Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella species and potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli in free-living seals of Canadian Atlantic and eastern Arctic waters.

Seal populations in Canadian waters provide sustenance to coastal communities. There is potential for pathogenic and/or antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to transfer to humans through inadvertent faecal contamination of seal products. The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence and potential antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella spp.

Comparison of culture methodology for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in clinical specimens collected from dogs.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) has emerged as a major pathogen in dogs and has been implicated as a hospital-acquired pathogen in veterinary hospitals. We attempted to determine if selective culture methods will detect more MRSP when compared to the traditional culture methods in clinical samples from dogs in Atlantic Canada with a high risk for MRSP infection. Each sample was tested using 4 culture methods: traditional culture; mannitol salt agar with 2 μg/mL of oxacillin (MSAox); enrichment broth (EB) with MSAox; and EB with traditional culture.

Successful treatment of Corynebacterium urealyticum encrusting cystitis with systemic and intravesical antimicrobial therapy.

A 6-year-old Saint Bernard dog was diagnosed with encrusting cystitis caused by Corynebacterium urealyticum. The infection persisted despite the prolonged use of antimicrobials and surgical debridement of the urinary bladder. Resolution occurred following intravenous vancomycin, urine acidification, and intravesical gentamicin.

Exploratory analysis of methods for automated classification of laboratory test orders into syndromic groups in veterinary medicine.

Background: Recent focus on earlier detection of pathogen introduction in human and animal populations has led to the development of surveillance systems based on automated monitoring of health data. Real- or near real-time monitoring of pre-diagnostic data requires automated classification of records into syndromes--syndromic surveillance--using algorithms that incorporate medical knowledge in a reliable and efficient way, while remaining comprehensible to end users.

Methods: This paper describes the application of two of machine learning (Naïve Bayes and Decision Trees) and rule-based methods to extract syndromic information from laboratory test requests submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory.

Antimicrobial susceptibility and multi-drug resistance of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovars in Sudan.

This study was undertaken to determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica recovered from human, food, water, and animal samples collected in Khartoum State, Sudan. A total of 64 Salmonella isolates belonging to 28 different serovars were tested for their susceptibility to 13 antimicrobial agents. The majority of isolates (98.

Evaluation of clustering of new intramammary infections in the bovine udder, including the impact of previous infections, herd prevalence, and somatic cell count on their development.

Evidence in the literature exists to support the theory that mastitis and intramammary infection (IMI) tend to cluster within herds, within cows, and within quarters, facts which may have overarching ramifications on mastitis management in modern dairy herds. Most previous studies, however, have been carried out on prevalent IMI instead of new IMI (NIMI), although reducing incidence of NIMI is a major step toward controlling mastitis. The Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network (Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada) has a large mastitis database derived from a 2-yr data collection on a national cohort of dairy farms, and data from this initiative were used to investigate the effect of clustering on the acquisition of NIMI.

A longitudinal study of the Salmonella status on Ontario swine farms within the time period 2001-2006.

In order to describe the farm-level Salmonella status, 113 Ontario swine farms were tested for Salmonella one to five times within the time period 2001-2006. During 422 visits, 6844 fecal samples were collected and cultured for Salmonella. Salmonella was recovered from 437 (6.

Development of a novel protein microarray method for serotyping Salmonella enterica strains.

An antibody microarray assay was developed for Salmonella serotyping based on the Kauffmann-White scheme. A model (8 by 15) array was constructed using 35 antibodies for identification of 20 common Salmonella serovars and evaluated using 117 target and 73 nontarget Salmonella strains. The assay allowed complete serovar identification of 86 target strains and partial identification of 30 target strains and allowed exclusion of the 73 nontarget strains from the target serovars.

Bacteriological and histological profile of turkeys condemned for cyanosis.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has adopted the term cyanosis to describe a category of condemnation for poultry that is dark but has no other condemnable lesions. Two case-control studies (n = 30 pairs; n = 65 pairs) of 18-wk-old tom turkeys were conducted. A case was defined as a carcass condemned by the veterinary inspector for cyanosis, and a control carcass was one that passed inspection.

Detection of Bacillus cereus Diarrheal Enterotoxin in Raw and Pasteurized Milk.

Raw and pasteurized milk samples submitted for routine quality analysis were screened for the presence of Bacillus cereus diarrheal enterotoxin (BDE) using the TECRA BDE Visual Immunoassay (VIA) kit. BDE was not detected in 298 raw milk samples tested by the TECRA VIA. B.

In vitro comparison of bovine mastitis and fecal Escherichia coli isolates.

In vitro methods were used to test the hypothesis that Escherichia coli from bovine mastitis are essentially no different from isolates from bovine feces. Fifty E. coli isolates from bovine mastitic milk, 50 from feces of mastitic cows and 50 from feces of healthy cows were compared with respect to biochemical properties and certain potential virulence factors.

Sensitivity and specificity of bronchoalveolar lavage and protected catheter brush methods for isolating bacteria from foals with experimentally induced pneumonia caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae.

One indication for referral of horses to veterinary hospitals is for diagnosis of the microbiologic cause of pneumonia, particularly when the initial treatment fails. Although endoscopic methods have long been available for microbiologic sample collection, accuracy of these methods under these conditions have not been studied in detail. We compared the bacteria isolated from samples obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) with those obtained by protected catheter brush (PCB) from foals with unilateral pneumonia induced by inoculation with Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The enteritis complex in domestic rabbits: A field study.

A study of the causative agents of enteritis in domestic rabbits from 44 different accessions is described. In descending order of frequency, the organisms most commonly demonstrated were intestinal and hepatic coccidia (Eimeria species), Escherichia coli, Clostridium spp., Salmonella, Bacillus piliformis, and rotavirus.

Evaluation of sulbactam plus ampicillin for treatment of experimentally induced Klebsiella pneumoniae lung infection in foals.

Efficacy of sulbactam, a beta-lactamase inhibitor, in combination with ampicillin, was evaluated for treatment of experimentally induced pneumonia caused by beta-lactam-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Infection was experimentally induced in 18 healthy weanling foals that were randomly allocated to 3 treatment groups: sulbactam plus ampicillin (S/A, 3.3 and 6.

Analysis of the immunodominant antigens of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.

Antibodies to seven antigens in a whole cell lysate of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis ranging in molecular mass from 22 to 120 kilodaltons (kDa) were present in sera of 40 sheep and goats infected with C. pseudotuberculosis. Three antigens of about 120, 68, and 31.

A field trial to evaluate a whole cell vaccine for the prevention of caseous lymphadenitis in sheep and goat flocks.

A field trial to evaluate a whole cell vaccine for the prevention of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in sheep and goats was performed in one goat herd and one sheep flock over a period of three years. In goats, there was a nonstatistically significant trend for fewer cases of CLA in the vaccinated animals compared to the controls. In sheep, from six months to 36 months postinitial vaccination, the proportion of vaccinated sheep that developed CLA was significantly less (p less than 0.

Evaluation of a guarded bronchoscopic method for microbial sampling of the lower airways in foals.

A novel method to reduce contamination of the bronchoscope during microbial sampling of the lower airways of foals was evaluated. Methylene blue (MB) was used as a nasopharyngeal dye marker to assess the relative contamination from the upper airways of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens obtained by standard bronchoscopy (SB) and a "guarded" bronchoscopic method (GB). For GB, a clear sterile cellulose sheath was fitted over the bronchoscope in an effort to protect the endoscope tip and channel from contamination.

Serum resistance and the traT gene in bovine mastitis-causing Escherichia coli.

Ninety-five Escherichia coli isolates from bovine mastitis, 47 isolates from milking machine filters, 36 enterotoxigenic (ETEC) and 43 verocytotoxigenic (VTEC) isolates from cows were examined for the ability to resist the bactericidal effects of 90% gnotobiotic calf serum. There was no significant difference in the percentage of isolates in each group which demonstrated resistance. Two potential virulence traits, the traT gene and the K1 capsular antigen, previously shown to be related to serum resistance, in human E.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of veterinary clinical isolates with the Sceptor System.

The Sceptor System (Becton Dickinson) was compared with an agar dilution method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of veterinary clinical isolates. The results indicate that the Sceptor System may be used to test gram-positive and fastidious gram-negative bacteria.

Evaluation of the Sceptor system for identification of bacteria of veterinary origin.

The Sceptor system (Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Instrument Systems, Towson Md.) was assessed for its ability to identify veterinary clinical isolates. A total of 605 bacteria, including 315 isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae, 191 gram-negative nonenteric bacteria, and 99 gram-positive bacteria, were tested.

The use of a microagglutination assay for the detection of antibodies to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in naturally infected sheep and goat flocks.

Two goat flocks comprising 326 animals and four sheep flocks comprising 343 animals, all with a previously recognized problem of abscesses due to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, were examined for the presence of abscesses and antibody titers to C. pseudotuberculosis as detected by direct microagglutination assay. In sheep there was a strong positive relationship between age and titer (p less than 0.

Relation of lipid content and exotoxin production to virulence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in mice.

Twenty-five isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis from lesions of caseous lymphadenitis in goats were examined for cell wall lipid content, exotoxin production, and virulence in mice. The mean percentage of lipid content was 6.52% and significant (P less than 0.

Characterization of strains of corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.

Twenty-five strains of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis isolated from lesions of caseous lymphadenitis in goats were examined for their biochemical characteristics, antimicrobial susceptibility, and phospholipase D activity. The strains were uniform in biochemical reactions, cultural characteristics, and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. Presence of urease and phospholipase D and absence of pyrazinamidase were valuable criteria in the identification of C.