Presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dairy Farms located in Najaf, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Erbil, Iraq.

It has been approved that one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogenic bacteria is E. coli O157:H7, which is responsible for several infection and death cases worldwide. It is well documented that in the developing countries E. coli O157:H7 is considered the main causative pathogen of human gastrointestinal infections. Therefore, the current research was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in dairy cattle's milk using a rapid method, in Iraq (Najaf, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Erbil). Over a period of 6 months (During hot months) samples were obtained and investigated by culturing on selective media (CT-SMAC). The multiplex PCR (m-PCR) also used for milk sample direct investigation. Using biochemical tests the recorded data showed that, 2 recognized isolates were E. coli, while the recorded data obtained from m-PCR assay revealed that none of the isolated E. coli was toxigenic E.coli O157:H7. The results of m-PCR on the milk samples revealed that 45 milk samples contained at least one of the following genes: O157, H7, stx1, stx2 genes. Also the results of the m-PCR revealed that 2 samples (raw milk) were toxigenic O157:H7 positive. In conclusion, to the best of authors' knowledge, this investigation was the first report on the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in the raw milk samples in Iraq. The results showed that the proportion of contaminated milk samples contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 identified in the current survey were similar to that the results of the previously published research from different dairy products across different countries in the Middle East region.

Ovine Pasteurellosis Vaccine: Assessment of the Protective Antibody Titer and Recognition of the Prevailing Serotypes.

Sheep husbandry is considered one of the most important activities in the socio-economic development in the Middle East region, especially in Iraq and Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Therefore this study was designed to evaluate the level of ovine pasteurellosis vaccine protective antibody titer and identification of the prevailing serotypes in Iraq (Basrah, Baghdad, Tikrit, Mosul, Erbil). The vaccine was made from pasteurella multosida Bio-type A and the serotypes of Mannheimia haemolytica. This investigation was performed from September 2021 to January 2022, in Iraq. Sheep blood sera samples were obtained from control unvaccinated and vaccinated sheep after 14, 21 and 28 days post vaccination. The results showed that out of 319 sheep blood sera samples which were evaluated using indirect Haemagglutination (IHA) test to detect Mannheimia haemolytica serotypes, the high prevalence (100 %) of M. haemolytica A2 was found in all the five study regions area, while 96.5 % was M. haemolytica A7 and 88.1 % was M. haemolytica A1. The level of antibody titer was measured by specific serum antibody titer of pasteurella multosida Bio-type A. The results revealed that out of 268 vaccinated blood sera samples the overall antibody titer were 12 (3.8 %), 16 (5%) and 17 (5.3 %) for protective antibody titer of 1:160, 1:80 and 1:40 respectively and for antibody titer of 1:20 were 15 (4.7%) and for antibody titer of 1:10 were 17 (5.3 %), whereas the antibody titer in the control group was 4 (7.8 %). The result of this study indicated that the vaccine administered has limited protective power against pasteurella multocida Bio-type A which lead to researchers for further study on identification of specific strain of pasteurella multosida and development of multivalent vaccine including the most prevalent pasteurella serotypes.