Search

Introduction: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) remains a significant concern for public health. Direct real-time PCR and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) are proposed as alternative tools to enhance diagnostic precision and efficiency. This study aims to assess the diagnostic performance of a ddPCR assay targeting IS6110 for the detection of MTC DNA in both microbiological culture and fresh lymph node (LN) tissue samples obtained from cattle, in comparison with the established reference standard, the microbiological culture followed by real-time PCR. Methods: The fresh LNs (N=100) were collected each from a different cattle carcass at the slaughterhouse. The limit of detection of ddPCR-IS6110 was set to 101 copies per 20 ml reaction. Results: DdPCR-IS6110 detected 44 out of 49 reference-standard positive samples and yielded negative results in 47 out of 51 reference-standard negative samples, resulting in adjusted sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 90.76% [95% confidence interval (CI): 82.58 - 98.96%)], and 100% (95% CI: 100%) respectively. The estimated adjusted false negative rate (FNR) was 9.23% (95% CI: 1.04 - 17.42%) and the false positive rate (FPR) was 0% (95% CI: 0%). When directly applied from fresh bovine LN tissues, ddPCR-IS6110 identified 47 out of 49 reference-standard positive samples as ddPCR-IS6110-positive and 42 out of 51 reference-standard negative samples as ddPCR-IS6110-negative, resulting in adjusted Se and Sp values of 94.80% [95% (CI): 88.52 - 100%] and 100% (95% CI: 100%), respectively. The adjusted FNR was 5.20% (95% CI: 0 - 11.50%) and the FPR was 0% (95% CI: 0%). Noteworthy, ddPCR-IS6110 disclosed as positive 9 samples negative to reference-standard. Discussion: DdPCR-IS6110 proved to be a rapid, highly sensitive, and specific diagnostic tool as an alternative to reference-standard method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To reach a consensus among public health faculty from various Spanish universities about the core public health competencies that should be integrated into the Veterinary Medicine degree training., Methods: The 3rd Forum of University Professors of Public Health was held at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Cordoba (12-13 January 2016). Forty-two university professors and lecturers from nine Spanish universities with veterinary degrees participated in the forum. They were divided into five working groups during three working sessions to identify and classify core public health competencies for the Veterinary Medicine degree, propose public health contents for the identified competencies and organize such contents in thematic blocks. The results were discussed in different plenary sessions., Results: The highest number of core competencies was identified in the activities related to the following public health functions: «Assessment of the population's health needs» and «Developing health policies». The final programme included basic contents organized into five units: 1) Fundamentals of public health; 2) Study and research in public health; 3) Production, animal health and environment; 4) Food security; and 5) Health education., Conclusions: The public health core competencies and contents identified in this Forum may be considered as a starting point to update public health training programmes for future veterinary professionals., (Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Due to the increase in bacterial resistance to antimicrobials (AMBs) commonly used in veterinary and human medicine, the new strategies for controlling zoonoses focus on the study of natural products with demonstrated AMB activity, such as essential oils (EOs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effect of the combination of enrofloxacin (ENR), ceftiofur (CEF), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) with cinnamon, clove, oregano, and red thyme EOs against multiple drug-resistant strains of Salmonella enterica. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each product was determined by microdilution and "Checkerboard" methods and their combined effect was evaluated against 15 strains of S. enterica. The results were interpreted by the calculation of fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) and their respective indexes (FICI). Significant susceptibility of all strains to the four EOs was observed. The results showed a synergistic effect between EOs and AMBs tested, highlighting the upper percentage of total synergies of the SXT with the four EOs (FICI ≤0.5 in 60% of assays), and the most effective combination being the one of ENR and cinnamon. The MIC of cinnamon was reduced from 1250 to 312.5 μg/mL and the MIC of ENR from 2 to 0.031 μg/mL. There was no antagonism in the tested combinations (AMBs-EOs). Our results support the combined use of EOs and AMBs for the control of multiresistant strains of S. enterica with a reduction of the minimum effective dose of AMBs and their adverse effects.