Development of a safety protocol for training and using SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs: A pilot study.

Medical detection dogs have potential to be used to screen asymptomatic patients in crowded areas at risk of epidemics such as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the fact that SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs are in direct contact with infected people or materials raises important concerns due to the zoonotic potential of the virus. No study has yet recommended a safety protocol to ensure the health of SARS- CoV-2 detection dogs during training and working in public areas. This study sought to identify suitable decontamination methods to obtain nonpathogenic face mask samples while working with SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs and to investigate whether dogs were able to adapt themselves to other decontamination procedures once they were trained for a specific odor. The present study was designed as a four-phase study: (a) Method development, (b) Testing of decon- tamination methods, (c) Testing of training methodology, and (d) Real life scenario. Surgical face masks were used as scent samples. In total, 3 dogs were trained. The practical use of 3 different decontam- ination procedures (storage, heating, and UV-C light) while training SARS-CoV-2 detection dogs were tested. The dog trained for the task alerted to the samples inactivated by the storage method with a sensitivity of100 % and specificity of 98.28 %. In the last phase of this study, one dog of 2 dogs trained, alerted to the samples inactivated by the UV-C light with a sensitivity of 91.30% and specificity of 97.16% while the other dog detected the sample with a sensitivity of 96.00% and specificity of 97.65 %.

Invasive Fatal Scopulariopsis brevicaulis Infection in Canaries.

Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, a soil saprophyte, is the most common dermatomycotic mould and causes deep fungal infection. Ten canaries died in a flock of 200 and, at necropsy, S. brevicaulis was isolated from lung and beak samples. Macroscopically, the colonies were flat, velvety or powdery, white, tan, dark brown, grey or black. Microscopically, the isolated fungus had hyaline and septate hyphae, finger-like conidiophores on which annelids produced chains of conidia. On histopathological examination, multiple irregular thin red hyphae were seen in lung tissue of the canaries. Although S. brevicaulis may be involved in onychomycosis, pulmonary mycosis or invasive infection in humans, this infection has not been reported in canaries. This study shows that S. brevicaulis can cause invasive and fatal infection in canaries.

[First Isolation of Coxiella burnetii in Turkey from a Patient with Endocarditis; Antigen Production and Phase Change Study]. / Endokarditli Bir Olgudan Coxiella burnetii'nin Türkiye'de Ilk Izolasyonu; Antijen Üretimi ve Faz Degisimi Çalismasi.

Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q fever, a zoonotic infection. The bacteria is a gram-negative, pleomorphic, coccobacilli and capable to survive and proliferate within the host cell's phagolysosome. There are two morphological cell types of C.burnetii including small and large cell variants. C.burnetii is divided into phase I and phase II serologically variants according to LPS structure in the cell wall. Phase I is the natural phase found in infected animals or humans and is highly infectious. Phase II is not very infectious and could be obtained only in laboratories after serial passages in cell cultures or embryonated egg cultures. Q fever can be asymptomatic (in 50% of the cases), acute or chronic. Major presentations of acute Q fever are flu-like illness, pneumonia, and hepatitis, whereas the chronic form presents mainly as infective endocarditis. The aim of this study was to obtain C.burnetii phase II variant from C.burnetii phase I variant by a phase change study. In this study, C.burnetii was isolated by cell culture method from the heart valve tissue of a Q fever endocarditis case. C.burnetii phase I antigen for the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was prepared from the isolated strain. For the isolation and identification of C.burnetii, heart valve tissue of the patient was homogenized and DNA was extracted by tissue extraction kit. C.burnetii DNA in the valve tissue was determined by real-time PCR (Rt-PCR). This C.burnetii DNA positive specimen was inoculated into Vero cells by shell vial centrifugation method. The scraped Vero cells were fixed on the slides after one week of incubation and IFAT was performed using C.burnetii phase I IgG positive sera, bacteria that were grown in and surrounding the Vero cells stained apple green were determined microscopically. Infected cells were disrupted by freeze and thaw method to obtain bacterial suspension. The DNA obtained from the bacterial suspension was again found to be positive for C.burnetii by Rt-PCR. Isolation sample was found to be positive in PCR at an earlier cycle compared to heart tissue sample, thus the bacterial growth was also confirmed with PCR. 16S ribosomal RNA gene of our isolate was amplified by PCR using 27F and 1492 primers and then sequenced. The DNA sequences were compared with reference DNA sequences of GeneBank; and the nucleotide sequence of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene of our isolate was found to be 99% similar to C.burnetii strain ATCC VR-615 an accession number NR104916. Serial cell culture passages of the isolated strain were performed to obtain C.burnetii phase II variant from C.burnetii phase I variant. After each passage, presence of phase change was investigated by IFAT using C.burnetii phase I and phase II IgG positive sera. At the end of 17 cell culture passages, phase change could not be observed. C.burnetii phase I IFAT antigen was prepared from the obtained bacterial suspension. In this study, we presented the isolation and identification of C.burnetii by cell culture, molecular and serological methods from the heart valve of a patient with endocarditis for the first time in our country.

Correlation between Endoscopic and Histopathological Findings in Dogs with Chronic Gastritis.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic gastritis is a common diagnosis in dogs with signs of chronic vomiting. However, there is no data concerning endoscopic and histopathological agreement in dogs with chronic gastritis. Thus, a question should be raised whether taking gastroduodenal biopsies in dogs with chronic gastritis is necessary or not. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to compare the endoscopic and histopathological agreement in dogs with chronic gastritis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 22 non-pregnant client-owned dogs with the signs of chronic gastritis were enrolled in this prospective study. Procedures including clinical examination, blood analysis, and diagnostic imaging were performed before anaesthesia. Biopsies obtained from gastroduodenal sites were histopathologically evaluated. A total of 110 gastroduodenal samples were examined. RESULTS: Sixty-eight samples had abnormal histopathology and endoscopy while 11 showed normal histopathological and endoscopic evidence. CONCLUSION: The obtained data demonstrated that it is not necessary to take extra gastroduodenal biopsies in dogs with evidence of endoscopic gastroduodenitis. We also believe that further prospective studies, including cost and time effectiveness and more specific comparison between endoscopic appearance and histopathology, are necessary to make final recommendations regarding the need of using both procedures for definitive diagnosis.

Slime production and antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from arthritis in chickens.

Slime factor production and antibiotic resistance of 67 Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from chicken arthritis were investigated in this study. Slime factor productions of enterococci were found as 59.7%. The antibiotic resistances were investigated by testing gentamycin, penicillin, streptomycin, vancomycin, danofloxacin, and enrofloxacin. The resistance rates were found as 62.68%, 76.11%, 67.16%, 13.43%, 47.76%, 43.28%, respectively. For slime factor positive enterococci, the antibiotic resistance rates were found as follows respectively; 82.50%, 87.50%, 92.50%, 17.50%, 72.50%, and 60.00%. In conclusion; the slime factor might play a role as a colonization factor for chicken arthritis and slime factor positive enterococci were found to be more resistant to these antibiotics. The resistance rates between slime factor positive and negative enterococci against the tested antibiotics except for vancomycin were found statistically significant (p<0.05).