Livestock abortion surveillance in Tanzania reveals disease priorities and importance of timely collection of vaginal swab samples for attribution.

Lack of data on the aetiology of livestock diseases constrains effective interventions to improve livelihoods, food security and public health. Livestock abortion is an important disease syndrome affecting productivity and public health. Several pathogens are associated with livestock abortions but across Africa surveillance data rarely include information from abortions, little is known about aetiology and impacts, and data are not available to inform interventions.

Differences in virulence and oocyst shedding profiles in lambs experimentally infected with different isolates of .

A wide spectrum of disease severity associated with cryptosporidiosis has been described, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal in both human and animal hosts. The reasons for the variations in severity are likely to be multifactorial, involving environmental, host and parasite factors. This paper describes two experimental infection trials in lambs, a symptomatic host for the parasite, to investigate variation in the clinical manifestations following infection with two distinct isolates of .

Prospective cohort study reveals unexpected aetiologies of livestock abortion in northern Tanzania.

Livestock abortion is an important cause of productivity losses worldwide and many infectious causes of abortion are zoonotic pathogens that impact on human health. Little is known about the relative importance of infectious causes of livestock abortion in Africa, including in subsistence farming communities that are critically dependent on livestock for food, income, and wellbeing. We conducted a prospective cohort study of livestock abortion, supported by cross-sectional serosurveillance, to determine aetiologies of livestock abortions in livestock in Tanzania.

The Development of Ovine Gastric and Intestinal Organoids for Studying Ruminant Host-Pathogen Interactions.

Gastrointestinal (GI) infections in sheep have significant implications for animal health, welfare and productivity, as well as being a source of zoonotic pathogens. Interactions between pathogens and epithelial cells at the mucosal surface play a key role in determining the outcome of GI infections; however, the inaccessibility of the GI tract significantly limits the ability to study such interactions in detail. We therefore developed ovine epithelial organoids representing physiologically important gastric and intestinal sites of infection, specifically the abomasum (analogous to the stomach in monogastrics) and ileum.

Early immune responses and parasite tissue distribution in mice experimentally infected with oocysts of either archetypal or non-archetypal genotypes of .

In most of the world Toxoplasma gondii is comprised of archetypal types (types I, II and III); however, South America displays several non-archetypal strains. This study used an experimental mouse model to characterize the immune response and parasite kinetics following infection with different parasite genotypes. An oral inoculation of 50 oocysts per mouse from T.

Detection of in retail meat samples in Scotland.

is a globally important zoonotic parasite ranked as one of the most significant causes of disease burden among the major foodborne pathogens. Consumption of undercooked meat is a well-known risk factor for infection so the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of in meat samples from retail outlets in Scotland. In Sampling Period 1, 300 meat samples (39 beef, 21 chicken, 87 lamb, 71 pork and 82 venison) were purchased from butchers', farmers' markets, farm shops and supermarkets, and in Sampling Period 2, 67 pure venison samples only were purchased from farmers' markets, farm shops and supermarkets.

Long-term production effects of clinical cryptosporidiosis in neonatal calves.

Cryptosporidiosis can have a devastating effect in neonatal calves, resulting in diarrhoea, dehydration and, in severe cases, death of the animal. The disease is caused by Cryptosporidium spp. and is one of the most common causes of calf enteritis in the UK.

A one health approach to vaccines against .

Toxoplasmosis is a serious disease with global impact, now recognised as one of the most important food borne diseases worldwide and a major cause of production loss in livestock. A one health approach to develop a vaccination programme to tackle toxoplasmosis is an attractive and realistic prospect. Knowledge of disease epidemiology, parasite transmission routes and main risk groups has helped to target key host species and outcomes for a vaccine programme and these would be to prevent/reduce congenital disease in women and sheep; prevent/reduce tissue cysts in food animal species and to prevent/reduce oocyst shedding in cats.

A One Health Approach to Tackle Cryptosporidiosis.

Cryptosporidiosis is a significant diarrhoeal disease in both people and animals across the world and is caused by several species of the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium. Recent research has highlighted the longer-term consequences of the disease for malnourished children, involving growth stunting and cognitive deficits, and significant growth and production losses for livestock. There are no vaccines currently available to prevent the disease and few treatment options in either humans or animals, which has been a significant limiting factor in disease control to date.

Prevalence in Calves and Geese Co-Grazing on Four Livestock Farms Surrounding Two Reservoirs Supplying Public Water to Mainland Orkney, Scotland.

The parasite represents a threat to livestock health and production, water quality and public health. Cattle are known to be significant reservoirs of , but transmission routes are complex and recent studies have implicated the potential role of wildlife in parasite transmission to cattle and water sources. On the Orkney Isles, high densities of Greylag geese ( ) cause widespread faecal contamination of cattle pastures, where cryptosporidiosis is known to be the main cause of neonatal calf diarrhoea and contamination frequently occurs in two reservoirs supplying Mainland Orkney's public water.

Cell mediated and innate immune responses in pigs following vaccination and challenge with Toxoplasma parasites.

Toxoplasma gondii has a worldwide distribution and can infect almost all warm blooded animals including pigs and humans. This study aims to examine the immune responses induced in pigs following vaccination (live S48 tachyzoites) and/or challenge with T. gondii oocysts, through the examination of changes in levels of transcription in CD4, CD8α, IFN-γ, IL-12p35, CXCR3, MyD88.

Global selective sweep of a highly inbred genome of the cattle parasite .

, a cyst-forming apicomplexan parasite, is a leading cause of neuromuscular diseases in dogs as well as fetal abortion in cattle worldwide. The importance of the domestic and sylvatic life cycles of , and the role of vertical transmission in the expansion and transmission of infection in cattle, is not sufficiently understood. To elucidate the population genomics of , we genotyped 50 isolates collected worldwide from a wide range of hosts using 19 linked and unlinked genetic markers.

Shedding of in calves and dams: evidence of re-infection and shedding of different subtypes.

One of the most common causes of calf diarrhoea is the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum. Two longitudinal studies were carried out on a dairy farm Scotland to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium species and subtypes in a group of calves and to determine whether dams were a possible source of calfhood infection. Fecal samples were collected from 25 calves from birth to 12 months in the first year.

Comparative virulence of Caribbean, Brazilian and European isolates of Toxoplasma gondii.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite of global importance. The outcome of infection in humans can depend on a number of factors including the infecting stage of the parasite, inoculating dose and virulence of the infecting strain. Molecular epidemiological studies have demonstrated an abundance of atypical strains of T.

Public health risks associated with food-borne parasites.

Parasites are important food-borne pathogens. Their complex lifecycles, varied transmission routes, and prolonged periods between infection and symptoms mean that the public health burden and relative importance of different transmission routes are often difficult to assess. Furthermore, there are challenges in detection and diagnostics, and variations in reporting.

Detection of potentially human infectious assemblages of Giardia duodenalis in fecal samples from beef and dairy cattle in Scotland.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and assemblages of Giardia duodenalis present in Scottish beef and dairy cattle at different ages, to try to ascertain if cattle could play a role in the spread of zoonotic assemblages of Giardia. A total of 388 fecal samples (128 beef and 253 dairy, seven of unknown breed) were collected from 19 farms in Scotland. Samples were sub-divided by host age, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, 7-24 and ⩾25 weeks.

Development of in vitro enteroids derived from bovine small intestinal crypts.

Cattle are an economically important domestic animal species. In vitro 2D cultures of intestinal epithelial cells or epithelial cell lines have been widely used to study cell function and host-pathogen interactions in the bovine intestine. However, these cultures lack the cellular diversity encountered in the intestinal epithelium, and the physiological relevance of monocultures of transformed cell lines is uncertain.

Molecular confirmation of Sarcocystis gigantea in a naturally infected sheep in Argentina: A case report.

The work describes a case of Sarcocystis gigantea infection in a 3-years-old Corriedale ewe from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The ewe was found dead with a poor body condition. Pathological and molecular studies were carried out in order to try and confirm the causative agent of the infection.

Occurrence of abortions induced by Neospora caninum in dairy cattle from Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of N. caninum associated with abortions of dairy cattle from Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood from dairy cows that aborted along with intrathoracic fluid and tissue samples (brain, heart, liver, and lung) from their fetuses were collected and used for serology; PCR, histopathological, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) evaluations were also conducted.

Bovine cryptosporidiosis: impact, host-parasite interaction and control strategies.

Gastrointestinal disease caused by the apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum is one of the most important diseases of young ruminant livestock, particularly neonatal calves. Infected animals may suffer from profuse watery diarrhoea, dehydration and in severe cases death can occur. At present, effective therapeutic and preventative measures are not available and a better understanding of the host-pathogen interactions is required.

The use of ELISA, nPCR and qPCR for diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis in experimentally infected pigs.

In the present study we experimentally infected pigs with T. gondii tachyzoites, bradyzoites and oocysts in order to evaluate IgG-ELISA, nested-PCR, and qPCR for diagnosis of ocular infection. Eighteen pigs were divided into four groups: G1 (infected with 10 tissue cysts of the M4 strain (type II) at day 28, n=5), G2 (infected with 10 oocysts of the M4 strain at day 28, n=5), G3 (infected with tachyzoites of S48 strain (type 1) at day 0, n=5), and G4 (uninfected unchallenged, control group n=3).

Detection of Babesia DNA in blood and spleen samples from Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) in Scotland.

Babesia are intraerythrocytic parasites of importance worldwide within the fields of human and veterinary medicine, as some Babesia sp., including Babesia microti are potentially zoonotic and can cause fatal disease in both humans and animals. The aims of this study were to use a nested PCR (amplifying the 18S rRNA gene) to determine the presence and species of Babesia parasite DNA found in blood (n = 47) and spleen (n = 47) samples collected from Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) in Scotland.

Predominance of atypical genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii in free-roaming chickens in St. Kitts, West Indies.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide protozoan parasite of felids which can infect almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Free-roaming chickens are good indicators of environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts because they feed from the ground.