The aim of this study was to obtain knowledge about concentrations of Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus), and other Staphylococcus species in indoor air in Greater Copenhagen and about factors affecting the concentrations. The effects of season, temperature, relative humidity, air change rate (ACR), other bacterial genera, area per occupant, and presence of S. aureus-positive occupants were studied. In samples from 67 living rooms, S. hominis, S. warneri, S. epidermidis, and S. capitis were found in 13-25%; S. saprophyticus, S. cohnii, and S. pasteuri in 5-10%; and S. lugdunensis, S. haemolyticus, S. caprae, S. equorum, S. kloosii, S. pettenkoferi, S. simulans, and S. xylosus in less than 3%. Staphylococcus aureus were found in two of 67 living rooms: spa type t034 (an MRSA) was recovered from a farmhouse, while spa type t509 was found in an urban home. Two species, S. equorum and S. kloosii, were found only in the farmhouse. Staphylococcus was significantly associated with season with lowest concentration and richness in winter. Genera composition was associated with ACR with smaller fractions of Staphylococcus at higher ACR, while richness was significantly and negatively associated with area per occupant. Concentration of Staphylococcus correlated positively with the total concentration of bacteria, but negatively with the total concentration of other bacteria. The concentration of Staphylococcus was not significantly associated with concentrations of the other abundant genera Bacillus, Kocuria, and Micrococcus. In offices with S. aureus-positive occupants, airborne S. aureus was not found. In conclusion, Staphylococcus species constitute a considerable proportion of the airborne bacteria in the studied homes and offices. However, both S. aureus and MRSA had very low prevalence during all seasons. Thus, transmission of S. aureus and MRSA through the air in living rooms in Copenhagen is expected to be limited. The negative associations between ACR and the fraction Staphylococcus constituted out of total bacteria, and between area per occupant and Staphylococcus richness indicate that it might be possible to affect the presence of airborne Staphylococcus in homes.

Denmark is a country with high prevalence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex (CC) 398 in pigs. Even though pig farming is regarded as the main source of human infection or colonization with MRSA CC398, 10-15% of the human cases appear not to be linked to pigs. Following the recent reports of MRSA CC398 in horses in other European countries and the lack of knowledge on S. aureus carriage in this animal species, we carried out a study to investigate whether horses constitute a reservoir of MRSA CC398 in Denmark, and to gain knowledge on the frequency and genetic diversity of S. aureus in horses, including both methicillin-resistant and -susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). Nasal swabs were collected from 401 horses originating from 74 farms, either at their farms or prior to admission to veterinary clinics. Following culture on selective media, species identification by MALDI-TOF MS and MRSA confirmation by standard PCR-based methods, S. aureus and MRSA were detected in 54 (13%) and 17 (4%) horses originating from 30 (40%) and seven (9%) farms, respectively. Based on spa typing, MSSA differed genetically from MRSA isolates. The spa type prevalent among MSSA isolates was t127 (CC1), which was detected in 12 horses from 11 farms and represents the most common S. aureus clone isolated from human bacteraemia cases in Denmark. Among the 17 MRSA carriers, 10 horses from three farms carried CC398 t011 harbouring the immune evasion cluster (IEC), four horses from two farms carried IEC-negative CC398 t034, and three horses from two farms carried a mecC-positive MRSA lineage previously associated with wildlife and domestic ruminants (CC130 t528). Based on whole-genome phylogenetic analysis of the 14 MRSA CC398, t011 isolates belonged to the recently identified horse-adapted clone in Europe and were closely related to human t011 isolates from three Danish equine veterinarians, whereas t034 isolates belonged to pig-adapted clones. Our study confirms that horses carry an equine-specific clone of MRSA CC398 that can be transmitted to veterinary personnel, and reveals that these animals are exposed to MRSA and MSSA clones that are likely to originate from livestock and humans, respectively.

Escherichia coli O157 (EcO157) infection has been recognized as an important global public health concern. But information on the prevalence of EcO157 in cattle at the global and at the wider geographical levels is limited, if not absent. This is the first meta-analysis to investigate the point prevalence of EcO157 in cattle at the global level and to explore the factors contributing to variation in prevalence estimates. Seven electronic databases- CAB Abstracts, PubMed, Biosis Citation Index, Medline, Web of Knowledge, Scirus and Scopus were searched for relevant publications from 1980 to 2012. A random effect meta-analysis model was used to produce the pooled estimates. The potential sources of between study heterogeneity were identified using meta-regression. A total of 140 studies consisting 220,427 cattle were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence estimate of EcO157 in cattle at the global level was 5.68% (95% CI, 5.16–6.20). The random effects pooled prevalence estimates in Africa, Northern America, Oceania, Europe, Asia and Latin America-Caribbean were 31.20% (95% CI, 12.35–50.04), 7.35% (95% CI, 6.44–8.26), 6.85% (95% CI, 2.41–11.29), 5.15% (95% CI, 4.21–6.09), 4.69% (95% CI, 3.05–6.33) and 1.65% (95% CI, 0.77–2.53), respectively. Between studies heterogeneity was evidenced in most regions. World region (p<0.001), type of cattle (p<0.001) and to some extent, specimens (p = 0.074) as well as method of pre-enrichment (p = 0.110), were identified as factors for variation in the prevalence estimates of EcO157 in cattle. The prevalence of the organism seems to be higher in the African and Northern American regions. The important factors that might have influence in the estimates of EcO157 are type of cattle and kind of screening specimen. Their roles need to be determined and they should be properly handled in any survey to estimate the true prevalence of EcO157.

Bangladesh has been considered as one of the five countries endemic with highly pathogenic avian influenza A subtype H5N1 (HPAI H5N1). Live-bird markets (LBMs) in south Asian countries are believed to play important roles in the transmission of HPAI H5N1 and others due to its central location as a hub of the poultry trading. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has been promoting improved biosecurity in LBMs in Bangladesh. In 2012, by enrolling 32 large LBMs: 10 with FAO interventions and 22 without assistance, we assessed the virus circulation in the selected LBMs by applying standard procedures to investigate market floors, poultry stall floors, poultry-holding cases and slaughter areas and the overall biosecurity using a questionnaire-based survey. Relative risk (RR) was examined to compare the prevalence of HPAI H5N1 in the intervened and non-intervened LBMs. The measures practised in significantly more of the FAO-intervened LBMs included keeping of slaughter remnants in a closed container; decontamination of poultry vehicles at market place; prevention of crows' access to LBM, market/floor cleaning by market committee; wet cleaning; disinfection of floor/poultry stall after cleaning; and good supply of clean water at market (P < 0.05). Conversely, disposal of slaughter remnants elsewhere at market and dry cleaning were in operation in more of the FAO non-intervened LBMs (P < 0.05). The RR for HPAI H5N1 in the intervened and non-intervened LBMs was 1.1 (95% confidence interval 0.44-2.76), suggesting that the proportion positive of the virus in the two kinds of LBM did not vary significantly (P = 0.413). These observations suggest that the viruses are still maintained at the level of production in farms and circulating in LBMs in Bangladesh regardless of interventions, albeit at lower levels than in other endemic countries.

The study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and hematological features in crossbred dairy cattle in Chittagong, Bangladesh

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance in commensal bacteria poses a serious public health burden worldwide. Commensals can disseminate the resistance genes to pathogenic bacteria causing life-threatening infections. This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance pattern and molecular mechanism(s) of ciprofloxacin resistance in commensal E. coli from three major one health components (humans, animals and the environment) in Bangladesh. Samples were randomly collected from broiler chickens, broiler farm environments and hospitalized human patients from the same geographical area. Isolation and identification of E. coli were performed following standard bacteriological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was performed by disk diffusion and broth microdilution methods. Mutation at the quinolone-resistance determining region (QRDR) was analyzed by sequencing. Of 450 samples, a total of 287 (63.8%; 95% CI 59.2–68.1%) E. coli strains was isolated, where 240 (83.6%; 95% CI 78.9–87.5%) strains were phenotypically resistant to ciprofloxacin. The prevalence of ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli in broiler chicken, broiler farm environments and hospitalized human patients are 77.6%, 88.8% and 89% respectively. In AST against nine antimicrobials, all the isolates were found to be multidrug-resistant (MDR). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ciprofloxacin was ranged from 4 to >128mg/L. Point mutations were detected in several sites of QRDR, specifically at 83 and 87 amino acid positions in gyrA gene, and 56, 57, 78, 80 and 84 amino acid positions in parC gene. Mutations resulted in amino acid substitutions. Phylogenetic analysis of gyrA and parC gene sequences showed a close relationship between the strains isolated from different sources. This study demonstrates a high prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance in commensal E. coli in humans, animals and environment interface and their genealogically similarity poses an alarming public health consequence.