The first outbreak of aujeszky's disease (AD) was identified from piggery located at the southern part of Korea in July, 1987. This piggery suffered from a significant economic loss caused by unexpected piglet mortality and reproductive failure. Etiologic viral agents were isolated from tonsil and spleen of the infected piglets, and the isolates produced a typical cytopathic effect of herpesvirus with giant cell formation when inoculated in many different cells. Subsequently the field isolates were characterized as suid herpesvirus I by cross-neutralization test and indirect fluorescence assay utilizing specific monoclonal antibody, and proved to be a pathogenic strain of AD virus(ADV).

Brucellosis is an endemic disease in Zimbabwe caused by the genus Brucella. Brucella seroprevalence was recently reported to be high in the wildlife-livestock interface in the Chiredzi district and the neighbouring Gonarezhou National Park (GNP) in Zimbabwe, and higher amongst communal cattle with an abortion history and access to grazing in GNP than amongst communal cattle with no abortion history or access to grazing in GNP. The aim of this study was to investigate Brucella species in brucellosis seropositive cattle in the Chiredzi district with access to GNP using isolation and identification. Isolation of Brucella species from whole blood (n = 18) and milk samples (n = 10) from seropositive animals with an abortion history was based on the rose Bengal test (RBT) and enzyme-linked immunoassays (enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]; indirect ELISA and complement ELISA), using microbiology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. Brucella abortus was cultured and identified from blood and milk collected from seropositive cows in both communal areas. The Brucella-specific 16-23S intergenic spacer (ITS) PCR and multiplex AMOS-PCR assays verified the identification of the cultures. Our results confirmed that B. abortus is present in cattle on communal farms in the Chiredzi district in Zimbabwe and might cause cattle abortions. The need for implementing control measures and raising public awareness on zoonotic transmission of brucellosis are recommended. (Résumé d'auteur)

Introduction: Porcine pleuropneumonia inflicts important economic losses on most commercial herds. Detection of subclinical or chronic infection in animals still remains a challenge, as isolation and identification of A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes is difficult and quantification of the bacteria on agar plates is often almost impossible. The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a serotype-specific quantitative TaqMan probe-based PCR for detection of serotype 2 in pig lungs, tonsils, and nasal swabs.

Introduction: The study objective was to develop and evaluate a new TaqMan multiplex real-time PCR method for Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) detection in slaughtered animal carcasses.

In this study five serotypes of E. coli were isolated from chickens and identified as O1, O2, O6, O78 and O126 out of 33 isolates derived from a total of 60 samples. SDS-PAGE revealed that four proteins were characteristic and shared in all these serotypes at the molecular weight of 21, 30, 55 and 74 kDa of which 55 and 74 kDa proteins were fully reacted with the antisera against E. coli in the western blot. Other proteins are present but varied from one serotype to another.

Molecular detection and differentiation of Pasteurella multocida strain involved in a separate fowl cholera outbreak in a turkey flock farm located in El-Menofia Governorate, Egypt early 2008 was investigated. The isolated strain was compared with an Egyptian Pasteurella multocida isolate that was previously isolated from turkey flock during last decade besides four vaccinal strain (A:5, A:8, A:9 and D:2) on phenotypic and genotypic characterization basis. Phenotypically all the strains were similar as all the strains produce non haemolytic colonies on blood agar, and all the strains revealed similar biochemial behaviour. On the other hand, the genomic typing of all the stains using rep-PCR techniques [repetitive BOX elements, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) and repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)] differentiated the six Pasteurella multocida strains into six different profiles. The molecular identity between the Pasteurella multocida 2008 strain and the previously isolated strain was 76.6 % and were ranged from 65.2% to 79.2% with the 4 vaccinal strains. These results reported the continuous mutations of the field Pasteurella multocida strains among poultry flocks in Egypt indicating the urgent need for the frequent and continuous molecular epidemiological investigations of fowl cholera outbreaks in various poultry flocks to detect these new strains and update the fowl cholera vaccines.

Introduction: The study objective was to develop and evaluate a new TaqMan multiplex real-time PCR method for Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) detection in slaughtered animal carcasses.Material and Methods: The procedure included an enrichment step, DNA extraction, and two multiplex real-time PCRs. The first PCR detected the invA and hly genes of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes respectively, the second the vtx1, vtx2, and eae genes of VTEC.Results: The validation of this method resulted in 100% relative sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy as compared to the reference ISO methods. The limit of detection per swab sample was established at 1 cfu for Salmonella and L. monocytogenes and 2 cfu for VTEC. The authors analysed 265 slaughterhouse-collected swabs from cattle, pig, and poultry carcasses. Among 125 from cattle, 51 were positive for VTEC, 29 for Salmonella, and 1 for L. monocytogenes. Among swabs from pig carcasses (n = 95), three, two, and one sample were positive for these pathogens respectively. None of the microorganisms tested for was identified in 45 samples of poultry origin.Conclusion: The obtained results showed that the method developed can rapidly identify the main bacterial pathogens that may contaminate carcasses of food-producing animals.

Introduction: Porcine pleuropneumonia inflicts important economic losses on most commercial herds. Detection of subclinical or chronic infection in animals still remains a challenge, as isolation and identification of A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes is difficult and quantification of the bacteria on agar plates is often almost impossible. The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a serotype-specific quantitative TaqMan probe-based PCR for detection of serotype 2 in pig lungs, tonsils, and nasal swabs.Material and Methods: The primers were designed from the capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis genes of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 2. PCR specificity and sensitivity were evaluated using reference strains and several other bacterial species commonly isolated from pigs.Results: The real-time qPCR for detection of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 2 was highly specific and gave no false positives with other serotypes or different bacterial species of pig origin. The detection limit for pure culture was 1.2 × 10⁴ CFU/mL, for lung tissue and nasal swabs it was 1.2 × 10⁵ CFU/mL, and for tonsils - 1.2 × 10⁵ CFU/mL.Conclusion: The method can be used to serotype A. pleuropneumoniae isolates obtained during cultivation and to detect and identify A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 2 directly in nasal swabs and tonsil scrapings obtained from live pigs or lung tissue and tonsils collected post-mortem.