Detection of Salmonella enterica in Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) of Chilean Patagonia: evidences of inter-species transmission.

Patagonia in southern South America is among the few world regions where direct human impact is still limited but progressively increasing, mainly represented by tourism, farming, fishing and mining activities. The sanitary condition of Patagonian wildlife is unknown, in spite of being critical for the assessment of anthropogenic effects there. The aim of this study was the characterization of Salmonella enterica strains isolated from wild colonies of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) located in Magdalena Island and Otway Sound, in Chilean Patagonia. Eight isolates of Salmonella were found, belonging to Agona and Enteritidis serotypes, with an infection rate of 0·38%. Resistance to ampicillin, cefotaxime, ceftiofur and tetracycline antimicrobials were detected, and some of these strains showed genotypic similarity with Salmonella strains isolated from humans and gulls, suggesting inter-species transmission cycles and strengthening the role of penguins as sanitary sentinels in the Patagonian ecosystem.

The analytic hierarchy process in decisionmaking for caprine health programmes.

The purpose of this study was to apply the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assist decision-making when planning animal health programmes, by assigning priorities to issues of concern to producers in Chile's main goat production region. This process allows a multi-criteria approach to problems, by analysing and ranking them in a hierarchical structure. Industry experts have highlighted the following animal health and disease control criteria: acceptance by breeders of disease control measures; impact of specific diseases on regional animal trade; the cost and efficacy of control measures; a decrease in flock production; and the impact of caprine diseases on human public health. Using these criteria in the AHP, the study found that the most important impacts were on human public health and on the animal trade. The disease priorities were tuberculosis, brucellosis and echinococcosis/hydatidosis, due mainlyto their zoonotic impact. The analytic hierarchy process proved useful when several criteria were involved in public health issues.

Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis y enfermedad de Crohn: evidencias de una zoonosis / Possible association between Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis infection and Crohn's disease

Paratuberculosis is a chronic intestinal disease of animals caused by Mycobacte-rium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), which has some pathological features similar to Crohn's disease (CD) in humans. The presence of MAP in food for human consumption and in affected tissues of patients with CD has been detected. Therefore, a causal association between this microorganism and the disease in humans, has been postulated. However, several related studies have failed to confirm this hypothesis and the scientific acceptance of MAP as a zoonotic agent remains controversial. This review presents the main findings related to this issue, contrasting evidences for and against an association between MAP and CD. The need to promote national studies focusing on this area is suggested.

[Tuberculosis: a re-emerging zoonosis?]. / Tuberculosis: una zoonosis re-emergente?

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that is found throughout the world and which can have a dramatic impact on the economy and on human and animal health. In humans, the principal cause of infection is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but the animal-specific pathogen, M. bovis, is arguablythe most important zoonotic agent in human history. Despite the fact that several countries have implemented control programmes for M. bovis infection in animals, which has resulted in a reduction in the number of human cases as well, recent years have witnessed a re-emergence of tuberculosis. This is due to the appearance of strains that are resistant to the main antibiotics used to treat the infection in humans, the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, the maintenance of wild reservoirs and the persistence of the infection in livestock, particularly in developing regions. Coordinated efforts by human and animal health services, the improvement of diagnostic techniques and the development of more effective vaccines to prevent the infection are the main strategies for controlling this disease.

Secuencias de inserción IS6110 e IS1081 en cepas de Mycobacterium bovis provenientes de bovinos beneficiados en la Región Metropolitana / Insertion sequences IS6110 and IS1081 present in strains of Mycobacterium bovis from cattle slaughtered at the Metropolitan Area, Chile

La tuberculosis constituye uno de los principales problemas de salud pública en el mundo. Varios estudios han comunicado la utilidad de la técnica de fingerprint con las secuencias de inserción (IS) 6110 e IS1081 para la identificación y tipificación de cepas del complejo Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Ambas secuencias son específicas de las especies bacterianas que pertenecen a este complejo, pero su presencia y número de copias varía entre cepas de M. tuberculosis y M. bovis. El objetivo de nuestro estudio fue investigar la presencia de las secuencias IS6110 e IS1081 en nueve cepas de Mycobacterium bovis aisladas de los ganglios mediastínicos de bovinos beneficiados en mataderos de Santiago de Chile. Se detectó la presencia de IS1081 en todas las cepas, mientras que IS6110 sólo fue detectada en 7 de ellas. Los resultados de este estudio sugieren la utilidad potencial de IS1081 para ser aplicada en la tipificación de cepas de M. bovis. La secuencia IS6110 podría constituir un marcador genético adicional en las cepas que contengan este elemento. Se requiere continuar la caracterización de estas secuencias de inserción con técnicas de genotipificación en que se incluya un mayor número de muestras, de distintas especies animales y provenientes de distintas zonas geográficas, a fin de generar información epidemiológica útil en futuros programas de control de la enfermedad.

Evaluation of three Brucella soluble antigens used in an indirect Elisa to discriminate S19 vaccinated from naturally infected cattle.

An O-polysaccharide (O-chain) and a hot-water extracted polysaccharide (PS), both obtained from Brucella abortus 1119-3, and a B. melitensis 16M native hapten (NH) were evaluated by indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on three groups of cattle sera. The sera tested were: (a) 75 sera from cows naturally infected with B. abortus; (b) 130 sera from non-infected and non-vaccinated cattle; and (c) 61 sera from non-infected heifers recently vaccinated with B. abortus Strain 19 (S19). Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp) and the capability to discriminate vaccinated cattle (ADV) were determined. Using PS antigen, Se was 100% and the Sp was 97.7%, while the highest Sp was obtained by using the O-chain (99.2% ). For the NH antigen, Se was 94.7% and the Sp was 90.0%. The ADV of the three antigens was approximately 85%. Statistical analysis showed significant differences between O-chain/PS and O-chain/NH antigens. The agreement among antigens determined by kappa coefficient was 0.899 for O-chain/PS, 0.845 for O-chain/NH and 0.795 for PS/NH.