Canine olfactory detection of SARS-CoV-2-infected humans-a systematic review.

Purpose: To complement conventional testing methods for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 infections, dogs' olfactory capability for true real-time detection has been investigated worldwide. Diseases produce specific scents in affected individuals via volatile organic compounds. This systematic review evaluates the current evidence for canine olfaction as a reliable coronavirus disease 2019 screening tool.

Co-exposure to Anaplasma spp., Coxiella burnetii and tick-borne encephalitis virus in sheep in southern Germany.

The intracellular bacteria Anaplasma spp. and Coxiella burnetii and the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) are tick-transmitted pathogens circulating in the southern German sheep population. Knowledge of interaction among Anaplasma spp.

Impact of vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep.

Introduction: Sheep are considered to be one of the main reservoirs for , a gram-negative bacterium with high zoonotic potential. Infected sheep shed tremendous amounts of the pathogen through birth products which caused human Q fever epidemics in several countries. Information about the impact of an inactivated Phase I vaccine on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep is scarce.

Canine real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the context of a mass screening event.

Introduction: Previous research demonstrated that medical scent detection dogs have the ability to distinguish SARS-CoV-2 positive from negative samples with high diagnostic accuracy. To deploy these dogs as a reliable screening method, it is mandatory to examine if canines maintain their high diagnostic accuracy in real-life screening settings. We conducted a study to evaluate the performance of medical scent detection dogs under real-life circumstances.

Surveillance of Shedding in Three Naturally Infected Dairy Goat Herds after Vaccination, Focusing on Bulk Tank Milk and Dust Swabs.

Q fever outbreaks on three dairy goat farms (A-C) were monitored after the animals had been vaccinated with an inactivated phase I vaccine. The antibody response was measured before vaccination by serum samples with two phase-specific ELISAs to characterize the disease status. Shedding was determined by vaginal swabs during three kidding seasons and monthly bulk tank milk (BTM) samples.

An intercomparison study of ELISAs for the detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus - evaluating six conditionally dependent tests.

Latent class analysis is a widely used statistical method for evaluating diagnostic tests without any gold standard. It requires the results of at least two tests applied to the same individuals. Based on the resulting response patterns, the method estimates the test accuracy and the unknown disease status for all individuals in the sample.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of spp. in German Small Ruminant Flocks.

Knowledge about the distribution of spp. in small ruminants from Germany is limited. Therefore, serum samples were examined from 71 small ruminant flocks (2731 sheep, 447 goats) located in the five German federal states: Schleswig-Holstein (SH), Lower Saxony (LS), North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Baden-Wuerttemberg (BW) and Bavaria (BAV).

An Iterative, Frequentist Approach for Latent Class Analysis to Evaluate Conditionally Dependent Diagnostic Tests.

Latent class analysis is a well-established method in human and veterinary medicine for evaluating the accuracy of diagnostic tests without a gold standard. An important assumption of this procedure is the conditional independence of the tests. If tests with the same biological principle are used, this assumption is no longer met.

Concept of an Active Surveillance System for Q Fever in German Small Ruminants-Conflicts Between Best Practices and Feasibility.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium . Inhalation of contaminated dust particles or aerosols originating from animals (esp. small ruminants) is the main source of human infection.

Health scores for farmed animals: Screening pig health with register data from public and private databases.

There are growing demands to ensure animal health and, from a broader perspective, animal welfare, especially for farmed animals. In addition to the newly developed welfare assessment protocols, which provide a harmonised method to measure animal health during farm visits, the question has been raised whether data from existing data collections can be used for an assessment without a prior farm visit. Here, we explore the possibilities of developing animal health scores for fattening pig herds using a) official meat inspection results, b) data on antibiotic usage and c) data from the QS (QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH) Salmonella monitoring programme in Germany.