Oral and Poster Abstracts

paratuberculosis programmes, and to provide an update on the
results of the BMQAP.
Key words: paratuberculosis, certification, surveillance, milk
quality
14 Mycobacterium Avium Paratuberculosis Invades the Human
Gut Epithelium and Elicits Local Inflammatory Response -
Implications for the Pathogenesis of Crohn’s Disease
N. Shpigel 1 , L. Golan 1 , A. Livneh 1 , I. Rosenshine 2
1
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Koret School of Veterinary
Medicine, Rehovot, Israel
1
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Medicine,
Jerusalem, Israel
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic debilitating inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) of unknown etiology whose incidence is on the rise worldwide.
Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is the etiology of
inflammatory bowel disease of ruminants, which bears similarity to human
Crohn’s disease (CD). The role of MAP in CD is highly controversial, it
was found in the gut and blood of CD patients, but causality was not
established. To this end we tested the hypothesis that MAP can colonize
the normal human gut and elicit inflammation and tissue damage. Fully
developed, germ-free human small intestine and colon were established by
subcutaneous transplantation of human fetal gut into SCID mice. A total of
83 intestinal xenografts originating from 9 different fetal donors were
allowed to develop for 3-4 months and thereafter were infected by direct
intraluminal inoculation of a bovine strain of MAP. Using
immunohistochemical methods we have found that in all human donors
MAP actively invaded the human gut epithelium, with specific tropism to
the goblet cells of the small intestine. In 3 out of 9 human donors, invading
MAP induced severe tissue damage and inflammation characterised by
massive recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils into the gut mucosa
producing high levels of IL1, TNF and IL6. These observations implicate
that MAP can specifically colonize the normal human small intestine and
elicits inflammation and severe mucosal damage. Goblet cell infection by
MAP might play a key role in the pathogenesis of CD. Furthermore, this
mouse model will enable to analyze MAP virulence mechanisms in the
human gut and possible involvement of MAP in CD.
Key words: paratuberculosis, Crohn’s disease, xenografts
15 Isolation and Characterization of Verocytotoxin-producing
Escherichia coli O157 from Turkish Cattle
O. Aslantas 1 , S. Erdogan 1 , Z. Cantekin 1 , I. Gulacti 2 , G. Evrendilek 3
1 Mustafa Kemal University, Microbiology, Antakya, Turkey
2 Firat Univesity, Department of Virology, Elazig, Turkey
3 Mustafa Kemal University, Food hygiene and Quality Control
Department, Antakya, Turkey
The objective of this study was to collect rectal swabs from the cattle in
a slaughterhouse located in Hatay (Turkey) immediately after slaughter
for the isolation and characterization of verotoxin-producing
Escherichia coli 0157 in each month during a 1-year period. The rectal
swab samples were analyzed for the isolation of E. coli 0157 through
pre-enrichment, immunomagnetic separation and selective plating on
CT-SMAC agar. E. coli 0157 was isolated from 77 (13.6%) of the
samples. The presence of E. coli 0157 changed during a 1-year period,
in that the occurrence of E. coli 0157 was the highest in July and
November and lowest in February. A total of 66 isolates out of 77 were
seroytpe 0157:H7 and 11 were serotype 0157:NM. PCR analysis of E.
coli 0157 virulence genes revealed that all 0157:H7/NM were positive
for rbf(O157), 74 positive for EhlyA, 72 positive for eaeA, 62 positive
for vtx2, and 3 positive for both vtx1 and vtx2. It was presented by
cytotoxicity tests that many of E. coli 0157 isolates showed high
cytotoxicity on Vero cells. All of the isolates containing EhlyA showed
enterohaemolysin production.
Key words: Escherichia coli O157, Turkey, cattle, IMS, PCR
16 A Seroepidemiological Study of Bovine Leptospirosis in
Bouyer Ahmad District, Western Iran
E. Rahimikia 1 , G. Abdollahpour 2 , E. Mostafavi 3
1
Faculty of Agriculture, Azad University of Yasooj, Animal Science,
Yasooj, Iran
2
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Clinical
Science, Tehran, Iran
3 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran,
Epidemiology, Tehran, Iran
Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic members of
the genus Leptospira. It affects both man and animal worldwide resulting
in high morbidity and mortality. Infection in domestic animals especially
castles can lead to economic loss and pose a potential spread to the
communities. A serological study was conducted in order to investigate
the present status of Leptospirosis in cattle in Bouyer Ahmad district in
western Iran during June to October 2006. A total of 236 samples were
collected randomly from indigenous cattle of different age and sex; and
were tested for antibodies against 6 different Leptospira interrogans
serovars (Gripptyphosa, Icterrohamoragia, Canicola, Hardjo, Ballum
and Pomona) using a microscopic agglutination test (MAT). The results
of this study showed that 30 (12.7%) of the samples had a positive
reaction against one or more serovars. The most prevalent Leptospira
serovar were Gripptyphosa (7.2%), Canicola (1.7%), Icterrohamoragia
and Hardjo (1.3%). The less prevalent Leptospira serovar (0.4%) was
Pomona. In this survey association between serum positive samples and
exposure to rodents or dogs was statistically significant (P < 0.05). This
prevalence study indicated there is a high prevalence of Leptospirosis in
this region. Control of this disease consists of implementing biosecurity
measures, use of antibiotics to clear carrier states and use of effective
vaccines.
Key words: seroepidemiology, leptospirosis, cattle, Bouyer Ahmad,
Iran
46 Isolation of Clostridium difficile from Veal Calves
L. Arroyo 1 , A. Van Dreumel 2 , R. Lothrop 4 , H. Staempfli 3 , J. Weese 1
1
Ontario Veterinary College, Department of Pathobiology, Guelph,
Canada
2
University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
3
Ontario Veterinary College, Clinical Studies, Guelph, Canada
4
Private, Cambridge, Canada
Clostridium difficile is an important enteropathogen in humans and some
domestic animals. It has been isolated and its toxin(s) detected in feces of
diarrheic and non-diarrheic dairy calves, yet its role as a cause of disease
in veal calves has not been investigated. This study describes the
pathological findings of suspected C. difficile-associated gastroenteritis in
veal calves and characterizes C. difficile isolates obtained from veal
calves. Six calves were submitted for necropsy examination from a veal
farm. Gastrointestinal contents were screened for pathogens associated
with calf diarrhea, including enterotoxigenic E. coli, Salmonella spp. C.
perfringens, viruses and parasites. Samples from 2 calves were cultured
for C. difficile. Samples were tested for C. difficile toxins A/B and C.
perfringens enterotoxin using an ELISA and C. difficile toxins were
detected in all cases. No other pathogens were identified. Gross lesions
were similar in all cases and consisted of fibrinous enteritis, colonic
edema, hemorrhagic enterocolitis, dehydration, and pulmonary
congestion and edema. Histologically, there were focal areas of mucosal
erosion and fibrino-cellular exudates, with colonies of clostridia-like
bacilli in the lumen and on the mucosal surfaces of the small intestine and
abomasum. There was transmural edema and focal areas of hemorrhage in
the lamina propria, with congested and thrombosed capillaries. Fecal
samples were collected at the farm from 24 diarrheic calves for C. difficile
culture. Three historic isolates recovered from diarrheic calves 4 years
earlier from the farm were also analyzed. PCR-ribotyping and screening
for genes encoding toxins A (tcdA), B (tcdB) and binary toxin (cdtB) were
performed. Clostridium difficile was isolated from the 2 initial calves and
22/24 (92%) diarrheic calves. Five toxigenic ribotypes were identified
from the 27 isolates. Sixteen (57%) possessed genes tcdA and tcdB, while
9 (32%) only possessed genes encoding tcdB and 2 (7.1%) possessed tcdB
and cdtB genes. Overall, genes encoding tcdA, tcdB and cdtB were present
in 16 (59%), 27 (100%) and 2 (7%) strains, respectively. Two ribotypes
accounted for 78% of isolates. This report supports the potential capacity
of C. difficile to colonize and cause disease in several animal species.
Further studies of diarrheic and normal veal calves are required to
elucidate the role of this pathogen as a cause of gastroenteritis and
diarrhea in veal calves.
47 Severe Outbreaks of Botulism in Cattle Herds in Flanders : 4
Case Reports
M. Goderis, M. Hostens, G. Opsomer
Ghent University, Dep Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health,
Merelbeke, Belgium
Infectious and Zoonotic Deseases (Public Health) 75