BackgroundBovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important bacterial infectious disease in Albania of concern to animal and human health; its prevalence is poorly documented.MethodsIn this longitudinal study, we tested by ELISA 2661 serum samples, from 154 herds, with the aim of establishing the suitability of this approach to screen the bovine population for bTB. In a follow-on survey of 87 animals in three villages, we assessed the usefulness of the Mycobacterium bovis IDEXX ELISA (IDEXX M. bovis Antibody (Ab) Test. IDEXX Europe B.V P.O. Box 1334, 2130 EK Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) assay by comparing IDEXX results with the results of the single intradermal cervical skin test. Skin tests were performed either after or at the time of collection of blood samples, and therefore cattle were not sensitized by tuberculin before serological testing.ResultsThe proportion of herds in which serologically positive cattle were found was 18.2 % (95 % CI, 1.9–25.8 %) and the prevalence of seropositive cattle was 1.4 % (95 % CI, 0.8–2.1 %). In the follow-up study, two of the 87 animals reacted positively to the skin test and two produced inconclusive reactions. No overlap was found between the four animals with positive IDEXX ELISA results and the four animals with non-negative skin test results.ConclusionThe lack of agreement between the results of the two tests may reflect different elements of the immune response (humoral and cell-mediated immunity). In future, cattle should be sensitized by the intradermal injection of tuberculin 14 days prior to the collection of blood samples, which would then be tested by the Mycobacterium bovis IDEXX ELISA Test in order to determine more accurately the prevalence of infection.

Background Brucellosis is a ubiquitous zoonotic disease globally. It is endemic among bovines, sheep, and goats in Albania. The national control and eradication programs for brucellosis has been applied on sheep and goat farms as well as large dairy cattle farms, i.e., those with more than ten milking cows. The current study aims at estimating the herd and average individual animal prevalence of brucellosis in the national beef cattle herds, the missing information that was essential to propose the most appropriate control measures for this subpopulation. Rose Bengal Test (RBT), Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA), and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were used as serological tests and classical bacteriology for isolation. Results were also used to investigate the difference in sensitivity between the assays used.

Hard ticks are important vectors of DNA- and RNA-based infectious microorganisms, but they also host complex microbial communities in which pathogens and symbionts can interact among each other and with the arthropod host itself. Molecular investigations on ticks and their hosted microorganisms are important for human and animal health. These analyses often imply the use of both DNA and RNA, with prompt preservation of nucleic acids after collection, and safe handling in case of low-level containment. Several commercial kits are available for the co-extraction of DNA and RNA; however, cost can be a limiting factor for the choice of this method, which also require additional reagents for nucleic acids preservation before extraction. Additionally, extraction buffers provided in commercial kits do not guarantee the safe handling in case of hazardous biological material. With the aim of epidemiological screenings for tick-borne pathogens and gene expression analyses focused on the relationship among ticks and their microbial communities, an optimized protocol for DNA and RNA co-extraction from single adult hard tick specimens (Ixodidae) has been developed using TRIzol Ⓡ LS Reagent.A method for DNA/RNA co-extraction from adult hard tick specimens; Safe sample handling; Obtaining DNA and RNA simultaneously for diagnostic procedures and RNA for gene expression/transcriptomic analyses.

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Bovine brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease in Albania. Both B. abortus and B. melitensis have been isolated from ruminants. National control and eradication programs for brucellosis are applied on sheep and goat farms and larger dairy cattle farms. However, the current control programs for brucellosis do not cover small dairy cattle farms, and there is no valid data on the prevalence of the disease in this category; this prevents formulating evidence-based and effective strategies for control of the disease in this population subset. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the herd and within-herd prevalence of bovine brucellosis in small bovine herds and provide scientific evidence for establishing an evidence-based approach to control the disease in this subset of the population not previously included in the national eradication program. To achieve this objective, a statistical survey was designed and implemented in small dairy herds in the Lushnja district, where samples from statistically selected herds were serologically tested in parallel with Rose Bengal Test (RBT), Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). In total, 120 dairy herds were randomly selected from a list of 1,955 registered herds: from these selected herds, 368 blood samples were collected from all animals older than 12 months, and their sera were tested using RBT, FPA, and c-ELISA. The test results revealed no positive or suspect cases. Based on these results, we are confident (P0.05) that Brucella spp is not circulating in this subpopulation of cattle in the Lushja district. This deduction is supported by analyses of the main risk factors, other epidemiological data, and the perceptions of official and private veterinarians. This is the first structured survey of bovine brucellosis in small dairy herds in Albania. In conclusion, our study results and our findings show that the epidemiological status of bovine brucellosis in the Lushnja district is encouraging. Therefore, a test and slaughter control program appears appropriate in smaller herds. Furthermore, the approach used in this pilot study could be extended to establish the prevalence of brucellosis in other districts, the result of which would establish the basis for rational control measures in the smaller herds of cattle.