Márcia Regina Loiko

Assessing the epidemiological data of Staphylococcus aureus food poisoning occurred in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil

Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most frequent foodborne illnesses worldwide and it is caused by the ingestion of food contaminated with enterotoxins produced by some strains of Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. In the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Southern Brazil, S. aureus has been identified as the second most frequent agent of foodborne illnesses in the last two decades. The aim of the present study was to assess and analyse the epidemiological data of S. aureus food poisoning occurred in the State of RS during the years of 2000 to 2002. The official records of epidemiological investigations carried out by the Sanitary Surveillance Services of the State of RS were analysed. Among foodborne outbreaks for which aetiology was determined, S. aureus was identified as the responsible agent of 57 foodborne outbreaks, being 42 (74%) confirmed by microbiological analyses and 15 (26%) confirmed by clinical symptoms and/or epidemiological data. Staphylococcal outbreaks were responsible for the exposition of 5,991 persons, of which 1,940 (32%) were interviewed by the Sanitary Surveillance officers. The most affected age group corresponded to people with 20 to 49 years old (48%), where men (48%) and women (52%) were affected similarly. The main involved food vehicles were meats servings (35%), followed by pastries (25%), cheese (23%), pasta (11%) and potato salad with homemade mayonnaise (11%). The majority of the outbreaks occurred inside private homes (33%) followed by commercial food establishments (28%). Inadequate control of temperature and failures in general hygiene practices were identified as the main factors responsible for the outbreaks. In conclusion, S. aureus was an important food poisoning etiological agent in the State of RS during 2000 to 2002 and its prevention depends on control measures involving different parts of the food chain.

Food safety in raw milk production: risk factors associated to bacterial DNA contamination.

While human illness from milkborne pathogens may be linked to contamination of the product after pasteurization or improper pasteurization, such diseases are usually associated with consumption of raw milk or its by-products. Molecular biology tools were applied to investigate contamination by Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., some pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, and Campylobacter jejuni in 548 raw milk samples from 125 dairy farms established in two regions from southern Brazil. Moreover, 15 variables were evaluated for their association with raw milk contamination levels, and the risk factors were determined by multiple regression analysis. Salmonella spp. were more frequently detected, followed by pathogenic E. coli. There was difference in contamination index between the regions, in which risk factors such as temporary cattle confinement, low milk production, low milking machine cleaning frequency, and milk storage area without tile walls were identified. The risk factors were specific to each region studied. Nevertheless, the data can be used to improve milk quality of dairy farms/herds with similar management practices.

Faecal virome of healthy chickens reveals a large diversity of the eukaryote viral community, including novel circular ssDNA viruses

This study is focused on the identification of the faecal virome of healthy chickens raised in high-density, export-driven poultry farms in Brazil. Following high-throughput sequencing, a total of 7743 de novo-assembled contigs were constructed and compared with known nucleotide/amino acid sequences from the GenBank database. Analyses with blastx revealed that 279 contigs (4 %) were related to sequences of eukaryotic viruses. Viral genome sequences (total or partial) indicative of members of recognized viral families, including Adenoviridae, Caliciviridae, Circoviridae, Parvoviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Picornaviridae and Reoviridae, were identified, some of those representing novel genotypes. In addition, a range of circular replication-associated protein encoding DNA viruses were also identified. The characterization of the faecal virome of healthy chickens described here not only provides a description of the viruses encountered in such niche but should also represent a baseline for future studies comparing viral populations in healthy and diseased chicken flocks. Moreover, it may also be relevant for human health, since chickens represent a significant proportion of the animal protein consumed worldwide.

Mycobacterium bovis infection in a collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu): insights on tuberculosis wild reservoirs.

Bovine tuberculosis is a zoonotic disease caused mainly nfection with Mycobacterium bovis (Michel et al., 2010). disease represents a risk to human health and is ponsible for high economic losses to the cattle industry, n in developed countries (Parra et al., 2008). The main y of tuberculosis control and eradication is based on a tem of diagnosis and slaughter of infected animals arez et al., 2012), but this practice is hampered by the stence of wild reservoirs such as skunks, badgers, and r, among others (Taylor et al., 2007). In this report we ntified M. bovis as the causative agent of death of a ared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) in southern Brazil. An adult collared peccary (CP) from a conservation eding located in southern Brazil died after showing a onic condition characterized by respiratory distress and gressive wasting. The CP was kept with other 20 from ame specie in an area of approximately 2000 m, which s delimited by a wire screen and covered by vegetation, provided with no roof. When the animal presented ical disease, it was kept in a covered stall. Additional mals in the farm included cattle, white-lipped peccs, deer, capybaras, agouti, coatis, pacas and birds. mals kept close to the collared peccaries were cattle, us and capybaras. The source of water consumed by st of the animals in the farm was the same and itional six collared peccaries had died previously with similar clinical disease; however, no laboratory testing had been done to identify those ailments. At necropsy, CP lungs showed caseous lesions, which were sampled for isolation of Mycobacterium using the Petroff method for decontamination as described by De Kantor et al. (1998b). Next, the sample was inoculated on Löwenstein-Jensen and Stonebrink media and incubated at 37 8C for primary isolation (Corner, 1994). After 4 weeks, colonies with characteristic growth patterns of Mycobacterium were detected. A culture smear was stained with Ziehl–Neelsen technique (De Kantor et al., 1998a) and revealed acid-fast bacilli (Fig. 1A). The identity of M. bovis was confirmed from a bacterial loop through molecular analysis as described hereafter. A lung sample was fixed in neutral-buffered formalin for 48 h, and processed following standard procedures for histopathology. The analysis evidenced granulomatous pneumonia with prominent caseous necrosis and islands of mineralization. There were epithelioid macrophages and multinucleated giant cells surrounding necrosis, mixed with lymphocytes clusters (Fig. 1B). DNA was extracted from lungs as described by Singh et al. (2000) and quantified at Nanodrop 1000 (Thermo Scientific, USA). About 200 ng were used as template. First, a screening PCR, as described by Gómez-Laguna et al. (2010), differentiate between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium complexes. The sample was positive for M. tuberculosis complex. Then, primers (Forward: BoF: 50 CCTTCCGCACACCGTTCAG 30 and

Genotypic and antimicrobial characterization of pathogenic bacteria at different stages of cattle slaughtering in southern Brazil

Meat can be contaminated in different stages of the slaughtering process and the identification of these stages is the starting point to implement adequate control measures. The objectives of this study were to assess the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in cattle carcasses, to identify the most important contamination points of the slaughtering process, and to evaluate the possible risk factors related to them in a cattle slaughterhouse. To this aim, 108 cattle carcasses were sampled at three stages of the slaughtering process: Point 1 (hides after bleeding); Point 2 (carcasses after hide removal); and Point 3 (carcasses immediately after division). Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Livingstone were isolated from the carcasses. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization indicated that there was cross-contamination among animals, since bacteria with identical genotypic and phenotypic profiles were isolated from different animals at the same sampling day. Furthermore, this is the first report about the isolation of E. coli O157:H7 in a bovine slaughterhouse from southern Brazil.

Genome sequence of bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 (BuHV1) isolated in Australia in 1972

Bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 (BuHV1) is a member of the family Herpesviridae, subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae, genus Varicellovirus. To date, no full genome sequence of BuHV has been published. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of bubaline alphaherpesvirus 1 (BuHV1) strain b6 (BuHV1-b6), isolated from a water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in 1972 in Australia. The virus was multiplied in MDBK cells, and the DNA was extracted and subjected to high-throughput sequencing. The reads were aligned and combined into a single genome sequence, with bovine alphaherpesvirus 5 (BoHV5) strain SV507/99 (accession number NC005261) as a reference. The BuHV1-b6 genome is a linear double-stranded DNA molecule, 137,452 bp long, with a GC content of 76.8%. The genome consists of two unique sequences: a long, or UL, sequence (103,818 bp) and a short, or US, sequence (9,586 bp), with the latter being flanked by inverted IR and TR elements of 12,024 bp each. The arrangement is typical of herpesvirus genomes of the D-type. The overall sequence has a 92.2% similarity at the nucleotide level to the reference BoHV5 strain. Our report provides a significant landmark in the history of herpesviruses, represented by the genome sequence of this 44-year-old virus isolate.

Correction to: Columbid circoviruses detected in free ranging pigeons from Southern Brazil: insights on PiCV evolution

Unfortunately, the word “evolution” was found missing in title of the original article which is corrected here by this erratum. The original article has been corrected.