ObjectiveQ fever is a febrile illness caused by the bacterial pathogen Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) and is transmitted to humans from small ruminants via contaminated secreta and excreta of infected animals. This pathogen threatens public health; however, little is known regarding Q fever prevalence in humans and small ruminants. Therefore, we employed a cross-sectional design to determine the Q fever seroprevalence and the associated risk factors in small ruminants and their owners in El Minya Governorate, Egypt between August 2016 and January 2017.ResultsThe seroprevalence of C. burnetii IgG antibodies was 25.68% (28 of 109), 28.20% (11 of 39) and 25.71% (9 of 35) in sheep, goats, and humans, respectively. None of the studied variables in small ruminants differed significantly between the seropositive and seronegative animals. There was a significantly higher prevalence (P = 0.0435) and increased odds of exposure was also observed among women (odds ratio, OR = 5.43 (95% CI 1.058–27.84) when compared to men; nevertheless, no significant difference was noted between the infection rate in small ruminants and humans. This study clearly points out that Q fever may be emerging in the area which lay the foundation for early prediction and better management of possible future outbreaks.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-2868-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The present study was designed to clarify the effect of Clindamycin (CLI) combined with Sulfadiazine (SD) on a murine model of acute toxoplasmosis. Albino Swiss mice were intraperitoneally infected with 10 3 tachyzoites of the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii and were per orally treated with either drug alone (SD) or (CLI) or both combined. Starting with day 1 for 14 days. Survival was monitored during 8 weeks. Residual infection was assessed by a bioassay of representative 4-week survivors and by parasite DNA detection using PCR for representative 8-week survivors. An effect of treatment was shown in all treated groups compared to untreated control mice. Among mice infected with parasite, SD and CLI at any dose combination protected more animals. However, treatment with SD plus CLI at 25 plus 25, 25 plus 50, and 50 plus 50 mg/kg/day protected 25, 37, and 81% of mice, respectively, thus demonstrating a significant synergistic effect of SD and CLI against T. gondii especially in cases of acute infection.

MRSA infections commonly present as skin and soft tissue infections in man and animals. Treatment usually includes opening of abscess and drainage with or without antibiotic therapy. MRSA is usually resistant to certain antibiotics including methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin and ampicillin. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of MRSA in man and animals with suppurative skin affections in Assiut Governorate and to test the phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated MRSA strains to the commonly-used antibiotics in Egyptian medical practices. MRSA were detected in 3.0% of tested sheep and goat, 27.3% of equines, 7.7% of cows and in 14.3% of tested humans in the same area. All animal and man MRSA strains were positive to erm(A), TetK and TetM genes, but erm(C) gene could only be detected in 80% of human MRSA isolates. human and animal MRSA isolates were resistant to penicillin and ampicillin antibiotics with MIC ranging from 8 to 128 µg/ml. Sheep and cow MRSA isolates were resistant to oxytetracycline, while equine isolates were sensitive to it. About 44.4% of human isolates were resistant to oxytetracycline. All animal-derived MRSA isolates were resistant to cefixime and more than of 55% of human isolates were also resistant to the same drug. All MRSA isolates were sensitive to clindamycin except for strains isolated from cows. Enerofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were the most effective antibiotics against all MRSA isolates. None of the 16 MRSA isolates had reduced susceptibility to vancomycin with MICs laying in the 0.5-4 µg/mL range. The similarity in phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic susceptibility of MRSA isolates recovered from both humans and animal cases, despite the difference in the frequently used antibiotics in veterinary and human hospitals, suggesting the possibility of zoonotic circulation of those isolates between them.