Journal of Veterinary Research最新文献

Introduction: Different Chlamydia species affect cattle and contribute to economic losses. One of them, C. pecorum, is a globally endemic livestock pathogen. Despite its endemicity, prevalence data from Poland have so far been limited. The present study aimed to obtain insight into the chlamydiae prevalence in Polish dairy cattle.

Material and methods: A screening of chlamydial seroprevalence in dairy cattle was initially performed, followed by Chlamydiaceae- and species-specific real-time qPCR. Vaginal swabs (n = 239) and placenta samples (n = 2) from seropositive animals in 142 herds were collected to detect shedders. The study population consisted of cows (n = 2,780) from dairy herds (n = 1,153) located in all Polish voivodeships.

Results: The true animal prevalence was determined to be 33.3%, while the true herd prevalence was 42.7%. Five groups of Polish voivodeships were identified using appropriate statistical tools, highlighting differences that may arise from various factors impacting the spread of chlamydial infections. The only detected chlamydia species was C. pecorum, the presence of which was confirmed in two herds.

Conclusion: This study revealed that chlamydial infections are commonly present in Polish dairy cattle across the country.

Introduction: Synthetic anabolic hormones, which may pose a potential risk to human health, should not be used in fattening food-producing animals. Because of the hormonal effects they cause, growth-promoting compounds are banned by legislation in the EU for use in animal husbandry. Consequently, all EU member states are required to conduct monitoring tests on the content and residues of these compounds in prescribed biological matrices to ensure the safety of food consumers. The aim of this research was to develop a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of the residue of one such anabolic hormone, clostebol in food animal urine.

Material and methods: Clostebol and its marker metabolite residues were determined by a method involving enzymatic hydrolysis, isolation of compounds from urine on a C18 solid-phase extraction (SPE) column, purification of the extract by liquid-liquid extraction using n-pentane and a NH₂ SPE column, and detection by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Results: No traces of this anabolic steroid hormone or its metabolites were found in any of the samples tested. The method was validated in accordance with the current requirements for confirmatory methods, and the determined parameters of the decision limits necessary for assessing sample compliance met the specified criteria.

Conclusion: In 2023, the method was introduced for testing under the National Control Plan in Poland. Up to July 19, 2024, 53 urine samples from different animal species had been tested.

Introduction: In Europe, veterinary vaccines are strictly controlled by the Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs) of the General European OMCL Network, coordinated by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare. Despite a meticulous verification programme for immunological veterinary medicinal products (IVMPs), the products' genomic composition has not yet been subject to evaluation in veterinary pharmacy.

Material and methods: A study was carried out on Poland's poultry vaccines containing the infectious bronchitis virus which have the greatest market penetration. Three batches of three different vaccines were high-throughput sequenced and analysed for genomic composition, frequency of variants and the phylogeny of the strains.

Results: The main genetic component of each vaccine was infectious bronchitis coronavirus. The identity of the vaccine strain types was confirmed to be consistent with the manufacturer's declaration (793B, Mass and QX). Most variants were identified for the same nucleotide positions in all three batches of each vaccine, demonstrating the homogeneity of the samples, while unique variants specific to single batches were rare.

Conclusion: High-throughput sequencing (HTS) is an effective alternative poultry IVMP quality control tool for OMCLs. This technique allows in-depth characterisation of a vaccine strain and assessment of its conformance to the manufacturer's declaration. Importantly, HTS brings new cognitive value to IVMP quality control, because it makes monitoring the level of revertants possible. However, before it could be introduced into routine quality control, a thorough analysis and characteristics of the IVMP to be evaluated is needed from the medical product's manufacturer.

Introduction: In winter 2021/2022, a wolf population in the primeval Białowieża Forest in Poland was struck by an outbreak of severe mange caused by mixed infestations of Sarcoptes and Demodex mites. We present an epidemiological analysis of this mange which caused significant morbidity and mortality.

Material and methods: Ten sites known for wolf activity were monitored by camera trapping. A diagnostic necropsy and testing of a young wolf was performed to determine the causes of death.

Results: Five young wolves with severe alopecia of the entire body and some other individuals with minor to medium mange lesions were identified by the camera surveillance. The necropsy of the carcass revealed emaciation, dehydration and anaemia with starvation as the cause of death, likely attributable to severe infestation with Sarcoptes scabiei and Demodex sp. mites. Rabies and infections with Borreliella sp., Anaplasma sp., Ehrlichia sp., Francisella tularensis, Babesia sp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus were excluded by specific tests.

Conclusions: The described analysis is the first documented co-infestation of this kind in wolves. The outbreak coincided with very mild winter conditions with a high average minimum temperature, which may have favoured mite survival outside the host, and light snowfall, which may have influenced the wolves' ability to hunt. Other potential drivers of the outbreak could be the large proportion of wetland terrain, increasing number of wolves in the area and anthropogenic pressure on their habitats including the migration crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border and the increased presence of military and border forces, even despite the relief from the anthropogenic pressure from tourism due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Introduction: This article presents the fourth detection of macroscopic cystic lesions due to sarcocystosis in domestic pigs during routine meat inspection worldwide, and the first molecular detection of Sarcocystis miescheriana in a domestic pig in Poland. Pigs can become intermediate hosts for S. miescheriana by accidental ingestion of oocysts or sporocysts present in food or water contaminated by the faeces of canids (definitive hosts).

Material and methods: The affected swine showed no clinical symptoms such as weight loss, dermatitis or dyspnoea suggesting sarcocystosis. The presence of grossly visible cyst-like lesions was noticed by veterinary inspectors during post-mortem meat inspection of pig carcasses at a slaughterhouse located in central Poland. Ten rice-grain-shaped white lesions were isolated from the muscle tissue for molecular analysis, and four other macroscopic cyst-like lesions were also isolated for histopathological and microscopy analysis. The molecular characterisation included amplification and sequencing of the cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial gene.

Results: The cyst-like structures were whitish, calcified, 1 cm long and 3 mm wide. The presence of S. miescheriana DNA was confirmed in all ten grossly visible cyst-like lesions.

Conclusion: This study shows that Sarcocystis spp. may be present in swine muscle tissue and cause lesions leading to carcass discard. Further analyses are needed to fully recognise the prevalence and impact of Sarcocystis spp. on animal and human health, especially taking into account the possible presence of the zoonotic S. suihominis.

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae among wild boars inhabiting Poland.

Material and methods: Serum samples were collected from 281 wild boars of varying ages (juveniles, adolescents and adults) and subjected to testing using a commercial indirect ELISA assay.

Results: The prevalence of E. rhusiopathiae antibodies was notably high, reaching 75.1% overall and varying slightly across different age categories (90.0% in juveniles, 70.7% in adolescents and 79.6% in adults). Despite these variations, no statistically significant differences were observed among age groups (P-value > 0.05).

Conclusion: The elevated prevalence of E. rhusiopathiae identified in this study underscores the significance of wild boars as natural reservoirs of this bacterium. Further investigations are warranted to identify the risk factors associated with disease transmission to other species, including humans.

Introduction: Successful retrieval of Aerococcus viridans from porcine clinical specimens has been rarely described, and data has only been obtained from a few swine-producing countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was the isolation of A. viridans recovered from a specimen originating from a commercial pig farm located in Poland.

Material and methods: Seven dead 12-week-old pigs weighing 24-26 kg with joint swelling of the hind legs were selected on a modern farrow-to-nursery farm in Poland in October 2023. The research material was joint swabs from one affected limb amputated through the proximal part of the femur. Bacteria were isolated using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, A. viridans and Trueperella pyogenes was performed by disc diffusion and also by minimal inhibitory concentration evaluation in the case of A. viridans. Two pooled samples were screened by PCR for Streptococcus suis, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Actinobacillus suis, Mycoplasma hyorhinis, M. hyosynoviae and Glaesserella parasuis.

Results: Five samples were positive for bacteria by culture and five isolates were recovered. Staphylococcus aureus was identified in three samples and T. pyogenes and A. viridans in one each. Pooled samples were G. parasuis-, M. hyorhinis-, M. hyosynoviae-, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae-, Actinobacillus suis- and S. suis-negative in the PCR. The A. viridans isolated was susceptible to beta-lactams and gentamicin. Ten representative nucleotide contigs from the 500 obtained showed similarity as high as 97.5% to GenBank reference strains.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first identification of A. viridans in clinically affected Polish pigs. It elevates the importance of uncommon pathogens, including A. viridans, in the development of lameness in pigs. This research emphasises the role of modern diagnostic tools for accurate identification of swine pathogens. Further research would prove beneficial to elucidate the mechanisms of A. viridans infection, its prevalence, pathogenicity and virulence factors.

Introduction: Endometritis is a very common pathology in animals which changes endometrial leukotriene (LT) formation and muscarinic 2 and 3 receptor subtypes (M2R/M3R) and α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (α-7 nAChR) expression patterns. With the relationship between ACh, its receptors and LT production remaining unclear, the role of M2R, M3R and α-7 nAChR in action of ACh on the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), LTA4 hydrolase (LTAH) and LTC4 synthase (LTCS) protein abundances in the inflamed porcine endometrium and on the tissue secretion of LTB4 and LTC4 were studied.

Material and methods: On day three of the oestrous cycle in gilts aged 7-8 months, 50 mL of either saline solution (control group, n = 5) or an E. coli suspension at 10⁹ colony-forming units/mL (E. coli group, n = 5), was injected into each uterine horn. Endometrial explants obtained eight days later, were incubated with ACh alone, antagonists of M2R, M3R and α-7 nAChR alone, or with ACh together with particular antagonists for 16 h. Enzyme abundances in endometrial tissue were estimated by Western blotting, and LT concentrations in medium by ELISA.

Results: Severe acute endometritis developed in the E. coli group. In the endometrial explants from both groups, ACh elevated 5-LO, LTAH and LTCS protein abundances and LTB4 and LTC4 release. In the E. coli group, ACh-induced 5-LO and LTCS abundances and LTB4 release were increased versus the control group. In both groups, the M3R antagonist with ACh reduced all ACh-stimulated enzyme abundances and LT release in comparison to the abundances and release mediated by ACh alone. This effect on LTCS protein abundance and LTB4 release was also produced by the M2R antagonist with ACh in the E. coli group. Compared to the effect of ACh alone, exposure of the E. coli group endometrium to the α-7 nAChR antagonist with ACh led to a rise in LTAH and LTCS protein abundances and LTB4 and LTC4 secretion.

Conclusion: In the inflamed pig endometrium, ACh increased 5-LO, LTAH and LTCS protein abundances and LTB4 and LTC4 release by M3R, and LTCS protein abundance and LTB4 release also by M2R. By interaction with α-7 nAChR, ACh reduced LTAH and LTCS protein abundances and the release of these LTs. Thus, in an indirect manner, ACh can affect LT-controlled processes.

Introduction: Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) infection is a primary cause of chronic respiratory disease in poultry, threatening the economic viability of China's goose-farming industry. This study investigated the pathogenicity and drug resistance of an MG strain isolated from geese and whole-genome sequenced the strain.

Material and methods: A strain designated MG-GD01/22 was isolated from the air-sac tissues of five geese with chronic respiratory disease on a Guangdong goose farm. Its pathogenicity was assessed, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed using agar dilution, and its total DNA was extracted for whole-genome sequencing and gene function annotation with second- and third-generation sequencing technologies. The homology of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) region was analysed and a phylogenetic tree was constructed, as was an evolutionary tree of the mgc2 gene. Gene co-linearity analysis was performed to compare MG-GD01/22 with the strains in the GenBank database.

Results: The isolate produced "fried egg" colonies and was pathogenic to goslings. It was resistant to enrofloxacin, danofloxacin and spectinomycin and susceptible to valnemulin, tilmicosin, tylosin, acetylisovaleryltylosin tartrate and tiamulin. The genome analysis revealed 1,666 coding genes. Gene database annotation identified 25 virulence-related genes, 22 drug resistance-related genes, 13 pathogen-host-interaction genes and 9 carbohydrate-active enzyme genes. The isolate exhibited 99.9% homology to the MG S6 strain by its 16S rRNA, while the mgc2 gene typing results indicated that it differed from known MG model strains. The genome of MG-GD01/22 showed high homology but poor co-linearity with MG S6, characterised by numerous gene deletions, inversions and displacements.

Conclusion: This study offers theoretical references for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of MG in geese in the Guangdong region.

Introduction: The grayling (Thymallus thymallus L.) has several advantages over other fish species that make it attractive for aquaculture and invest it with importance for food security. The study assessed the effects of a β-glucan-enriched diet on biomarkers of oxidative stress, energy metabolism and lysosomal function in muscle tissue of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus L.).

Material and methods: Sixty-six grayling weighing approximately 34 g were divided into equal control and experimental groups. A basal diet was fed to the control group and a β-glucan-enriched one was fed to the experimental group for 45 d. Lipid peroxidation (LP) level; oxidative protein modification (OPM); total antioxidant status (TAS); and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate (LDH), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), alanyl aminopeptidase, leucyl aminopeptidase, acid phosphatase (AcP) and β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) activities were assessed in the muscle tissue of fish euthanised after 15, 30 and 45 d of feeding.

Results: The β-glucan supplementation reduced LP, attenuated OPM and improved the TAS in muscle tissue. Increased SOD and CAT activity and maintenance of GPx activity in muscle tissue were the main mediators of these effects. They also affected energy metabolism through modulation of key enzymes and metabolites, including ALT, AST, LDH, SDH, AcP and NAG activity, and altered lactate and pyruvate levels. Multivariate analysis of variance, supported by high F-values and low P-values indicating statistical significance, highlighted the significant effect of β-glucans and feeding duration on markers of oxidative stress, antioxidant defences and TAS.

Conclusion: B-glucans altered the balance between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, reduced OPM and modulated the transaminase response, affecting amino acid metabolism and the production of Krebs cycle intermediates.