African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 4 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Molecular characterization of fowl adenoviruses associated with hydro-pericardium syndrome in broilers

Shah, M. S.^1,2* ,Ashraf, A.³, Khan, M. I.¹*, Rahman, M.², Habib, M.⁴, Babapoor, S.¹, Ghaffar, A.², Malik, I. R.², Khannum, S. A.⁴ and Qureshi, J. A.^2,5

¹Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.

²Health Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan.

³Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, G.C University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

⁴Animal Sciences Division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan.

⁵Department of Clinical Biochemistry, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, ABHA, Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia.

Accepted 16 November, 2016

Abstract

Hydropericardium syndrome (HPS) is a viral disease of poultry, which is common in hot and humid season during summer in Pakistan. Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) classified into the species Fowl adenovirus C and the genus Aviadenovirus, which were identified as the causative agent of the disease during field outbreaks. The virus was obtained from suspected broiler birds showing typical signs and postmortem lesions that is ascites, hydropericardium, multifocal hepatic necrosis and hepatitis. The virions were partially purified from the livers of infected birds, by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation. A variable part of the hexon gene (L1 and part of P1, 730 bp) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its nucleotide sequence was determined. During nucleotide sequence analysis, the viruses were identified as FAdV- 4. The presence of FAdV-4 was also supported by scanning electron microscopy. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial hexon gene of the viruses determined their close relation with previously sequenced FAdV-4 isolates from India.

Key words: Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4), hydro-pericardium syndrome, hexon, electron microscopy, phylogenetic analysis, taxonomy.

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 4 (4), pp. 001-005, April, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of gastroenteritis associated with enteric adenovirus in hospitalized children in Bushehr Province, Iran

Akram Najafi¹*, Hassan Shafiei¹, Afshin Barazesh², Shariat Najafi², Mah-Khanom Mohammadian¹, Katayoun Vahdat¹ and Mohammad Kargar³

¹Department of virology, The Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.

²Department of Microbiology, Bushehr University of Medical Science, Bushehr, Iran.

³Department of Microbiology, Jahrom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Jahrom, Iran.

Accepted 22 October, 2016

Abstract

Enteric adenoviruses are one of the most significant etiological agents of severe viral gastroenteritis among infants and young children worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological features of enteric adenovirus gastroenteritis in hospitalized children less than 7 years of age in Borazjan, Bushehr Province, Iran. From October 2008 to September 2010, stool specimens from 375 children suffering from acute diarrhea were investigated for the presence of enteric adenoviruses using enzyme immunoassays (EIA). Demographic and clinical information were obtained through a standard questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS software. Out of the total collected samples, 5.1% were positive for enteric adenoviruses. Of the adenovirus episodes, 68.42% occurred during the first 2 years of life (P = 0.640). The highest prevalence of infection was identified in the spring (63.16%), followed by the autumn (21.05%), winter (10.53%) and summer (5.26%) seasons, respectively (P = 0.001). The most common clinical symptoms included diarrhea (84.21%), moderate dehydration (63.16%), fever (57.89%) and vomiting (42.10%). Overall, 69.23% of the children with acute gastroenteritis were not breast-fed and 23.08% were breastfeeding at the time of presentation of the adenovirus infection (P = 0.04). This study highlights the importance of enteric adenoviruses as an etiological agent of acute gastroenteritis, particularly among children less than 2 years old and during the cold seasons.

Key words: Enteric adenoviruses, gastroenteritis, epidemiology, Iran.

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 4 (3), pp. 001-004, March, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Prevalence of Listeria spp. in fish obtained from Urmia fish markets

Rojan Modaresi¹, Karim Mardani¹*, Amir Tukmechi² and Abdolghaffar Ownagh³

¹Division of Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azarbaijan, Iran.

²Department of Pathobiology and Quality Control, Artemia and Aquatic Animals Research Institute, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azarbaijan, Iran.

³Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azarbijan, Iran.

Accepted 17 October, 2016

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Listeria spp. in fish obtained from Urmia fish markets. A number of 194 fish comprising Oncorhynchus mykiss (n=42), Sander lucioperca (n=38), Cyprinus carpio (n=30), Hypophthalmiachthys molitrix (n=48), Abramis brama (n=12), Astacus leptodactylus (n=12) and Silurus glanis (n=12) were obtained from different fish markets of Urmia from June 2009 to February 2010. Listeria isolation was performed in two stages including enrichment in cold and selective plating. After colony formation, in order to confirming the genus of the Listeria, a fragment of Prs gene using Listeria genus specific primers was amplified from isolated bacteria using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results revealed that Listeria was isolated from 24 fish (12.37%). The highest prevalence of Listeria was observed in both A. brama and A. leptodactylus with 25%, while the lowest prevalence of Listeria was seen in S. lucioperca (9.7%). From the total of 24 Listeria isolates, five isolates (21%) were confirmed to be L. monocytogenes; seven isolates were L. ivonoi (29%) while L. Seeligeri was not isolated from any examined fish. The study showed that L. monocytogenes and other Listeria species are common contaminant of fish obtained from Urmia fish markets, and this may pose serious public health implications.

Key words: Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, fish, PCR, Urmia.

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 4 (2), pp. 001-014, February, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The emergence of plasmid mediated quinolone resistance genes qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS among Egyptian clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae

El-Essawy, A. K., Abu Shady, H. M. and El-Biaa, B. M.*

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Central Laboratories, Specialized Hospital- Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Accepted 12 October, 2016

Abstract

Quinolone resistance is emerging in Gram-negative pathogens worldwide. In the present study, the prevalence of this problem was determined for different species of Enterobacteriaceae that were isolated from clinical specimens mainly from Ain Shams University Hospitals at Cairo, Egypt. Escherichia coli had the largest number of isolates, and relatively showed the highest resistance among Enterobacteriaceae but not as compared with other non-enterobacterial species such as Acinetobacter sp. Selected isolates of quinolone resistant Enterobacteriaceae were investigated for qnrA, qnrB and qnrS genes in single reaction by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results showed that 41.2% of the tested isolates were positive for one at least of these genes, which indicates the role of other qnr genes or chromosomal mutations in the process of quinolone resistance. Since, the first reported case of qnrA in Providencia stuartii from clinical Egyptian isolate at 2001, the current study may be the first Egyptian study which reports the detection of qnrA, qnrB and qnrS in E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and qnrA and qnrS in Klebsiella sp and qnrS in Enterobacter sp from clinical specimens. Additionally some isolates harbored more than one of these genes simultaneously. The presence of more than one of the investigated genes in the same isolate did not give a noticeable additional effect on the quinolone resistance.

Key words: qnr, quinolone, multiplex PCR, Enterobacteriaceae, plasmid.

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 4 (1), pp. 001-005, January, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Antimicrobial activity of the aqueous extract of selected Malaysian herbs

Z. A. Zakaria¹, M. L. Zakaria¹, Z. Amom² and M. N. M. Desa¹*

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 17 October, 2016

Abstract

Malaysia is rich in biodiversity encompassing a variety of herbs and shrubs with potential medicinal properties. Tinospira crispa (Patawali), Anacardium occidentale (Gajus), Garcinia atroviridis (Asam gelugor) and Hibiscus cannabinus (Kenaf) are some of the well-known local Malay herbs that have been studied for their medicinal applications. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the broad spectrum-antimicrobial effects of the aqueous extract of T. crispa, A. occidentale, H. cannabinus and G. atroviridis against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 (Gram positive) and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 (Gram negative) bacteria using the disc diffusion method. From the results obtained, all extracts were found to exhibit a similar inhibition zone of approximately 8.67-9.67 mm against both test organisms. Furthermore, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the respective extract for both test organisms were similar; 227.27 mg/mL for T. crispa and A. occidentale, 113.64 mg/ml for H. cannabinus, and 56.82 mg/ml for G. atroviridis. In conclusion, the selected plants exhibited antimicrobial activity wherein the effectiveness (indicated by low MBC value) was in the sequence of G. atroviridis, H. cannabinus, T. crispa and A. occidentale. This findings support the traditional use of these plants in the treatment of bacterial infection.

Key words: Antimicrobial activity, Tinospora crispa, Anacardium occidentale, Garcinia atroviridis; Hibiscus cannabinus, aqueous extract, Stapylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli.