Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate an ongoing outbreak of brucellosis in southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) on the epidemiological, clinical and molecular level.Patients ...and methods. This study included 19 patients affected by brucellosis between 2015 and 2017, in Trebiševo (BIH). Out of 19 patients, 16 were admitted to and treated at the Department of Infectious diseases of the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, while three patients were treated in ambulatory care setting. Epidemiological, clinical and microbiological parameters were investigated. The Rose Bengal test (RBT) positive sera were serologically confirmed by complement fixation test (CFT). We also analyzed blood cultures, and isolates were additionally serotyped. Molecular analyses were performed with Bruce-ladder multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiple locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis of 16 loci (MLVA-16) assay.Results. Fifteen out of 19 patients had been professionally exposed to the bacterium, while four patients acquired brucellosis without prior contact with infected animals. In seven out of eight (87.5%) patients with localized form of brucellosis, we detected significantly higher values of C-reactive protein (CRP) or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P<0.001). B. melitensis was isolated from 13/16 (81.3%) blood culture samples, and additionally serotyped as biovar 3. Using MLVA-16 assay, 11 isolates were genotyped. We observed complete genotype matches among 8/11 B. melitensis isolates, while 3/11 isolates differed in Bruce04 locus.Conclusion. Overall, our study confirms the usefulness of MLVA-16 method in the epidemiological and molecular research of brucellosis during epidemic that, most likely, originated from the same source.
The antimicrobial susceptibility of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from spontaneously fermented sausages was assessed using both traditional and molecular methods. Isolates were tested for ...sensitivity to vancomycin, ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, gentamycin and oxacillin by the disk diffusion method and quantitative-qualitative epsilometer test. PCR was used for the detection of resistance genes mecA, ermB, tetK and tetM. The identified coagulase-negative staphylococci were Staphylococcus epidermidis (69 %), S. capitis (5 %) and S. warneri (2.5 %). S. epidermidis showed a high rate of phenotypical resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin (44.4 % of strains). Molecular evaluation of resistance determinants revealed tetK or tetM genes in eight S. epidermidis strains. Although S. epidermidis is not classical food poisoning bacteria, its presence in food could be of public health significance due to the possible spread of antimicrobial resistance determinants. Our findings implicate that spontaneous meat fermentation could result in products with a potential hazard to consumers.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have emerged worldwide and have become resistant to a variety of antibiotics. MRSA colonisation in pigs was first reported from the Netherlands in ...2005, where pigs were implicated as a source of human MRSA infections (Voss et al., 2005). This paper presents the first report on the presence of MRSA on large pig breeding farms in Croatia, together with the determination of the mecA gene, the results of spa typing and susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobials. Dust samples (7–11 per farm) were collected from eight large pig farms in Croatia. Of the total 68 swabs, the mecA gene was detected in 24 isolates growing on the MRSA agar. All isolates were resistant to oxacillin, tetracycline and streptomycin, and susceptible only to vancomycin, while 92% of the strains were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. Genotyping of the MRSA strains was performed by spa typing, and revealed t011 (n = 17), t034 (n = 5) and t1451 (n = 2). The results presented here predict that MRSA is present on a large number of pig farms in Croatia.
In a recent lambing season (2012/2013), the seroprevalence of ovine chlamydiosis was monitored in small ruminant abortion cases in Croatia. Blood samples of 93 sheep and 69 goats were examined. In ...addition, 50 sheep and 61 goat samples were tested using molecular methods. Furthermore, 14 sheep blood samples, one goat blood sample and one sheep placenta sample from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) were also tested as a part of inter-laboratory cooperation. Overall high seroprevalence was detected in sheep, 19.6% with the ELISA IDEXX kit and 20.5% with the ClVTEST kit. Seroprevalence in goats was 11.4%. In BIH, four sheep and one goat blood sample were seropositive for chlamydiosis. The disease causing agent, Chlamydia abortus (C. abortus) was confirmed using molecular methods in two sheep flocks in continental Croatia and in one sheep flock in BIH. In this study, C. abortus infection in sheep was identified for the first time in Croatia using species specific molecular methods. Ovine chlamydiosis is present in national sheep and goat flocks in Croatia and BIH. Thus should be subject to ongoing controls in the case of abortion. A combination of serological and molecular methods should be used for optimal laboratory diagnostics of C. abortus.
Patogene mikobakterije imaju svoje domaćine, a većina njih i prirodne rezervoare u prirodi. Tuberkuloza prouzročena vrstom M. tuberculosis i dalje ostaje glavni uzročnik tuberkuloze u svijetu. M. ...bovis ima najrašireniji raspon prirodnih rezervoara od svih poznatih patogena. Različite vrste divljih životinja predstavljaju trajan rezervoar infekcije vrstom M. bovis za domaće životinje i ljude. U novije vrijeme otkrivene su i nove vrste mikobakterija (M. caprae, M. pinnipedii, M. mungi, M. orygis i M. suricattae) koje po svojim karakteristikama pripadaju u kompleks M. tuberculosis. Sve navedene vrste mikobakterija imaju svoje rezervoare u prirodi i kao zoonoze predstavljaju stalnu prijetnju za infekciju ljudi. M. leprae prouzroči lepru u ljudi. Dugo vremena se mislilo da je samo čovjek domaćin i rezervoar uzročnika. Danas je poznato da su prirodni rezervoari lepre devetopojasni pasanci (Dasypus novemcinctus) u SAD i Južnoj Americi, crvene vjeverice (Sciurus vulgaris) u Velikoj Britaniji i različite vrste majmuna u Africi i Aziji.
Bakterije
mikroorganizmi koji za svoj rast u okolišu, kao i u laboratorijskim uvjetima trebaju mikroaerofilne uvjete. Za rutinsku analitiku klasičnim metodama primjerena je primjena priznatih ...standardiziranih protokola i propisanih visoko selektivnih tekućih i/ili krutih hranjivih podloga. Nakon porasta karakterističnih kolonija radi određivanja vrste kampilobaktera primjenjuju se mikroskopski, fenotipski, biokemijski, imunozimski testovi, rezistotipizacija i/ili metoda masene spektrometrije. Za razlikovanje sojeva kampilobaktera postoje dvije klasične metode serotipizacije. Do sada je razvijen znatan broj PCR protokola usmjerenih prema otkrivanju Campylobacter roda, vrste ili podvrste, bilo iz uzoraka hrane, okoliša ili izmeta. Glavne prednosti PCR metoda su u njihovoj brzini, osjetljivosti i specifičnosti, a nedostatak PCR metodologije je u tome što ne razlikuje žive od mrtvih stanica, zbog čega se razvijaju novi protokoli bazirani na RT-PCR, NASBA i QRT- PCR molekularnim metodama.
Mycobacterium celatum, a slowly growing potentially pathogenic mycobacterium first described in humans, is regarded as an uncommon cause of human infection, though capable of inducing invasive ...disease in immunocompromised hosts. According to some reports, a serious disease due to M. celatum may also occur in individuals with no apparent immunodeficiency. In animals, an M. celatum-related disease has been described in three cases only: twice in a domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) and once in a white-tailed trogon (Trogon viridis). In this paper, we report the first detection of M. celatum in a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). A nation-wide overview of human M. celatum infections recorded in Slovenia between 2000 and 2010 is also given. Pulmonary disease due to M. celatum was recognized in one patient with a history of a preexisting lung disease.
Tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium africanum was diagnosed in an adult female hyrax (Procavia capensis). Pathologic examination revealed disseminated tuberculous lesions. The same pathologic changes ...were also found in a male hyrax that died a year later. Both animals were imported from the United Arab Emirates and were held in captivity at the Zagreb Zoo in Croatia. The source of infection remains unknown. The acid-fast bacteria isolated from the lungs of the female hyrax were identifyed by polymerase chain reaction as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Geno Type® MTBC test confirmed the strain to be M. africanum I.
PDF
