Virginia Aragón
[authors]
CReSA - UAB. Spain
virginia.aragon@cresa.uab.cat
Virginia Aragón was born in Pamplona (Navarra) in 1967, and she graduated at the Biology Science Faculty of the Universidad de Navarra in 1990. Later, she earned her doctorate at the same university, where she made her thesis at the department of Microbiology under the direction of Dr. Ignacio Moriyón.
In 1994 she defended her thesis which dealt with biochemical and immunological characterization of surface polysaccharides of virulent strains of Brucella.
In 1996 she travelled to the United States with a post-doctoral fellowship and she joined the laboratory of Dr. Lawrence Dreyfus at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. During this post-doctoral period she carried out functional studies in vitro with the cytolethal-distending toxin of Escherichia coli. Later, she moved to Chicago where she joined the laboratory of Dr. Nicholas Cianciotto at the Northwestern University Medical School. In this laboratory she studied the secretion of enzymes with the possible implication in the virulence of Legionella pneumophila. Before returning to Spain, she spent a short time in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Hansen at the Southwestern University Medical Center. In this case her research was focused on the study of the adhesion UspA1 of Moraxella catarrhalis.
Dr. Aragón is currently an investigator at the Animal Welfare Research Centre (Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal, CReSA), on the campus of Bellaterra of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she carries out her research work.
During her career Dr. Aragón has taken part in diverse research projects centered on the study of the virulence of different bacterial pathogens. Fifteen international publications and three chapters of books have emerged from these studies. At CReSA, her work is based on the study of the virulence of Haemophilus parasuis, mainly through projects financed with public funds, but also through contracts with companies within the sector
Control: prevention and treatment[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón Basic preventative measures of management should be included in the control of the disease, such as adequate temperature control of the barns, a complete all-in all-out hygiene and disinfection, and the avoidance of any mixing of animals from distinct sanitary origins. |
Immunity and serotype[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón The decrease in the contact time between the mother and her piglets, due to the common practice of early weaning, has led to the appearance of some piglets that are not completely colonised or that have not acquired a sufficient level of maternal antibodies. On mixing with other litters, these piglets are faced with distinct strains while lacking the necessary antibodies against the disease. |
Epidemiology and typing[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón It is important to be able to identify the distinct circulating strains and to differentiate between the strains that are merely colonisers and those that have the capacity to produce disease. With this aim various methods of classification of strains or “typing” of H. parasuis have been developed. |
Laboratory diagnosis[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón When the clinical signs on the farm and the lesions observed in the piglets lead us to suspect that there is a Haemophilus parasuis infection we have to confirm this diagnosis in the laboratory |
Clinical and pathologic diagnosis[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón Haemophilus parasuis is present in all swine producing countries and its prevalence is close to 100% on conventional farms. However, only a percentage of these farms present pathologies associated to the infection. |
Pathogenicity: why are some strains pathogenic while some are not?[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón The factors of virulence allow the pathogenic strains to survive inside the animal and cause the infection, while the non-virulent strains lack these factors and can only survive in the upper respiratory tract as colonisers. |
Risk factors[Glässer’s disease]Virginia Aragón On a conventional farm with no problems with Glässer’s disease, it is possible to isolate various strains of Haemophilus parasuis which colonise piglets while being in balance with the animal’s immunity without producing pathology. |
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