Mastitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Mastitis, including details on symptoms, treatment, breast feeding.

Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens isolated from cattle in different European countries: 2002-2004.

Hendriksen RS, Mevius DJ, Schroeter A, Teale C, Meunier D, Butaye P, Franco A, Utinane A, Amado A, Moreno M, Greko C, Stark K, Berghold C, Myllyniemi AL, Wasyl D, Sunde M, Aarestrup FM

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The project "Antibiotic resistance in bacteria of animal origin - II" (ARBAO-II) was funded by the European Union (FAIR5-QLK2-2002-01146) for the period 2003-2005, with the aim to establish a continuous monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility among veterinary laboratories in European countries based on validated and harmonised methodologies. Available summary data of the susceptibility testing of the bacterial pathogens from the different laboratories were collected. METHOD: Antimicrobial susceptibility data for several bovine pathogens were obtained over a three year period (2002-2004). Each year the participating laboratories were requested to fill in excel-file templates with national summary data on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance from different bacterial species. A proficiency test (EQAS -external quality assurance system) for antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted each year to test the accuracy of antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the participating laboratories. The data from this testing demonstrated that for the species included in the EQAS the results are comparable between countries. RESULTS: Data from 25,241 isolates were collected from 13 European countries. For Staphylococcus aureus from bovine mastitis major differences were apparent in the occurrence of resistance between countries and between the different antimicrobial agents tested. The highest frequency of resistance was observed for penicillin. For Mannheimia haemolytica resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline and trimethoprim / sulphonamide were observed in France, the Netherlands and Portugal. All isolates of Pasteurella multocida isolated in Finland and most of those from Denmark, England (and Wales), Italy and Sweden were susceptible to the majority of the antimicrobials. Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Streptococcus uberis isolates from Sweden were fully susceptible. For the other countries some resistance was observed to tetracycline, gentamicin and erythromycin. More resistance and variation of the resistance levels between countries were observed for Escherichia coli compared to the other bacterial species investigated. CONCLUSION: In general, isolates from Denmark, England (and Wales), the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland showed low frequencies of resistance, whereas many isolates from Belgium, France, Italy, Latvia and Spain were resistant to most antimicrobials tested. In the future, data on the prevalence of resistance should be used to develop guidelines for appropriate antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine.

Published 9 July 2008 in Acta Vet Scand, 50(1): 28.
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Articles on Mastitis published 7 July 2008:

Use of primers based on the heat shock protein genes hsp70, hsp40, and hsp10, for the detection of bovine mastitis pathogens Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus uberis and Streptococcus bovis.   Mol Cell Probes.

Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, and Streptococcus bovis are three of the major pathogens which cause mastitis in dairy herds. Since conventional methods for the detection of these mastitis pathogens are laborious and time-consuming, rapid methods are needed. With an attempt to know if heat shock protein (HSP) genes other than HSP60 gene, could be used for PCR primer designing, in this study, we tried to design PCR primers based on the heat shock protein genes hsp70, hsp40, and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Staphylococcus aureus host specificity: comparative genomics of human versus animal isolates by multi-strain microarray.   Microbiology, 154: 1949-59.

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal and pathogen of several mammalian species, particularly humans and cattle. We aimed to (i) identify S. aureus genes associated with host specificity, (ii) determine the relatedness of human and animal isolates, and (iii) identify whether human and animal isolates typically exchanged mobile genetic elements encoding virulence and resistance genes. Using a well-validated seven-strain S. aureus microarray, we compared 56 UK S. aureus isolates that caused ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Mastitis published 2 July 2008:

Staphylococcus aureus lipoteichoic acid triggers inflammation in the lactating bovine mammary gland.   Vet Res, 39(5): 52.

The response of the bovine mammary gland to lipoteichoic acid (LTA), which is a major pathogen-associated molecular pattern of Gram-positive bacteria, was investigated by infusing purified Staphylococcus aureus LTA in the lumen of the gland. LTA was able to induce clinical mastitis at the dose of 100 microg/quarter, and a subclinical inflammatory response at 10 microg/quarter. The induced inflammation was characterized by a prompt and massive influx of neutrophils in milk. LTA proved to induce ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Mastitis published 30 June 2008:

Structural Consideration of the Formation of the Activation Complex between the Staphylokinase-Like Streptococcal Plasminogen Activator PadA and Bovine Plasminogen.   J Mol Biol.

The characteristics of a streptococcal plasminogen activator (PA) displaying specice:abstractficity for ruminant plasminogen (Plg) were defined using molecular approaches. The 16-kDa secreted protein PadA was found to be prevalent in Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies dysgalactiae isolated from cases of bovine mastitis and septic arthritis in lambs. PadA was able to activate bovine, ovine and caprine Plg, but not human Plg. Amino acid sequence analysis identified a limited level of homology ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Mastitis published 26 June 2008:

Acute phase response in two consecutive experimentally induced E. coli intramammary infections in dairy cows.   Acta Vet Scand, 50(1): 18.

BACKGROUND: Acute phase proteins haptoglobin (Hp), serum amyloid A (SAA) and lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) have suggested to be suitable inflammatory markers for bovine mastitis. The aim of the study was to investigate acute phase markers along with clinical parameters in two consecutive intramammary challenges with Escherichia coli and to evaluate the possible carry-over effect when same animals are used in an experimental model. METHODS: Mastitis was induced with a dose of 1500 cfu ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Mastitis published 23 June 2008:

Lipoprotein signal peptides are processed by Lsp and Eep of Streptococcus uberis.   J Bacteriol, 190(13): 4641-7.

Lipoprotein signal peptidase (lsp) is responsible for cleaving the signal peptide sequence of lipoproteins in gram-positive bacteria. Investigation of the role of Lsp in Streptococcus uberis, a common cause of bovine mastitis, was undertaken using the lipoprotein MtuA (a protein essential for virulence) as a marker. The S. uberis lsp mutant phenotype displayed novel lipoprotein processing. Not only was full-length (uncleaved) MtuA detected by Western blotting, but during late log phase, a ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Evaluation of interleukin-2 treatment for prevention of intramammary infections in cows after calving.   Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis.

A low-dose treatment based on interleukin-2 (IL-2) was investigated for preventing mastitis in dairy cows. The treatment consisted of a single dose of IL-2 injected into the skin region drained by the supramammary lymph node 3-5 days after calving. The study included 45 cows (23 treated and 22 controls) from three commercial dairy herds. The results showed that the treatment had no side effects. The treatment with IL-2 induced the significant increase of several milk markers related to ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Genome-wide analysis of ruminant Staphylococcus aureus reveals diversification of the core genome.   J Bacteriol.

Staphylococcus aureus causes disease in humans and a wide array of animals. Of note, S. aureus mastitis of ruminants, including cows, sheep and goats, results in major economic losses worldwide. Extensive variation in genome content exists among S. aureus pathogenic clones. However, the genomic variation among S. aureus strains infecting different animal species has not been well examined. To investigate variation in the genome content of human and ruminant S. aureus we carried out whole genome ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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