Survey of selected pathogens in free-ranging pinnipeds in Uruguay.

Marine mammals, regarded as sentinels of aquatic ecosystem health, are exposed to different pathogens and parasites under natural conditions. We surveyed live South American fur seals Arctocephalus australis and South American sea lions Otaria flavescens in Uruguay for Leptospira spp., canine distemper virus (CDV), Mycobacterium spp.

Seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers-Isolation of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Canicola from equine urine.

To investigate seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers in Uruguay, 891 equine and 150 human sera were drawn; 212 equine urine samples were also taken for culture. Environmental conditions and equine raising or managing practices were recorded in all 72 visited establishments; epidemiological information was obtained from each worker. Microscopic agglutination technique (MAT) was performed with 10 Leptospira strains for equines and 18 for human sera, that were also studied with IgM indirect immunofluorescence (IgM-IIF).

Tracing Back the Evolutionary Route of Enteroinvasive (EIEC) and Through the Example of the Highly Pathogenic O96:H19 EIEC Clone.

Enteroinvasive (EIEC) cause intestinal illness through the same pathogenic mechanism used by spp. The latter species can be typed through genomic and phenotypic methods used for and have been proposed for reclassification within species. Recently the first appearance of a highly pathogenic EIEC O96:H19 was described in Europe as the causative agent of two large outbreaks that occurred in Italy and in the United Kingdom.

Presence of genes encoding enterotoxins in Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from food, food establishment surfaces and cases of foodborne diseases.

The aim of this study was to describe the microbiological characteristics and profile of genes encoding enterotoxins in 95 Staphylococcus aureus isolates obtained between April 2011 and December 2014 from foodstuffs, persons and surfaces of retail food stores. After microbiological identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were performed, targeting sea, seb, sec, sed and see genes that code for classical enterotoxins (ET) A-E, and three additional genes: seg , seh and sei , coding for so-called "new enterotoxins" G, H and I. The isolates were characterized by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), and five selected isolates were further analyzed through Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST).

Seroprevalence of leptospirosis in human groups at risk due to environmental, labor or social conditions.

Leptospirosis is important in Uruguay due to the economic loss caused by the diseases of production animals, mainly bovines, and also due to frequent human infection. We decided to study anti-Leptospira antibodies in the sera of dairy workers, rice laborers, veterinarians, suburban slum dwellers and garbage recyclers. Our aims were to estimate the seroprevalence of infection by Leptospira spp.