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Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants
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Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants

A special issue of Ruminants (ISSN 2673-933X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 9209

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Valentina Busin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Interests: food security, small ruminants; livestock production; point-of-care diagnostics; disease surveillance; anthelmintic resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disease diagnostics and surveillance is an area of crucial importance to ensure animal health and welfare and to guarantee the sustainable production of food from livestock populations. Disease diagnostics require a considerable background knowledge of disease etiology, epidemiology and clinical presentation to ensure that the most appropriate diagnostic tests are selected and their interpretation will truly aid the end-user in making informed and relevant decisions. Surveillance is an essential and dynamic tool, designed to provide information on the distribution and impact of animal diseases, ultimately aiding decision making and target efforts. Outstanding progresses have been made in both fields, however in this fast-changing world and with more constraints on resources than ever before, we need to improve collaboration across sectors and make the best use of our amazing and international expertise.

We are pleased to invite you, your colleagues and your collaborators to take part in this mission and therefore positively impact on ruminants health.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest high-quality research to improve disease diagnostics and surveillance in ruminants, to report on the most recent progress in these fields and to provide insight into future directions.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Development and/or evaluation of new diagnostic tests;
  • Modern technologies to improve the performance of diagnostic tests;
  • Translation of lab-based into point-of-care testing;
  • Enhancement and best use of available surveillance data;
  • New sources of surveillance data;
  • Application of surveillance data for disease control.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Animals.

Dr. Valentina Busin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Ruminants is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ruminants
  • disease diagnostics
  • point-of-care testing
  • molecular diagnostic methods
  • epidemiology
  • surveillance
  • animal health

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2682 KiB  
Article
The Cattle Trading Network and Its Effect on the Spread of Brucellosis in Paraná, Brazil
by Diego Leonardo Rodrigues, Nelly Marquetoux, José Henrique de Hildebrand Grisi Filho and José Soares Ferreira Neto
Ruminants 2023, 3(3), 202-213; https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3030019 - 25 Aug 2023
Viewed by 608
Abstract
This study analyzed the cattle trade network in Paraná, Brazil, for the years 2018 and 2019 to identify potential movement patterns that could contribute to the spread of brucellosis among farms. The brucellosis statuses of 1757 farms were incorporated into the analysis. Network [...] Read more.
This study analyzed the cattle trade network in Paraná, Brazil, for the years 2018 and 2019 to identify potential movement patterns that could contribute to the spread of brucellosis among farms. The brucellosis statuses of 1757 farms were incorporated into the analysis. Network parameters of farms with a known brucellosis infection status were statistically compared between infected and non-infected farms using traditional techniques and the quadratic assignment procedure. A multilinear regression model (MLR) was used to consider known risk factors for brucellosis infection in conjunction with the network parameters. The cattle trade network in Paraná during the study period comprised 115,296 farms linked by 608,807 cattle shipments. The movement pattern was marked by a high concentration of movements to and from a small percentage of farms. The existence of such highly connected farms could facilitate the transmission of communicable diseases via the cattle trade in Paraná. The trading communities in Paraná exhibited a spatial pattern, with proximate farms more likely to engage in trade. Brucellosis-infected farms traded more frequently than non-infected farms (odds ratio [OR] 3.61), supplied cattle to other farms more often than the regional average (OR 2.12), and received more cattle (OR 2.78). The in-degree and out-degree were associated with brucellosis infection on the farm. The mean shortest path between infected farms was significantly shorter than that between non-infected farms (4.14 versus 4.49, p = 0.004, OR 1.39). In the MLR, a higher out-degree was positively associated with infected farms after accounting for previously identified risk factors. This novel information offers insights into the factors driving the current endemic situation in the study area and can inform the development of targeted animal health policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants)
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7 pages, 280 KiB  
Communication
Anti-Leptospira Antibodies in Buffaloes on Marajó Island
by José Diomedes Barbosa, Fernanda Monik Silva Martins, Eliel Valentim Vieira, Ruama Paixão de Lima Silva, Henrique dos Anjos Bomjardim, Marcos Xavier Silva and Felipe Masiero Salvarani
Ruminants 2023, 3(3), 182-188; https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3030017 - 11 Jul 2023
Viewed by 757
Abstract
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that has a cosmopolitan geographical distribution, reported in domestic and wild animals, which act as reservoirs and contribute to the spread of microorganisms in the environment. In Brazil, studies on the occurrence of leptospirosis in buffaloes in the [...] Read more.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that has a cosmopolitan geographical distribution, reported in domestic and wild animals, which act as reservoirs and contribute to the spread of microorganisms in the environment. In Brazil, studies on the occurrence of leptospirosis in buffaloes in the Amazon Biome are scarce. The objective of this study was to determine the occurrences of antibodies against Leptospira spp., including serovar Hardjo (Bolivia), isolated from cattle in Brazil and not yet tested in buffaloes. A total of 387 blood serum samples of animals from nine municipalities on Marajó Island, State of Pará, northern Brazil, were obtained from a biological sample bank and analyzed using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Serology revealed 91.5% (387/354) of the animals tested positive for anti-Leptospira antibodies. The presence of various detected serovars may have been related to the local practice of combined rearing of different livestock species, as well as to the contact with wild animals and rodents from adjacent forest areas, all factors that likely facilitated the epidemiological chain of the disease in buffaloes. Among the serovars tested, the serovar Hardjo (Bolivia) was the most prevalent, which was present in 79.3% of the reactive buffaloes. It was important to carry out serological and bacteriological surveys in order to identify the serovars that occurred in the herds, with the objective of designing efficient strategies to control leptospirosis in the production of buffaloes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants)
12 pages, 1849 KiB  
Article
A Study into the Identity, Patterns of Infection and Potential Pathological Effects of Rumen Fluke and the Frequency of Co-Infections with Liver Fluke in Cattle and Sheep
by Valentina Busin, Eilidh Geddes, Gordon Robertson, Gillian Mitchell, Philip Skuce, Katie Waine, Caroline Millins and Andrew Forbes
Ruminants 2023, 3(1), 27-38; https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3010004 - 25 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2086
Abstract
Rumen fluke (RF) are trematode parasites that have increased in prevalence within European ruminant livestock since the 1990s. Morbidity and mortality can result from the development of juvenile flukes in the duodenum, however, evidence for significant impacts of adult fluke in the rumen [...] Read more.
Rumen fluke (RF) are trematode parasites that have increased in prevalence within European ruminant livestock since the 1990s. Morbidity and mortality can result from the development of juvenile flukes in the duodenum, however, evidence for significant impacts of adult fluke in the rumen of the final host is equivocal. The presence of rumen fluke in Scotland had not previously been quantified, so the purpose of this study was to use historical coprological data collected between 2008 and 2018 at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Glasgow to evaluate the frequency of rumen fluke infection and to compare this with the presence of liver fluke. This analysis showed evidence of adult rumen fluke in 6.6% of samples submitted, with a substantial and significant increase in positive diagnoses from 2016, following which positive rumen fluke diagnoses equaled or slightly outnumbered those of liver fluke. A prospective post-mortem examination study was also carried out to determine the presence of rumen and liver fluke in cattle and sheep, to quantify adult rumen fluke burdens and to assess any pathological changes in the reticulorumen and proximal duodenum associated with infection. The presence of rumen fluke in post-mortem cases was 26.9% (n = 18/67), the majority (66.7%, n = 12/18) with burdens of less than 100 adult rumen flukes. There was no significant difference in mean ruminal papillar density and length in animals with and without adult rumen fluke and no significant gross pathology was observed in the rumen or reticulum. Examination of animals with adult rumen fluke provided no evidence of any consistent associations with acute or chronic inflammatory changes in the duodenum. All rumen fluke collected at necropsy were identified by PCR and sequencing as Calicophoron daubneyi. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants)
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9 pages, 900 KiB  
Communication
Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Ovine Serum Samples—A Retrospective Study
by Wiebke Rubel, Martin Ganter and Benjamin Ulrich Bauer
Ruminants 2022, 2(3), 351-359; https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants2030024 - 7 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1194
Abstract
Tick-borne fever in sheep is caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum and this obligate intracellular bacterium multiplies mostly in neutrophil granulocytes of its host. In Europe, the pathogen is mainly transmitted by the tick species Ixodes ricinus. Data on the dissemination of A. phagocytophilum in [...] Read more.
Tick-borne fever in sheep is caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum and this obligate intracellular bacterium multiplies mostly in neutrophil granulocytes of its host. In Europe, the pathogen is mainly transmitted by the tick species Ixodes ricinus. Data on the dissemination of A. phagocytophilum in the German sheep population are scarce. Hence, this pilot study aimed to investigate the presence of A. phagocytophilum in ovine serum samples retrospectively. The use of sera is beneficial because the specimens are available in large numbers and usually stored over a long period of time. Ten sheep flocks located in five federal states of Germany (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein) were included in the investigations, due to the high intra-flock seroprevalence (>63%) of antibodies against the Anaplasma species. In total, 357 serum samples from seropositive sheep were analysed by 16S rRNA real-time PCR. DNA of A. phagocytophilum was detected in two ewes from the same farm in the northern German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and represented an overall detection rate of 0.6%. Serum samples can be used to determine A. phagocytophilum, but sensitivity might be reduced in comparison to whole blood samples. Moreover, the sampling time may influence the detection of A. phagocytophilum in sheep, due to the seasonal pattern of tick activity in Germany. Our results support the findings of previous studies and demonstrate that A. phagocytophilum is also present in sheep from northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants)
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Review

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21 pages, 6944 KiB  
Review
Phosphorus for Cattle and Buffaloes in Brazil: Clinical Signs and Diagnosis of Its Deficiency and Relevance, and Recommended Strategies to Alleviate Issues Observed under Grazing Conditions
by Pedro Malafaia, José Diomedes Barbosa, Marilene Farias Brito, Vinícius Carneiro de Souza and Diogo Fleury Azevedo Costa
Ruminants 2023, 3(1), 55-75; https://doi.org/10.3390/ruminants3010006 - 3 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3772
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) deficiency impairs productivity of ruminants and is the most expensive mineral used in supplements for cattle and buffalo under Brazilian grazing conditions. There is a need for the rational use of P, particularly under extensive grazing conditions, as this mineral resource [...] Read more.
Phosphorus (P) deficiency impairs productivity of ruminants and is the most expensive mineral used in supplements for cattle and buffalo under Brazilian grazing conditions. There is a need for the rational use of P, particularly under extensive grazing conditions, as this mineral resource is expensive and the world’s supplies are exhaustible. The diagnosis of P deficiency must start with careful and detailed history taking, followed by clinical examination of the herd and the use of ancillary tests. The latter are complementary to the diagnosis; they should be neither the first nor the most important steps when conducting a professional diagnosis. The indication of corrective or prophylactic measures necessarily involves the correct diagnosis of P deficiency (in herds), whether it be clinical or subclinical. This review discusses the main aspects related to P for cattle and buffaloes under grazing conditions in Brazil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance in Ruminants)
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