scholarly journals Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Vaccination Program against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Based on Lung-Scoring at Slaughter

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2778
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Sipos ◽  
Vojislav Cvjetković ◽  
Branimir Dobrokes ◽  
Sabine Sipos
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Causative Agent ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae ◽  
Health State ◽  
Porcine Pleuropneumonia ◽  
Electronic Tool ◽  
Prophylactic Measures ◽  
Pig Management ◽  
Lung Health

Porcine pleuropneumonia is of serious concern regarding lung health in pig production. Besides optimizing hygiene and pig management, specific vaccination against the causative agent, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, is an important tool in the fight against this disease. As porcine pleuropneumonia may present with different clinical courses of disease, it is not always easy to objectively assess herd lung health state or to monitor improvements following specific therapeutic or prophylactic measures. Here, the effects of specific vaccination on lung health in a chronically diseased farrow-to-finish farm in Lower Austria experiencing an acute episode were monitored by means of an app-based electronic tool, enabling the scorers to document lung pathologies real-time at slaughter. At the time, when vaccination measures took effect, percentages of lungs affected by dorsocaudal pleurisy had decreased from 43 to 5 and the APP-index from 1.2 to 0.1, respectively. But not only pleurisies were diminished, also incidences and severities of bronchopneumonic alterations had dramatically decreased and exhibited interesting trends when set in connection to clinical signs. Overall, vaccination measures against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae proved to be very effective in restoring herd lung health.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae: a review of an economically important pathogen

Livestock ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 308-314
Author(s):  
Christina Gale ◽  
Eduardo Velazquez
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae ◽  
Good Choice ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Need For Treatment ◽  
Porcine Pleuropneumonia ◽  
Causative Agents ◽  
On Farm

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is one of the causative agents of porcine pleuropneumonia, which is an economically important respiratory disease of pig production. Clinical signs vary based on the severity of disease and lung lesions present, but include fever and severe respiratory signs including coughing and laboured breathing. Numerous serotypes exist which vary in their virulence, and virulence of serotypes has also been shown to be vary between countries. It is important to establish which serotypes are present and active on a farm as well as carrying out seroprofiling to determine the correct time for implementation of control measures such as vaccination. Understanding of transmission routes is vital, including the role of carrier animals on the farm which are persistently infected and can shed the bacteria, therefore infecting other animals. Therefore, as with all infectious diseases, good standards of internal and external biosecurity are important in controlling the disease on farm. Vaccination has been shown to be effective on affected farms in preventing outbreaks, reducing clinical signs if they occur, and most important to the farmer, preventing losses in mortality, feed conversion ratio and growth. Therefore, vaccines are often a good choice for controlling pleuropneumonia on farm and reducing the need for treatment using antimicrobials.

scholarly journals Porcine Gammaherpesviruses in Italian Commercial Swine Population: Frequent but Harmless

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Giovanni Franzo ◽  
Michele Drigo ◽  
Matteo Legnardi ◽  
Laura Grassi ◽  
Maria Luisa Menandro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Real Time Pcr ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Porcine Circovirus ◽  
Swine Industry ◽  
Positive Interaction ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Swine Population ◽  
Clinical Conditions

Differently from alpha- and betaherpesviruses affecting swine, interest in the recently discovered Suid gammaherpesvirus 3, Suid gammaherpesvirus 4, and Suid gammaherpesvirus 5, also known as porcine lymphotropic herpesviruses (PLHV-1, PLHV-2, and PLHV-3), has largely focused on their role as potential zoonotic agents in cases of xenotransplantation. However, their role as primary pathogens of swine or as co-factors for other lymphotropic infections has essentially been neglected. The present study aims at filling this gap, evaluating the association between PLHVs infection and different clinical conditions and/or porcine circovirus (PCV) co-infection. One hundred seventy-six samples were obtained from different animals located in a high-density pig area of Northern Italy in the period 2017–2020. The presence of PLHVs and PCVs was tested and quantified by specific real-time PCR: PLHVs were widespread among pigs (PLHV-1, PLHV-2, and PLHV-3 prevalence was 28.97%, 10.79%, and 4.54%, respectively) and detected in all considered tissues and clinical conditions. Frequent co-infections were also observed among PLHVs and with PCVs, although a significant association was not detected with the exception of a positive interaction between PLHV-1 and PLHV-3, and a negative one between PLHV-2 and PCV-2. Significantly, no association between PLHVs, alone or in co-infection, emerged with any of the considered clinical signs, their frequency being comparable between healthy and diseased animals. Based on these pieces of evidence and despite their high prevalence, PLHVs’ relevance for the swine industry appears negligible, either as primary pathogens or as predisposing factors for circovirus-induced diseases.

scholarly journals Sero- and apx-typing of German Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae field isolates from 2010 to 2019 reveals a predominance of serovar 2 with regular apx-profile

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Schuwerk ◽  
Doris Hoeltig ◽  
Karl-Heinz Waldmann ◽  
Peter Valentin-Weigand ◽  
Judith Rohde
Keyword(s):  
Reference Strain ◽  
Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae ◽  
Etiological Agent ◽  
Toxin Gene ◽  
Gene Profile ◽  
Field Isolates ◽  
Porcine Pleuropneumonia ◽  
Virulent Strains ◽  
Highly Virulent

AbstractSerotyping is the most common method to characterize field isolates of Actinobacillus (A.) pleuropneumoniae, the etiological agent of porcine pleuropneumonia. Based on serology, many farms seem to be infected and antibodies against a wide variety of serovars are detectable, but, so far it is unknown to what degree respective serovars contribute to outbreaks of clinical manifest disease. In this study, 213 German A. pleuropneumoniae field isolates retrieved for diagnostic purposes from outbreaks of porcine pleuropneumonia between 2010 and 2019 were genetically serotyped and analyzed regarding their apx-toxin gene profile using molecular methods. Serotyping revealed a prominent role of serovar 2 in clinical cases (64% of all isolates) and an increase in the detection of this serovar since 2010 in German isolates. Serovar 9/11 followed as the second most frequent serovar with about 15% of the isolates. Furthermore, very recently described serovars 16 (n = 2) and 18 (n = 8) were detected. Most isolates (93.4%) showed apx-profiles typical for the respective serovar. However, this does not hold true for isolates of serovar 18, as 75% (n = 6) of all isolates of this serovar deviated uniformly from the “typical” apx-gene profile of the reference strain 7311555. Notably, isolates from systemic lesions such as joints or meninges did not harbor the complete apxICABD operon which is considered typical for highly virulent strains. Furthermore, the extremely low occurrence (n = 1) of NAD independent (biovar II) isolates in German A. pleuropneumoniae was evident in our collection of clinical isolates.

scholarly journals Detection of Aspergillus species in bone marrow transplant patients

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (08) ◽  
pp. 511-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parisa Badiee ◽  
Abdolvahab Alborzi
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Bone Marrow Transplant ◽  
Real Time Pcr ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Marrow Transplant ◽  
Aspergillus Species ◽  
Pcr Assay ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Transplant Patients

Introduction:  Invasive aspergillosis is a severe complication of cytotoxic chemotherapies and bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The aim of this study was to assess the utility of a real-time PCR assay for the early diagnosis of Aspergillus species in blood samples from BMT patients. Methodology: Blood specimens (n = 993) from patients (n = 82) scheduled for BMT were collected prior to transplant and for 100 days post transplantation.  The specimens were later tested using an Aspergillus-specific real-time PCR assay. Cultures of clinical samples, along with sonography and computerized tomographic scans, were performed as standard of care. Results: Aspergillus DNA was positive in 94 sequential blood samples from 13 patients with clinical and radiological signs of infection. Samples from three of these patients were PCR-positive for Aspergillus in the first week of admission, prior to transplantation. Four patients with aspergillosis were cured with antifungal agents and nine died. An additional 12 patients without clinical signs of infection were PCR-positive on one occasion each, while two patients with clinical signs of infection were PCR-negative. Compared to routine methods of aspergillosis diagnosis, the respective sensitivity, specificity, negative, and positive predictive values of the PCR method by patient were 86.6%, 82%, 96.5% and 52%. Conclusions: The results show that Aspergillus infections in the blood of bone marrow transplant patients can be dectected by PCR methods. Early detection of Aspergillus infections by PCR has the potential to positively impact patient mortality rate and provide cost savings to hospitals.

scholarly journals Porcine pleuropneumonia: the first evaluation of field efficacy of a subunit vaccine in Croatia

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Habrun ◽  
V. Bilič ◽  
Ž. Cvetnič ◽  
A. Humski ◽  
M. Benič
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Efficacy ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Subunit Vaccine ◽  
Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Porcine Pleuropneumonia ◽  
Field Efficacy ◽  
A Subunit ◽  
And Control ◽  
Fattening Pigs

A vaccine for porcine pleuropneumonia caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae was studied in Croatia on a farm infected by agent serotypes 2 and 9. Vaccination with a commercial subunit vaccine was initiated in the second half of 1998 due to the immense economic damage caused on the farm by this disease. All prefattening and fattening pigs kept on the farm during the first three months of 1999 were allocated in two groups: vaccinated and control. In the control and vaccinated group, 226 and 35 animals (5.78% and 0.96% of the average number of prefattening and fattening pigs in control and vaccinated group), respectively, died from pleuropneumonia. The vaccine efficacy was 83.5%. Examination of the randomly selected lungs on the slaughter line revealed significant reduction in the lesions specific for the chronic form of pleuropneumonia in the vaccinated group (vaccine efficacy 78.6%). The tested vaccine significantly decreased the death rate and pulmonary lesions due to A. pleuropneumoniae.

scholarly journals Parasitological, Hematological, and Immunological Response of Experimentally Infected Sheep with Venezuelan Isolates of Trypanosoma evansi, Trypanosoma equiperdum, and Trypanosoma vivax

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nereida Parra-Gimenez ◽  
Armando Reyna-Bello
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Causative Agent ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Acute Infection ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Immunological Response ◽  
Trypanosoma Evansi ◽  
Serological Response ◽  
Trypanosoma Vivax ◽  
Veterinary Importance

There are three trypanosoma species of veterinary importance in South America: (1) Trypanosoma evansi, the causative agent of derrengadera mechanically transmitted by bloodsucking insects such as tabanids, (2) Trypanosoma vivax, also mechanically transmitted by some dipteras hematophages as tabanids and/or Stomoxys, and (3) T. equiperdum, a tissue parasite adapted to sexual transmission and the causative agent of dourine, a distinctive disease that affects only Equidae. In order to evaluate the parasitological, hematological, and serological response of sheep infected with T. vivax, T. evansi, and T. equiperdum, four female sheep were experimentally infected with Venezuelan trypanosome field isolates: two T. evansi of differing virulences, one T. equiperdum; one T. vivax. Parasitemia and clinical parameters such as hematocrit, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and body temperature were measured. T. evansi caused a chronic disease with undulant parasitemia alternating with some cryptic periods of at least 54 days, with no clinical signs. T. equiperdum, never described as infectious to ruminants, also caused a chronic disease with low undulant parasitemia. T. vivax caused an acute infection with severe anemia showing a drop of more than 70% of the hematocrit value, high fever, and rapid deterioration of physical condition, for 36 days of infection. Indirect ELISAs using crude extracts of the three species of trypanosomes as antigens were performed for detection of anti-trypanosome antibodies in sheep sera. Cross-reaction was observed between the three parasite species. These results show that sheep are susceptible to the three-trypanosome species and suggest they can act as a reservoir when sheep are raised and managed with other important livestock such as cattle, horses, buffalos, or goats. These findings are especially interesting for T. equiperdum, a species that has not been reported as infective to sheep.

Ultra-rapid real-time PCR for the detection of Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American Foulbrood (AFB)

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Hoon Han ◽  
Do-Bu Lee ◽  
Dong-Woo Lee ◽  
Eul-Hwan Kim ◽  
Byoung-Su Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Causative Agent ◽  
Real Time Pcr ◽  
Paenibacillus Larvae ◽  
American Foulbrood

scholarly journals Factor analysis as an aid to nutritional assessment

1944 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 395-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
General Health ◽  
Nutritional Assessment ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Nutritional State ◽  
Nutritional Deficiencies ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Health State

1. The problem of assessing nutritional stateThis paper emphasizes the need for measurement in diagnosis and recognizes two distinct problems, those of:(a) Diagnosing specific diseases in the sense of distinct pathological conditions.(b) Assessing general malconditions where there is no sharp dividing line between the normal and the subnormal.It suggests a programme of research designed to overcome some of the difficulties inherent in (b) in the case of nutritional assessment.2. Establishing general health standardsThe first requirement is the scientific standardization of the elements making up the concept of health and good physique. This is a complex matter requiring all the help which statistical procedures can give. Moreover, we must check the reliability of the assessors and the indicators which they use before we can place any reliance on results purporting to relate to the population studied.Provisionally we begin by collecting a battery of indicators of general health; each is then given a graded assessment for each child (and the assessment is repeated to obtain its reliability), and by employing the statistical device of factor analysis we can determine what combination of symptoms will give the highest agreement with the criterion of general health abstracted from these individually imperfect measures. We are actually making explicit the stages which are normally telescoped in the method of ‘general impression’ (which is the method usually adopted in assessing general health, state of nutrition, etc., despite evidence of its unreliability). In this method a number of individual characteristics are fused together without ensuring that different observers will attach equal importance to the signs or even that they will take into account the same ones. The emphasis to be given to each symptom in the final mark is determined statistically by its agreement with the aggregate result. Some indicators may give results so unrelated to the others that they must be eliminated. Other tests, whether physiological, functional or anatomical, may later be added to the battery to reinforce it. A point of practical importance is that some readily assessable symptom or index may be found which gives results in close enough agreement with those of the standard battery to enable it to be used as a substitute, thus shortening the task of diagnosis without appreciably lessening its accuracy.An alternative criterion could, as we have seen, be the weighted combination of doctors' assessments, for by weighting the results according to each doctor's agreement with his colleagues we were able to increase the agreement between the team result and the hypothetical true mark. However, since the ordinary methods of assessment are unreliable, even the pooled results of the team do not give as good a standard as the standardized battery of tests.A third standard is sometimes possible in the form of an objective accurately measurable physiological laboratory test or anatomical index. If this is inconvenient to apply generally, any single symptom or pool may be tested by correlation with it to see if the agreement is close enough for practical purposes.3. Study of more specific nutritional defectsFactor analysis can be used to discover and assess more limited similarities than those covering the whole range of observers or test symptoms. For example, the doctors tended to show group affinities (depending possibly on their different emphasis in diagnosis) in addition to their somewhat low general conformity. Applying similar analytic methods to the study of symptoms, we might isolate specific nutritional deficiencies or it is possible that group factors may be revealed corresponding to the effects of recent or early adverse nutritional conditions respectively.Whilst the examples of analytic techniques have here been applied to illustrative cases in nutritional and general health assessment, they are equally applicable to other fields of medicine, in particular to endocrinology and to the study of predisposing conditions of disease.My thanks are due to Prof. Burt and Dr E. H. Wilkins for their suggestions for modifying my original draft. However, this in no way commits them to agreement with the views expressed here.[Note added in Proof.] Since writing this article I have had an opportunity of correlating and analysing some results of nutritional surveys involving clinical and biochemical signs of malnutrition. The evidence so far obtained indicates a rather weak general factor for clinical signs identifiable with general nutritional state. I hope to be able to give the full results when the material becomes available for publication.

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