MIRU-VNTR typing of Mycobacterium avium in animals and humans: heterogeneity of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis versus homogeneity of Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium strains.

Epidemiological studies on Mycobacterium avium are requisite for revealing infection sources and disease transmission. They are based upon genotyping methods like RFLP and MIRU-VNTR. In our study, MIRU-VNTR typing was applied to 121 previously RFLP typed M.

Feed contaminated with Fusarium toxins alter lymphocyte proliferation and apoptosis in primiparous sows during the perinatal period.

Two groups of pregnant primiparous sows (day 89 ± 2 of gestation) were 54 days (± 1 day) fed either with an experimental diet (5.08 mg kg(-1) deoxynivalenol--DON, 0.09 mg kg(-1) zearalenone and 21.

Identification of SARS-like coronaviruses in horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) in Slovenia.

Bats have been identified as a natural reservoir for an increasing number of emerging zoonotic viruses, such as Hendra virus, Nipah virus, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, rabies and other lyssaviruses. Recently, a large number of viruses closely related to members of the genus Coronavirus have been associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and detected in bat species. In this study, samples were collected from 106 live bats of seven different bat species from 27 different locations in Slovenia.

A pulsed-field gel electrophoresis study of the genetic diversity of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in poultry flocks in Slovenia.

Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli have recently become the most frequent cause of bacterial foodborne enteric infection in most industrialised countries. Consumption and handling of undercooked contaminated poultry meat was identified as an important risk factor for human campylobacteriosis.

Human, porcine and bovine rotaviruses in Slovenia: evidence of interspecies transmission and genome reassortment.

A surveillance of human, porcine and bovine rotaviruses was carried out in Slovenia in 2004 and 2005. Stool samples were collected from a total of 406 pigs (373 from asymptomatic animals), 132 cattle (126 from asymptomatic animals) and 241 humans (all with diarrhoea), tested for group A rotaviruses using RT-PCR and analysed by sequencing. The aims of the study were to determine the incidence of asymptomatic rotavirus infection in animals, to look for evidence of zoonotic transmission and to detect reassortment among rotaviruses.

IS1245 RFLP-based genotyping study of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis isolates from pigs and humans.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis, ubiquitous environmental mycobacterium, is an opportunistic pathogen that is regularly isolated from pigs and humans in Slovenia. Genetic diversity of 114 isolates from pigs (n = 57) and humans (n = 57), identified by means of bacteriology, DNA-RNA hybridization techniques, IS901 PCR and IS1245 PCR, was investigated in this study, using IS1245 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis.

Outbreak of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium caprae in a zoological garden.

In the autumn of 2004, tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium caprae occurred in a zoo in Slovenia. A dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) was killed after a history of progressive emaciation. Necropsy findings indicated disseminated tuberculosis, which was confirmed by cultivation of M.

Incidence of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients treated at the Clinical Center of Skopje, Macedonia, with special attention to MRSA.

The distribution of 3497 Staphylococcus aureus strains according to methicillin resistance, specimens, departmental profession and antibiotic resistance patterns was analysed. The strains were cultured from the patients of the Clinical Center of Skopje, Macedonia, between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2004. The majority of the isolates was obtained from suppurated wounds (28.

Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from human to cattle.

We describe the first transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from human to cattle confirmed by molecular typing of isolates involved in the transmission. IS6110-based restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed that the isolates from the cattle and farm worker who suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis 1 year prior to this case were the same strains.

Prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis infection in stallions in Slovenia: bacteriology compared with PCR examination.

Reasons For Performing Study: The prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis infection in Slovenia is unknown and methods used to refine identification in these stallions are required.

Hypothesis: In diagnosis of T. equigenitalis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) would have advantages over culture methods, especially in cases where small numbers of causal agent or intensive contamination of genital swabs are involved.

Microbiological features of Staphylococcus schleiferi subsp. coagulans, isolated from dogs and possible misidentification with other canine coagulase-positive staphylococci.

Staphylococcus schleiferi subsp. coagulans has only rarely been isolated and identified from the external auditory meatus of dogs suffering from external otitis. Its morphological and basic biochemical characteristics are of relatively little value for identification, as it phenotypically resembles another coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) and, consequently, may be easily misidentified as S.

Haemolytic Rhodococcus equi Isolated from a Swine Lymph Node with Granulomatous Lesions.

Rhodococcus equi is generally thought to be non-haemolytic although some earlier investigations reported minor haemolytic activity. A case of a haemolytic R. equi isolate from a swine lymph node with granulomatous lesions is described.

Isolation and characterisation of Mycobacterium avium and Rhodococcus equi from granulomatous lesions of swine lymph nodes in Slovenia.

Granulomatous lesions in bovine and especially swine lymph nodes are still frequently observed during routine veterinary meat inspections even though Mycobacterium bovis infections are no longer detected in domestic animals in Slovenia. Different lymph nodes of pigs (n = 260) were investigated using classical bacteriological and molecular methods. Mycobacterium avium alone was isolated in 47.

Detection of foot and mouth disease virus by RT-PCR and microplate hydridization assay using inactivated viral antigens.

A single step RT-PCR was tested for detection of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) and immunoenzymatic determination of amplified products in a microplate hybridization assay. Inactivated reference strains (ELISA antigen) of all seven serotypes were used to optimize the test. Oligonucleotide primers were selected from two different genomic regions coding for RNA polymerase and VP1 protein, respectively.

The persistence of rabies virus antibodies in the sera of fox cubs.

The persistence of maternal antibodies transfer from rabies-immune vixens to their fox cubs was studied. Eight vixens (Vulpes vulpes) were vaccinated 1 month before pregnancy with Lysvulpen vaccine for oral vaccination of foxes. Twenty-one were foxes born at the first half of April.

Influence of storage temperature on infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus detection by cell culture isolation and RT-PCR methods.

The detection of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in infected rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and in cell culture supernatants stored under different conditions was studied. IHNV-positive fish visceral organ homogenates and cell culture supernatants were incubated at 4 and 25 degrees C. Virus titre was measured by virus isolation on epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells and the IHNV RNA was detected by RT-PCR and semi-nested RT-PCR.

Detection of infectious bursal disease virus in different lymphoid organs by single-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and microplate hybridization assay.

A rapid and sensitive method for the detection of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) RNA in different chicken lymphoid organs was developed. The method is based on a single-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) procedure and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detection method of amplified products. Vaccinal IBDV strain and field isolates were used for the optimization of RT-PCR and for the determination of conditions for microplate hybridization and colorimetric detection of the amplicons.

Conversion of Borrelia garinii cystic forms to motile spirochetes in vivo.

Cystic forms (also called spheroplasts or starvation forms) and their ability to reconvert into normal motile spirochetes have already been demonstrated in the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The aim of this study was to determine whether motile B. garinii could develop from cystic forms, not only in vitro but also in vivo, in cyst-inoculated mice.

Highly sensitive one-tube RT-PCR and microplate hybridisation assay for the detection and for the discrimination of classical swine fever virus from other pestiviruses.

Rapid, sensitive and specific laboratory diagnostic methods are necessary to confirm outbreaks of classical swine fever. The detection of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and its discrimination from other pestiviruses can be achieved by virus isolation on cell culture, antigen detection, or molecular methods. To reduce the time and the number of steps in the diagnostic procedure a sensitive and rapid detection method based on specific amplification of the pestiviral RNA by one-step reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by detection and differentiation of the amplification products by pestivirus-, bovine viral diarrhoea virus- (BVDV-) and CSFV-specific capture probe hybridisation and colorimetric assay in microwell plates (enzyme liked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) was developed.

[Role of free radical oxidation processes in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases].

Recent literature data on the mechanisms responsible for oxidative stress at infectious diseases and methods of their correction are reviewed.