An anthrax outbreak recently occurred in cattle in a region that had previously been free of the disease for more than two decades. This event followed heavy springtime rains that had caused flooding, and a hot, dry summer. These temporally connected events may indicate a new link between climate change and an increased incidence of bacterial diseases with environmental reservoirs.

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movp) is considered to be one of the most important mycoplasmas causing respiratory disease in small ruminants. Most epidemiologic and characterisation studies have been conducted on strains collected from sheep. Information on the presence and characteristics of Movp in healthy and pneumonic goats is limited. Phenotypic or genotypic differences between sheep and goat isolates have never been studied. The objective of our study was to characterise and compare the similarities and differences between caprine and ovine Movp strains isolated from affected and asymptomatic animals in order to elucidate phenotypic and genotypic variability. Four different techniques were used on a set of 23 Movp isolates. These included SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, random amplified polymorphic DNA and the heat shock protein 70 gene sequence-based method. A high degree of phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity among Movp strains was demonstrated in this study. Our results demonstrated differences between goat and sheep strains, revealing not only a link between strains and host ruminant species, but by geographical origin as well. However, the finding of immunodominant antigens of molecular masses 36, 38, 40 and 70 kDa (±3 kDa) in Movp isolates from sheep and goats foretells their potential use in the development of serological diagnostic tests and vaccines.

This study provides an overview of mycoplasma species isolated from ruminants in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1995 and 2015. A total of 1442 samples from affected and asymptomatic cattle, sheep and goats were submitted for isolation of mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 195 samples (13.5%). Mycoplasma bovis was the most frequently isolated species from pneumonic cattle and M. ovipneumoniae from affected small ruminants. The presence of some other important mycoplasmas, like M. conjunctivae, M. mycoides capri, M.c.capricolum and M. putrefaciens was confirmed.

INTRODUCTION Food-borne infections and intoxications remain one of the most important public health issues globally, both in developing and in developed countries. Numbers of reported outbreaks of food-borne diseases and diseased people are constantly growing. For instance, a total of 320,000 of cases of food-borne diseases, caused by only 6 most prevalent bacterial pathogens (non-typhoidal Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica and Brucella melitensis) was reported in the EU in 2011, but it has been estimated that the actual number of cases is Prevalence of Campylobacter contamination in broiler meat

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution. Current methods for the direct detection of leptospires are either slow or of limited reliability so that serology is often the most appropriate diagnostic method. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using live bacteria is the reference serological test. For long-term preservation leptospiras are usually maintained by periodic subculture into fresh media because the conventional methods such as freeze-drying have reported inconsistent results for storing leptospiras. Although this technique is very simple the question is to which extent such procedure affects the protein structure of the outer membrane with its key antigens. The aim of the study was to identify potential protein variations of serovars Hardjo and Grippotyphosa after thirty consecutive subcultivations by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS). The overall analysis of the leptospiral proteins by SDS-PAGE demonstrated minor differences in the intensities of some bands, while changes in protein expression were not detected. Key words: leptospira, subcultivation, SDS-PAGE, protein variations

This study represents Mycoplasma species isolated from the respiratory tract of cattle in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2002 and 2010. A total of 328 nasal swabs and 59 lung samples were submitted for isolation of mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmas were isolated from 27 samples (6.9%). M. bovis was recovered from eight nasal swabs and two lungs, while M. bovirhinis (n=4) and Acholeplasma sp. (n=1) were detected only in nasal swabs. Twelve mycoplasma isolates were unidentified (44.4%).

Actinobacillosis is a sporadic, inflammatory disease of the soft tissue in cattle, sheep, goats (Swarbrick 1967, Fubini and Campbell 1983, Muhammad and others 2006, Radostits 2007) and other species (Dibb and others 1981, Carmalt and others 1999, Kennerman and others 2006). The causative organism, Actinobacillus lignieresii , is part of the oral flora (Rycroft and Garside 2000, Quinn 2002) and invades mucosal surfaces following trauma caused by abrasive ingesta or the action of the teeth during mastication (Radostits 2007). In cattle, the disease typically involves the formation of pyogranulomas in the oral cavity, tongue or fore-stomachs with subsequent spread to regional lymph nodes (Hebeler and others 1961, Mortimer 1962, Rycroft and Garside 2000), although the skin of the head, neck and, occasionally, the limbs can also be affected. An unusual presentation of the disease is reported here where extensive distal limb involvement resulted in severe lameness in 20 of 130 animals on a beef fattening unit. The cases occurred in a group of one- to two-year-old Aberdeen Angus crossbred cattle over an 11-month period from when the animals were housed in October 2009 until the following August 2010. Affected animals were housed in groups of 30 to a pen in slatted units at a stocking density of 1 animal/2 metre2. The cases presented clinically as focally extensive unilateral firm swellings distal to the elbow/stifle regions of the fore and hind limbs, resulting in significant …

RESPIRATORY disease in small ruminants is a cause of large financial losses worldwide. Goats are highly susceptible to a number of mycoplasmas, particularly Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae and other mycoplasmas of the Mycoplasma mycoides cluster (Lefevre and others 1987, Nicholas 2002). Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is known to play an important role in the aetiology of chronic, non-progressive pneumonia of sheep, and is a predisposing factor for bacterial or viral infections (Nicholas and others 2008a, b). There are several mechanisms involved in the pathogenicity of M ovipneumoniae ; alterations in macrophage activity (Niang and others 1997), adherence of the organism to ciliated epithelium by its polysaccharide capsule (Niang and others 1998a), induction of the production of autoantibodies to the ciliary antigen (Niang and others 1998b) and suppressive activity on lymphocytes (Shahzad and others 2010) are some important factors that contribute to disease in sheep. In contrast to the situation in sheep, the role of M ovipneumoniae in the aetiology of pneumonia in goats is not well understood. The results of experimental infections are equivocal. According to some studies (Goltz and others 1986), M ovipneumoniae is pathogenic to goats, but the results of other experiments are inconclusive (Martrenchar and others 1995). There are only a few reports of the isolation of M ovipneumoniae from goats with …

A total of 75,206 blood serum samples from dairy cattle and quarantined heifers was collected between 2001 and 2007 and analyzed for bovine leptospirosis by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Serovar Hardjo was used for testing of all sera, with the addition of 2 or 3 randomly chosen other serovars (Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, Bataviae, Canicola, and/or Saxcoebing). From the total number of sera tested, 1197 (1.59%) were serologically positive, with a decreasing tendency over the years of research. The most prevalent serovar was Pomona (1.32%), followed by Hardjo (0.52%) and Grippotyphosa (0.37%). The differences among the studied regions in terms of the distribution of serovars and seroprevalence values may be attributed to different farm management approaches and climatic conditions. It is believed that the decrease in seroprevalence toward the last years of investigation may be due to the application of permanent control strategies against leptospirosis and antibiotic therapy for all seropositive animals with an antibody titer equal to or higher than 1:100.

Antibacterial effects of the fresh royal jelly, royal jelly stored at 4 °C and -40 °C for a period of 12 months against reference and isolated bacterial strains from the different clinical samples, were tested and compared by the diffusion test. Royal jelly shows antibacterial effects against both tested gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Fresh royal jelly has the most effective antibacterial activity. Storage temperature at -40 oC slightly affects antibacterial activity of royal jelly, while storage temperature at 4 oC decreases its antibacterial activity. Key words: royal jelly, antibacterial effects, storage temperature, storage duration

This paper describes the occurence of listeriosis in silage fed domestic sheep of the Pramenka type. The aim was to investigate causes of death of animals with previously manifested nervous signs. According to the Law on Veterinary Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the brain of sheep showing nervous signs of illness must be examined with suspicion on Listeria monocytogenes infection. The disesase occured in  the region of Eastern Bosnia in February, 2009. The sheep affected were adult, gravid females. All sheep affected by disease shared similar clinical signs: dyspnea, increased heart rate, circling, staggering, torticollis and inappetence. No abortions of gravid sheep were noted. All simptoms were lasting for 3 to 4 days with lethal outcome and mortality of 5%. The administration of procaine benzylpenicillin showed no results. The necropsy of death sheep revealed encephalitis. Histopathologically, multifocal microabscesses containing mainly degenerated and viable neutrophils, perivascular accummulation of lymphocytes and plasma cells with some macrophages and neutrophils, and multifocal fibrinous microthrombi in the lumina of the blood vessels were observed in the brain tissue. Also, neuronal degeneration and small microglial accummulation were noted. Microbiologically, Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from the brain tissue. Key words: Listeria monocytogenes, encephalitis, microabscess, sheep, silage

Mycoplasma bovis is a serious, worldwide-spread but often overlooked pathogen causing respiratory disease, mastitis, and arthritis in cattle. In this study we characterize the protein and antigenic profiles of M. bovis field strains isolated in Bosnia and Herzegovina by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, and analyze possible variations among these strains. Greater differences occurred when comparing field strains with the reference strain PG45. One field strain isolated from lung samples of a heifer was markedly different from strains isolated from nasal swabs taken from cattle raised in another geographic region. A possible correlation may exist between protein and antigen profiles of M. bovis field strains, geographic regions and anatomical sites of isolation. Mycoplasma bovis, cattle, antigen, immunoblotting, protein, SDS-PAGE Mycoplasma bovis is the most pathogenic bovine mycoplasma in the parts of the world considered to be free of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. This pathogen primarily causes calf pneumonia, mastitis and arthritis. Other symptoms are seen less frequently. Diseases caused by M. bovis are found worldwide, causing significant economic losses. Yet, there are no effective control measures or standard protocols for their routine application available (Nicholas and Ayling 2003). Although M. bovis, like other mycoplasmas, possesses a small genome size, it is still highly invasive and able to colonize organ systems. It is now clear that one of the possible explanations for its ability to avoid bodily defence mechanisms and adapt to different environments in the host is due to phenotypic variations in mycoplasmas (Wise 1993; Razin et al. 1998; Minion 2002). Rosengarten et al. (1994) demonstrated highly variable membrane surface proteins (Vsps) of M. bovis which represent a family of antigenically and structurally related lipoproteins. These Vsps represent the predominant antigens recognized by the host immune response during infection, and they can undergo high frequency changes in size and expression. This system is responsible for the survival of these pathogens in the presence of cytolytic antibodies and for their adaptation to specialized environments within their respective hosts (Behrens et al. 1994; Razin et al.1998). A full understanding of phenotypic variation among M. bovis strains should be of great value when developing diagnostic methods and vaccines for the control of infections caused by this organism. Recently, M. bovis has been isolated, for the first time, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rifatbegovic et al. 2007). The aim of this study was to characterize the protein and antigenic profile of these M. bovis field strains by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulphatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and immunoblot and to analyze possible variations among these strains.

a 1911 base pair gene fragment. The thermal profile for the reaction included an initial denaturation step at 94°C for 12 minutes, followed by 35 cycles consisting of a denaturation step at 94°C for 30 seconds, annealing at 57°C for 1 minute and extension at 72°C for 1·5 minutes, with a final extension step at 72°C for 10 minutes. The

Mycoplasmas are the smallest and simplest organisms known. They form a large group of bacteria that can infect humans, animals, and plants. Even though several techniques have been proposed to enumerate mycoplasmas in broth medium, the determination of mycoplasma growth still remains a difficult task. The potential of using flow cytometry (FC) for rapidly estimating several species of mycoplasmas, M. agalactiae (Ma), M. putrefaciens (Mp), M. capricolum subsp. capricolum (Mcc), M. bovis (Mb), M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) and M. hyopneumoniae (Mh) in broth medium was examined. The FC analysis was performed by staining the mycoplasma cells with a fluorescent dye, SYBR green-I (SYBR), and the results were compared with plate count (Colony Forming Units--CFU) or Colour Changing Units (CCU) methods, depending on the mycoplasma species. There was a good correlation between mycoplasma counts determined by FC (cells ml(-1)) and by traditional plate count (CFU) or CCU methods. A correlation of 0.841, 0.981, 0.960, 0.913, 0.954, and 0.844 was obtained for Ma, Mp, Mcc, Mb, Mccp and Mh, respectively. FC method allowed results in 20-30 min, while 24-72 h was necessary for plate count method and 15 days for CCU method. FC was found to be a very useful, practical and fast technique to count mycoplasmas. These findings suggest that FC can be a good alternative to replace other time-consuming techniques that are currently used to enumerate mycoplasmas in broth medium.