Background: Emerging animal and zoonotic diseases and increasing international trade have resulted in an increased demand for veterinary surveillance systems. However, human and financial resources available to support government veterinary services are becoming more and more limited in many countries world-wide. Intuitively, issues that present higher risks merit higher priority for surveillance resources as investments will yield higher benefit-cost ratios. The rapid rate of acceptance of this core concept of risk-based surveillance has outpaced the development of its theoretical and practical bases.

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A 1-year cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence, risk factors for carriage, and genetic diversity of Campylobacter spp. in healthy dogs and cats in Switzerland. Veterinary practitioners collected samples from 1268 animals (all ages) presented for vaccination. The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in 634 dogs and 596 cats that were eligible for the study was 41.2% (confidence interval 95%: 37.3-45.1%) and 41.9% (CI 95%: 37.9-46%), respectively. Risk factors identified for carriage of Campylobacter jejuni were found to be different from risk factors for C. upsaliensis/C. helveticus. Young animals (< or =3 years) had significantly higher odds of carrying C. upsaliensis/C. helveticus than older animals (OR 1.8-3.3), whereas for C. jejuni carriage, the age was not a risk factor. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) genotyping revealed heterogeneity among C. jejuni strains and was found to clearly separate C. helveticus from C. upsaliensis. It was shown that cats more often carry C. helveticus with an estimated prevalence of 28.2%, whereas dogs mainly are carrying C. upsaliensis.

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In the context of a serosurvey conducted on the Anaplasma marginale prevalence in Swiss cattle, we suspected that a serological cross-reactivity between A. marginale and A. phagocytophilum might exist. In the present study we demonstrate that cattle, sheep and horses experimentally infected with A. phagocytophilum not only develop antibodies to A. phagocytophilum (detected by immunofluorescent-antibody assay) but also to A. marginale (detected by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Conversely, calves experimentally infected with A. marginale also developed antibodies to A. phagocytophilum using the same serological tests. The identity of 63% determined in silico within a 209-amino-acid sequence of major surface protein 5 of an isolate of A. marginale and one of A. phagocytophilum supported the observed immunological cross-reactivity. These observations have important consequences for the serotesting of both, A. marginale and A. phagocytophilum infection of several animal species. In view of these new findings, tests that have been considered specific for either infection must be interpreted carefully.