News

New contributions to the diagnosis of viral diseases in apis mellifera and their application to the epidemiological study

Deborah Kukielka Zunzunegui defended the PhD Thesis at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid

Spain is the main honeybee producer country in Europe holding approximately 2.500.000 beehives. Honeybees are highly important insects due to the honeybee production and their use as natural pollinators of several agricultural products. Therefore, the problems they suffer affect beekeepers, the agricultural and the scientific community. Due to the increasing disappearance phenomena that Apis mellifera has been suffering in the last years, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), several research lines have arisen with the goal of reaching a deeper knowledge of the pathologies that affect the… Read more

Jornadas de debate sobre la erradicación de la Tuberculosis Bovina

Communications in this event:

- Diagnóstico laboratorial y nuevas herramientas de epidemiología molecular

- La Tuberculosis Bovina en el contexto europeo. Laboratorio Comunitario de Referencia para la Tuberculosis Bovina

I Scientific Congress VISAVET

Communications in this event:

- Nuevas estrategias para el control de la brucelosis ovina por Brucella melitensis

- Zoonosis emergentes transmisibles por artrópodos

- Nuevas aportaciones al diagnóstico de las enfermedades de la abeja Apis mellifera y su aplicación al estudio epidemiológico

- Evaluación de la respuesta inmune inducida por las vacunas VLP frente a los serotipos 1 y 4 del virus de la lengua azul

- Flavobacteriaceae en trucha. Evaluación de la problemática de la enfermedad del alevín

- Caracterización de aislados de Streptococcus suis procedentes de fauna salvaje

- Un mecanismo emergente de resistencia a aminoglucósidos: las metiltransferasas del ARNr 16S

- Resistencia a antibióticos en patógenos de la familia Pasteurellaceae

- Evolución de integrones de Escherichia coli en cerdos y pollos

- Campylobacter: detección y caracterización molecular

- Epidemiología molecular de Mycobacterium bovis y Mycobacterium caprae

- Técnicas de caracterización molecular para la tipificación de aislados de Mycobacterium avium subspecie paratuberculosis

- Estudio de la respuesta inmune en animales con tuberculosis y/o paratuberculosis

Risk assessment of the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza into Spain by the arrival of migratory wintering birds

PhD Thesis defense by Marta Martínez Avilés at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid

The intercontinental spread of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 HPAI) at the end of 2005 from Southeast Asia to Europe and Africa, reached an unprecedented spread causing for massive mortalities in birds, many of them wild species. Aquatic wild birds, natural reservoirs of influenza virus type A, were victims in Europe of an epidemic the first wave of which coincided with the autumn migration from Northeastern to Southwestern Europe. The spread of H5N1 HPAI among wild aquatic birds in Europe and the progressive and continuous detection of outbreaks increased the alarms leading to h… Read more

Paratuberculosis

Oral communication in III Mesa de Sanidad Caprina Andaluza: “Situación y posibles estrategias de mejora”

III Master in Crisis Management and Emerging Threats in a globalized World

Luis Enrique Martín Otero directs this Master one year more, which is organized by the University Institute of European Studies at the University CEU San Pablo

The main purpose of the Master Program in Crisis Management owned and Emerging Threats in a Globalized  World is to introduce  student to the complex world around crises and emergencies and how they manage risks and threats that originate or derived from them, both at national and international, on the other hand, provide it with the necessary knowledge, both from a theoretical and practical, for those who wish to apply them in a professional environment where they work or seeking a future work. The program consists of 90 classroom hours and 510 hours of student work, and develops in 3 different modules: Module I: Islam and jihadism in the globalized world. Module II: Prevention and national and international response to crisis: security and defense systems. Module III: Biosecurity and response to health risks and health threats. End of Master Project. The program is directed, in general, to people who are interesting in the subject and, in particular, and related personnel matter as international and state officials such as diplomats, members of the Security Forces of the State of Armed Forces, members of Civil Protection of the state, regional and local staff and volunteers and non-governmental organizations related to the topic. It is also for private security directors, law graduates, Political Science, Journalism, war correspondents, employees of companies with presence in areas concerning this matter or in countries associated with the same degrees in Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, Biology and Medicine interested in managing the consequences of those threats. Also, this program is highly recommended for those who are interested in working at the field of Spanish foreign policy or an international organization


… Read more

Análisis de la situación de la profesión veterinaria en España, con especial referencia a la Comunidad de Madrid

PhD Thesis defense by Felipe Vilas Herranz at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid

During the last 20 years, there have been several events with great influence on the veterinarian profession, such as the autonomous regions development, the increase on the number of Faculties of Veterinary, the massive insertion of women into the profession, the pet sector development and the full integration in Europe. All those factors justify the need to perform a deep analysis on the veterinarian profession, which can contribute with useful information in order to establish improvement strategies, especially if it is taken into account the very few studies performed in Spain about this t… Read more

Comentario sobre la opinión expresada por la EFSA sobre fiebre Q

New online article published in Blog Madri+d de Seguridad Alimentaria y Alimentación

La fiebre Q es una enfermedad cuyo estudio, a pesar de haber sido descrita por primera vez hace ya casi 75 años, sigue planteando numerosas incógnitas que justifican el nombre que recibió al ser descubierta (fiebre Q por “query”, duda o pregunta en inglés). Su agente causal, Coxiella burnetii, ha sido identificado en la práctica totalidad de los países en los que se han realizado estudios encaminados a detectar su presencia, con la posible excepción de Nueva Zelanda. En los animales puede dar lugar a abortos o cuadros de infertilidad, aunque su presencia en un rebaño también puede pasar inadve… Read more

Stays at VISAVET for foreign researchers

Grants from the Ministry of Education (EDU/1456/2010 Order of 26 May) for young foreign doctors who want to do a stay at the VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain

1. Requirements of beneficiaries:… Read more

Molecular characterization of Streptococcus suis (serotypes 2 and 9) isolated from swine in Spain

PhD Thesis defense by Verena Blume Serrano at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is an important swine pathogen, being widespread in the pig population worldwide and endemic in most pig-rearing countries of the world. Besides of it sanitary and economic impact, S. suis is also a zoonotic agent responsible for severe clinical disease in human. These facts have determinate that nowadays this pathogen is considered one of the emerging diseases both in Veterinary and Human Medicine. There is a lack of knowledge about S. suis population structure and also about the virulence potential of determinate clones to cause disease in swine. In order to … Read more

African swine fever threats: are we ready?

Conference in 4th Annual Meeting EPIZONE

Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and Foodborne Pathogens in Animals, Humans and the Environment

Communications in this event:

- Genetic variation in emerging multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica 4,[5],12:I:- from seven european countries

- Screening for zinc resistance and czrC genes in methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus fron animal origin in Europe

Multiresistant Salmonella enterica serovar 4,[5], 12:i:- in Europe: a new pandemic strain?

Investigation article published in Eurosurveillance

A marked increase in the prevalence of S. enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- with resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and tetracyclines (R-type ASSuT) has been noted in food-borne infections and in pigs/pig meat in several European countries in the last ten years. One hundred and sixteen strains of S. enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- from humans, pigs and pig meat isolated in England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands were further subtyped by phage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis to inves… Read more

Analysis of the baseline survey on the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in holdings with breeding pigs, in the EU, 2008 - Part B: factors associated with MRSA contamination of holdings

EFSA Journal publish this article

A European Union-wide baseline survey on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was conducted in 2008 in holdings with breeding pigs. A total of 1,600 holdings housing and selling mainly breeding pigs (breeding holdings), and 3,473 holdings housing breeding pigs and selling mainly pigs for fattening or slaughter (production holdings) from 24 Member States and two other European countries were included in the survey. Pooled dust samples collected from holdings were tested for MRSA. The likelihood of a limited set of holding-level factors to be potentially associated with MRSA-positi… Read more

Innovations in detection of pathogens in swine populations

The Seminar will be held on June 11, 2010 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Complutense University of Madrid

Professor Jeffrey Zimmerman of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, will present a seminar entitled "Innovations in the detection of pathogens in swine populations" the next day June 11 at 10 am at the Grade Room of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Complutene University of Madrid… Read more

Short communication. First detection of Israeli Acute ParalysisVirus (IAPV) in Spanish honeybees

Investigation published in Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research

Spanish bee samples were analyzed for the presence of Israel Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). Some of these samples were collected from colonies presenting compatible symptoms with the colony collapse disorder (CCD, 240 out of 484) and the rest were asymptomatic. Only one of these samples was diagnosed as positive to IAPV by employing a one step RT-PCR that targets the ORF 2 of the IAPV genome. Specificity of the RT-PCR assay was evaluated by sequence analysis of size specific amplification products. IAPV nucleotide sequences already published in GeneBank were used to construct a phylogenetic tre… Read more

Characterization of a recombinant transferrin-binding protein A (TbpA) fragment from Haemophilus parasuis serovar 5

FEMS Microbiology Letters publish this investigation article

Haemophilus parasuis, the etiological agent of Glässer`s disease in pigs, possesses iron acquisition pathways mediated by a surface receptor that specifically bind porcine transferrin. This receptor is composed of transferrin-binding protein A (TbpA) and TbpB. As it has been reported for other gram-negative organisms, H. parasuis TbpA could be useful as a candidate target for H. parasuis vaccination. In this study, a 600-bp tbpA fragment of the gene encoding TbpA from H. parasuis serovar 5, the Nagasaki strain, was amplified by PCR and cloned into a pBAD/Thio-TOPO expression vector, generating… Read more

Isolation of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa from skin lesions in a Southern sea lion (Otaria flavescens): a case report

Veterinarni Medicina publish this investigation article

This paper reports the isolation of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa from skin lesions in a Southern sea lion (Otaria flavescens). The microorganism was isolated from cutaneous lesions, identified by the commercial API 20 C AUX system, and confirmed by sequencing. Topical treatment with sertaconazol resulted in complete clinical recovery of the animal and repeat testing did not result in the recovery of the yeast from the healed lesion sites.… Read more

Determination of best tissues and culture media for microbiological confirmationof the serological results of the control campaigns of Brucella melitensis in sheep

Investigation article published in Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria

Slaughtering seropositive animals in order to control ovine brucellosis requires a microbiological culture as a confirmatory technique. It is necessary to establish the most adequate tissues, due to difficulties involved in performing microbiological techniques in a large number of animals and samples. In this sense, there is a lack of data obtained from naturally infected sheep representatives of the different epidemiological situations, as recommended by OIE. In our study we carried out the necropsy of 92 ewes suspicious to be infected by Brucella and we performed microbiological culture and… Read more

Red de movimientos equinos. Comparación con otras especies y aplicación para el control de enfermedades

Presentation by Almudena Sánchez Matamoros to obtain the Master of Research. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid

Actualmente nos encontramos en un mundo globalizado donde animales y sus productos vivos pueden recorrer grandes distancias en cortos periodos de tiempo. Estos movimientos son de gran importancia en la introducción y difusión de enfermedades. Para estudiar estos mecanismos son muy útiles el análisis de clusters, de redes y la teoría de grafos, estos dos últimos de reciente incorporación a la investigación veterinaria. Su uso permite la caracterización espacio-temporal de los movimientos y la identificación de individuos, zonas y periodos donde el riesgo de introducción/difusión de enfermedades… Read more

Identificación de zonas de riesgo de difusión de la Fiebre del Nilo Occidental en Castilla y León

Victor Rodríguez Prieto defended this presentation at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid in order to obtain the Master of Research

La fiebre del Nilo Occidental (FNO) es una arbovirosis de gran relevancia en los últimos años por su carácter emergente en un gran número de países y re-emergente para otros. Para evaluar el potencial riesgo de entrada y difusión de la FNO en Castilla y León (CyL) se utilizó un modelo de decisión multicriterio basado en la función "weighted overlay" del software ArcGIS 9.2. Se elaboraron capas de riesgo relativas a hospedadores (caballos y aves silvestres) y vectores (mosquitos del género Culex) para obtener los mapas finales de riesgo. Cada una de las capas se combinó mediante la técnica “… Read more

Estudio epidemiológico y caracterización molecular de virus de abejas (Apis mellifera) en Andalucía

Presentation by Marina Vicente Rubiano to obtain the Master of Research. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid

La abeja de la miel Apis mellifera es un insecto social de gran importancia ganadera no sólo por su producción de miel y polen, sino por su influencia en la productividad de cultivos de todo el mundo, siendo el principal insecto polinizador de Europa y EEUU. En las últimas décadas se ha producido un descenso en la población de abejas Apis mellifera en colmenas de todo el mundo, constituyendo un fenómeno que ha sido denominado Síndrome de Despoblamiento de las Colmenas (SDC). Se han barajado numerosos factores como posibles causantes de este síndrome, entre los que destacan patógenos como bact… Read more

Análisis epidemiológico de la Lengua Azul en la República Argentina

Facundo José Linares defended this presentation at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid in order to obtain the Master of Research

Evaluación cuantitativa del riesgo de introducción del virus de la Peste Porcina Africana en la Unión Europea por importación legal de porcinos vivos y sus productos cárnicos derivados

Lina Mur Gil defended this presentation at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid in order to obtain the Master of Research

La peste porcina africana (PPA) es una de las enfermedades de mayor importancia de las que afectan al ganado porcino, debido a las graves repercusiones sanitarias, sociales y económicas que ocasiona. El aumento de incidencia de la PPA durante los últimos años en el continente africano, unido a la afectación de nuevas zonas en el continente europeo a partir del 2007 (zona caucásica), han convertido a la PPA en una de las enfermedades con mayor riesgo potencial de introducción en la Unión Europea (UE). El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido el diseño de dos modelos probabilísticos para el análisi… Read more