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The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in cattle slaughterhouses, as well as its association with climatic/environmental factors (derived from satellite data), seasonality and climate regions in two states in Mexico. Condemned livers from slaughtered animals were obtained from three abattoirs in the states of Puebla and Veracruz. The overall prevalence of the parasite in cattle between January and December of 2017 was 20.6% (1407 out of 6834); the highest rate of condemnation was observed in Veracruz (26.3%; tropical climate), and the lowest rate was found in Puebla (15.5%; temperate climate). The seasonal prevalence of fluke infection was 18.6%, 14.8% and 28.4% during the wet season, and 17.1%, 12.4% and 22.8% during the dry season in the three abattoir sites, located in the districts of Zacatlán, Teziutlán and Ciudad Alemán, respectively. Liver condemnations due to bovine fasciolosis were prevalent in the Zacatlán, Teziutlán and Ciudad Alemán districts during summer, autumn and summer, respectively. Using generalized estimating equations analysis, we determined six variables – rainfall (wet/dry), land surface temperature day, land surface temperature night, normalized difference vegetation index, seasonality and climate regions (temperate/tropical) – to be significantly associated with the prevalence of condemned livers. Climate region was the variable most strongly associated with F. hepatica infection (odds ratio (OR) 266.59; 95% confidence interval (CI): 241.90–353.34), followed by wet and dry seasons (OR 25.56; 95% CI: 20.56–55.67).

Fasciolosis is a worldwide emergent zoonotic disease that significantly constrains the productivity of livestock. We conducted an experimental trial with four groups of five goats each, vaccinated with 1 × 1013 phage particles of cathepsin L1 (CLI: DPWWLKQ), CL1 (SGTFLFS), and CL2 (PPIRNGK) mimotopes combined with Quil A adjuvant. Animals received a booster four weeks later. The control group received phosphate-buffered saline. All animals were infected with 200 Fasciola hepatica metacercariae at week six and euthanised 16 weeks later. The percentage of significant worm reduction in CL1 (DPWWLKQ), CL1 (SGTFLFS), and CL2 (PPIRNGK) compared to the control group were 55.40%, 70.42% (P

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in horses, donkeys and mules and its associations with age, sex and climatic factors (derived from satellite data) to identify the potential risk factors of different climate regions in four Mexican states. From May 2017 to April 2018, a total of 560 farm owners or managers answered the questionnaire, and the data were used to establish three Koppen climate classes (tropical, dry, temperate). The overall prevalence of GIN parasites in equines was 77.9% (436 out of 560). The highest percentage of GIN was detected in mules (87.5%). In addition, the highest prevalence among the climate regions was found in the temperate climate (79.9%). The identified nematodes were strongyle type (77.9%), Parascaris equorum (5.7%), Strongyloides (0.7%) and Oxyuris equi (2.9%). The highest mean value of strongylid eggs per g faeces was found in the dry climate (632.6 ± 96.8), followed by that in the tropical climate (518.3 ± 49.7) and temperate climate (383.8 ± 30.2); however, a similar prevalence was observed between different climate regions. Age and sex were identified as risk factors for high shedding of strongyle eggs: the odds ratios for higher shedding intensities were 3.858 for geldings compared to mares, 2.602 for 6–10-year-old equines and 3.597 for ≤16-year-olds compared to young equines (≤5 years old).

Anti-PCV2 antibodies in serum, viremia and production parameters (average daily weight gain [ADWG] and mortality) were assessed in piglets immunized with four commercial PCV2 vaccines in the presence of high levels of maternally derived antibodies (MDA). A total of 217 sows were vaccinated (V) at 7 and 4 weeks before farrowing with an inactivated PCV2 vaccine. All piglets derived from these sows (n=2215) were divided into five groups and 3-week-old piglets were injected with one of four different vaccines (A-D): V sows-VA piglets (n=437), V sows-VB piglets (n=424), V sows-VC piglets (n=432) and V sows-VD piglets (n=417). A control group of non-vaccinated piglets (V-NV, n=426) received phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Sows (n=39) received PBS (non-vaccinated group). The ADWG of vaccinated piglets (V-VA, V-VB, V-VC and V-VD) ranging from 661 to 669 g/day were significantly higher than the control group (V-NV, 630 g/day), but differences in ADWG between vaccinated groups were not statistically significant. An overall mortality ranging from 7.23% to 9.20% was observed in vaccinated piglets (V-VA, V-VB, V-VC and V-VD) compared with the control group (V-NV, 20.02%). The number of genomic copies of PCV2 in serum for the control group were significantly higher than those of the four vaccinated groups at 10, 15, and 22 weeks of age. Vaccination increased serum antibodies in sows 3- to 4-fold; PCV2-specific antibody titers in sera from piglets were very similar to those of their sows. The antibody titers in vaccinated piglets and V-NV group decreased gradually about 3-fold until the week 10. In the presence of high MDA levels, piglets immunized with four commercial PCV2 vaccines showed a significantly reduction of PCV2 infected pigs, viral load, number of PCV2-sero positive pigs and mortality rate as well as significantly higher ADWG than those of the V-NV group.

The objective of present study was to determine the prevalence of natural caprine fasciolosis in the Mixteca region of Mexico using coproantigen and serum IgG1 ELISA tests for comparative purposes. A total of 1070 serum and faecal samples were analyzed for IgG1 antibodies and coproantigens, using ELISA with E/S products as antigen and a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich ELISA. Prevalence of 73.46% was found using the serological ELISA and a percentage of 77.20 was found for coproantigen ELISA. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for serum ELISA were 86.7% and 96.4%, and for the coproantigen ELISA they were 93.1% and 97.8%, respectively. The seropositive samples were further categorized as low, medium, or high positivity. Results show a great proportion of low and medium positive goats when the serum ELISA test was used. Correlation coefficients between coproantigens and seropositivity were statistically significant (P<0.01) for low seropositivity (r=0.93) and medium seropositivity (r=0.84). The accuracy of faecal antigen ELISA was higher compared to indirect ELISA serological test. Two ELISAs were shown to be useful for demonstrating the current status ofF. hepaticainfection in the endemic areas and can be employed in studies on epidemiology as well as anthelmintics treatment for preventing economic loss and the risk of transmission to humans.

Leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and cathepsin L1 (CL1) are important enzymes for the pathogenesis and physiology ofFasciola hepatica. These enzymes were analysedin silicoto design a chimeric protein containing the most antigenic sequences of LAP (GenBank; AAV59016.1; amino acids 192–281) and CL1 (GenBank CAC12806.1; amino acids 173–309). The cloned 681-bp chimeric fragment (rFhLAP-CL1) contains 270 bp from LAP and 411 bp from CL1, comprising three epitopes, DGRVVHLKY (amino acids 54–62) from LAP, VTGYYTVHSGSEVELKNLV (amino acids 119–137) and YQSQTCLPF (amino acids 161–169) from CL1. The ~25 kDa rFhLAP-CL1 chimeric protein was expressed from the pET15b plasmid in the Rosetta (DE3)Escherichia colistrain. The chimeric protein rFhLAP-CL1, which showed antigenic and immunogenic properties, was recognized in Western blot assays usingF. hepatica-positive bovine sera, and induced strong, specific antibody responses following immunization in rabbits. The newly generated chimeric protein may be used as a diagnostic tool for detection of antibodies againstF. hepaticain bovine sera and as an immunogen to induce protection against bovine fasciolosis.