Prevalence Of Infection In Cattle Research Articles

Seroprevalence of Sarcosystis spp. in Cattle and Buffaloes from the Wet and Dry Zones of Sri Lanka: a Preliminary Study

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of antibodies to Sarcosystis infection in cattle and buffaloes. Crude antigens derived from cystozoites of Sarcosystis cruzi and antibodies from the sera of naturally infected cattle and buffaloes were used. The assay was validated by determination of the specificity, sensitivity and negative and positive predictive values. Using ELISA, a sero-epidemiological survey for sarcosystosis was carried out in cattle (n = 215) and buffaloes (n = 123) from the wet and dry zones of Sri Lanka. The prevalence of infection in cattle was 69.3%. Prevalence of the infection collectively in both cattle and buffaloes in the dry zone was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than that in the wet zone. The number of sero-positive cattle and buffaloes in the dry zone was significantly higher than that in the wet zone (P < 0.05). Buffaloes in the dry and wet zones showed a greater prevalence of infection (P < 0.05) than cattle.

Estimating the effects of tsetse control on livestock productivity--a case study in southwest Ethiopia.

A tsetse control campaign was started in January 1991 using a synthetic pyrethroid cypermethrin 'pour-on' applied monthly to cattle exposed to high levels of drug-resistant trypanosomes in the Ghibe valley of southwest Ethiopia. In December 1992, a cost-recovery scheme was introduced, and thereafter farmers paid for treatment. An average of 100 village Ethiopian Highland Zebu cattle were monitored monthly from March 1986 to February 1997. Individual animals in this herd were treated with diminazene aceturate (Berenil, Hoechst, Germany) at 3.5 mg/kg when trypanosomes were detected and their packed cell volume was less than 26%. Superimposed on this systematic trypanocidal chemotherapy, control of tsetse resulted in average reductions from 1992 to 1996 of 95% and 75% in the mean relative densities of tsetse and biting flies, respectively, and of 63% in the prevalence of trypanosomal infections in cattle. Despite these reductions, there was no significant increase in the body weight of the cows, calving rate or the mean body weight of calves at 12 months of age. There was, however, an average decrease of 57% in calf mortality (including still births) by 12 months of age, an increase of 49% in the ratio of live calves under 12 months of age to cows over 36 months of age, and an increase of 8% in the body weight of adult males.

Case report and DNA characterization of Mycobacterium avium isolates from multiple animals with lesions in a beef cattle herd.

The Mycobacterium avium complex includes the closely related species M. avium, M. intracellulare,and M. paratuberculosis. In animals, M. paratuberculosis is undoubtedly the most important member of the M. avium complex as far as economic losses due to reduced production and morbidity are concerned. However, other members of the M. avium complex also cause veterinary problems by infecting a wide range of different mammalian hosts, including pigs, farmed deer, and cattle. Members of the M. avium complex apart from M. paratuberculosiscan cause lesions in cattle that are grossly and microscopically indistinguishable from those caused by Mycobacterium bovis. 2 Infection with members of this complex, including M. paratuberculosis, can also cause cattle to respond to bovine tuberculin in a skin test. Evidence from the use of avian tuberculins in comparative skin tests suggests that in some areas, there is a high prevalence of infection in cattle. 7 However, many of these animals do not have visible lesions on necropsy, and it is rare to find generalized infections causing clinical disease by members of the complex other than M. paratuberculosis. The epidemiology of infections in cattle caused by members of the M. avium complex other than M. paratuberculosis has not been well defined. While members of this complex have been isolated not only from birds, but also from a wide range of environmental sites, including soil and water, 5 the source of M. avium complex infections in cattle has rarely been established. 1 The advent of DNA typing methods offers new tools to investigate the epidemiology of infections caused by this group of organisms. A compulsory control scheme for bovine tuberculosis has been in effect in New Zealand for over 25 years. 10 This scheme has been very successful in eradicating M. bovis from cattle herds in all areas of the country except where there are reservoirs of infection in wildlife. As part of the control scheme, all animals are carefully examined at slaughter for the presence of lesions resembling bovine tuberculosis. Samples from suspect cases are taken for histologic and bacteriologic confirmation of the macroscopic findings. Bacteriological examinations have shown a low prevalence of tuberculous lesions caused by the M. avium complex (Table 1). Apart from the episode described in this paper, no cattle herds were found in New Zealand in 1994 or 1995 that contained more than 3 animals with lesions caused by the M. avium complex. In 1992, M. bovis was isolated from 10 animals from a beef herd in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. The

Trypanosomiasis in cattle in Gambia: Incidence, prevalence and tsetse challenge

The incidence of trypanosome infections, measured by a Berenil Index in experimental herds of 10 Zebu and 10 N'Dama cattle, was compared with tsetse challenge and with the prevalence of parasitaemia in local N'Dama at three villages in Gambia. Tsetse challenge was more strongly correlated with the incidence of parasitaemia in the Zebu than in the N'Dama. There was a strong correlation between prevalence and incidence of infection in the N'Dama. There was no correlation, however, between prevalence of infection in cattle and tsetse challenge unless the data were offset by 3–5 months. The Berenil Index in the Zebu increased at about twice the rate as in the N'Dama under corresponding levels of challenge. It is concluded that whereas incidence of infection in susceptible animals is best measured independently, it can, under stable conditions, be inferred from an assessment of tsetse challenge.

Dynamics of elimination of the eggs of Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda, Digenea) in the faeces of cattle in the Porma Basin, Spain.

In order to contribute to the knowledge of the epizootiological conditions in which fasciolosis develops in the León mountains, the elimination of Fasciola hepatica eggs in 10% of the total number of cattle (1301 samples) at five locations in the Porma river basin was recorded at monthly intervals between March 1986 and March 1987. The parasite was found in cattle [29.5% prevalence, average of 51.6 +/- 4.5 eggs g-1 (e.p.g.) faeces] throughout the year. The main egg elimination period was winter-spring, with maximum prevalence in January and maximum e.p.g. in February-March. Prevalence of infection in cattle generally increased with the host's age, whilst the average e.p.g. varied between different age groups.

A review of leptospirosis in Malaysia.

This paper reviews the literature on leptospirosis in Malaysia from its first description in 1928 until the present day. Most of the early reports were on investigations of leptospirosis in wildlife and man and up-to-date, thirty-seven leptospiral serovars from thirteen serogroups have been bacteriologically identified. The thirteen serogroups are: Australis, Autumnalis Bataviae, Canicola, Celledoni, Grippotyphosa, Hebdomadis, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Javanica, Pomona, Pyrogenes, Sejroe and Tarassovi. Rats have been ascribed as the principal maintenance host of leptospires in Malaysia. However, serovars from the Pomona, Pyrogenes and Sejroe serogroups have yet to be isolated from rats. It is considered that the majority of leptospirosis cases in man were due to association of man with an environment where rats were plentiful. Recent investigations on domestic animals disclosed a high prevalence of infection in cattle and pigs and they were suspected as being the maintenance host for serovar hardjo and pomona respectively. There is ample scope for research in leptospirosis, particularly in the epidemiology and control of the disease in domestic animals. The strategy to control the infection in domestic animals and man in Malaysia is bound to be different from that of the temperate countries, basically due to the presence of a large number of leptospiral serovars in wildlife, further confounded by geographical and financial constraints.

Leptospirosis: I. Clinical investigation of the infection in dairy cattle in the Waikato district of New Zealand

An investigation was made into the prevalence of leptospiral infection in cattle. An area 50 km radius was selected in a region where leptospirosis was reputedly common. Farmers volunteered 250 herds with 39 500 cows for testing and 7 500 animals were selected and sampled. Twenty-nine cows (0.4%) on 14 (5.6%) of the farms had leptospiruria at the first examination. Leptospirae were cultured from the urines of nine of these animals and all were Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo. Serologically 12.5% of cows had titres of 1:200 or greater to hardjo and 3.5% titres of 1:200 or greater to pomona. In the Spring of 1977, there was evidence of clinical leptospirosis in calves associated with only one of the herds and no clinical leptospirosis in the 250 lactating herds, although leptospiral titres were found in 88% of them. This indicated that clinical disease was much less common than infection. We concluded that leptospirosis was of minor economic importance in dairy cattle, although it could be significant in individual herds, and a health hazard to farm workers.

Studies of tuberculosis in an in relation to infection in cattle

A study has been made in Sweden to investigate whether the risk of tuberculous infection and its trend with time in man in different areas were related to varying prevalences of tuberculous infection in cattle. It was found that the level of the infection risk in man was related to the prevalence of tuberculous infection in cattle, varying from 3·4 per cent in 1935 at age 15 in counties with less than 2 per cent infected cattle to 5·8 per cent in counties with 20 per cent infected cattle or more. However, the downward trend of the risk of infection with time was not found to be associated with the prevalence of tuberculous infection in cattle. The correlation between the risk of infection in man and the prevalence of infection in cattle in the 24 Swedish counties was positive and highly significant (+0·79). The relationship between cattle tuberculosis and tuberculosis in man was further studied by correlating infection in cattle with tuberculosis mortality and morbidity in man. The correlation with mortality was negative and highly significant (−0·77), i.e. counties with little cattle tuberculosis had a high tuberculosis mortality in man, and vice versa. There were similar large negative correlations with measures of tuberculosis incidence. When variations between the counties in relevant environmental factors, namely capital, urbanization and overcrowding, were taken into account, a strong positive association remains between the prevalence of infected cattle and the risk of tuberculous infection in man, but the associations with tuberculous mortality and morbidity, though they remain negative, become weaker. It is suggested that the probable explanation of these findings is the long-term protection against adult infection with human tubercle bacilli conferred by bovine infection in childhood.