BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is a common bacterial disease in humans and livestock, which leads to reduced production and reproductive disorders in ruminants and also causes major economic losses to villagers and farmers. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of different Leptospira interrogans serovars in ruminants population of Lorestan province and assess the role of environmental and host factors on the severity of the serological infection. METHODS: For this purpose, referring to livestock and sheep and goat flocks in different cities of Lorestan province, 691 blood samples were collected including 258 sheep, 195 goats and 238 cows, and then, the point of infection with seven different serovars of Leptospira interogans was assessed using microscopic agglutination test. Hosting factors such as age, gender and also environmental factors including geographical area, rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and altitude of sampling area from the sea level were recorded, and their probable role in the seroprevalence was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Results of this study showed that the overall prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle, sheep, and goats examined in the Lorestan province was 26.05 % (95 % CI: 19.7-31.23), 22.48 % (95 % CI: 16.95-25.16) and 14.87% (95 % CI: 9.37-20.36), respectively. There was no statistically significant (p < /em>>0.05) difference from the point of age groups and sexes. The most prevalent contaminant serovars for cows, sheep, and goats with seropositive reaction against leptospira were grippotyphosa (41.93%), canicola (32.76%) and canicola (48.27 %), respectively. The results showed environmental factors including relative humidity (p < /em>=0.02), annual rainfall (p < /em>=0.001) and altitude from the sea level of sampling location (p < /em>=0.03) have a significant effect but the annual temperature does not have a significant effect (p < /em><0.05) on the seroprevalence of Leptospira. Also, more positive reactive animals in the eastern and western areas of Lorestan province were found (p < /em>>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Leptospirosis is endemic in livestock population of Lorestan province and environmental factors play a significant role in the severity of infection, which increases the need for attention to the geographical areas at risk.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common bacterial infections in humans that is associated with Gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastritis and gastric cancer. Helicobacter pylori is transmitted through food and water and fecal-oral and oral-oral routes and colonized in the stomach and intestines of humans and several animal species including dogs and cats, and therefore the possibility of transmission of infection from animals to humans exists. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in humans, related and unrelated to dogs and cats in Ahvaz, as well as its relationship with host and environmental factors. METHODS: Serum samples were collected from 356 volunteers, including 147 related and 209 unrelated individuals with  dogs and cats and evaluated by ELISA. RESULTS: Apparent and real seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection were 58.4% (95% CI: 53.3 – 63.3 percent) and 44.53% (95% CI: 39.33 – 49.73 percent), respectively. The apparent prevalence in related and unrelated individuals with the dogs and cats were 72.1% (95% CI: 64.8-79.4 percent) and 48.8% (95% CI: 42-55.6 percent), respectively (p<0.001). The risk of infection in related individuals compared with unrelated was 2.71 (95% CI: 1.73 – 4.26) (p<0.001). This study showed that exposure to cats and dogs, education, history of gastric ulcers and gastrointestinal disorders and marital status are significantly correlated with infection. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that contact with dogs and cats can be a risk factor for Helicobacter pylori infection in humans and preventive and control measures should be considered by health authorities.

International audience | A study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of Rift Valley fever (RVF) infection in cattle and some selected wildlife species at selected interface areas at the periphery of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe. Three study sites were selected based on the type of livestock-wildlife interface: porous livestock-wildlife interface (unrestricted); non-porous livestock-wildlife interface (restricted by fencing) and livestock-wildlife non-interface (totally absent contact or control). Sera were collected from cattle aged >= 2 years representing both female and intact male. Sera were also collected from selected wild ungulates from Mabalauta (porous interface) and Chipinda Pools (non-interface) areas of the Gonarezhou National Park. Sera were tested for antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. AX2 test was used to assess differences between categories, and p < 0.05 was considered as significant. In cattle, the overall seroprevalence was 1.7% (17/1011) (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.7). The porous interface recorded a seroprevalence of 2.3% (95% CI: 1.2-4.3), the non-porous interface recorded a prevalence of 1.8% (95% CI: 0.7-4.3) and the non-interface area recorded a seroprevalence of 0.4% (955 CI: 0.02-2.5), but the difference in seroprevalence according to site was not significant (p > 0.05). All impala and kudu samples tested negative. The overall seroprevalence in buffaloes was 11.7% (95% CI: 6.6-19.5), and there was no significant (p = 0.38) difference between the sites (Mabalauta, 4.4% [95% CI: 0.2-24] vs. Chipinda, 13.6% [95% CI: 7.6-23]). The overall seroprevalence in buffaloes (11.7%, 13/111) was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than in cattle (1.7%, 17/1011). The results established the presence of RVFV in cattle and selected wildlife and that sylvatic infections may be present in buffalo populations. Further studies are required to investigate if the virus is circulating between cattle and wildlife.

Fasciolosis is caused by digenean trematodes of the genus Fasciola. The principal definitive hosts are cattle, sheep and goats. Humans are infected as accidental hosts. Fasciolosis is one of the major neglected tropical diseases and is considered an emerging zoonotic infection. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of human and domestic animal fasciolosis in selected counties in Kenya. Stool samples for Fasciola diagnosis were collected from humans and domestic animals and transported to the laboratory at Egerton University and processed using sedimentation technique and examined for the presence of eggs. A total of 272 human samples collected were all negative for Fasciola eggs. A total of 582 domestic animals (cattle &#91;46.0%&#93;, sheep &#91;29.9%&#93; and goats &#91;24.1%&#93;) samples collected had overall prevalence of 30.9% for Fasciola infection. There was no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the prevalence of fasciolosis and origin of the animals, sex and season. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the prevalence of fasciolosis and domestic animals, age and body condition. The prevalence of fasciolosis was high in two irrigation schemes which favour the breeding of intermediate host snail and grazing of animals along the irrigation canals where metacercaria of Fasciola parasites could be present on the vegetation. Although human fasciolosis was not detected in this study, the presence of animal fasciolosis can pose public health risk because of its zoonotic nature. Therefore, it is important to introduce measures which would help to reduce the exposure of animals to Fasciola infection.

This article provides an overview of the current knowledge on chlamydiae, which are intracellular bacteria belonging to the Chlamydiaceae family. Whole-genome sequencing leads to great increases in the available data about Chlamydia spp. Recently, novel chlamydial taxons in various hosts living in different environments have been recognised. New species and taxons with Candidatus status have been recorded mainly in birds and reptiles. Chlamydia gallinacea is an emerging infectious agent in poultry with indirectly confirmed zoonotic potential. Recently, a new group of avian C. abortus strains with worldwide distribution in various wild bird families has been described. The definition of C. abortus species became outdated with the discovery of these strains and has been amended. It now includes two subgroups, mammalian and avian, the latter including all isolates hitherto referred to as atypical C. psittaci or C. psittaci/C. abortus intermediates.