Growth characteristics of Bacillus anthracis compared to other Bacillus spp. on the selective nutrient media Anthrax Blood Agar and Cereus Ident Agar.

Anthrax Blood Agar (ABA) and Cereus Ident Agar (CEI) were evaluated as selective growth media for the isolation of Bacillus anthracis using 92 B. anthracis and 132 other Bacillus strains from 30 species. The positive predictive values for the identification of B. anthracis on ABA, CEI, and the combination of both were 72%, 71%, and 90%, respectively. Thus, less than 10% of all species were misidentified using both nutrient media. Species which might be misidentified as B. anthracis were B. cereus, B. mycoides, and B. thuringiensis. Particularly, 30% of B. weihenstephanensis strains were misidentified as B. anthracis.

[The prevalence of Yersinia-specific antibodies in cattle in Bavaria]. / Untersuchungen zur Prävalenz Yersinia-spezifischer Antikörper bei Rindern in Bayern.

Yersiniosis is considered to be an emerging infection in humans. It is believed that contaminated pork is the main source of infection for man but also beef and cow milk might cause infection in the consumer. Therefore, a survey was carried out to obtain actual data on the prevalence of anti-Yersinia antibodies within cattle. 600 serum samples were taken form 120 farms located in 43 districts of Bavaria, Germany. Antibodies were detected in 396 animals (65.7%) revealing a distribution of 52.3% of anti-YopD, 40.3% of anti-YopM, 24.0% of anti-YopH, 21.2% of anti-YopE and 3.0% of anti-V-antigen antibodies. 21 reactionpatterns out of 32 possible patterns were identified. Anti-YopD and YopM antibodies were sufficient to detect all Yersinia antibody positive sera. No regional differences in the distribution of antibodies were noted.

[The prevalence of anti-yersinia outer protein antibodies in Bavarian slaughter pigs]. / Zur Prävalenz von Anti-Yersinia-Outer-Protein-Antikörpern bei Schlachtschweinen in Bayern.

The aim of the present study was to provide current data on the prevalence of anti-Yersinia-antibodies in Bavarian slaughtering pigs. The recomBlot Westernblot assay based on five recombinantly produced Yersinia Outer Proteins (YopD, YopE, YopH, YopM, V-antigen) is well evaluated for the use in the diagnosis of human yersiniosis and proved to be also a valuable tool for the detection of porcine antibodies. 965 out of 1002 meat juice samples collected in 53 Bavarian pig farms contained anti-Yop/V-Ag-antibodies. Only blots with three or more detectable signals were considered as positive. On the basis of these results a possible previous history of Yersinia infection was detected in 45.4% of the pigs and all of the pig farms. The high prevalence of anti-Yersinia-antibodies found in this investigation demonstrates the need for further epidemiological surveillance and animal studies to assess consumers' endangering.