuries, cattle accounted for 72%, cats for 25%, dogs for 23%, self inoculation for 15% and birds for 13%. Injuries associated with poultry did not require hospital treatment. The upper limb was the most the frequently (68%) injured anatomical body part of veterinarians, and vaccination of animals (25%) was the major activity associated with injury. Animal-related injuries are common among practicing veterinarians in metropolitan Kampala; however, they did not differ significantly based on the veterinarian's gender, experience or risk awareness.

Epidemiological aspects of an infection by Brucella abortus in risk occupational groups in the microregion of Araguaína, Tocantins

The aim of this paper was to study some epidemiological aspects of the infection by Brucella abortus in risk occupational groups in the microregion of Araguaína, Tocantins. For antibody research, 645 serum samples were analyzed by the complement fixation test (CF). A 4.0 percent frequency was found (26/645) in patients' serum and among those 4.1 percent (23/551) were slaughterhouses employees and 8.1 percent (3/37) rural workers. Of the total positive samples, three (2.0 percent) were women and 23 (4.7 percent) men; ten (2.9 percent) were between the ages of 18 and 30, six (3.4 percent) between 31 and 40, and nine (8.0 percent) were above 41 years of age. Risk factors for brucellosis in the study groups were age, background (OR = 2.45; CI 95 percent = 0.98 to 6.10) and previous work conducted with production animals (OR 2.36; CI 95 percent = 0.95 to 6.02). It was concluded that the infection by Brucella abortus is found in some risk occupational groups in the microregion of Araguaína, Tocantins, and control and prophylactic measures must be implemented emphasizing risk factors identified in the study.

Brucellosis in high risk group individuals.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of brucellosis among high-risk group individuals, consisting of veterinarians and para-veterinarians, shepherds, butchers and animal owners. METHODS: The present work was carried out at Project Directorate on Animal Disease Monitoring and Surveillance, Bangalore, by using the recently developed indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies to Brucella abortus. RESULTS: The results were compared with the conventional serological tests, Rose Bengal plate test and standard tube agglutination test. The result showed that the indirect ELISA was more sensitive than the conventional tests. Of 618 tested, the disease of prevalence was at 41.23% in veterinary inspectors, 30.92% in veterinary assistants, 12.37% in veterinary officers, 6.18% in veterinary supervisors, 6.18% in Group D workers, 2.06% in shepherds and 1.03% in butchers. CONCLUSIONS: This study results highlight the immediate necessity to institute control measures to control Brucellosis.

Sero-positivity of brucellosis in human beings.

Two hundred and fifty human serum samples were collected (122 from general population and the rest from people associated with animals) from central Kerala and tested for Brucella agglutinins using various standard tests. The overall seropositivity for brucellosis using all the tests was 1.6%. Among the general population a prevalence of 2.45% was observed and among the veterinary students 1.14%.

Seroprevalencia de leptospirosis en médicos veterinarios expuestos al riesgo: Ñuble, Chile / Leptospirosis seroprevalence in veterinary physicians exposed to risk: Ñuble, Chile

La leptospirosis es una antropozoonosis de carácter ocupacional, que ha sido diagnosticada clínica y serológicamente en el país. En el presente estudio se analizó una población de 74 médicos veterinarios de la provincia de Nuble; 54 de ellos constituyeron el grupo expuesto y los 20 restantes formaron el grupo control. Para el diagnóstico se utilizó la técnica de aglutinación microscópica (MAT), obteniéndose una prevalencia de 7,4 por ciento. Los serovares encontrados fueron icterohaemorrhagiae y pomona con 5,6 por ciento y 1,8 por ciento, respectivamente y los títulos de anticuerpos variaron entre 1150 a 1/100. En el grupo control no se pesquisaron reaccionantes positivos