Evaluation of Aggregate Oral Fluid Sampling for Early Detection of African Swine Fever Virus Infection.

African swine fever (ASF) needs to be controlled, and prevention of the spread of African swine fever virus (ASFV) is dependent on enhanced surveillance and early disease detection. Commercial swine operations, especially in North America, Europe, and Asia, are characterized by comparatively large numbers of pigs, and sampling individual pigs, which represents the main strategy for current ASF surveillance, can be both costly and labor intensive. A study performed in Ghana was designed to estimate the diagnostic sensitivity of pen-based aggregate oral fluid testing for ASFV in infected pigs in a pen of 30 animals and to evaluate its utility as a tool to support surveillance of ASF in the US.

Emergence and interstate spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle in the United States.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses cross species barriers and have the potential to cause pandemics. In North America, HPAI A(H5N1) viruses related to the goose/Guangdong 2.3.

Phylogenetic analysis of Mycobacterium bovis reveals animal and zoonotic tuberculosis spread between Morocco and European countries.

Livestock production is a fundamental pillar of the Moroccan economy. Infectious diseases of cattle and other species represent a significant threat to the livestock industry, animal health, and food safety. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), mainly caused by Mycobacterium bovis, generates considerable direct and indirect economic losses, and an underestimated human health burden caused by zoonotic transmission.

vSNP: a SNP pipeline for the generation of transparent SNP matrices and phylogenetic trees from whole genome sequencing data sets.

Background: Several single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) pipelines exist, each offering its own advantages. Among them and described here is vSNP that has been developed over the past decade and is specifically tailored to meet the needs of diagnostic laboratories. Laboratories that aim to provide rapid whole genome sequencing results during outbreak investigations face unique challenges.

Inactivation of highly transmissible livestock and avian viruses including influenza A and Newcastle disease virus for molecular diagnostics.

There is a critical need for an inactivation method that completely inactivates pathogens at the time of sample collection while maintaining the nucleic acid quality required for diagnostic PCR testing. This inactivation method is required to alleviate concerns about transmission potential, minimize shipping complications and cost, and enable testing in lower containment laboratories, thereby enhancing disease diagnostics through improved turn-around time. This study evaluated a panel of 10 surrogate viruses that represent highly pathogenic animal diseases.

Effects of Pregnancy Prevention on Brucella abortus Shedding in American bison (Bison bison).

Products of parturition are the predominant source of Brucella abortus for transmission in bison (Bison bison). Our objective was to assess whether preventing pregnancy in Brucella-seropositive bison reduced B. abortus shedding.

Coxiella burnetii seroprevalence in domestic goat does in the United States: Prevalence, distribution, and associated risk factors.

Infection with the bacterium Coxiella burnetii can cause coxiellosis in animals and Q fever in humans. Coxiellosis a consistently underreported infectious disease. The infection can result in reproductive consequences for humans and animals.

The devil you know and the devil you don't: current status and challenges of bovine tuberculosis eradication in the United States.

Having entered into its second century, the eradication program for bovine tuberculosis (bTB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in the United States of America occupies a position both enviable and daunting. Excepting four counties in Michigan comprising only 6109 km (0.06% of US land area) classified as Modified Accredited, as of April 2022 the entire country was considered Accredited Free of bTB by the US Department of Agriculture for cattle and bison.

Use of Whole Genome Sequencing by the Federal Interagency Collaboration for Genomics for Food and Feed Safety in the United States.

Abstract: This multiagency report developed by the Interagency Collaboration for Genomics for Food and Feed Safety provides an overview of the use of and transition to whole genome sequencing (WGS) technology for detection and characterization of pathogens transmitted commonly by food and for identification of their sources. We describe foodborne pathogen analysis, investigation, and harmonization efforts among the following federal agencies: National Institutes of Health; Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in free-ranging white-tailed deer.

Humans have infected a wide range of animals with SARS-CoV-2, but the establishment of a new natural animal reservoir has not been observed. Here we document that free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are highly susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, are exposed to multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants from humans and are capable of sustaining transmission in nature. Using real-time PCR with reverse transcription, we detected SARS-CoV-2 in more than one-third (129 out of 360, 35.

Replication of Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus infection in swine.

Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (SEZ) is a commensal bacterium of horses and causes infections in mammalian species, including humans. Historically, virulent strains of SEZ caused high mortality in pigs in China and Indonesia, while disease in the U.S.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in free-ranging white-tailed deer ( ).

Unlabelled: Human-to-animal spillover of SARS-CoV-2 virus has occurred in a wide range of animals, but thus far, the establishment of a new natural animal reservoir has not been detected. Here, we detected SARS-CoV-2 virus using rRT-PCR in 129 out of 360 (35.8%) free-ranging white-tailed deer ( ) from northeast Ohio (USA) sampled between January-March 2021.

Whole-Genome SNP Analysis Identifies Putative Transmission Clusters in Livestock and Wildlife in Catalonia, Spain.

The high-resolution WGS analyses of MTBC strains have provided useful insight for determining sources of infection for animal tuberculosis. In Spain, tuberculosis in livestock is caused by and , where wildlife reservoirs play an important role. We analyzed a set of 125 isolates obtained from livestock and wildlife from Catalonia to investigate strain diversity and identify possible sources and/or causes of infection.

Whole Genome Sequencing Refines Knowledge on the Population Structure of from a Multi-Host Tuberculosis System.

Classical molecular analyses of based on spoligotyping and Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) brought the first insights into the epidemiology of animal tuberculosis (TB) in Portugal, showing high genotypic diversity of circulating strains that mostly cluster within the European 2 clonal complex. Previous surveillance provided valuable information on the prevalence and spatial occurrence of TB and highlighted prevalent genotypes in areas where livestock and wild ungulates are sympatric. However, links at the wildlife-livestock interfaces were established mainly via classical genotype associations.

Large-scale survey of prion protein genetic variability in scrapie disease-free goats from the United States.

Scrapie is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disease of small ruminants caused by an accumulation of an abnormal isoform of prion protein in the central nervous system. Polymorphisms of the prion protein gene (PRNP) strongly modulate scrapie resistance and incubation period in goats. The aim of this study was to identify PRNP genetic variability in goats across the United States.

Who infects whom?-Reconstructing infection chains of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in an endemically infected dairy herd by use of genomic data.

Recent evidence of circulation of multiple strains within herds and mixed infections of cows marks the beginning of a rethink of our knowledge on Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) epidemiology. Strain typing opens new ways to investigate MAP transmission.