Murray Hazlett, Đurđa Slavić, Davor Ojkic, Hugh Cai

Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON

AHL Newsletter 2020;24(1):3-4.

Many new, emerging, and re-emerging diseases of people are caused by pathogens originating from animals, or are shared between people and animals. The AHL plays an important role in public health by identifying zoonotic pathogens in > 1,000 cases annually (Table 1).

The percentage of cases identified as positive for leptospirosis decreased in 2019 in all species, and the total number of submissions tested also decreased slightly, except for dogs (Table 2). These are numerator data reliant upon submission biases to the diagnostic laboratory and cannot be regarded as population prevalence estimates. These do not take into account vaccination status, as all species except horses may be routinely vaccinated for leptospirosis. Monitoring programs are not included in this data.

There was a large increase in tests for Brucella canis, and the results shown are positive by 2ME-RSAT. In samples sent to the Public Health Ontario Mycobacterium Laboratory, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was confirmed in a dog. AHL

Table 1. Number of cases with selected zoonotic pathogens isolated and/or identified at the AHL in 2019.

Table 2. Leptospira spp. seropositive, IHC-positive, or PCR-positive cases identified at the AHL, 2019.