Bayesian estimation of diagnostic accuracy of fecal smears, fecal PCR and serum ELISA for detecting Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infections in four domestic ruminant species in Saudi Arabia.

Paratuberculosis, a chronic wasting disease affecting domestic and wild ruminants worldwide, is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Various diagnostic tests exist for detecting MAP infection; however, none of them possess perfect accuracy to be qualified as a reference standard test, particularly due to their notably low sensitivity.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of bovine tuberculosis occurrence and burden in Bangladesh, 1970-2023.

We aimed to estimate the overall apparent prevalence, true prevalence, and the spatial, temporal, and test-specific burden of bovine tuberculosis in Bangladesh. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and BanglaJOL were searched for bovine tuberculosis publications in Bangladesh from 1 January 1970 to 23 June 2023. Of 142 articles screened, systematic review and meta-analysis were performed on 22 (15.

Factors affecting the outcome of primary rabies vaccination in young cats.

Limited data exist on the factors affecting feline rabies vaccination outcomes during primary immunization. This study aimed to assess if specific factors (signalment, vaccination count, vaccine brand, and time since last vaccination) correlated with meeting global antibody titer standards and absolute titers in young cats given monovalent inactivated rabies vaccines. Analyzing a dataset from cats tested before their first annual booster using the FAVN test, logistic and linear regression models were applied.

The Study of Microbiome of the Female Genital Area in Relation to Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: A Systematic Review.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The aim of this article is to present a systematic literature review focused on microbiome diversity in women experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction.

Methods: Utilizing PubMed/MedLine and Scopus, 25 pertinent studies were meticulously selected for this review.

Results: A key theme identified is the potential of microbiomes as diagnostic tools.

Effects of a Curcumin/Silymarin/Yeast-Based Mycotoxin Detoxifier on Redox Status and Growth Performance of Weaned Piglets under Field Conditions.

The aim of this in vivo study was to investigate the effects of a novel mycotoxin detoxifier whose formulation includes clay (bentonite and sepiolite), phytogenic feed additives (curcumin and silymarin) and postbiotics (yeast products) on the health, performance and redox status of weaned piglets under the dietary challenge of fumonisins (FUMs). The study was conducted in duplicate in the course of two independent trials on two different farms. One hundred and fifty (150) weaned piglets per trial farm were allocated into two separate groups: (a) T1 (control group): 75 weaned piglets received FUM-contaminated feed and (b) T2 (experimental group): 75 weaned piglets received FUM-contaminated feed with the mycotoxin-detoxifying agent from the day of weaning (28 days) until 70 days of age.

Animal Health Discourse during Ecological Crises in the Media-Lessons Learnt from the Flood in Thessaly from the One Health Perspective.

Due to the increasing risk of extreme events caused by climate change (i.e., floods, fires and hurricanes) or wars, European veterinary public health may need some improvement.

Assessment of the effect of long-term serum storage for retrospective serologic diagnosis of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis).

There is currently sparse information on the possible effect of long-term storage of serum specimens for the retrospective serodiagnosis of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME). The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between the original serologic outcome and the results of a repeat indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assay for the detection of IgG antibodies against E. canis.

Review state-of-the-art of output-based methodological approaches for substantiating freedom from infection.

A wide variety of control and surveillance programmes that are designed and implemented based on country-specific conditions exists for infectious cattle diseases that are not regulated. This heterogeneity renders difficult the comparison of probabilities of freedom from infection estimated from collected surveillance data. The objectives of this review were to outline the methodological and epidemiological considerations for the estimation of probabilities of freedom from infection from surveillance information and review state-of-the-art methods estimating the probabilities of freedom from infection from heterogeneous surveillance data.

Epidemiological insights into paratuberculosis in camels in Saudi Arabia: Bayesian estimation of true prevalence and identification of risk factors.

Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), is a significant concern in the camel population of Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to provide epidemiological insights into the disease by estimating the true prevalence in camels in the Eastern Province and Riyadh, using a Bayesian estimation framework, and exploring the associated risk factors through a frequentist approach.

Determining the conclusiveness of a meta-analysis.

The pursuit of conclusive evidence related to an unanswered foreground (decision-making) question has been the driving factor behind multiple ongoing and planned randomized controlled trials as well as meta-analyses. However, a fundamental challenge lies in establishing robust methods for ascertaining whether a collection of synthesized trials has yielded a definitive answer to that foreground question through the process of meta-analysis. This article explores the evolution of methods that attempt to address this challenge.

Real-world evidence of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in Serbia: Nation-wide observational study (2017-2019).

Background: Rabies remains a deadly zoonotic disease, primarily prevalent in Eastern European countries, with a significant global burden in Asia and Africa. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is critical to prevent clinical rabies. Serbia, a country with a relatively low animal rabies incidence, has been implementing a 4-dose Essen PEP regimen for 13 years.

Bayesian latent class modelling of true prevalence in animal subgroups with application to bovine paratuberculosis infection.

The prevalence of an infectious disease of animals living in separate groups (e.g. herds) is naturally analyzed using a Bayesian hierarchical latent class model.

Estimates of sensitivity and specificity of serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies using a Bayesian latent class model approach.

Objectives: Assessing the accuracy of serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 was challenging due to the lack of a gold standard. This study aimed to estimate the accuracy of SARS-CoV-2-specific serological tests using Bayesian latent class models (BLCM) and compare methods with and without a gold standard.

Study Design And Setting: In this study, we analyzed 356 samples-254 positives, ie, from individuals with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis, and 102 negatives, ie, prepandemic samples-using six different rapid serological tests and one laboratory assay.

Early warning of potential epidemics: A pilot application of an early warning tool to data from the pulmonary clinic of the university hospital of Thessaly, Greece.

Background & Methods: This paper describes a pilot application of the Epidemic Volatility Index (EVI) to data from the pulmonary clinic of the University Hospital of Thessaly, Greece, for monitoring respiratory infections, COVID-19, and flu cases. EVI, a simple and easily implemented early warning method based on the volatility of newly reported cases, exhibited consistent and stable performance in detecting new waves of epidemics. The study highlights the importance of implementing early warning tools to address the effects of epidemics, including containment of outbreaks, timely intervention strategies, and resource allocation within real-world clinical settings as part of a broader public health strategy.

Evidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus neutralizing antibodies in Serbian individuals exposed to tick bites.

Introduction: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an emerging vector-borne and food-borne disease caused by the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV; ), with a distribution spanning the Eurasian continent. Despite its significant public health impact in various European regions, TBE remains largely underdiagnosed in Serbia due to limited awareness and diagnostic challenges. In response to this, our study aimed to comprehensively assess TBEV exposure in individuals infested with ticks and to identify potential TBEV foci within Serbia.

Bayesian true prevalence estimation of brucellosis in sheep, goats, cattle and camels in southeast regions of Iran.

Aims And Methods: Brucellosis is worldwide one of the most prevalent zoonotic diseases with serious public health hazard affecting domestic livestock and causing economic losses. Objective of this study is to estimate the true prevalence of brucellosis in livestock, specifically cattle, sheep, goats and camels, using a novel Bayesian latent class model, adjusting for the imperfect sensitivity and specificity of the applied tests, where the second test was restricted only to first test-positive samples.

Results: Brucellosis seems more prevalent in goats and sheep, while the posterior medians and 95% probability intervals (95% PI) for the average true prevalence for sheep, goats, cattle and camels are 18% (4%-43%), 19% (7%-37%), 16% (5%-34%) and 18% (1%-48%) respectively.

Seroprevalence of Swine Influenza A Virus (swIAV) Infections in Commercial Farrow-to-Finish Pig Farms in Greece.

Swine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by influenza A virus infection. Pigs play an important role in the overall epidemiology of influenza because of their ability to transmit influenza viruses of avian and human origin, which plays a potential role in the emergence of zoonotic strains with pandemic potential. The aim of our study was to assess the seroprevalence of Swine Influenza Viruses (swIAVs) in commercial pig farms in Greece.

Professionalization of the public health workforce: scoping review and call to action.

Background: The 'WHO-ASPHER Roadmap to Professionalizing the Public Health Workforce in the European Region' provides recommendations for strategic and systematic workforce planning around professionalization levers including: (i) competencies, (ii) training and education, (iii) formal organization, (iv) professional credentialing and (v) code of ethics and professional conduct as well as taxonomy and enumeration. It was based on a literature review till 2016. This scoping review aims to explore how the professionalization was documented in the literature between 2016 and 2022.

Factors affecting the differential epithelial cell count in preputial cytology of healthy intact dogs.

Information is limited on the factors that may affect the preputial differential epithelial cell count in healthy intact dogs. Our objectives were to establish RIs of the preputial differential epithelial cell count in dogs and investigate the potential impact of signalment, presence of gross preputial discharge or neutrophils, preputial cleaning, and normal estrogen variation on the differential cell count. We enrolled prospectively 50 client-owned, healthy dogs in our study.

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus and Seroprevalence in Balkan Tick-Infested Individuals: A Two-Centre Study.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are important tick-borne diseases in Europe. This study aimed to investigate the seroreactivity against and TBE virus (TBEV) in tick-infested individuals in North Macedonia and Serbia. Serum samples were collected from tick-infested individuals and from healthy individuals in the same regions.