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Mycobacterial species are raising serious concerns in livestock and wild animals worldwide. In wildlife, mycobacterial infection has been reported in hundreds of species and likely has the potential to occur in every vertebrate. Since this infection is of a chronic nature the best strategy to control the infection is through early identification of infected animals, and better diagnostic measures are required for effective control programs. With the development of new molecular methods for detecting and characterizing microorganisms, the ecology of mycobacteria has rapidly advanced in all areas. In human medicine, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are accepted diagnostic standards, replacing or complementing culture isolation and acid-fast staining. The mycobacterial species that produce tuberculosis in humans and animals are included in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). Mycobacteria from the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) cause a variety of diseases including tuberculosis-like disease in humans and birds, disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients, lymphadenitis in humans and mammals and paratuberculosis in ruminants. This manuscript is a review of the scientific literature on the classification and biology, epidemiology, clinical signs, pathology, diagnostic techniques, and public health concerns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium complexes in wild mammals.

The Genetics and Biotechnology Conference (JGB) of the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) is an annual scientific event organized jointly by the Nucleus of Students of Genetics and Biotechnology (ADNGB) of UTAD and the Direction of the Course of Genetics and Biotechnology in collaboration with the teaching staff of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology (DGB). As a result of the scientificpedagogical partnership established between professors of DGB (UTAD) and of Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of León (UL), Spain, it was considered important to repeat the shared organization of this event between professors and students of the UTAD and UL designating it as XII Genetics and Biotechnology Conference / II Genetics and Biotechnology Iberian Conference (XII JGB / II JIGB). The main objective of the XII JGB /II JIGB is to update knowledge in the area of Genetics and Biotechnology. To this end, the focus of this event is the conferences given by renowned national and international scientists and the thematic workshops that will constitute more practical sessions. The XII JGB /II JIGB will also focus on interaction, exchange of experiences and scientific debates between Portuguese and Spanish students and professors. The best oral and posters presentations will be awarded. The target audience is Portuguese and Spanish students, researchers and university professors from the scientific areas of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology as well as High School teachers from the Biology area. A wide variety of topics will be discussed, in the different areas of Genetics and Biotechnology, such as Plant, Animal, Human, Microbial, Evolutionary, Cancer, Forensic, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, among others.

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases are a fatal group of infectious, inherited and spontaneous neurodegenerative diseases affecting human and animals. They are caused by the conversion of cellular prion protein (PrPC) into a misfolded pathological isoform (PrPSc or prion- proteinaceous infectious particle) that self-propagates by conformational conversion of PrPC. Yet by an unknown mechanism, PrPC can fold into different PrPSc conformers that may result in different prion strains that display specific disease phenotype (incubation time, clinical signs and lesion profile). Although the pathways for neurodegeneration as well as the involvement of brain inflammation in these diseases are not well understood, the spongiform changes, neuronal loss, gliosis and accumulation of PrPSc are the characteristic neuropathological lesions. Scrapie affecting small ruminants was the first identified TSE and has been considered the archetype of prion diseases, though atypical and new animal prion diseases continue to emerge highlighting the importance to investigate the lesion profile in naturally affected animals. In this report, we review the neuropathology and the neuroinflammation of animal prion diseases in natural hosts from scrapie, going through the zoonotic bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the chronic wasting disease (CWD) to the newly identified camel prion disease (CPD).

Wasting disease in small ruminants is frequently detected at slaughterhouses. The wasting disorder is manifested by the deterioration of the nutritional and physiological state of the animal indicated by thinness, emaciation, and cachexia. Evidence of emaciation and cachexia, alone, are pathological conditions leading to carcass condemnation during an inspection. Several diseases are associated with a wasting condition, including scrapie, pseudotuberculosis, tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, Maedi Visna, and tumor diseases. On the other hand, parasitic diseases, nutrition disorders, exposure or ingestion of toxins, metabolic conditions, inadequate nutrition due to poor teeth, or poor alimentary diet are conditions contributing to poor body condition. Classical and atypical scrapie is naturally occurring transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in small ruminants. The etiological agent for each one is prions. However, each of these scrapie types is epidemiologically, pathologically, and biochemically different. Though atypical scrapie occurs at low incidence, it is consistently prevalent in the small ruminant population. Hence, it is advisable to include differential diagnosis of this disease, from other possibilities, as a cause of wasting conditions detected during meat inspection at the abattoir. This manuscript is a review of the measures in force at the abattoir for scrapie control, focusing on the differential diagnosis of gross lesions related to wasting conditions detected in small ruminants during meat inspection.