Streptococcus agalactiae

The goal of the North American Urinary Tract Infection Collaborative Alliance (NAUTICA) study was to determine antibiotic susceptibility to commonly used agents for urinary tract infections against outpatient urinary isolates obtained in various geographic regions in the USA and Canada. Forty-one medical centres (30 from the USA and 11 from Canada) participated, with each centre submitting up to 50 consecutive outpatient midstream urine isolates. Isolates were identified to species level by the standard protocol of each laboratory. Susceptibility testing was determined using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) microdilution method. Resistance breakpoints used were those published by the NCCLS, including: ampicillin (resistant ≥32 μg/mL), sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMX/TMP) (resistant ≥4 μg/mL), nitrofurantoin (resistant ≥128 μg/mL), ciprofloxacin (resistant ≥4 μg/mL) and levofloxacin (resistant ≥8 μg/mL). Of the 1990 isolates collected, 75.1% (1494) were collected from the USA and 24.9% (496) were collected from Canada. The mean age of the patients was 48.3 years (range 1 month to 99 years), and 79.5% and 20.5% of isolates were obtained from women and men, respectively. The most common organisms were Escherichia coli (57.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (12.4%), Enterococcus spp. (6.6%), Proteus mirabilis (5.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.9%), Citrobacter spp. (2.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (2.2%), Enterobacter cloacae (1.9%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (1.3%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (1.2%), Klebsiella spp. (1.2%), Enterobacter aerogenes (1.1%) and Streptococcus agalactiae (1.0%). Among all 1990 isolates, 45.9% were resistant to ampicillin, 20.4% to SMX/TMP, 14.3% to nitrofurantoin, 9.7% to ciprofloxacin and 8.1% to levofloxacin. Fluoroquinolone resistance was highest in patients ≥65 years of age. For the 1142 E. coli isolates, resistance rates were: ampicillin 37.7%, SMX/TMP 21.3%, ciprofloxacin 5.5%, levofloxacin 5.1% and nitrofurantoin 1.1%. For all 1990 isolates and for the 1142 E. coli only, resistance rates were significantly higher in US compared with Canadian medical centres. This study reports higher rates of antibiotic resistance in US versus Canadian outpatient urinary isolates and demonstrates the continuing evolution of resistance to antimicrobial agents.

Background and Aim: The increasing antimicrobial resistance with reduced susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs is becoming a major concern for both human and animal, which raises health morbidity and mortality rate of cases that cannot be treated by antibiotics. Nowadays, there are many efforts to minimize the misuse of antibiotics. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the crude ethanolic extracts of three Thai herbs divided in four groups; petals of marigold (Tagetes erecta), mulberry leaves and root barks (Morus indica), and whole onions of red shallot (Allium ascalonicum) against Streptococcus agalactiae.

Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial activity of four groups of the crude extracts using absolute ethanol from three Thai herbs was tested against standard strains of S. agalactiae using the agar well diffusion method. The commercial antibiotics ceftriaxone and erythromycin were used as positive control standards to determine the sensitivity of S. agalactiae.

Results: The result showed that all four groups of Thai herbal extract had inhibitory activity against standard strains of S. agalactiae. The inhibitory concentration test values were obtained using the dilution test at 25, 50, and 75 mg/ml. The maximum antimicrobial activity against S. agalactiae was observed in the ethanolic extracts from red shallot extract, followed by leaves of mulberry, petals of marigold, and root barks of mulberry, respectively.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the crude extract of three Thai herbs had antimicrobial activity inhibiting the growth of S. agalactiae and suggesting that they may be useful in the treatment of S. agalactiae infections in humans and animals.

Contagious diseases are a threat to animal health and productivity, both nationally and at the farm level. This makes implementation of biosecurity measures to prevent their introduction and spread within countries and farms a necessity. Mastitis is the most common and costly contagious disease affecting dairy farms in the western world. The major mastitis pathogens are endemic in most countries, and biosecurity measures to prevent introduction and transmission must therefore be implemented at farm level. The 40-yr-old mastitis control plan remains a solid foundation to prevent the spread of contagious intramammary infections. Contagious diseases that do not affect the mammary gland directly may have an indirect effect on mastitis. This is true for list A diseases such as foot and mouth disease, for which biosecurity measures may need to be taken at national level, and for other infections with nonmastitis pathogens such as bovine viral diarrhea virus and Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis. Maintaining a closed herd decreases the risk of introduction of pathogens that affect udder health directly or indirectly. If animals are purchased,their udder health history should be evaluated and they should be examined and tested forcontagious diseases. Transmission of infections by and to humans and nonbovine animals mayoccur. Contact with visitors and nonbovine animals should therefore be minimized. Because of globalization and heightened consumer awareness, the importance of biosecurity now supersedesindividual farms, and increased pressure to control transmission of contagious diseases can beexpected at industry or government levels in western countries and elsewhere.

The aim of present study was determination effects of dietary administration of C. militaris spent mushroom substrate (SMS) on mucosal and serum immune parameters, disease resistance, and growth performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Two hundred twenty five fish of similar weight (37.28 ± 0.10 g) were assigned to the following diets [0 (T1- Control), 5 (T2), 10 (T3), 20 (T4) and 40 g kg(-1) (T5) SMS]. After 60 days of feeding trial, growth performance, skin mucus lysozyme and peroxidase activities as well as serum innate immune were measured. In addition, survival rate and innate immune responses were calculated after challenge test (15 days) against Streptococcus agalactiae. The results revealed that regardless of inclusion levels, feeding Nile tilapia with SMS supplemented diets significantly increased skin mucus lysozyme and peroxidase activities as well as serum immune parameters (SL, ACH50, PI, RB, and RB) compared control group (P < 0.05). The highest incremen...

This study was conducted to establish guidelines for monitoring bulk tank milk somatic cell count and bacterial counts, and to understand the relationship between different bacterial groups that occur in bulk tank milk. One hundred twenty-six dairy farms in 14 counties of Pennsylvania participated, each providing one bulk tank milk sample every 15 d for 2 mo. The 4 bulk tank milk samples from each farm were examined for bulk tank somatic cell count and bacterial counts including standard plate count, preliminary incubation count, laboratory pasteurization count, coagulase-negative staphylococcal count, environmental streptococcal count, coliform count, and gram-negative noncoliform count. The milk samples were also examined for presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Mycoplasma. The bacterial counts of 4 bulk tank milk samples examined over an 8-wk period were averaged and expressed as mean bacterial count per milliliter. The study revealed that an increase ...

Bakteri S. agalactiae merupakan patogen utama yang menyerang ikan nila mulai fase benih hingga dewasa. Fase benih merupakan fase rawan disebabkan banyak terjadi kematian akibat belum berkembangnya sistem imun dengan sempurna. Rekayasa transfer imunitas maternal melalui vaksinasi induk ikan merupakan teknik alternatif dalam mengantisipasi tingginya angka kematian benih. Pemberian vaksin S. agalactiae di induk ikan nila pada pemijahan pertama mampu meningkatkan imunitas induk maupun benih dan memproteksi benih dari infeksi S. agalactiae. Namun, transfer imunitas maternal pada pemijahan kedua dari induk yang telah divaksin mengalami penurunan. Hal tersebut disebabkan karena dalam jangka waktu tertentu keberadaan antibodi dalam tubuh dan proteksinya akan semakin menurun. Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu untuk menguji efikasi vaksin ulang S. agalactiae di induk ikan nila pada pemijahan kedua terhadap imunitas maternal untuk pencegahan streptococcosis. Vaksin dibuat dengan cara menginaktivasi bakteri S. agalactiae menggunakan formalin sebanyak 3% (v/v). Vaksin yang digunakan adalah gabungan sediaan sel utuh dan produk ekstraselular (ECP) S. agalactiae. Vaksin gabungan diinjeksi sebanyak 0,4 mL/kg induk ikan dengan perbandingan 50:50% (v/v) dari dosis penyuntikan, sedangkan kontrol diinjeksi dengan phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Vaksin diberikan ke induk ikan pada fase tingkat
kematangan gonad dua (TKG 2). Penelitian terdiri dari tiga perlakuan dan tiga ulangan yaitu induk diinjeksi PBS (K), induk diinjeksi vaksin satu kali (A), dan induk diinjeksi vaksin dua kali dengan selang waktu satu bulan (B). Uji tantang benih dari setiap induk perlakuan dilakukan melalui perendaman S. agalactiae 107 CFU/mL selama 30 menit pada umur benih 5, 10, 15, dan 20 hari setelah menetas. Parameter yang diamati pada induk ikan meliputi level antibodi, aktivitas lisosim, gambaran darah, dan fekunditas telur. Parameter yang diamati pada telur dan benih meliputi daya tetas telur, level antibodi, aktivitas lisosim, mortalitas benih
setelah uji tantang, relative percent survival (RPS) dan perubahan patologi anatomi mikroskopis jaringan otak benih setelah infeksi S. agalaciae. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan total eritrosit, hemoglobin, dan hematokrit induk ikan tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) antara semua perlakuan. Namun, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan (P<0,05) pada total leukosit dan aktivitas fagositik. Perlakuan induk B memiliki total leukosit dan aktivitas fagositik yang signifikan lebih tinggi (P<0,05) dibandingkan dengan perlakuan induk lainnya. Level antibodi induk, telur, dan benih dari perlakuan B signifikan lebih tinggi (P<0,05) dibandingkan dengan perlakuan induk lainnya. Level antibodi benih dari perlakuan induk A tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) dengan benih dari perlakuan induk K pada hari ke-20. Aktivitas lisosim induk, telur, dan benih dari perlakuan B berbeda signifikan lebih tinggi (P<0,05) dibandingkan dengan perlakuan induk lainnya. Aktivitas lisosim telur dari induk perlakuan A tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) dengan telur dari induk K. Aktivitas lisosim benih dari induk perlakuan  A tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) dengan benih dari induk K mulai hari ke-10 hingga hari ke-20.
Fekunditas telur tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) pada semua perlakuan. Namun, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan terhadap daya tetas telur. Daya tetas telur dari perlakuan induk B (94,52%) signifikan lebih tinggi (P<0,05) dari pada perlakuan induk lainnya. Tingkat mortalitas benih perlakuan induk B signifikan lebih rendah (P<0,05) dari perlakuan lainnya hingga hari ke-20. Namun, mortalitas benih perlakuan induk B tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) dengan perlakuan benih dari induk A pada hari ke-5. Nilai RPS benih dari perlakuan induk B tidak berbeda signifikan (P>0,05) dengan perlakuan benih dari induk A pada hari ke-5 tetapi, signifikan lebih tinggi (P<0,05) pada hari ke-10 hingga hari ke-20. Hasil histologi jaringan otak ikan yang terinfeksi S. agalactiae terlihat mengalami nekrosis dan degenerasi, namun tidak terlihat pada jaringan otak benih ikan normal. Kesimpulan penelitian yaitu pemberian vaksin ulang di induk ikan nila pada pemijahan kedua dapat menstimulasi imunitas dan transfer imunitas maternal ke anaknya untuk pencegahan streptococcosis.

Pili are essential virulence factors in many Gram-negative bacteria; however, they have not been described in most important Gram-positive pathogens. While screening the sequence of multiple genomes of Group B Streptococcus , we identified protective antigens that formed high molecular weight polymers. Immunogold electron microscopy revealed that the structures have a pilus-like form. These large structures have gone unrecognized in decades of studies of Group B Streptococcus .

Streptococcus agalactiae is reported to be an asymptomatic vaginal colonizer in Indian women, although it is considered one of the major causes of neonatal infections in many European countries. DNA based molecular typing methods are more reliable than the conventional serotyping method for identification and typing of this pathogen. In the present study, we have evaluated genetic diversity among colonizing S. agalactiae strains (n=86) by using a PCR-based genotyping method i.e. Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR). With ERIC-PCR fingerprinting at 60% similarity level in a dendrogram generated by UPGMA cluster analysis, 10 different ERIC groups were identified, which were subdivided into 62 distinct genotypes at ≥ 95% similarity level. Based on these findings, we demonstrate that ERIC-PCR is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive tool with sufficient discriminatory power and is applicable for characterization and genotyping of a large number of clinical isolates of S. agalactiae at molecular level.