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Objectives: To elucidate veterinarians' and horse owners' perceptions towards the use of Hendra virus (HeV) antibody titre testing and how it influences veterinary advice., Methods: Six semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with veterinarians who have submitted samples for HeV antibody titre testing. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed to identify and report common themes within the data., Results: Veterinarians are predominantly using the titre tests as an alternative to vaccination due to clients' fear of vaccine reactions. The high cost of titre testing, the difficulty interpreting titre results and a lack of titre test recognition by authorities were the major barriers reported to using this test. Some veterinarians detailed difficulties communicating titre test procedures and results to their clients. The majority of veterinarians accepted titres of 64 or greater as evidence of protective immunity and would rely on those results for 12 months. However, there was discrepancy of these values and the level of confidence veterinarians had in interpreting the results of HeV antibody titre tests varied., Conclusion: This study has provided an overview of the attitudes of horse owners and veterinarians towards HeV antibody titre testing. Although evidence for HeV vaccination titres as an indication of protective immunity is still inadequate, it will assist veterinarians in interpreting and communicating titre results., (© 2021 Australian Veterinary Association.)

Toxoplasma gondii is the zoonotic parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis in warm-blooded vertebrates. This systematic review compares and evaluates the available knowledge on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), their components, and performance in detecting T. gondii antibodies in animals. Four databases were searched for published scientific studies on T. gondii and ELISA, and 57 articles were included. Overall, indirect (95%) and in-house (67%) ELISAs were the most used types of test among the studies examined, but the 'ID Screen ® Toxoplasmosis Indirect Multi-species' was common among commercially available tests. Varying diagnostic performance (sensitivity and specificity) and Kappa agreements were observed depending on the type of sample (serum, meat juice, milk), antigen (native, recombinant, chimeric) and antibody-binding reagents used. Combinations of recombinant and chimeric antigens resulted in better performance than native or single recombinant antigens. Protein A/G appeared to be useful in detecting IgG antibodies in a wide range of animal species due to its non-species-specific binding. One study reported cross-reactivity, with Hammondia hammondi and Eimeria spp. This is the first systematic review to descriptively compare ELISAs for the detection of T. gondii antibodies across different animal species.

A number of gastrointestinal parasites have been reported to infect dogs in Nigeria, some of which have zoonotic potential. Of these, hookworms are the most prevalent, with both Ancylostoma caninum and Uncinaria stenocephala reported in the country. In this study, we subjected 203 hookworm microscopy-positive samples of the 885 individual faecal samples collected from dogs in Nigeria to a recently developed multiplex qPCR for the detection and characterisation of canine hookworm species. The qPCR demonstrated a diagnostic sensitivity of 98% (95% CI 95-99.4) allowing the detection of A. caninum and A. braziliense in 81.3% (165/203, 95% CI 75.3-86.1) and 51.2% (104/203, 95% CI 44.4-58) of the microscopy-positive faecal samples of dogs from Nigeria, respectively and 34.5% (70/203, 95% CI 28.3-41.3) of mixed infections with both hookworm species. The finding of A. braziliense is particularly worrisome given this is a well-known agent of persistent cutaneous larva migrans, commonly referred to as "creeping eruptions" in humans. Although this parasite has been diagnosed in locals and in people travelling in Nigeria suffering from dermatological illnesses, this represents the first molecular identification of A. braziliense in its canine reservoir in the country. These results update the occurrence and distribution of hookworm species affecting dogs in Nigeria highlighting the suitability of the newly developed multiplex qPCR assay as a high-throughput tool for the surveillance of zoonotic hookworms, globally., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The canine hookworms Ancylostoma braziliense, Ancylostoma ceylanicum, Ancylostoma caninum and Uncinaria stenocephala are not only capable of producing morbidity and mortality in dogs but are also neglected tropical zoonoses. Each hookworm species differs considerably in its geographical distribution, life cycle, biology, pathogenic impacts on both canine and human hosts, zoonotic potential, and response to treatment with anthelminthics. Here we describe the development and validation of two Taq-Man based multiplex PCR assays capable of detecting and differentiating all four canine hookworm species in faeces of naturally infected dogs. The analytical sensitivity of both assays was assessed using 10-fold serial dilutions of synthetic gene block fragments containing individual sequence targets of each hookworm species. The sensitivity of the assays and ability to detect mixed species infections were compared to a conventional PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism based-approach when applied to laboratory and field samples from endemic areas. The qPCRs detected at least one species of hookworms in 82.4% of PCR-RFLP-negative but microscopy-positive samples. The qPCRs detected an additional 68% mixed infections with different species of canine hookworms, and additional single species infection with A. caninum (47%), U. stenocephala (33%) and A. ceylanicum (0.02%) that were missed by PCR-RFLP. These multiplex qPCR assays will assist field based epidemiological surveillance studies towards an accurate and sensitive monitoring of canine hookworm infections in dogs, to inform their species-specific zoonotic risks to populations living in endemic areas, globally., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging bat-borne virus endemic in Australia that can be transmitted from horses to humans and has a high fatality rate for horses and people. Controversy surrounding HeV risk mitigation measures have strained the veterinarian-horse owner relationship. This study aimed to characterise the veterinarian-horse owner relationship in general and also in the context of HeV by analysing data derived from the 'Horse Owners and Hendra Virus: A Longitudinal Study to Evaluate Risk' (HHALTER) study. Australian horse owners were recruited via emails, social media and word-of-mouth for a series of five surveys that were administered online at six-monthly intervals over a two-year period to capture baseline knowledge, attitudes and practices of horse owners regarding HeV and any changes over time. In the current study, descriptive analyses of information sources were performed to understand the use of veterinarians as a HeV information source (Surveys 1 and 5; n = 1195 and n = 617). Ordinal logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with the frequency of horse owner contact with a veterinarian (Survey 3; n = 636). This study found a relative increase over the study period in the proportion of horse owners who had used veterinarians as HeV information source in the last 12 months (from 51.9% to 88.3%). Owning more horses, being older, having a 'duty of care' for other people working with horses and deriving the main income from horse related business were factors associated with more frequent veterinary contact. Results suggest that traditional information sources such as workshops, information packs and risk training are likely to be used by horse owners. Smart phone applications should be considered for use in the future and require further investigation for horse health communication. The findings of this study may be helpful in optimising strategies for horse health information delivery., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Epidemiological investigations were carried out following detection of an outbreak of megaoesophagus in Victorian Police working dogs in early 2018 and an increase in the number of canine megaoesophagus cases reported by companion animal veterinarians in Eastern Australia starting in late 2017. VetCompass Australia data were used to quantify the incidence of canine megaoesophagus for the period January 2012 to February 2018 and a matched case-control study carried out to identify individual animal risk factors for canine megaoesophagus in 2017-2018., Results: There was a 7-fold increase in the incidence rate of canine megaoesophagus from 2014 (0.11 [95% CI 0.02 to 0.58] cases per 100,000 dogs per day) to 2018 (0.82 [95% CI 0.19 to 4.2] cases per 100,000 dogs per day). Since 2013, the incidence of megaoesophagus in Australia has shown a seasonal pattern, with greater numbers of cases diagnosed during the warmer months of the year. In the case-control study, use of Mars Petcare Advance Dermocare as a source of food was 325 (95% CI 64 to 1644) times greater for cases, compared with controls., Conclusions: Our analyses provide evidence that the feeding of Advance Dermocare was responsible for the majority of cases in the outbreak of megaoesophagus in Eastern Australia in 2017-2018. The increase in the incidence rate of megaoesophagus in Australia since 2014-2015 warrants further investigation.

Ross River virus (RRV) is Australia's most epidemiologically important mosquito-borne disease. During RRV epidemics in the State of Victoria (such as 2010/11 and 2016/17) notifications can account for up to 30% of national RRV notifications. However, little is known about factors which can forecast RRV transmission in Victoria. We aimed to understand factors associated with RRV transmission in epidemiologically important regions of Victoria and establish an early warning forecast system. We developed negative binomial regression models to forecast human RRV notifications across 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs) using climatic, environmental, and oceanographic variables. Data were collected from July 2008 to June 2018. Data from July 2008 to June 2012 were used as a training data set, while July 2012 to June 2018 were used as a testing data set. Evapotranspiration and precipitation were found to be common factors for forecasting RRV notifications across sites. Several site-specific factors were also important in forecasting RRV notifications which varied between LGA. From the 11 LGAs examined, nine experienced an outbreak in 2011/12 of which the models for these sites were a good fit. All 11 LGAs experienced an outbreak in 2016/17, however only six LGAs could predict the outbreak using the same model. We document similarities and differences in factors useful for forecasting RRV notifications across Victoria and demonstrate that readily available and inexpensive climate and environmental data can be used to predict epidemic periods in some areas. Furthermore, we highlight in certain regions the complexity of RRV transmission where additional epidemiological information is needed to accurately predict RRV activity. Our findings have been applied to produce a Ross River virus Outbreak Surveillance System (ROSS) to aid in public health decision making in Victoria., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)