Publications by authors named "Spergser J"

Mycoplasma (M.) hyosynoviae is a facultative pathogen, causing arthritis in finisher pigs world-wide. In the absence of a commercial vaccine improvement of housing conditions and antibiotic therapy are the only options to alleviate the clinical signs.

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Raccoons (Procyon lotor) originated in North America and have been introduced to Europe. Due to their close contact with human settlements, they are important reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens, such as Baylisascaris procyonis. The relevance and prevalence of vector-borne pathogens have not yet been fully elucidated.

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Background: The evaluation of canine vaginal bacteria during proestrus and estrus and the chosen parameters will help to prevent the misuse of antibiotics in veterinary medicine.

Methods: This study carried out a retrospective analysis to obtain microbiological examination results for vaginal swabs from 696 healthy dogs, all of whom were patients from one clinic. Age, body weight, fur length (long or short hair), the time of sampling of vaginal swabs, the duration of proestrus/estrus, progesterone (P4) concentration (the first and last samples), and bacteriological findings were evaluated.

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  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Enterobacterales, particularly in Escherichia coli, poses serious health and economic issues for humans and animals, highlighting the "One Health" approach to understanding this problem.
  • The study aimed to find extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales in ruminants across Rwanda's provinces and to characterize the isolates.
  • From 454 rectal swabs collected from cattle, goats, and sheep, 64 resistant isolates were found, predominantly E. coli, with many showing multidrug-resistance and various resistance phenotypes linked to specific genes.
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  • * Researchers collected blood or spleen samples from 220 badgers in nine countries between 2017 and 2021 and used PCR analysis and sequencing to identify various VBPs present in the animals.
  • * Key findings revealed the presence of several pathogens, including different types of Babesia, Trypanosoma pestanai, and Mycoplasma, while Rickettsia, Bartonella, and filarioid nematodes were not detected.
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Contagious agalactia (CA) is a serious multietiological disease whose classic etiological agent is and which causes high morbidity and mortality rates in infected herds. CA is classified as a notifiable disease by the World Organization for Animal Health due to its significant worldwide economic impact on livestock, primarily involving goat and sheep farms. The emergence of atypical symptoms and strains of in wildlife ungulates reestablishes its highly plastic genome and is also of great epidemiological significance.

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To limit the spread of bovine ringworm, control measures such as movement restrictions are highly recommended. In this context, calves at auction markets in Styria, Austria, displaying skin lesions characteristic for bovine ringworm, are excluded from the auctions. To investigate whether these clinical assessments correspond to laboratory diagnosis, a total of 166 samples taken from skin lesions assigned to the three clinical categories 'ringworm very likely (v), likely (l) or unlikely (u)' were mycologically examined using microscopy, culture, and nested PCR followed by amplicon sequencing.

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  • - The study aimed to analyze the diversity of Staphylococcus aureus in cow mastitis milk samples across Rwanda, collecting 1080 samples from 279 dairy cows on 80 farms.
  • - Researchers identified 135 S. aureus isolates using advanced techniques like genotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, revealing significant resistance to penicillin and tetracycline, along with diverse genetic profiles among the bacteria.
  • - Findings indicated the presence of specific clonal complexes (CCs) associated with mastitis, highlighting their potential impact on cattle health and the need for enhanced surveillance to monitor the connection between animal and human health.
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Mycoplasma mycoides ssp. capri (Mmc) is one of the etiological microorganisms of contagious agalactia, which is among the diseases causing the highest economical losses in small ruminants. We report a disease outbreak in a German flock that led to significant suffering of goats characterized by mastitis, arthritis, pleuropneumonia and sudden deaths.

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  • Mycoplasma hyosynoviae is a bacteria found in the upper respiratory tract of pigs that can cause arthritis; however, there's limited understanding of its spread due to poor typing methods.
  • This study developed two typing methods: a conventional multi locus sequence typing (MLST) and a core genome MLST (cgMLST) based on genome sequences from various pig strains.
  • The findings showed that while both methods produced similar results, cgMLST provided more detailed differentiation of closely related strains, making it more suitable for epidemiological studies despite MLST being quicker and cheaper.
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The presence of bacteria poses a significant challenge to the quality of stallion semen used in artificial insemination. The bacterial content of insemination doses arises from various sources, such as the healthy stallion, environment, and collection equipment, and is implicated in fertility problems as well as reduced sperm quality during storage. The conventional approach of adding antibiotics to semen extenders raises concerns about antimicrobial resistance and potential negative effects on sperm characteristics, and may not be effective in inhibiting all bacteria.

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Aims: To examine the diversity of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from nasal swabs of ruminants in Rwanda.

Methods And Results: A total of 454 nasal swabs from 203 cows, 170 goats, and 81 sheep were examined for the presence of S. aureus, and 30 S.

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Organizations like the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) or the European Committee of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) provide standardized methodologies for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of a wide range of nonfastidious and fastidious bacteria, but so far not for spp. of animal origin. Recently, a proposed method for the standardized broth microdilution testing of using commercial Sensititre microtiter plates was presented.

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The diagnostic workup of respiratory disease in pigs is complex due to coinfections and non-infectious causes. The detection of pathogens associated with respiratory disease is a pivotal part of the diagnostic workup for respiratory disease. We aimed to report how frequently certain viruses and bacteria were detected in samples from pigs with respiratory symptoms in the course of routine diagnostic procedures.

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In the search for mollicutes in wild birds, six Mycoplasma strains were isolated from tracheal swabs taken from four different species of seabirds. Four strains originated from three Yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) and a Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) from Spain, one from a South African Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus), and one from an Italian Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). These Mycoplasma strains presented 99 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values with Mycoplasma (M.

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Due to their close associations with humans, dogs and cats can be important reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens. In the current study 200 fecal samples of dogs (n = 70 samples) and cats (n = 130 samples) from animal shelters in Carinthia, southern Austria, were examined for the presence of parasites (fecal flotation and larval migration assay) and selected bacteria. Overall, 17.

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Acute abdominal pain (colic) is one of the major equine health threats worldwide and often necessitates intensive veterinary medical care and surgical intervention. Equine coronavirus (ECoV) infections can cause colic in horses but are rarely considered as a differential diagnosis. To determine the frequency of otherwise undetected ECoV infections in horses with acute colic, fresh fecal samples of 105 horses with acute colic and 36 healthy control horses were screened for viruses belonging to the species by RT-PCR as well as for gastrointestinal helminths and bacteria commonly associated with colic.

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Paratuberculosis (Johne´s disease) is a world-wide cattle disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), associated with substantial economic losses. Purchase of subclinically infected animals or contact with animals and equipment of infected farms are known risk factors for disease transmission among herds.

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Semen extenders usually contain antibiotics with the aim to minimize bacterial growth, but the indiscriminate use of antibiotics increases the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. A limiting factor of semen processing in dogs is the low total sperm count that limits the number of insemination doses that can be obtained from one ejaculate. Therefore, two ejaculates collected at a short interval can be combined to increase the number of AI doses.

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In numerous countries, strict and targeted measures concerning Salmonella monitoring and control are implemented and high quality of surveillance is ensured by obligatory investigation of samples from the primary production level of animals according to EN/ISO standards. Here, 2 phenotypic characteristics of Salmonella exhibited on compulsory media are crucial, namely, motility demonstrated on modified semisolid Rappaport Vassiliadis agar (MSRV), and production of hydrogen sulfide (HS) on xylose lysine deoxycholate agar (XLD). In the present study, we describe the detection of Salmonella Infantis variants found in broiler environmental samples with major alterations in their growth characteristics on MSRV, XLD, and brilliant green-phenol red-agar (BPLS).

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Conducting antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) in a comparable manner requires the availability of a standardized method. Organizations, such as the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) or the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), provide standardized protocols for a range of fastidious bacteria but not for . We developed a broth microdilution method for testing in a standardized and harmonized way using a modified Friis broth devoid of antimicrobial or otherwise bacterial growth-inhibiting agents.

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European wildcats () have not been investigated in large numbers for blood-associated pathogens in Germany, because wildcats, being a protected species, may not be hunted, and the collection of samples is therefore difficult. Thus, spleen tissue and whole blood from 96 wildcats from Germany found as roadkill or dead from other causes in the years 1998-2020 were examined for the prevalence of blood associated pathogens using molecular genetic tools. PCR was used to screen for haemotrophic spp.

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A bacterial strain designated 27C isolated from the cloaca of a giant Asian pond turtle was subjected to polyphasic taxonomic characterization. The strain was Gram-stain negative and oxidase- and catalase-positive. It had highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to GCS-AN-3 (97.

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While previous research on zoonotic transmission of community-acquired Clostridioides difficile infection (CA-CDI) focused on food-producing animals, the present study aimed to investigate whether dogs are carriers of resistant and/or virulent C. difficile strains. Rectal swabs were collected from 323 dogs and 38 C.

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