HighlightsPPR emergence in North Africa and European part of Turkey.Threat of incursion of PPR to Europe.Possible preventive measures to stop spread of PPR to Europe is discussed.

BackgroundPeste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a contagious disease listed by the World Organisation for Animal health (OIE) as being a specific hazard. It affects sheep, goats, and wild ungulates, and is prevalent throughout the developing world particularly Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. PPR has been targeted for eradication by 2030 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the OIE, after the successful eradication of the related disease, rinderpest in cattle. PPR was first reported in 1942 in the Ivory Coast in Western Africa and has since extended its range in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa posing an immediate threat of incursion into Europe, South East Asia and South Africa. Although robust vaccines are available, the use of these vaccines in a systematic and rational manner is not widespread, resulting in this devastating disease becoming an important neglected tropical disease in the developing world.MethodologyWe isolated and characterized the PPR virus from an outbreak in Cheraga, northern Algeria, during October 2015 by analyzing the partial N-gene sequence in comparison with other viruses from the Maghreb region. As well as sequencing the full length viral genome and performing real-time RT-PCR on clinical samples. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian temporal and phylogeographic analyses were performed to assess the persistence and spread of PPRV circulation from Eastern Africa in the Maghreb region of North Africa.ConclusionsRecent PPR outbreaks in Cheraga, in the northern part of Algiers (October 2015) and North-West Morocco (June, 2015) highlight that PPRV has spread to the northern border of North Africa and may pose a threat of introduction to Europe. Phylogeographic analysis suggests that lineage IV PPRV has spread from Eastern Africa, most likely from the Sudan 2000 outbreak, into Northern Africa resulting in the 2008 Moroccan outbreak. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analysis shows that these North African viruses cluster closely together suggesting the existence of continual regional circulation. Considering the same virus is circulating in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, implementation of a common Maghreb PPR eradication strategy would be beneficial for the region.

Objective: This work aimed to determine the resistance and/or the susceptibility to antibiotics of staphylococci isolated from cattle with mastitis in the North of Algeria. Materials and Methods: The disk diffusion method was carried out to reveal the antibiotic resistance in accordance to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guidelines in the Mueller-Hinton agar. Results: Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS) isolates showed more resistance to Cefoxitin, Amoxicillin + Clavulanic Acid, Vancomycin, Trimethoprime Sulfamethoxazole, Clindamycine, Neomycin, and Erythromycin than Coagulase-positive Staphylococci (CPS). CPS were more resistant to Penicillin and Tetracycline as compared to CNS strains; however, all these strains presented sensitivity to Gentamicin and neomycin. Conclusion: The Staphylococci showed high resistance to the beta-lactam antibiotics. As far as the authors know, these molecules are used with or without control in different protocols to prevent and cure the mastitis in Algeria.

The aim of this study was to carry out the metabolic profile comparison between follicular fluid and serum in normal cows and those affected by ovarian cysts (OC). After slaughtering, blood samples and follicular fluids from normal and cystic animals were collected and assayed using commercial kits to determine the concentrations of metabolites (glucose, total protein, total cholesterol, cortisol, triglycerides, urea, creatinine and insulin) and the liver enzymes activity. Data showed that OC were characterized by low levels of glucose, total protein, cholesterol and cortisol in cystic fluid, while urea concentrations were high compared to normal follicular fluid (P<0.001). On the other hand, serum assays of cystic animals revealed very low values of insulin and urea, whereas cortisol levels were relatively high in comparison with the serum of normal cows (P<0.001). Significant correlations between the serum and follicular fluid concentrations of normal cows were found for glucose (r=0.49), total cholesterol (r=0.31), cortisol (r=0.38) and total protein (r=0.63). The highest correlation was found for urea (r=0.86). On contrary, weak correlations were observed between metabolites concentrations in cystic fluid and in serum for normal and cystic cows. In conclusion, OC grow and persist in a metabolic environment, which differs from follicular fluid to blood. These changes may act together and/or separately to ensure the continuous development of OC. To understand a part of the mechanism, the authors propose a deep study about blood-follicle-barrier.

Veterinary treatments, mainly antibiotics, used for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes in dairy cows, may be the cause of the presence of their residues in milk. This can have harmful consequences on animal and human health. To fully understand this problem, the present study aimed to evaluate the presence of antibiotic residues on 160 samples of cow’s milk in the North Central region of Algeria, using two distinct microbiological techniques (acidification test and agar diffusion test) for two strains Bacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus subtilis. The results showed antibiotic residue contamination in 18.12% of samples. Tetracycline and/or penicillin residues were responsible for the contamination of 90% of positive milk samples, while macrolide and/or aminoglycoside residues were only detected in 6.66% of positive samples. The confirmation by the agar diffusion test of the 31 raw milk samples including 30 positive and one suspicious sample, analysed by the acidification test, showed a contamination rate of 90.32% for beta-lactams and/or tetracyclines (28 samples) and a contamination rate of 3.22% for aminoglycosides and/or macrolides (2 samples). The suspicious sample tested negative. The results of this study showed that the control and monitoring of antibiotics and their residues by collectors and in foods of animal origin are particularly important to ensure the safety of food of animal origin, and thus to protect the consumer.