Prevalence, species distribution and antimicrobial resistance of enterococci isolated from dogs and cats in the United States

Aims: The contribution of dogs and cats as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistant enterococci remains largely undefined. This is increasingly important considering the possibility of transfer of bacteria from companion animals to the human host. In this study, dogs and cats from veterinary clinics were screened for the presence of enterococci. Methods and Results: A total of 420 enterococci were isolated from nasal, teeth, rectal, belly and hindquarters sites of 155 dogs and 121 cats from three clinics in Athens, GA. Eighty per cent (124 out of 155) of the dogs and 60% (72 out of 121) of the cats were positive for enterococci. From the total number of dog samples (n = 275), 32% (n = 87) were from hindquarter, 31% (n = 86) were rectal, and 29% (n = 79) were from the belly area. The majority of isolates originated from rectal samples (53 out of 145; 37%) from cats. The predominant species identified was Enterococcus faecalis (105 out of 155; 68%) from dogs and E. hirae (63 out of 121; 52%) from cats. Significantly more E. faecalis were isolated from rectal samples than any other enterococcal species (P < 0·05) for both dogs and cats suggesting site specific colonization of enterococcal species. The highest levels of resistance were to ciprofloxacin in E. faecium (9 out of 10; 90%), chloramphenicol resistance in E. faecalis (17 out of 20; 85%) and gentamicin resistance in E. faecalis (19 out of 24; 79%) from dog samples and nitrofurantoin resistance in E. faecium (15 out of 19; 79%) from cats. Multi‐drug resistance (MDR) (resistance ≥2 antimicrobials) was observed to as few as two and as many as eight antimicrobials regardless of class. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that dogs and cats are commonly colonized with antimicrobial resistant enterococci. Significance and Impact of the Study: Dogs and cats may act as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes that can be transferred from pets to people.     

Veterinary Students’ Beliefs About Animal Sentience: What Role Does Gender Play?

ABSTRACT

Across a 15-year period, annual cohorts of first-year veterinary science students (n = 1,380; 77% female) at a British university completed the Belief in Animal Sentience (BiAS) questionnaire, in which they reported their beliefs about the sentience (capacity to feel) of ten species: dogs, cats, lions, pigs, sheep, rats, rabbits, chickens, bees, and spiders. On the basis of previous findings regarding people’s beliefs about animals’ capacities for mind, it was hypothesized that female students would ascribe more human-like sentience to animals than would male students. It was also hypothesized that the proportion of female students in each of the cohorts studied would have an influence on the beliefs of the year group as a whole: cohorts comprising a larger percentage of women would have higher animal sentience beliefs in both males and females. The data were analyzed using two-level regression models to concurrently investigate the effects of individual respondents’ gender and the percentage of female students in their cohort. Compared with their male counterparts, female veterinary students across all the cohorts studied attributed significantly higher (more human-like) sentience to each of the ten animals listed in the BiAS questionnaire, but the percentage of female students in each year group was not associated with students’ sentience beliefs. It was also found that childhood experience of having owned pet cats or dogs was related to students’ beliefs about the sentience of these species, although this association did not contribute to the differences found between male and female respondents. Given the increasing number of women entering the veterinary profession, and previous findings that beliefs about animals’ capacities for sentience may be associated with the veterinary care they are given, we conclude that gender differences in sentience beliefs could have a significant impact on the future of veterinary practice and patient welfare.     

Molecular phylogeny of the blowfly genus Chrysomya

Chrysomya Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a genus of blowfly commonly observed in tropical and subtropical countries of the Old World. Species in this genus are vectors of bacteria, protozoans and helminths, cause myiasis, are predators of other carrion insects, and are important forensic indicators. Hypotheses concerning the evolution of sex determination, larval anatomy and genome size in Chrysomya have been difficult to evaluate because a robust phylogeny of the genus was lacking. Similarly, the monophyly of subgenera was uncertain. The phylogeny of Chrysomya spp. was reconstructed based on 2386 bp of combined mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear carbamoylphosphate synthetase (CPS) genes. Maximum parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian analysis (BA) differed only slightly in the resulting tree topology. Chrysomya was monophyletic. Monogenic reproduction is almost certainly derived rather than, as has been suggested, primitive within the genus, and tuberculate larvae probably evolved twice. Genome size is more likely to have decreased over evolutionary time rather than, as has been suggested, increased within the genus, but its correlation with developmental time was not observed. The subgenera Microcalliphora, Eucompsomyia and Achoetandrus were recovered as monophyletic.     

我国兽用诊断试剂产业现状与未来趋势

兽用诊断试剂产业服务于动物疾病防控的技术需求,既是一个独立的产业,也是多学科交叉、技术密集、资金密集型产业。和国际兽用诊断试剂产业相比,我国兽用诊断试剂产业起步晚,底子薄,产品质量差距明显。通过对比和分析兽用诊断试剂产业的国内外现状,提出了我国兽用诊断试剂行业所面临的挑战,指出了未来的发展趋势,以期为我国兽用诊断试剂产业的发展提供有益的参考建议。     

Comparison of bacterial communities in faeces of beef cattle fed diets containing corn and wet distillers' grain with solubles

Aim: The mammalian intestinal microflora has been shown to impact host physiology. In cattle, intestinal bacteria are also associated with faecal contamination of environmental sources and human illness via foodborne pathogens. Use of wet distillers’ grains with solubles (WDGS) in cattle feed creates a gastrointestinal environment where some bacterial species are enriched. Here, we examine if a diet containing 40% WDGS results in fundamentally different microbial community structures. Methods and Results: The 20 002 16S r‐RNA gene sequences from 20 beef cattle were analysed using Sanger sequencing methods. At the genus level, Prevotella (Gram negative) and Anaerobacter (Gram positive) were the most frequently occurring bacteria in our beef cattle faecal samples. Diet‐associated differences in prevalence were noted for Prevotella but not Anaerobacter. Conclusions: Diet affects community structure. Faecal communities of co‐housed beef cattle are not identical. Significance and Impact of the Study: It is known that a diet of 40% corn‐based WDGS increases the generic Escherichia coli in the faeces and enriches E. coli O157:H7. The results from the current study suggest that in addition to previously observed changes in E. coli, the entire bacterial community structure is different for animals fed 40% corn‐based WDGS compared to a traditional corn‐finishing diet.     

An outbreak in France in the XVIIIth century: rinderpest

Long regarded as the major disease of cattle, rinderpest is now eradicated. It was inflicting from 60 to 90% mortality on livestock. Installed in Asia, it arrived in France in waves, but never became endemic there. Four outbreaks of rinderpest hit the country during the eighteenth century. Their geographical extension has been reconstituted. They forced the State to devise the consistent set of health actions the nineteenth century benefited before the advent of microbiology.     

Perceptions of animal experimentation: a longitudinal survey with veterinary students in Araçatuba,São Paulo,Brazil

Animal experimentation is a controversial topic, especially among the general public and the scientific community. Thirty-eight undergraduate students attending the College of Veterinary Medicine – São Paulo State University in the municipality of Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil, were followed up between 2008 and 2011 and were asked to complete an annual questionnaire focused on different aspects of animal experimentation, including the animal species involved, the objectives of the research, ethics, animal welfare and euthanasia. Most students agreed that animal testing is not morally incorrect, and the dynamics of students’ attitudes were notable: undergraduates tended to change their opinion over time, with junior students opposing animal experimentation more than seniors do, indicating that the more scientific knowledge the students acquire, the more favourable to animal experimentation they become. Nevertheless, they agreed that research must consider the basic principles of animal welfare.     

Detection of Chlamydiaceae DNA in veterinary specimens using a family-specific PCR

AIMS: The aim of this work was to develop a rapid molecular test for the detection of the Chlamydiaceae family, irrespective of the species or animal host. METHODS AND RESULTS: The method described herein is a polymerase chain reaction targeting the 16S rRNA gene of the Chlamydiaceae family, and the results demonstrate that the test reacts with five reference Chlamydiaceae but none of the 19 other bacterial species or five uninfected animal tissues tested. The results also indicate the enhanced sensitivity of this test when compared with conventional culture or serology techniques. This is demonstrated through parallel testing of six real clinical veterinary cases and confirmatory DNA sequence analysis. CONCLUSIONS, SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This test can be used by veterinary diagnostic laboratories for rapid detection of Chlamydiaceae in veterinary specimens, with no restriction of chlamydial species or animal host. The test does not differentiate chlamydial species, and if required, speciation must be carried out retrospectively using alternate methods. However, for the purpose of prescribing therapy for chlamydiosis, this test would be an invaluable laboratory tool.