Three new papers from NCSU on vector borne disease and infectious disease modeling this month:
Tackling Babesia treatment resistance, Bartonella IFA diagnostic testing, and behavioral drivers of STEC E. coli transmission in cattle….
From Investigating behavioral drivers of seasonal Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia Coli (STEC) patterns in grazing cattle using an agent-based model Dawson DE, Keung JH, Napoles MG, Vella MR, Chen S, et al. (2018) PLOS ONE 13(10): e0205418. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205418
First, a study affirming that Babesia gibsoni is widespread amongst the Pit Bulls in the US, but that atovaquone resistence genes are still fairly rare (only 3.5% of the dogs tested had a resistance mutation prior to treatment).
Babesia gibsoni cytochrome b mutations in canine blood samples submitted to a US veterinary diagnostic laboratory
Birkenheuer AJ, Marr HS, Wilson JM, Breitschwerdt EB, Qurollo BA. Babesia gibsoni cytochrome b mutations in canine blood samples submitted to a US veterinary diagnostic laboratory. J Vet Intern Med. 2018;1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15300
Second, a look at the utility of an expanded 8-antigen IFA panel for detecting Bartonella spp. exposure in dogs found that in naturally exposed dogs (unlike in experimentally-infected ones), IFA is…CONFUSING!
Evaluation of cell culture‐grown Bartonella antigens in immunofluorescent antibody assays for the serological diagnosis of bartonellosis in dogs
Neupane P, Hegarty BC, Marr HS, Maggi RG, Birkenheuer AJ, Breitschwerdt EB. Evaluation of cell culture‐grown Bartonella antigens in immunofluorescent antibody assays for the serological diagnosis of bartonellosis in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2018;1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15301
And finally, an Individual Based Model (IBM) of E. coli transmission in cattle:
Investigating behavioral drivers of seasonal Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia Coli (STEC) patterns in grazing cattle using an agent-based model
Dawson DE, Keung JH, Napoles MG, Vella MR, Chen S, et al. (2018) Investigating behavioral drivers of seasonal Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia Coli (STEC) patterns in grazing cattle using an agent-based model. PLOS ONE 13(10): e0205418. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205418
