Publications by authors named "Lucjan Witkowski"

A large-scale study was carried out in the Polish goat population in 2014-2021 to determine the herd-level true seroprevalence (HTP) of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (Cp) and paratuberculosis (PTB) caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (Map). Two-stage cluster sampling was applied to herds counting at least 20 adult goats (aged >1 year) and in each herd all males and 10-13 females were tested.

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Virulent Rhodococcus equi strains expressing virulence-associated 15-17 kDa protein (VapA) and having a large virulence plasmid (pVAPA) of 85-90 kb containing vapA gene are pathogenic for horses. In the last two decades, following pVAPA, two host-associated virulence plasmid types of R. equi have been discovered: a circular plasmid, pVAPB, associated with porcine isolates in 1995, and a recently detected linear plasmid, pVAPN, related to bovine and caprine isolates.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rhodococcus equi is a bacterium that commonly causes pneumonia in young foals, with many affected foals showing mild or no clinical symptoms.
  • A study used lung ultrasound (LUS) to track how pulmonary lesions develop in foals over their first few months and assessed the link between these lesions and visible respiratory issues.
  • Results indicated that about 26% of foals showed respiratory signs, while 70% had LUS abnormalities without symptoms, and larger abscess sizes were associated with more severe clinical signs of pneumonia.
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As is the case with other veterinary antibiotics, florfenicol (FFC) faces certain limitations, such as low solubility in water, or the fact that it is reported to interfere with the immune response after some immunoprofilactic actions in livestock. Aiming to improve its efficacy and overall performance, FFC was loaded into a polymeric nanobased delivery system by succesfully using the emulsion-evaporation technique. The poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with FFC were characterized in terms of size (101 ± 0.

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A large-scale study was carried out in a Polish goat population in 2014-2022 to determine the herd-level (between-herd) and within-herd seroprevalence of small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection. A total of 8354 adult goats (aged >1 year) from 165 herds located in various regions of Poland were serologically tested using a commercial ELISA. One hundred twenty eight herds were randomly selected while 37 were enrolled based on convenience non-random sampling.

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Introduction: Small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) causes caprine arthritis-encephalitis in goats and maedi-visna disease in sheep. Transmission is ingestion of colostrum and milk from infected dams or long-term direct contact between animals. Lifelong seroconversion can occur several weeks after infection ingestion.

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Background: In cattle attempts to evaluate within-herd prevalence of various infectious and parasitic diseases by bulk-tank milk (BTM) testing with ELISA have been made with moderate success. The fact that BTM is composed of variable and unknown volumes of milk from individual lactating animals weakens the relationship between numerical result of the ELISA and the within-herd prevalence. We carried out a laboratory experimental study to evaluate if a pooled milk sample created by mixing an equal volume of individual milk samples from seropositive and seronegative goats, henceforth referred to as an equal-volume milk sample (EVMS), would allow for accurate estimation of within-herd seroprevalence of caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) using 3 different commercial ELISAs.

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This article aims to present several interesting and less typical courses of infections in foals, collected during the 2019-2021 foaling seasons in some Polish studs. The study was conducted by the Division of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, and concentrated on ultrasonographic contribution to diagnostics and treatment of the disease. Among many standard cases of rhodococcal pneumonia, some rare ones occurred.

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Chronic interstitial pneumonia (CIP) is a main pathology of sheep infected with small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV). Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is caused by the same pathogen; however, the presence of CIP has been only occasionally reported in SRLV-infected goats. We carried out a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of histopathological lesions indicative of CIP in goats with symptomatic CAE, and to investigate whether CIP was associated with a higher prevalence of other types of pneumonia (purulent bronchopneumonia, fibrinous pleuropneumonia) or bacterial infections.

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This review provides a synthesis of the last ten years of research on nanodelivery systems used for the delivery of essential oils (EOs), as well as their potential as a viable alternative to antibiotics in human and veterinary therapy. The use of essential oils alone in therapy is not always possible due to several limitations but nanodelivery systems seem to be able to overcome these issues. The choice of the essential oil, as well as the choice of the nanodelivery system influences the therapeutic efficacy obtained.

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Background: infection is commonly known in equine medicine to cause frequently fatal rhodococcosis. Infections in other species and people are also reported. Clinical manifestation in goats is relatively similar to horses and humans, but data regarding bacterium prevalence are scarce.

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Leptospirosis is one of the most common zoonotic infections worldwide, including in most livestock, some companion animals, horses, wildlife, and humans. Epidemiological estimation of its prevalence in all species is difficult due to the variety of clinical presentations and challenges regarding laboratory diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to measure the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in Arabian horses kept in the largest breeding farms in Poland, representing over 15% of the Polish Arabian horse population.

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Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) caused by small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection is one of the most widespread and devastating diseases of goats. Serological methods, mainly immunoenzymatic assays (ELISA), are the mainstay of CAE diagnostics. Even though blood is still the most commonly tested material, animal welfare issues and increasing costs of veterinary service prompt the development of serological methods based on milk testing.

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The European bison (Bison bonasus, EB) is an endangered species, and as about 1/3 of its global population is found in Poland, it is particularly important that Polish herds should be monitored. One particular concern is tuberculosis, which is not a marginal problem in wildlife in Poland, and has been microbiologically confirmed in EB, wolves (Canis lupus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). However, ante mortem diagnosis of tuberculosis in EB is troublesome.

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The equine disease strangles, which is characterized by the formation of abscesses in the lymph nodes of the head and neck, is one of the most frequently diagnosed infectious diseases of horses around the world. The causal agent, subspecies , establishes a persistent infection in approximately 10 % of animals that recover from the acute disease. Such 'carrier' animals appear healthy and are rarely identified during routine veterinary examinations pre-purchase or transit, but can transmit to naïve animals initiating new episodes of disease.

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Background: Breed specific reference ranges for selected blood parameters are recommended for proper interpretation of blood tests, but there are only few reports dealing with ponies. The purpose of this study was to investigate if blood parameters differ among ponies' classes and to check if general normal values for equine species are applicable to ponies.

Results: All, except total protein concentration, biochemical parameter significantly (p < 0.

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The diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in living wildlife remains a complex problem, and one of particular importance in endangered species like European bison (). To identify infection and avoid the unnecessary culling of such valuable individuals, current best practice requires the collection and culture of material from living animals, as mycobacteria isolation remains the gold standard in BTB diagnosis. However, such isolation is challenging due to the need for the immobilization and collection of appropriate clinical material, and because of the sporadic shedding of mycobacteria.

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Article Synopsis
  • This review focuses on equine rhodococcosis, a significant health issue for horses, summarizing research from the past decade.
  • It highlights advancements in understanding neonatal vulnerability, diagnosis, treatment options, and environmental management strategies.
  • Despite progress, major challenges like high rates of illness and death, unreliable prevention, and treatment limitations persist, necessitating more research.
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Background: Weaning of goat kids immediately after birth and feeding them on bovine or heat-treated caprine colostrum, referred to as snatching, is considered an effective control measure in some infectious diseases. The study was carried out in one-week-old goat kids to gain insight into the profile of lipid metabolites and to investigate the influence of snatching on kids' metabolism. Fifty-two goat kids born to 23 female goats were included in the study - 22 kids were weaned immediately after birth and kept isolated from their mothers; 30 remaining kids were left with their mothers for next 3 weeks so that they could nurse on dams' milk at will.

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Background: Microbiological examination of lesions found in slaughtered animals during meat inspection is an important part of public health protection as such lesions may be due to zoonotic agents that can be transmitted by meat. Examination of inflamed lymph nodes also plays a particular important role, as lymphadenitis may reflect a more widespread infection. Such lesions in sheep are mainly caused by pyogenic bacteria but also mycobacteria are occasionally found.

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A longitudinal observational study was carried out to evaluate the influence of prenatal exposure to small ruminant lentivirus(SRLV)-infected does on the body weight (BWT) of young kids. The study was carried out in years 2001-2017 in the research dairy goat herd. Goats in the herd were regularly serologically tested and individuals showing clinical signs of caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) were promptly culled.

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A longitudinal study was carried out to investigate the influence of two different rearing systems of young kids on their development to sexual maturity. Kids born to small ruminant lentiviruses-infected (SRLV) female goats were split into two groups: the immediately-after-birth weaned group and the unweaned group. Kids' body weight (BWT) was measured before the first consumption of colostrum, and then at the age of one week, and one, two, four, and seven months.

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A longitudinal study was conducted in a single dairy goat herd to investigate the relationship between subclinical small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection in does and litter size (LS) or birth body weight of kids (BW). Each year kids born to seropositive and seronegative does were weighed before the first consumption of colostrum. LS and BW of each kid were recorded.

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