Klemens Fuchs

Toxocara-infestations in Austria: a study on the risk of infection of farmers, slaughterhouse staff, hunters and veterinarians

A total of 585 persons from several occupational groups (farmers, slaughterhouse staff, hunters, veterinarians) exposed to Toxocara infestations and 50 persons of a control group were tested for the presence of specific antibodies to the Toxocara canis antigen using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a western blot. Farmers showed the highest seroprevalence (44%), followed by veterinarians (27%), slaughterhouse staff (25%) and hunters (17%), whereas only 2% of the individuals of the control group were seropositive. Thus, the risk to Toxocara infestation is 39, 18, 16 and 9 times higher for farmers, veterinarians, slaughterhouse staff (some workers were part-time farmers) and for hunters, respectively, when compared to the control group. The main source of infection in rural areas seems to be (roaming) farm cats and dogs that have not been dewormed. The results are discussed with a view to potential risk factors and preventive measures, in terms of veterinary and human medicine.

Prevalence of Swine Influenza and Other Viral, Bacterial, and Parasitic Zoonoses in Veterinarians

been carried out among them. Therefore, we initiated a seroepidePrevalence of Swine Influenza and Other Viral, Bacterial, miologic study that was completed recently. Our results, which and Parasitic Zoonoses in Veterinarians were obtained in central Europe, confirm the zoonotic potential of swine influenza virus, as indicated by Wentworth et al. [1], and To the Editor—Wentworth et al. [1] recently described the transextend this potential to other agents. mission of swine influenza virus to humans after exposure to experDuring a veterinary meeting in May 1995, 137 veterinarians imentally infected pigs. Human infections with influenza A viruses from the state of Styria in Austria agreed to participate in this of the H1N1 subtype are seldom found today (e.g., all influenza study. The mean age of the participants was 41 years (range, 24– A isolates in the United States in the 1996–1997 season were of 72), and 22% were women. The participants represented 52% of the H3N2 subtype [2]); however, the H1N1 subtype is widespread the veterinarians practicing in Styria. They completed a questionin the swine population. In 1994, my colleagues and I conducted naire, and blood samples were obtained at that time. The sera were a study in several Austrian states and found that 24.5% of fattening coded and sent to the diagnostic laboratories, where they were pigs had antibodies to influenza A virus H1N1, and seropositive tested for antibodies to a variety of known and potential viral, animals were found on 41% of the farms [3]. This indicates a bacterial, and parasitic zoonotic agents. The serologic results were large reservoir for possible human infections, which is especially correlated with the statements in the questionnaire and analyzed important because a relatively high percentage of the documented statistically. human H1N1 infections have been fatal (references summarized In this study, 8.8% of the veterinarians had antibodies to influin [1]). enza A virus H1N1. This percentage is much higher than the Even though veterinarians are frequently exposed to swine influenza virus and other zoonotic agents, no detailed studies have average prevalence for the infection, and a statistically significant

Serum amyloid A in the serum and milk of ewes with mastitis induced experimentally with Staphylococcus epidermidis

Mastitis was induced experimentally in ewes with Staphylococcus epidermidis, and the concentrations of serum amyloid A (sAA) in milk and serum, and the somatic cell counts and bacteria in the milk were determined for up to 10 weeks in two experiments, each examining five infected and five control ewes. The somatic cell counts peaked eight hours after infection and preceded an increase in sAA in milk. A maximum concentration of 6460 μg/ml SAA was recorded in milk from the infected sheep, compared with a mean concentration of 1.4 μg/ml in the control sheep. The mean peak concentration of sAA in serum (206.8 μg/mI) occurred earlier (one day after infection) than in milk. The serum concentration of SAA in the healthy animals ranged from 0 to 29.4 μg/ml. There was no correlation between the concentrations of sAA in serum and milk.

Dynamics of experimentally induced Staphylococcus epidermidis mastitis in East Friesian milk ewes

The responses of five lactating East Friesian milk ewes to experimental mammary infection with Staphylococcus epidermidis and of five control ewes were examined over a period of 10 weeks. Infection caused an influx of neutrophils into milk, the numbers of which started to rise 4 h post infection and peaked 24 h after infection. The initial response was accompanied by mild fever and mild leucopaenia in blood (8 h after infection). No other signs of systemic infection were observed. Milk appeared normal at all times, although the milk yield of infected ewes tended to decline. Staphylococci were absent in milk from four ewes at 2 d and at 3 d after infection, but re-emerged intermittently in four of five ewes at subsequent samplings. Cytokines in milk were measured by ELISA. IL-8 was elevated in infected glands at 2 h and peaked at 8 h. In the four ewes intermittently shedding bacteria, IL-8 remained elevated until the final sampling at 10 weeks. IL-1beta was transiently elevated at 1 d and 2 d and showed a pronounced peak in one sheep. Milk samples from this ewe were bacteriologically negative, somatic cell count (SCC) was within the normal range and the concentrations of IL-1beta, as well as IL-8, were similiar to the control group (n=5) from 1 week after infection until the final sampling. Histological examination revealed leucocytic infiltrates in the four glands remaining infected at the end of the experiment, and a high level of CD5+ lymphocytes in three ewes. The results suggest that the relationship between the initial neutrophil influx and the proinflammatory cytokines may be responsible for determining the course of infection. Subclinical mastitis due to coagulase-negative staphylococci leads to minor changes in milk yield and milk constituents.

Effects of periparturient systemic treatment with penethamate hydriodide on udder health and milk yield of dairy heifers

Sixty dairy heifers from seven Austrian herds, with high prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis, were used in this pilot study. Heifers were randomly allocated to two groups. The treatment group received at parturition intramuscularly 10 million i.u. of penethamate hydriodide and then 24 h later, 5 million i.u.; the control group received no treatment. Bacteriological examination was conducted on 7, 14, 21, 35 and 49 d post partum (pp) and milk yield data, fat and protein contents and SCC data were collected every 5th week for the first 200 d of lactation. Occurrence of retained placenta and endometritis were recorded, and the days open of both groups were compared. No effect was observed on the postparturient genital tract health and reproduction indicators. On day 7 pp, four intramammary infections (IMI; two severe clinical; one mild clinical; and one subclinical mastitis) were detected in the untreated control group, whereas there were no IMI in the antibiotic-treated group. At subsequent samplings, there were fewer IMI in the antibiotic-treated group, which were later in lactation, less severe and less persistent. Although SCC was numerically lower in the treatment group, significant differences in SCC between groups could not be detected. Antibiotic-treated heifers produced significantly more milk during the first 15 weeks of lactation than untreated heifers. Over the whole observation period (200 d), peripartum antibiotic-treated heifers produced 323 kg more milk than heifers in the untreated control. Periparturient antibiotic treatment of heifers with penethamate hydriodide prevented IMI during the first week after parturition and achieved a significant increase in milk yield, which was found to be economically beneficial.

Echinococcosis — An Emerging Disease in Farmers

To the Editor: Two echinococcus species — Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus — are known to exist in central Europe and to cause alveolar and cystic echinococcosis, respectively, in huma...

Bayesian approach to calculate sample size for the examination of animals for the presence of residues

Abstract The Council of the European Economic Communities has issued a directive (86/469/EEC) for the examination of animals and fresh meat for the presence of residues of several hormones, drugs and environmental pollutants. The purpose of this paper is to compare the method used by the EEC with a Bayesian approach (which is based on prior information) to calculate necessary sample size, using an example of residues of drugs in pork in the Austrian state of Styria. The Bayesian approach requires smaller sample sizes for all levels of inspection.

Antimicrobial consumption on Austrian dairy farms: an observational study of udder disease treatments based on veterinary medication records

Background Antimicrobial use in livestock production is an important contemporary issue, which is of public interest worldwide. Antimicrobials are not freely available to Austrian farmers and can only be administered to livestock by veterinarians, or by farmers who are trained members of the Animal Health Service. Since 2015, veterinarians have been required by law to report antimicrobials dispensed to farmers for use in food-producing animals. The study presented here went further than the statutory framework, and collected data on antimicrobials dispensed to farmers and those administered by veterinarians. Methods Seventeen veterinary practices were enrolled in the study via convenience sampling. These veterinarians were asked to contact interested dairy farmers regarding participation in the study (respondent-driven sampling). Data were collected from veterinary practice software between 1st October 2015 and 30th September 2016. Electronic data (89.4%) were transferred via an online interface and paper records (10.6%) were entered by the authors. Antimicrobial treatments with respect to udder disease were analysed by number of defined daily doses per cow and year (nDDDvet/cow/year), based on the European Medicines Agency technical unit, Defined Daily Dose for animals (DDDvet). Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to analyse the results. Results Antimicrobial use data from a total of 248 dairy farms were collected during the study, 232 of these farms treated cows with antibiotics; dry cow therapy was excluded from the current analysis. The mean number of DDDvet/cow/year for the antimicrobial treatment of all udder disease was 1.33 DDDvet/cow/year. Of these treatments, 0.73 DDDvet/cow/year were classed as highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIAs), according to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition. The Wilcoxon rank sum test determined a statistically significant difference between the median number of DDDvet/cow/year for acute and chronic mastitis treatment (W = 10,734, p < 0.001). The most commonly administered antimicrobial class for the treatment of acute mastitis was beta-lactams. Intramammary penicillin was used at a mean of 0.63 DDDvet/cow/year, followed by the third generation cephalosporin, cefoperazone, (a HPCIA) at 0.60 DDDvet/cow/year. Systemic antimicrobial treatments were used at a lower overall level than intramammary treatments for acute mastitis. Discussion This study demonstrated that Austrian dairy cows in the study population were treated with antimicrobial substances for udder diseases at a relatively low frequency, however, a substantial proportion of these treatments were with substances considered critically important for human health. While it is vital that sick cows are treated, reductions in the overall use of antimicrobials, and critically important substances in particular, are still possible.

Cluster Analysis Using Spatial Autocorrelation

This paper deals with a new method of constructing homogenous clusters of geographical regions taking spatial autocorrelation into account. Overall variograms are calculated to represent the individual variograms describing each of the measured variables. A modified distance matrix is then determined based on the overall variogram and accounting for geographical distances between the centroids of the regions as well as for the angles between them. The clustering solution based on this procedure gives better results than other conventional techniques.