Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017160 (gastroenteritis)
 11,398 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Environmental stressors are involved in the etiology of important livestock diseases, including transmissible gastroenteritis in young pigs, Newcastle's and Marek's disease in chickens and shipping fever in cattle. Unfortunately, very little research has been conducted to learn how stress alters host resistance, although it is generally assumed that the immune system of the host is affected. This paper identifies eight stressors that typically occur in modern livestock production units: heat, cold, crowding, mixing, weaning, limit-feeding, noise and restraint. All of these stressors have been shown to alter the immune system of animals. These changes in immune function may ultimately explain the physiological basis of disease-environment interactions. A thorough understanding of stress-induced changes in host resistance will also provide the scientific basis for effective prophylactic therapy. More controlled experiments are needed to learn how stress alters the susceptibility of animals to infectious and noninfectious diseases.
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PMID:Stress and immune function: a bibliographic review. 703 71

Campylobacter, a foodborne pathogen closely associated with poultry, is considered to be an important agent of human gastroenteritis in New Zealand. The pathways involved in the contamination of poultry flocks remain unclear; however, many vectors, such as insects, rodents, and wild birds, have been implicated. Infestation of poultry houses by insects, particularly darkling beetles (Alphitobius diaperinus), is difficult to control. Furthermore, darkling beetles are known vectors for a variety of pathogens that include Salmonella, infectious bursal disease virus, Aspergillus, Escherichia coli, and Marek's disease virus. In this investigation, the relationship between darkling beetles and Campylobacter contamination of poultry flocks was investigated. A New Zealand breeder flock and four of its progeny broiler flocks were included in the study. Samples of beetles and of intestinal excreta of the birds were cultured for the presence of Campylobacter spp. A subset of the recovered isolates was subsequently genotyped using flaA short variable region (SVR) DNA sequence analysis. A large number of Campylobacter subtypes were isolated, indicating that Campylobacter colonization of poultry is likely to arise from a number of different reservoirs. However, a set of genetically distinct isolates were found to be common to the broiler flocks and to the beetles. This research provides data that indicates that Alphitobius diaperinus may serve as a source of Campylobacter contamination of poultry. A more thorough understanding of the relationship between beetle infestation and the Campylobacter status of poultry flocks should enable progress in further development of biosecurity control measures.
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PMID:Relationship of Campylobacter isolated from poultry and from darkling beetles in New Zealand. 1507 7