Zoonosis and veterinary waste disposal in rural practice.

The objectives of this study were to estimate: (a) the frequency of zoonoses in large animal veterinarians from rural areas of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and (b) to describe the use and disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE) and selective veterinary clinical waste. A cross-sectional study was carried out on large animal veterinary practitioners in the Province of Buenos Aires (n=106). One third (29.

Hazards for Women and Children in Rural Settings.

Objectives: a) To identify possible risk factors associated with rural accidents in women, b) to describe women's knowledge about zoonosis, c) to describe women's risk perception about farming, d) to describe mothers' risk perception about children's activities in rural settings, e) to estimate the initial age of exposure to the rural setting and its dangers, and f) to identify possible risk factors associated with rural accidents in children.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional design. Women with children that live in the countryside were surveyed (n=24).

[Mycobacterium bovis in wildlife of the dairy regions of Santa Fe (Argentina)].

Control eradication campaigns of bovine tuberculosis based on the «test and slaughter» approach were successful in many countries and regions; however, in some areas the infection persists and one of the main reasons is Mycobacterium bovis infection in wild life species. Argentina has applied the same approach since 1999, achieving progress in dairy cattle herds. Nonetheless, the wildlife role has never been investigated.

[Knowledge of zoonoses transmission routes and of the species concerned among rural workers].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of awareness of zoonoses among rural workers and their potential associations with socio-demographic factors. A cross-sectional study was performed by holding personal interviews (N=110, n=94) using a structured questionnaire. The statistical analysis included the χ(2) test, the Student's t test and Pearson and Spearman correlations.

Zoonoses in rural veterinarians in the central region of Argentina.

Objective: To estimate the frequency of zoonoses in rural veterinarians and to search for risk factors.

Design: Cross-sectional study based on an anonymously answered structured questionnaire.

Setting: The interviewees participated in mandatory continuing education classes scheduled throughout the province by the College of Veterinary Surgeons.

[Human leptospirosis diagnosis:macroscopic agglutination test evaluation in different stages of the disease].

Objective: To evaluate the macroscopic agglutination test using Temperature Resistant (TR) antigen as a screening test for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis in different stages of the disease.

Materials And Methods: The criteria for case definition were based on the results of the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), leukocyte counts and neutrophilia, resulting 218 confirmed cases and 242 non- cases. Each sample was classified according to the days of the disease progression in three stages: first (<10 days), second (10 - 25 days) and third (> 25 days).

[Diagnosis of leptospirosis: evaluation of a solid-phase enzyme immunoassay in different stages of the disease].

Objective: To develop a solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) for genus-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) determination with leptospirosis and to evaluate the ELISA in different stages of the disease.

Methods: A total of 1,077 serum samples from 812 patients with suspected leptospirosis were analyzed. The samples had come from diagnoses done in the laboratory of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias), in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina, between 1999 and 2005.

Evaluation of a new antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of bovine leukemia virus infection in dairy cattle.

The objective of this study was to validate a new blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (designated M108 for milk and S108 for serum samples) for detecting bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection in dairy cattle. Milk, serum, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-blood samples were collected from 524 adult Holstein cows originating from 6 dairy herds in Central Argentina. The M108 and S108 were compared with agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID), polymerase chain reaction and a commercial ELISA.