Interesting facts

Essential oils are oily, easily evaporating extracts from plants or parts of plants that have a strong, characteristic odor depending on the plant of origin. Unlike fatty oils, they evaporate completely, but they are also fat-soluble and made up of many different components. They are only very slightly soluble in water, where they float on the water surface as individual droplets.

Essential oils contain botanicals that have roles such as attracting insects for pollination, keeping pests away, and protecting against diseases such as those caused by bacteria or fungi. They are the herbal seduction, defense and self-healing substances. Essential oils found in oregano include carvacrol and thymol, which have been shown to have antifungal and antibacterial effects.

Bacteria can be very different. There are bacteria that require oxygen (aerobic bacteria or aerobes), bacteria for which oxygen is poisonous (obligate anaerobic bacteria or obligate anaerobes), and bacteria that tolerate both oxygen and lack of oxygen (facultative anaerobes).
Special bacteria are found in the intestines or other organs of many living beings and are involved in digestion and other physiological processes. Escherichia coli (E.coli) and enterococci are the best-known representatives of this group. But anaerobic bifidobacteria are also included.
Bacteria play an important role in the human body. A large number of bacteria live in the human intestine, which together form the digestive intestinal flora. The skin of healthy people is colonized by harmless bacteria that form the skin flora. Particularly high numbers of bacteria can be found on the teeth. However, bacteria can also act as pathogens. Some bacteria cause purulent wound inflammation (infections), sepsis (blood poisoning) or inflammation of organs (e.g. bladder or pneumonia). To prevent these diseases, two methods of fighting bacteria have been developed by hygiene, a branch of medicine:

Sterilization is a process used to sterilize medical devices and materials.

Disinfection is a procedure to greatly reduce the number of bacteria on the skin or objects (e.g. with hand disinfectants).

Once the bacteria have entered the body and caused an infection, antibiotics are now an effective remedy against bacteria; for example penicillins produced by fungi of the genus Penicillium. Penicillin interferes with the synthesis of the bacterial cell wall, so it is only effective against growing bacteria. However, many antibiotics have become ineffective against certain bacteria over time.
When treating bacteria with antibiotics, it must be remembered that not only pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria but also mutualistic (beneficial) bacteria can be disrupted or killed by the drug. This can go so far that initially small numbers of bacteria of the species Clostridium difficile, which are naturally resistant to many antibiotics, gain the upper hand in the intestine and cause severe diarrhoea.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics can be natural or the result of a mutation.

Biofilms consist of a layer of slime (film) in which microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa) are embedded. Biofilms form when microorganisms colonize interfaces. They form predominantly in aqueous systems, either on the water surface or at an interface to a solid phase.

In principle, however, all interfaces can be overgrown by biofilms: between gas and liquid phases (e.g. free water level), liquid and solid phases (e.g. gravel on the river bed) or also between different liquid phases (e.g. oil droplets in the Water). The interface on which the biofilm forms is called the substratum.

Biofilms can be considered a very primordial form of life, as the oldest fossils found so far come from microorganisms in biofilms that lived 3,2 billion years ago. These are stromatolites (biogenic sedimentary rocks) found in Western Australia (Pilbara Craton). The biofilm as a form of life has proven itself so well that it is still widespread today. The vast majority of microorganisms live in nature in the form of biofilms.

In everyday life, biofilms are often perceived as a “slime layer” or “covering”. Other colloquial terms are growth, scum skin or sluice skin.

Although biofilms are ubiquitous in nature, their clinical importance in medicine is often underestimated. This applies in particular to infections, because in more than 60% of all bacterial infectious diseases, the pathogens protect themselves from the immune system by forming biofilms. Since much of the initial microbiological toolkit was developed in the wake of major epidemics, it was done with an emphasis on the free-floating (planktonic), rapidly dividing bacteria of acute infections (see Henle-Koch postulates). However, the isolation and pure culture in the laboratory required here leads to considerable gene loss in the bacteria under conventional laboratory conditions and ultimately to the loss of the ability to form biofilms. For this reason and because of the above-mentioned resting phases, biofilms in the accumulation phase often elude not only detection by conventional methods of microorganism cultures but also detailed examination. Modern visualization techniques such as confocal microscopy and gene probes to localize and identify biofilm organisms using fluorescence microscopy have contributed to a better understanding of biofilms.

In the course of the biofilm maturation, larger accumulations of bacteria are shed in the existence phase, coordinated by quorum sensing. This creates a source of germs that lead to chronic and recurring infections of patients (bacteremia) and sometimes to the often fatal sepsis. This is especially true for patients with a weakened immune system. Biofilms are associated with a range of infections. Examples for this are:

• wound infections
• bacterial endocarditis
• periodontitis
• urethritis
• Prostatitis
• dental caries
• chronic otitis media in children

Another area affected is foreign body-associated infections. This includes microbial contamination and colonization of catheters, implants and medical instruments. In addition to the great inherent advantages for diagnostics and therapy, the increasing use of plastics in medical technology has led to an aggravation of the biofilm problem. Especially because of the affinity of various microorganisms, such as some staphylococci, to the surfaces of biomaterials, about half of nosocomial infections can be traced back to surgical implants. The origin of the microorganisms involved is considered to be the skin surface of hospital staff and patients, the contact of exit points or connectors with tap water and other sources from the environment. Hospital and dental treatment unit water lines, dialysis equipment, and hard-to-clean endoscopes can also be affected. Depending on the medical device used and the length of stay, gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria and fungi occur as single or multi-species biofilms. Examples of commonly involved pathogens are:

• Staphylococcus epidermidis
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Escherichia coli
• Candida albicans

Within the enteritis it is a intestinal inflammation, limited to the small intestine. If the large intestine is also affected by enteritis, one speaks of one enterocolitis. Both humans and animals can be affected by enteritis. Enteritis is often caused by bacteria or viruses. Poor nutrition can also lead to enteritis in humans and animals.
A enteritis in animals often shows through diarrhea and worse Ingestion than in healthy animals. An accurate diagnosis can of course only be made by a veterinarian.
In addition to conventional veterinary medicines, purely plant-based products may also be used in the event of enteritis.

Carvacrol und Thymol

Carvacrol (C10H14O-) and thymol are chemically isomers and
Derivatives of phenol and are ingredients of the essential oil in oregano. Together with other phenols – more than 30 substances in total – they develop a natural antimicrobial effect, which is the basis of the effectiveness of oregano oil.

As a pure substance, however, the antimicrobial effectiveness is limited. In addition, risks such as toxicity and immunodeficiency are known when using synthetic derivatives of carvacrol and thymol.

The genus Clostridia includes, among other things, the anaerobic pathogens of gas gangrene and intoxication gangrene and the pathogens of tetanus.
Clostridia are rod-shaped bacteria from the Clostridiaceae family, grow in the absence of oxygen can occur almost anywhere, but they are particularly common in the soil and in the intestines of humans and animals
Clostridium perfringens is a bacterium that can be detected in water, soil or food as well as in the intestines of animals.
Clostridium perfringens, which belongs to the group of gas gangrene bacteria, forms pathogenic exotoxins (enterotoxins) for humans, causes the dreaded gas gangrene and can also be the trigger for gas phlegmon and malignant edema.
Gas gangrene bacilli such as Clostridium perfinges produce a total of approx. toxins which act as enzymes and cause tissue breakdown and necrosis in muscle tissue.
Other consequences of individual toxins can be diseases such as necrotic enteritis (intestinal gangrene) with abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Clostridium perfringens is considered a food poisoner, with seafood and cooked meat dishes appearing to be particularly susceptible.
Other Clostridia such as Clostridium difficile can also trigger serious intestinal diseases, which can sometimes even be fatal if left untreated.

Intestinal parasites include certain worms (see Worm Disease) and protozoa (such as certain flagellates and amoebas), which can be taken up with the drinking water, especially in warmer regions, and parasitize in the intestine of a host. They can lead to severe diarrheal diseases (such as Entamoeba histolytica).

Diarrheal diseases are among the most common diseases in animals and can sometimes be life-threatening.
Diarrhea (medically also diarrhea or diarrhea) is spoken of when the stool occurs particularly frequently and is rather unformed to liquid.
The diarrhea itself can usually not be controlled by the animal and is associated with severe pain in the gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, depending on the cause, it is possible that the diarrhea contains blood, mucus and even pus.
Diarrhea can be caused by diseases of both the colon and the small intestine. It is not uncommon for both sections of the intestine to be affected.

The causes of these diseases and thus of diarrhea in animals such as pigs, rabbits or even dogs can be very different, just as they are in humans.

One of the most common causes of diarrhea in animals is infections, in which pathogens such as E. coli get into the intestine and multiply there. This leads to secretion of water and mucus from the intestinal wall, and reduced absorption of water by the intestinal cells. The absorbed water now liquefies the stool and is excreted with the stool as so-called “diarrhoea”.
But in addition to E. coli, there are many other viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhea in animals. In order to find the trigger for the diarrhea disease clearly, it makes sense to take a stool sample from the diarrhea. In the case of chronic diarrhea, it is also advisable to carry out an endoscopic examination or an X-ray contrast image.
Due to the large loss of water and other risks, a doctor should be consulted if the animal has massive diarrhea symptoms. This is particularly advisable if the animal suffering from diarrhea is in contact with other animals.
It is not uncommon for diarrhea to be the first sign of a particularly serious illness that can be highly contagious. Livestock farms should therefore be particularly vigilant when an animal suffers from diarrhea.

In veterinary medicine, a general distinction is made between:

– Diarrhea caused by parasitic intestinal diseases (worms, etc.)
– Diarrhea caused by infections (viruses, bacteria, etc.)
– Diarrhea as a reaction to poisoning (injectables, etc.)
– Diarrhea as a result of a non-inflammatory disease, such as stress, change of diet, allergies, etc.)

Just like the salmonella belongs the Campylobacter group to the group of zoonoses.
Besides C.jejuni belongs C. coli among the most common pathogens. These can be an inflammatory in humans diarrheal disease (campylobacter enteritis).
This disease often goes undetected in animals because they do not react like humans and do not show any symptoms of the disease.

The Campylobacter is the world’s most common pathogen for such diarrheal diseases, ahead of salmonella.

Enterocolitis is an animal disease that mainly affects rabbits, with the
Enterocolitis is an inflammation of the small and large intestine that lasts 2 to 5 days.

Enterocolitis is highly infectious and can quickly spread to an epidemic, which is a serious problem, especially in rabbit farming.

The following symptoms indicate enterocolitis disease:

• No feed intake and sometimes apathetic, motionless sitting in the stall
• Thin mushy defecation with a slimy admixture of a jelly-like secretion with a putrid odor
• Later no defecation and occasional bloating of the abdomen
• Palpable firm cord in the front pelvic area

Escherichia coli (abbreviated to E. coli) is an acid-forming (lactose-positive), rod-shaped bacterium found in the human and animal intestines. Escherichia Coli was named in 1919 after its discoverer Theodor Escherich. Escherichia Coli is one of the best-studied organisms in the world.

Escherichia Coli bacteria belong to the family of intestinal bacteria and are usually not pathogenic (disease-causing) as long as they are in the intestine. However, coliform bacteria can be carried over and cause urinary tract infections, peritonitis (e.g. after operations), meningitis in newborns, and other infections. Some coli strains cause intestinal diseases in humans and animals.

Other possible disease patterns caused by Escherichia Coli can be coliform in suckling and weaned piglets, colisepticemia in calves, lambs and poultry, and colimastitis in cows.

Coli bacteria (Eschericia coli / E.coli) are considered an indicator of faecal contamination if they can be detected in water or food.

As vitamin-forming components of the normal intestinal flora of humans and most mammals, the Escherichia Coli bacteria play an important role in the breakdown of carbohydrates and proteins.
Escherichia coli bacteria primarily feed on sugar and certain amino acids.

The feed conversion is a measure in livestock farming that describes the feed consumption per unit output.

In meat production, feed conversion indicates how much feed is required for one kilogram of growth. With better feed conversion, less feed is required per kilogram of growth, so feed consumption decreases and feeding efficiency increases. In milk or egg production, feed consumption per liter of milk or per egg is relevant. In order to increase feed conversion, the feed is adapted as well as possible to the needs of the animals.

The blackhead disease or histomoniasis is an infectious disease of turkeys and gallinaceous birds in general. In the (mainly older) specialist literature there are a number of other alternative names for the disease caused: for example blackhead disease, histomonosis, (infectious) typhlohepatitis or enterohepatitis and typhlitis.^[1] The disease was first described in 1895 by the parasitologist Theobald Smith based on samples collected in the previous year. Blackhead disease is caused by the flagellated parasite Histomonas meleagridis

In turkeys in particular, histomoniasis leads to a severe course of the disease, with severe damage to the host’s caecum and liver. Morbidity and mortality in infected birds is extremely high.
The typical symptoms of histomoniasis are rather unspecific and infected animals show apathetic behavior, closed eyes, a stilted gait and breathing difficulties.
Turkeys are most notable for the appearance of sulphur-yellow faeces as a result of liver damage, but chickens usually only have slimy diarrhea. Liver lesions, on the other hand, do not occur. However, histomoniasis can only be diagnosed with certainty postmortem. In turkeys, histomoniasis causes visible, necrotic lesions in the liver. In addition, severe, ulcerative inflammation occurs in the caecum of infected birds, which is accompanied by a characteristic thickening of the mucosa.

Young animals usually die a few days after the onset of the disease; a chronic course can often be observed in older animals. The disease got its name from a bluish-red to black discoloration of the scalp, which does not always occur. However, because the appearance of black crests is not a primary hallmark of histomoniasis, blackhead disease is sometimes referred to as a misnomer. Sometimes other organs can also be affected by histomoniasis.

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease that occurs in practically every form of husbandry and use.

coccidia are protozoa that parasitize in the cells of the intestinal mucosa (intestinal coccidiosis) or the bile ducts (liver coccidiosis).

Many rabbits are latently infected with the pathogens of intestinal coccidiosis, which means that they excrete the pathogens in large quantities without becoming ill themselves. However, if the animals become overburdened with infections, transport stress or feeding errors, coccidiosis breaks out.

If the infestation is low, the Coccidiosis without symptoms. However, if extensive areas of the intestinal mucosa are inflamed by coccidia, the food can no longer be properly digested and utilized.

The animals suffering from coccidiosis lose weight and suffer from slimy to bloody diarrhea. If the intestinal flora is damaged by coccidia, it can also bacterial infections spread, which are accompanied by strong gas formation in the intestine.
Young animals become ill most severely from the infestation of coccidia. Among them, the death rate can by Coccidia/ coccidiosis up to 100 percent.

Cryptosporidia (Cryptosporidium) are unicellular parasites that commonly infect calves and occasionally humans, but also up to 40 other vertebrates. They belong to the Apicomplexa and are closely related to Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, and Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis.

In the intestine of the host, the sporozoites are released from the oocysts, which penetrate into the brush border of the intestinal cells, nest there in a parasitophoric vacuole and further develop into trophozoites and merontsdevelop. The merontes divide asexually into 8 merozoites I, which invade new host cells, where each merozoite gives rise to a second generation of merontes. The sex cells (gamonts) develop from the resulting second merozoite generation. Fertilization of the female macrogametes by male microgemetes gives rise to a zygote and finally an oocyst.

Two types of oocysts are formed: around 80% are thick-walled and excreted in the feces, the remaining 20% ​​are thin-walled and remain in the host, where they cause reinfection of the host. The oocysts are very resistant and can remain infectious for several months under favorable conditions (humidity and temperature). They are insensitive to many disinfectants.

The contribution was produced and broadcast by www.oeins.de

Parasites are highly specialized creatures. Their way of life is often limited to a single host species. In general, there is a high dependence of a parasite on its host or hosts. The parasitization can relate to various host factors such as body substance, food supply, oxygen demand, osmosis, pH ratios or heat balance.
Depending on the extent of the parasite infestation, the burden or weakening of the host varies. Even if parasite infestation does not cause life-threatening damage to the host, it always has a negative effect on its growth, well-being, susceptibility to infection, reproduction or lifespan. Toxic metabolites of the parasite, remaining internal or external injuries or the deprivation of food can lead to a reduction in the lifespan, especially under other unfavorable environmental conditions.
The environment of the parasite is usually a living thing. In order to be able to live in this environment, parasites have adapted to their environment in a variety of ways.
Due to the very different adaptation, size and way of life of different parasites and the different forms of interaction between the parasite and the host, parasites are classified according to certain criteria:

• Micro and macro parasites
• Ecto- and endoparasites
• Optional and obligatory parasitism
• Temporary and stationary parasites
• Periodic and permanent parasites
• host specificity
• host change
• brood parasitism
• kleptoparasitism
• opportunism
• parasitism in plants
• parasitism in bacteria

Phytogenic active ingredients are substances obtained from plants, which are usually produced by extraction from fresh or mostly dried plants.

The phytogenic substances are characterized by a wide range of effects. Not only the feed intake can be increased by the intake, but also the endogenous secretion. In addition, phytogenic agents can have antimicrobial, coccidiostatic, immunostimulating, anthelmintic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects (Wenk, 2003c).

The Poultry Infectious Disease”histomoniasis” (also blackhead disease) is characterized by high losses and considerable suffering of the animals suffering from histomoniasis and has been forgotten for a long time.

Histomoniasis/ blackhead disease is one Inflammation of the liver and appendix and leads to yellowish-white foci of necrosis on the organs. Blackhead disease is caused by unicellular intestinal parasites called histomonads.

While young animals may die directly, expresses itself blackhead disease in older animals initially by sulphur-yellow diarrhea, emaciation and lethargy.

Up until around 60 years ago, blackhead disease was particularly rampant in chicken and turkey coops (poultry farming). Only through the use of drugs, some of which were also administered preventively, was the histomoniasis pushed back so far that hardly any research was attempted.

It is not uncommon for poultry in free-range husbandry to become infected via ingested earthworms blackhead disease. Furthermore, the animals infect each other, whereby the infection routes of the histomoniasis are often even unclear.

Due to legal changes in the EU, all preparations for Combating histomoniasis prohibited, since individual active ingredients in the drugs against blackhead disease cause a change in the hereditary gene – due to the resulting therapeutic emergency, alternatives such as phytopharmaceuticals that work against blackhead disease are urgently needed.

A somatic cell is a body cell from which, in contrast to the cells of the germ line, no sex cells (gametes) can emerge. This distinction between germ line and soma (germ plasm theory) is characteristic of animals and humans; in plants there is no separate germ line.

Somatic cells develop in the course of life through differentiation, so to speak, in a dead end, which ends with the death of these cells. Changes in the genetic information of somatic cells therefore have no effect on the following generation. In the discussion about gene therapy, a distinction must therefore be made between the therapy of somatic cells, which only affects the individual concerned, and the modification of the germ line, which affects all subsequent generations.

Staphylococci are immobile spherical bacteria, which are often arranged in clusters and can occur on the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and the skin of both humans and animals. Staphylococci prefer a temperature of 30 °C to 37 °C. However, staphylococci can survive outside of this temperature range.
The greatest threat from staphylococci comes from Staphylococcus (S.) aureus.
Staphylococci of the species Staphylococcus aureus are particularly widespread and under certain circumstances, for example with a weak immune system, can sometimes lead to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, endocarditis, TSS (toxic shock syndrome) and sepsis, with some bacterial strains of stapylococci becoming resistant to common antibiotics like penicillin G have developed.

These staphylococci, the so-called MRSA strains, therefore pose a particular danger to humans and animals and are often found in hospitals and care facilities