Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 10 of 14 items for
- Author or Editor: David C. Van Metre x
- Refine by Access: All Content x
Abstract
Objective—To characterize biosecurity and infection control practices at veterinary teaching hospitals located at institutions accredited by the AVMA.
Design—Cross-sectional survey.
Population—50 biosecurity experts at 38 veterinary teaching hospitals.
Procedures—Telephone interviews were conducted between July 2006 and July 2007, and questions were asked regarding policies for hygiene, surveillance, patient contact, education, and awareness. Respondents were also asked their opinion regarding the rigor of their programs.
Results—31 of 38 (82%) hospitals reported outbreaks of nosocomial infection during the 5 years prior to the interview, 17 (45%) reported > 1 outbreak, 22 (58%) had restricted patient admissions to aid mitigation, and 12 (32%) had completely closed sections of the facility to control disease spread. Nineteen (50%) hospitals reported that zoonotic infections had occurred during the 2 years prior to the interview. Only 16 (42%) hospitals required personnel to complete a biosecurity training program, but 20 of the 50 (40%) respondents indicated that they believed their hospitals ranked among the top 10% in regard to rigor of infection control efforts.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that differences existed among infection control programs at these institutions. Perceptions of experts regarding program rigor appeared to be skewed, possibly because of a lack of published data characterizing programs at other institutions. Results may provide a stimulus for hospital administrators to better optimize biosecurity and infection control programs at their hospitals and thereby optimize patient care.
Abstract
Objective—To evaluate the potential association between Salmonella enterica shedding in hospitalized horses and the risk of diarrhea among stablemates, and to characterize gastrointestinal-related illness and death following discharge among horses that shed S enterica while hospitalized.
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—221 horses (59 that shed S enterica during hospitalization and 162 that tested negative for S enterica shedding ≥ 3 times during hospitalization).
Procedures—Information from medical records (signalment, results of microbial culture of fecal samples, clinical status at the time of culture, and treatment history) was combined with data collected through interviews with horse owners regarding formerly hospitalized horses and their stablemates. Data were analyzed to investigate risk factors for death and diarrhea.
Results—Occurrence of diarrhea among stablemates of formerly hospitalized horses was not associated with S enterica shedding in hospitalized horses but was associated with oral treatment with antimicrobials during hospitalization. Salmonella enterica shedding during hospitalization was not associated with risk of death or gastrointestinal-related illness in study horses ≤ 6 months after discharge, but shedding status and history of gastrointestinal illness were associated with increased risk of death during the preinterview period.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Stablemates of horses that shed S enterica during hospitalization did not appear to have an increased risk for diarrhea, but comingling with horses that receive orally administered antimicrobials may affect this risk. Salmonella enterica shedding during hospitalization may be a marker of increased long-term risk of death after discharge. Risks are likely influenced by the S enterica strain involved and biosecurity procedures used.
Abstract
Objective—To compare the frequency of isolation, genotypes, and in vivo production of major lethal toxins of Clostridium perfringens in adult dairy cows affected with hemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS) versus left-displaced abomasum (LDA).
Design—Case-control study.
Animals—10 adult dairy cattle with HBS (cases) and 10 adult dairy cattle with LDA matched with cases by herd of origin (controls).
Procedure—Samples of gastrointestinal contents were obtained from multiple sites during surgery or necropsy examination. Each sample underwent testing for anaerobic bacteria by use of 3 culture methods. The genotype of isolates of C perfringens was determined via multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay. Major lethal toxins were detected by use of an ELISA. Data were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression and X2 analysis.
Results—C perfringens type A and type A with the beta2 gene (A + beta2) were the only genotypes isolated. Isolation of C perfringens type A and type A + beta2 was 6.56 and 3.3 times as likely, respectively, to occur in samples from cattle with HBS than in cattle with LDA. Alpha toxin was detected in 7 of 36 samples from cases and in 0 of 32 samples from controls. Beta2 toxin was detected in 9 of 36 samples from cases and 0 of 36 samples from controls.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—C perfringens type A and type A + beta2 can be isolated from the gastrointestinal tract with significantly greater odds in cattle with HBS than in herdmates with LDA. Alpha and beta2 toxins were detected in samples from cows with HBS but not from cows with LDA. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2005;227:132–138)
Abstract
Objective—To compare the efficacy of a peroxygenbased disinfectant used in footbaths with the efficacy of the same disinfectant used in footmats for reducing bacterial contamination of footwear in a large animal hospital.
Design—Prospective study.
Sample Population—Bacteria recovered from the soles of rubber boots after experimental microbial contamination and exposure to disinfectant solutions or water (water-treated control boots) or no treatment (untreated control boots).
Procedures—Investigators contaminated boots by walking through soiled animal bedding. Swab samples were collected from the sole of 1 untreated boot (right or left); the other boot was treated as investigators stepped through a disinfectant-filled footbath, a disinfectant-filled footmat, or water-filled footmat. Samples were collected 10 minutes after each treatment. Differences in numbers of bacteria recovered from treated and untreated boots were analyzed.
Results—Mean bacterial counts from peroxygentreated boots were 1.3 to 1.4 log10 lower (95.4% to 99.8%) than the counts from untreated boots. Results were similar for footmat- and footbath-treated boots. In contrast, there were no statistically detectable differences in mean bacterial counts in samples collected from water-treated or untreated boots.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that footmats and footbaths containing peroxygenbased disinfectant are effective in reducing bacterial contamination on the soles of boots when used in conditions representative of large animal hospitals. Similar results were achieved with use of either footmats or footbaths. The use of footbaths and footmats containing effective disinfectants may help decrease the risk for spread of nosocomial infection but should not be expected to sterilize footwear.
Abstract
Objective—To develop a syndromic surveillance system based on visual inspection from outside the livestock pens that could be used for detection of disease among livestock entering an auction market.
Design—Cross-sectional study.
Animals—All livestock (beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs) entering a single auction market in Colorado during 30 business days.
Procedures—Livestock were enumerated and visually inspected for clinical signs of disease by a veterinarian outside the pens, and clinical signs that were observed were categorized into 12 disease syndromes. Frequency of clinical signs and disease syndromes was then calculated.
Results—Data were recorded for a total of 29,371 animal observation days. For all species combined, the most common disease syndrome was respiratory tract disease (218.9 observations/10,000 animal observation days), followed by thin body condition and abnormal ambulation or posture (80.7 and 27.2 observations/10,000 animal observation days, respectively). Together, these 3 disease syndromes accounted for 92.8% of all clinical signs of disease observed. The syndromes least commonly identified were non–injury-related hemorrhage, death, and injury-related hemorrhage (0.0, 0.3, and 0.7 observations/10,000 animal observation days, respectively).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that a syndromic surveillance system based on visual inspection alone could be developed to identify possible disease conditions among livestock at an auction market. Further studies are needed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of visual observation in detecting disease.
