The “One Health” approach increasingly demonstrates the global spread of pathogenic microorganisms and their antimicrobial resistance in the environment, both in animals and humans. Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae is nowadays very often isolated from cold-blooded reptiles to a lesser extent from sheep, but unfortunately more and more often from humans. However, there are a few studies describing the isolation of Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae from migratory wild birds. The mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), a wild animal that traverses the continent of Eurasia, can be an excellent indicator of the spread of intestinal microbes as well as their resistance to antibiotics. This is the first report of the Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae detection in Poland in a migrating mallard duck. This research presented the identification difficulties associated with the isolation of Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae using three different biochemical tests and advanced serology tests. At the same time, we detected very high antimicrobial resistance in the isolated strain. By using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method, it was found that the isolated strain of S. enterica subsp. diarizonae has high antibiotic resistance against 14 of the 33 tested antimicrobials agents. The resistance genes that have been identified in S. enterica subsp. diarizonae include aadA, strA/strB, and blaTEM.
The aim of the study was to determine the nutritional value (content of endogenous and exogenous amino acids) and safety (content of metals and radionuclides) of the muscle tissue of fish obtained in the Shuchinsk- Burabay recreation area (Kazakhstan). Analytical methods involving mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma and liquid chromatography were used. The content of exogenous amino acids in fish protein was similar to their level in the meat of cattle, pigs, and poultry obtained in the same leisure zone. The ratio of the sum of exogenous amino acids to the sum of endogenous amino acids in fish meat protein ranged from 0.29 to 0.39. In all samples, it ranged from 45.45 to 33.33% of the norm. Samples of fish meat from some lakes diverged from the norm in the amount of exogenous and endogenous amino acids by 2.01-3%. Valine was a limiting amino acid in the meat of fish from all lakes; its amount ranged from 21.6 to 27.8%. The second most important limiting amino acid was isoleucine, which ranged from 72.1 to 77.25%. The contents of heavy metal salts were up to 0.0590 mg/kg for arsenic, 0.0050 mg/kg for cadmium, and 0.0350 mg/kg for lead, which did not exceed the norms of the maximum allowable concentration of these metals. Only the mercury content in perch muscle tissue, which was 0.0385 mg/kg, exceeded the maximum permissible concentration by 28%. The level of other metals was in line with the standards. Fish from the lakes of the Shuchinsk-Burabay recreation area are slightly contaminated with heavy metal salts, but these pollutants generally do not exceed the maximum permissible concentration. The concentration of radionuclides in fish samples did not exceed the maximum permissible level.
Salmonella diarizonae (IIIb) is frequently isolated from reptiles and less frequently from birds and mammals. However, its isolation from invasive human infections has not been widely reported. Migratory mallard ducks are excellent bioindicators of pathogen presence and pathogen antibiotic resistance (AMR). We present the first isolation from a mallard duck in central Europe of the antibiotic-resistant Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae with the unique antigenic pattern 58:r:z53 and report its whole-genome sequencing, serosequencing, and genotyping, which enabled the prediction of its pathogenicity and comparison with phenotypic AMR. The isolated strain was highly similar to S. diarizonae isolated from humans and food. Twenty-four AMR genes were detected, including those encoding aminoglycoside, fluoroquinolone, macrolide, carbapenem, tetracycline, cephalosporin, nitroimidazole, peptide antibiotic, and disinfecting agent/antiseptic resistance. Six Salmonella pathogenicity islands were found (SPI-1, SPI-2, SPI-3, SPI-5, SPI-9, and SPI-13). An iron transport system was detected in SPI-1 centisome C63PI. Plasmid profile analyses showed three to be present. Sequence mutations in the invA and invF genes were noted, which truncated and elongated the proteins, respectively. The strain also harbored genes encoding type-III secretion-system effector proteins and many virulence factors found in S. diarizonae associated with human infections. This study aims to elucidate the AMR and virulence genes in S. enterica subsp. diarizonae that may most seriously threaten human health.
Malaria is a significant disease that affects both animals and humans. The four main Plasmodium species that cause human malaria are Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium ovale. Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite typically infecting forest macaque monkeys, was recently revealed to be able to be transmitted by anophelines and provoke malaria in humans. This provides an increasing risk of spreading the disease to areas previously unaffected with it and infecting people during the increasingly popular travels abroad. Microscopic examination remains one of the most often used methods for its laboratory confirmation. These tests, however, should be performed immediately after receiving samples from a firstcontact doctor to allow immediate therapy. This research presents a novel, semantic segmentation neural network architecture designed to quickly create a classification mask, giving the doctor information about the position, shape, and possible affiliation of detected elements. The evaluation method is based on a light microscope imagery and was created to overcome problems resulting from the human diagnosis specifics. There are 3 abstract classes containing healthy cells, cells with malaria and background. The outputted mask can be later mapped to a more readable form with the inclusion of contrasting colors, next to an original image for quick validation. Such an approach allows for semi-automatic recognition of possible disease, nevertheless still giving the final verdict to the specialist. The developed solution has achieved a high recognition accuracy of 96.65%, while the computer power requirements are kept at a minimum. The proposed solution can help reduce misclassification rates by providing additional data for the doctor and speed up the entire process with the early diagnosis made by a deep learning model.
1 December 2021 in International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Distomum musculorum suis (DMS), the mesocercariae of Alaria alata, is typically found accidently during examination of wild boar meat for Trichinella spp. The aim of the study was to compare DMS detection methods. Briefly, 232 wild boar meat samples were tested by mesocercariae migration technique (AMT) as a reference method; of these, 104 were found to be positive. Selected positive samples were tested again with the three other methods: compressorium method (Compressor), digestion with magnetic stirrer (Digestion) and by modified digestion with Pancreatin® bile and pancreatic enzymes (D + P). The results were analyzed by logistic regression, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Of the 43 samples found positive by the AMT, 20 were found positive by Digestion and 25 by D + P. The Compressor identified DMS in seven of the 19 tested samples. The Digestion and D + P methods gave similar intensities (P = 0.506), i.e. 1.4 and 1.3 DMS respectively, but the AMT detected seven times higher number of parasites. The probability of detection of DMS in the meat sample by the Digestion or by D + P was higher than 0.5 when at least seven (Digestion) or five (D + P) DMS were present in the sample (AMT). The Compressor was the least sensitive method: at least 14 DMS must be present in the meat sample for detection. AMT should be considered the most accurate method of DMS detection.