The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant microbes become a serious threat to animal and human health globally because of their less responsiveness to conventional antimicrobial therapy. Multidrug-resistant microbial infection poses higher morbidity and mortality rate with significant economic losses. Currently, antimicrobial peptides and the CRISPR/Cas9 system are explored as alternative therapy to circumvent the challenges of multidrug-resistant organisms. Antimicrobial peptides are small molecular weight, cationic peptides extracted from all living organisms. It is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of multidrug-resistant microbes by direct microbial killing or indirectly modulating the innate immune system. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is another novel antimicrobial alternative used to manage multidrug-resistant microbial infection. It is a versatile gene-editing tool that uses engineered single guide RNA for targeted gene recognition and the Cas9 enzyme for the destruction of target nucleic acids. Both the CRISPR/Cas9 system and antimicrobial peptides were used to successfully treat nosocomial infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens, which developed resistance to various antimicrobials. Despite, their valuable roles in multidrug-resistant microbial treatments, both the antimicrobial peptides and the CRISPR/Cas systems have various limitations like toxicity, instability, and incurring high manufacturing costs. Thus, this review paper gives detailed explanations of the roles of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and antimicrobial peptides in circumventing the challenges of multidrug-resistant microbial infections, its limitation and prospects in clinical applications.

Background: Coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies are an emerging cause of intramammary infection, posing a significant economic and public health threat. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies in bovine milk and dairy farms in Northwestern Ethiopia and to provide information about their antibiotic susceptibility and virulence gene profiles.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from February to August 2022. Coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies were isolated from 290 milk samples. Species isolation and identification were performed by plate culturing and biochemical tests and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of each isolate was determined by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test. The single-plex PCR was used to detect the presence of virulent genes. The STATA software version 16 was used for data analysis. The prevalence, proportion of antimicrobial resistance and the number of virulent genes detected from coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies were isolated in 28.6%, (95% CI: 23.5–34.2) of the samples. Of these, theS. epidermidis,S. sciuri,S. warneri,S. haemolyticus,S. simulans,S. chromogens,S. cohnii, andS. captisspecies were isolated at the rates of 11, 5.2, 3.4, 3.1, 3.1, 1, 1, and 0.7% respectively. All the isolates showed a high percentage (100%) of resistance to Amoxicillin, Ampicillin, and Cefotetan and 37.5% of resistance to Oxacillin. The majority (54.2%) of coagulase-negative isolates also showed multidrug resistance. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcusspecies carried theicaD,pvl,mecA,hlb,sec, andhlavirulent genes at the rates of 26.5%, 22.1%, 21.7%, 9.6%, 9.6% and 8.4% respectively.Conclusion: The present study revealed that the majority of the isolates (54.2%) were found multidrug-resistant and carriage of one or more virulent and enterotoxin genes responsible for intramammary and food poisoning infections. Thus, urgent disease control and prevention measures are warranted to reduce the deleterious impact of coagulase-negative species. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Ethiopia to detect coagulase-negativeStaphylococcusspecies with their associated virulent and food poisoning genes from bovine milk.

Getahun YA, et al. J Vet Sci. 2024 May;25(3):e41. https://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.23291

Oncolytic viruses are a novel and promising approach to cancer treatment. These viruses are either naturally occurring or genetically engineered to target and kill cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. A growing body of research and clinical achievements is bolstering the use of oncolytic viruses. Adenoviruses, measles viruses, herpes simplex virus, and vaccinia viruses are some of the major oncolytic viruses used in cancer treatment. Oncolytic viruses function through different mechanisms: direct killing of tumor cells, immunological activation, and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment. Advancements in genetic engineering make oncolytic viruses a powerful anti-cancer tool by enhancing their tumor-specific targeting, reducing their pathogenic effects, and using viruses as vectors for expressing various therapeutic transgenes. Despite this promise, challenges such as tumor heterogeneity, physical barriers, immune clearance, and the immunosuppressive tumor environment can limit their effectiveness. This complexity necessitates combination therapies to improve OV efficacy and overcome tumor resistance. This article provides a comprehensive update on oncolytic viruses, genetic modification to enhance virotherapy, alongwith the hurdles and potential prospects for integrating this approach with existing cancer treatments.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a serious pox disease of cattle that is antigenically related to sheep pox and goat pox viruses. In Ethiopia, LSD is primarily