A wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been explored for their essential oils in the past few decades. Essential oils are complex volatile compounds, synthesized naturally in different plant parts during the process of secondary metabolism. Essential oils have great potential in the field of biomedicine as they effectively destroy several bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. The presence of different types of aldehydes, phenolics, terpenes, and other antimicrobial compounds means that the essential oils are effective against a diverse range of pathogens. The reactivity of essential oil depends upon the nature, composition, and orientation of its functional groups. The aim of this article is to review the antimicrobial potential of essential oils secreted from MAPs and their possible mechanisms of action against human pathogens. This comprehensive review will benefit researchers who wish to explore the potential of essential oils in the development of novel broad-spectrum key molecules against a broad range of drug-resistant pathogenic microbes.

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Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Essential Oils against Human Pathogens and Their Mode of Action: An Updated Review.

The bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum has for decades been known to cause the disease tick-borne fever (TBF) in domestic ruminants in Ixodes ricinus-infested areas in northern Europe. In recent years, the bacterium has been found associated with Ixodes-tick species more or less worldwide on the northern hemisphere. A. phagocytophilum has a broad host range and may cause severe disease in several mammalian species, including humans. However, the clinical symptoms vary from subclinical to fatal conditions, and considerable underreporting of clinical incidents is suspected in both human and veterinary medicine. Several variants of A. phagocytophilum have been genetically characterized. Identification and stratification into phylogenetic subfamilies has been based on cell culturing, experimental infections, PCR and sequencing techniques. However, few genome sequences have been completed so far, thus observations on biological, ecological and pathological differences between genotypes of the bacterium, have yet to be elucidated by molecular and experimental infection studies. The natural transmission cycles of various A. phagocytophilum variants, the involvement of their respective hosts and vectors involved, in particular the zoonotic potential, have to be unravelled. A. phagocytophilum is able to persist between seasons of tick activity in several mammalian species and movement of hosts and infected ticks on migrating animals or birds may spread the bacterium. In the present review, we focus on the ecology and epidemiology of A. phagocytophilum, especially the role of wildlife in contribution to the spread and sustainability of the infection in domestic livestock and humans

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Anaplasma phagocytophilum—a widespread multi-host pathogen with highly adaptive strategies

Mastitis affects the quality of milk and is a potential health risk for the other cows. In a well managed dairy herd, in addition to clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis should be efficiently detected. Bacteriological sampling is not feasible as a routine test to identify subclinical mastitis, and indirect tests of mastitis are more suitable for selecting cows with intramammary infections for subsequent bacteriological sampling. Mastitis affects the composition of milk, and the degree of changes depends on the infecting agent and the inflammatory response. Indicators of inflammation in the milk which can be determined using rapid, reliable and easy routine techniques, can be used for the early detection of mastitis. The measuring of the somatic cell count in milk is the standard method, but the analysis technique is problematic for routine use in herds. The most promising parameters for monitoring subclinical mastitis are milk N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity, lactose, and electrical conductivity along with some other indicators such as optical and milk flow measurements, preferably with an inter-quarter evaluation included in the test. Acute phase proteins, haptoglobin and serum amyloid A, are also potential candidates for mastitis monitoring. New mastitis detection systems which can be adapted into on-line use are urgently needed, since dairy units are growing bigger and automatic milking systems are being taken into use.

Indicators of inflammation in the diagnosis of mastitis

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) are indigenous in many countries in the world. These free-living swine are known reservoirs for a number of viruses, bacteria and parasites that are transmissible to domestic animals and humans. Changes of human habitation to suburban areas, increased use of lands for agricultural purposes, increased hunting activities and consumption of wild boar meat have increased the chances of exposure of wild boars to domestic animals and humans. Wild boars can act as reservoirs for many important infectious diseases in domestic animals, such as classical swine fever, brucellosis and trichinellosis, and in humans, diseases such as hepatitis E, tuberculosis, leptospirosis and trichinellosis. For examples, wild boars are reservoirs for hepatitis E virus, and cluster cases of hepatitis E have been reported in Japan of humans who consumed wild boar meat. In Canada, an outbreak of trichinellosis was linked to the consumption of wild boar meat. The incidence of tuberculosis owing to Mycobacterium bovis has increased in wild boars, thus posing a potential concern for infections in livestock and humans. It has also been documented that six hunters contracted Brucella suis infections from wild swine in Florida. This article discusses the prevalence and risk of infectious agents in wild boars and their potential transmission to livestock and humans.

Wild boars as sources for infectious diseases in livestock and humans

Within the last 15 years, several bacteria of the genus Bartonella were recognized as zoonotic agents in humans and isolated from various mammalian reservoirs. Based on either isolation of the bacterium or PCR testing, eight Bartonella species or subspecies have been recognized as zoonotic agents, including B. henselae, B. elizabethae, B. grahamii, B. vinsonii subsp. arupensis, B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, B. grahamii, B. washoensis and more recently B. koehlerae. The present manuscript reviews the factors associated with the emergence of these zoonotic pathogens, including better diagnostic tools and methods to identify these fastidious bacteria, host immunosuppression (caused by infectious agents, cancer, aging or induced by immunosuppressive drugs), the interaction of co-infection by several infectious agents that may enhanced the pathogenecity of these bacteria, increased outdoor activity leading to exposure to wildlife reservoirs or vectors, poverty and low income associated with infestation by various ectoparasites, such as body lice and finally the dispersal of Bartonellae around the world. Furthermore, a description of the main epidemiological and clinical features of zoonotic Bartonellae is given. Finally, the main means for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these diseases are presented.

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Factors associated with the rapid emergence of zoonotic Bartonella infections.

Salmonella enterica isolates from faeces of domestic reptiles and a study of their antimicrobial in vitro sensitivity.

The aim of this study was to investigate some probiotic properties of 42 wild Lactobacillus
 plantarum strains isolated from different Italian foods of animal origin. The strains were first screened for their antibiotic resistance profile (chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline), subsequently they were tested for their in vitro resistance to lysozyme (100 mg L−1), low pH (3.0, 2.5 and 2.0) and bile salts (0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 %). Moreover, agglutination property was studied (adhesion to Saccharomyces
 cerevisiae cells), as well as the presence of bsh and msa genes. The strains with the best characteristics were subjected to a further trial in order to evaluate their ability to survive to multiple stresses over time (lysozyme, low pH and bile salts) and the effect of these treatments on adhesion to yeast cells. All the strains were susceptible to chloramphenicol, erythromycin and gentamicin, while 6 strains were excluded from further evaluation because of their resistant phenotype against tetracycline. All the strains were able to grow in presence of lysozyme, as well as in MRS broth at pH 3.0. Only 4 strains showed a growth rate lower than 80 % when grown in MRS broth at pH 2.5, while a relevant growth rate decrease was observed after exposure to pH 2.0. Bile salts didn’t affect the viability of the L. plantarum cells. Twenty-one strains out of 33 tested strains were able to adhere to S. cerevisiae cells. Presence of both bsh and msa genes was detected in 6 strains. The strains resistant to all the stresses, positive to agglutination with S. cerevisiae and showing bsh and msa genes were selected for further evaluation and subjected to different stress treatments over time. The assessment of growth rates showed that exposure to lysozyme significantly increased low pH resistance in L. plantarum. This increase ranged from 2.35 to 15.57 %. The consequential lysozyme and low pH exposures didn’t affect the growth rate values after bile salts treatment, as well as the ability of the strains to adhere to yeast cells wasn’t modified by previous treatments (lysozyme, low pH and bile salts). The present work allows to increase knowledge about non starter lactic acid bacteria from Italian food products. The studied L. plantarum strains showed a good potential for their use as probiotic cultures. However, more in vivo tests are necessary to confirm this potentiality.

Preliminary evaluation of probiotic potential of Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from Italian food products.

Serological data on leptospira infection were reported and discussed. From 1995 to 2001, the blood serum samples of 9885 domestic and wild animals and humans, living in Northern and Central Italy, were examined by the macroagglutination test (MAT) employing bratislava, ballum, canicola, grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae, pomona, hardjo and tarassovi serovars as antigens. Considering sera with > or = 1:400 antibody titers as positive, 674 (6.81%) animals scored positive. Sheep, horses, pigs and dogs gave the highest number of positive responses, particularly against the serovar bratislava and, for dogs, against icterohaemorrhagiae. The percentages of seropositivity observed in the most important animal species were: 12.13% in ovine (132 positive among 1088 tested animals), 11.40% in horses (107 positive animals among 938), 9.46% in swine (123 positive animals among 1299), 6.36% in dogs (278 positive animals among 4369), 2.39% in wild boars (11 positive animals among 459), 1.39% in deer (2 positive animals among 143), 0.48% in cattle (3 positive animals among 626). Among 250 human sera examined, 14 (5.60%) scored positive.

Epidemiology of leptospirosis: observations on serological data obtained by a "diagnostic laboratory for leptospirosis" from 1995 to 2001.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of wild and cultivated Origanum syriacum plants grown in Sinai, Egypt

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Valentina Virginia Ebani

Papers

Salmonella enterica isolates from faeces of domestic reptiles and a study of their antimicrobial in vitro sensitivity.

Preliminary evaluation of probiotic potential of Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from Italian food products.

Epidemiology of leptospirosis: observations on serological data obtained by a "diagnostic laboratory for leptospirosis" from 1995 to 2001.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of wild and cultivated Origanum syriacum plants grown in Sinai, Egypt

Antibacterial activity of essential oils, their blends and mixtures of their main constituents against some strains supporting livestock mastitis