A number of old and new pathogen has emerged or re-emerged in past 30 years. Increase in interaction at the interface of human and animals plays a crucial role in transmission of these zoonotic agents at the interface. Burgeoning human population, increased global communication, habitat destruction, bush meat consumption, intensification of animal farming. Along with emergence of antimicrobial resistance and increased incidence food borne infections are important public health implications in which human-animal interface plays a definite role. Despite initiatives taken by Indian government to consolidate inter-sectorial collaboration, still recent policies still lacks one health approach.

We developed the com1 gene based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of Coxiella burnetii and validated it by screening DNA isolated from serum samples collected from animals and humans. The detection of Coxiella by LAMP assay was comparable with the com1 based-PCR.

In the present study, a total of 158 blood samples from 148 bovines and 10 dogs having a history of reproductive disorders were screened for Coxiella burnetii by trans-PCR method. In case of bovines, 6.08% (9/148) blood samples comprised of 4.54% (4/88) cattle and 8.33% (5/60) buffaloes turned out to be positive for C. burnetii DNA while all the samples from dogs (10) were found negative. Of the 9 PCR-positive bovine blood samples, the organism could be isolated only from 3 cases of buffaloes by chick embryo inoculation method. Further, to predict the homology and genetic diversity, the recovered C. burnetii isolates designated as Y1, Y3 and Y7 were partially sequenced for IS1111 gene. On phylogenetic analysis, Y3 and Y7 isolates clustered to a common node away from Y1 isolate. This study may enlighten the nature of circulating C. burnetii isolates in different parts of the world. To the best of our knowledge, this appears to be the first report describing phylogenic analysis of C. burnetii isolates based on IS1111 gene sequence.

The present investigation delineates the role of listeric infection in aborted ewes or those with history of abortion from organized farms of Kashmir region. A total of 141 clinical samples was analyzed for the isolation and identification of Listeria species. On analysis four isolates were identified as Listeria monocytogenes, while 24 were non-pathogenic Listeria species. Of the four L. monocytogenes isolates, two were isolated from brain tissue of aborted fetus (BrS10 and BrG36) while one each was isolated from vaginal swab (Vd13) and rectal swab (RS11) of the ewe. An overall isolation rate of 2.83 % was observed for L. monocytogenes and 17.02 % for non-pathogenic Listeria species. Further to reveal the pathogenic potential, the recovered L. monocytogenes isolates were subjected to the battery of in vitro pathogenicity test such as hemolytic activity on Sheep Blood Agar, Phosphatidyl Inositol-Phospholipase C activity on Agar Listeria according to Ottaviani and Agosti medium, multiplex PCR targeting virulence markers genes viz., prfA, plcA, actA, hly, inlC and in vivo chick embryo inoculation test. All the L. monocytogenes isolates recovered in the present study were potentially pathogenic and on comparison, a good correlation was observed among in vitro and in vivo pathogenicity test including multiplex PCR targeting virulence associated genes.

The study describes a rapid approach for detection of common enteric bacterial pathogens, which involves partial amplification of the 16S rRNA gene by PCR using a colony from selective medium followed by restriction enzyme (RE) digestion using the EcoRI, HindIII and SalI enzymes. On the basis of RE digestion analysis different genera namely, Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, Campylobacter, Arcobacter, Yesinia and Listeria were differentiated.

Received: Revised: Accepted: 2013-08-19 2013-08-27 2013-08-28 The epidemiology of Q–fever with regard to the role of foods of animal origin in transmission of Coxiella burnetii and their risk assessment remains largely unknown in most parts of the world including India. In the present study, a total of 591 food samples of different animal origin including milk (518), meat (60) and shell eggs (13) were screened for the presence of the pathogen by trans–PCR assay targeting transposon like element IS1111 of C. burnetii. . The analysis revealed an overall positivity in 4.06% (24/591) food samples, all of which were of milk. The milk samples showed an overall positivity of 4.63% (24/518), with the detection of C. burnetii in 5.55% (23/414) bovine and 1.42% (1/70) ovine milk samples. However, all the samples of camel milk (n = 34), meat (n = 60) and shell eggs (n = 13) turned out to be negative for the pathogen. The detection of C. burnetii in the bovine and ovine milk indicates a potential health risk for domestic livestock as well as human beings, especially those who consume raw or unpasteurized milk. The study of screening foods of animal origin for occurrence of C. burnetii in India by highly sensitive and specific molecular diagnostic tools is largely lacking, and in this context, the present study appears to be the first of its kind in the country. It is recommended that milk should be consumed only after pasteurization and, dairy as well as other foods of animal origin should be included in surveillance and monitoring programmes for food–borne pathogens for the risk assessment of C. burnetii infection. All copyrights reserved to Nexus® academic publishers

Listeriolysin O (LLO) is a dominant antigen target of anti-listerial immunity. The present study described the development of an indirect ELISA employing immunodominant non-cross-reactive synthetic peptides of LLO (LLO-1 and LLO-2) and its comparison with that of purified LLO based indirect ELISA using serum samples collected from 59 ewes which either had abortion or had a history of abortion. Initially isolation of Listeria was attempted from the samples collected from the ewes. A high seropositivity (54.2%) was observed against purified LLO; however, after adsorption of positive sera with streptolysin O (SLO), the seropositivity was 23.7%. Overall seropositivity with LLO-1 and LLO-2 peptides revealed comparatively less cross-reactivity in comparison to that of purified LLO. Three of the four animals culturally positive for Listeria monocytogenes were also positive serologically for ALLO by both the ELISAs even after adsorption of test sera with SLO. Antibodies against purified LLO and synthetic LLO-1 peptide based ELISAs detected antibodies even in samples from which non-pathogenic Listeria spp. were isolated; however, LLO-2 peptide did not reveal any ALLO antibodies from those samples which were culturally positive for non-pathogenic Listeria. In conclusion, LLO-2 peptide can serve as an ideal virulent marker for serodiagnosis of ovine listeriosis. Further evaluation of LLO-2 peptide based indirect ELISA with more number of samples is needed.

This is the first study ever carried out to develop and evaluate internalin C (InlC)-based serological assay for diagnosis of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) infection in goats using synthetic peptide as an antigen. Nine peptides representing major antigenic domains of InlC, a novel protein linked to the virulence of LM, were identified, analyzed, synthesized and employed in indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to evaluate their diagnostic potential using sera of goats experimentally inoculated with live and killed LM and from apparently healthy goats. Sera were screened by standardized indirect ELISA to reveal the antibodies against InlC (AInlC) as well as listeriolysin O (ALLO). Overall, the result revealed that the AInlC titres are lower than the ALLO titres. However, a fair correlation was observed between the titres of AInlC and ALLO in experimentally infected as well as apparently healthy goats. Based on the results obtained by both the ELISAs, it is suggested that InlC peptides alone may not serve as a suitable diagnostic antigen in indirect based ELISA for serodiagnosis of listeric infections. Further, there is need for identification, synthesis and evaluation of appropriate synthetic peptide(s) for essential virulence markers of listeriae whether existing or new marker, all need to be explored for developing an ultimate sensitive and specific rapid sero-diagnostics marker against listeriosis. Key words: Listeria monocytogenes, Internalin C, Listeriolysin O, Peptide and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

A metastatic form of cutaneous transmissible venereal tumor was diagnosed in a mongrel dog. The dog had non-fl uctuating and ulcerating neoplastic nodules throughout the subcutis with a history of spontaneous regression and recurrence of new growths at different sites. A presumptive diagnosis was made based on fi ne needle aspiration cytology of neoplastic nodules and an impression smear of ulcerated lesions, which was confi rmed by histopathology. Erythrocyte oxidant-antioxidant status revealed increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant enzymes, which might have been due to the direct infl uence of the tumor or by associated factors such as tumor necrosis and/or the infl ammatory changes. Increased early apoptosis was observed in peripheral blood leukocytes. Treatment with Vincristin along with other supportive therapy yielded an unfavorable outcome due to the advanced stage of malignancy.