Humoral immune response and delayed-type hypersensitivity in rabbits infected with Trypanosoma equiperdum.

Trypanosoma equiperdum is the causative agent of dourine, a parasitic venereal disease of equids. In this work, rabbits were infected with T. equiperdum strain OVI; serological tests (complement fixation test, ELISA and immunoblotting), used for the diagnosis of dourine in horses, were applied to study rabbit humoral immune response and to characterise T.

Immunohistochemical investigations on Brucella ceti-infected, neurobrucellosis-affected striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba).

Bacteria of the genus Brucella cause brucellosis, an infectious disease common to humans as well as to terrestrial and aquatic mammals. Since 1994 several cases of Brucella spp. infection have been reported in marine mammals worldwide.

Evaluation of veterinary autogenous vaccines safety by an MTT in-vitro cytotoxicity assay.

In Italy, veterinary autogenous vaccines manufacturing is regulated by the legislative decree of the Ministry of Health, March 17th, 1994, n. 287. The production is performed by the network of the 'Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali' (IZSs), public health institutes scattered all over the Italian territory.

Assessment of hygienic quality of some types of cheese sampled from retail outlets.

The authors evaluated the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and staphylococcal enterotoxin, in 2,132 samples selected from six types of cheese on the basis of recorded consumption in Italy in 2004. In L.

Polymerase chain reaction and bacteriological comparative analysis of raw milk samples and buffalo mozzarella produced and marketed in Caserta in the Campania region of Italy.

To help identify an epidemiological link between the consumption of buffalo mozzarella prepared with raw milk (not heat-treated) and cases of human brucellosis, 80 samples of raw buffalo milk and 315 samples of mozzarella were tested for the presence of Brucella spp. Samples originated from Caserta, the province with the highest number of Brucella-positive buffalo herds in Campania, the region in which 96.02% of all cases of human brucellosis reported in 2000-2005 were recorded.

Two cases of methemoglobinaemia caused by suspected sodium nitrite poisoning.

Among the causes of acute methemoglobinaemia are the ingestion and inhalation of over 40 oxidising substances, including nitrite, nitrate, carbon monoxide, some medicines, chlorine. The authors describe a case of acute methemoglobinaemia in two people that most probably suffered from food poisoning resulting from the consumption of a preparation of a dish called turkey alla canzanese that contained significant amounts of sodium nitrite. Both subjects who were treated promptly with methylene blue and hyperbaric oxygen therapy room recovered fully.