Evaluation of diagnostic procedures for detection of mycoplasmal pneumonia of swine.

The complement-fixation test (CFT), a latex-agglutination test (LAT), and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae isolation procedures were compared with gross and microscopic lung evaluations for the routine diagnosis of mycoplasmal pneumonia (MP) of swine. The difficulty and variability of M hyopneumoniae isolation rendered this technique unacceptable. In market-weight swine, the finding of typical gross lesions was correlated with CFT results (P less than 0.005). The MP status of a herd could not be determined by use of these techniques in 4- to 9-week-old pigs. No technique could be used alone to establish a diagnosis. Gross and microscopic examination of all slaughter specimens, CFT, and clinical evaluation of the herd, used in combination, were the most useful means of determining the MP status of the herd.     

Baylisascaris procyonis encephalitis in Patagonian conures (Cyanoliseus patagonus), crested screamers (Chauna torquata), and a western Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum epixanthus) in a Manitoba zoo

Neurological disease occurred in 4 Patagonian conures (Cyanoliseus patagonus), 2 crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata), and 1 western Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum epixanthus) at a Manitoba zoo. Baylisascaris procyonis, the common raccoon roundworm, not previously identified in Manitoba, is considered the likely cause of neural larval migrans in these cases.     

Feeding management practices and feed characteristics associated with Salmonella prevalence in live and slaughtered market-weight finisher swine: A systematic review and summation of evidence from 1950 to 2005

This review summarizes evidence for associations between Salmonella prevalence in market-weight swine and changes in feeding management practices or feed characteristics. A systematic review of the topic was conducted with the goal of minimizing the impact of bias on the review conclusions. Potential interventions included feed withdrawal from swine prior to slaughter, feed acidification, heat treatment of feed, pelletized feed versus mash, course versus fine grind, and wet versus dry feeds. In the reviewed literature, Salmonella prevalence was measured either by culture or by the presence of antibodies to Salmonella. The evidentiary value of studies was assessed, and studies that failed to meet predetermined standards were excluded. 7694 potentially relevant references were identified by an extensive literature search; however, 2623 references that were not published in English were excluded, because funds for translation were not available. Of the remaining references, only 277 were considered relevant to the review topic by two independent reviewers, and assessed for methodological quality. During quality assessment, 233 references were excluded because they failed to report design features that limit the introduction of bias or were conducted in a non-target population such as gnotobiotic, neonatal, nursery, or recently weaned pigs and sows. Forty-four publications passed the quality assessment conducted by 2 independent reviewers, but only 15 of the 44 publications reported studies that tested hypotheses associated with feeding management practices and feed characteristics and Salmonella prevalence in market-weight swine. The most common study design was cross-sectional (7/15). The included studies failed to provide strong evidence of an association between any of the potential interventions and Salmonella prevalence, due to the potential for confounding, and the failure to document temporal association between the intervention and Salmonella prevalence. The strongest evidence of an association was found for feed form, i.e. the use of non-pelleted may be potential interventions associated with reduced Salmonella prevalence. The uncertainty is primarily based on studies containing moderate to low evidentiary value or insufficient numbers of tested individuals, resulting in a low degree of confidence that results could be extrapolated to the target population. Therefore, the conclusion of the review is that there should be a low level of comfort among qualified scientists that the claimed association between non-pelleted feed and reduced Salmonella prevalence is scientifically valid. There is no strong evidence regarding associations between presence of Salmonella and the other feed characteristics examined.     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis> Isolates from Jersey,Channel Islands

Potato production on the island of Jersey, in the English Channel, is dominated by Jersey Royal, a selection of the early cultivar International Kidney. Jersey Royal is very susceptible to Phytophthora infestans, the cause of potato late blight, and Jersey’s climate is frequently conducive to infection. During 2004–2006, isolates of P. infestans were obtained from Jersey Royal plant samples from 41 different sites (24 crops, one infected tuber, 16 volunteers) and from five outdoor tomato crops and characterised by mating type, mtDNA haplotype, Gpi and Pep allozyme genotype, metalaxyl resistance and RG57 fingerprint. A subset of 17 isolates was additionally characterised by simple sequence repeat (SSR). All but one isolate from potato belonged to a single A1 multilocus genotype or a variant. The five isolates from tomato represented three distinct genotypes, none of which was found on potato and included one which was A2 mating type. The populations of P. infestans on potato and tomato in Jersey appear distinct, with that on potato being highly clonal.     

Prevalence of exposure to Salmonella spp in finishing swine marketed in Iowa

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of antibodies against Salmonella spp in swine marketed in Iowa. ANIMALS: Swine marketed by 1,044 low-volume producers and 45 high-volume producers. PROCEDURE: Samples of diaphragm muscle collected from swine carcasses were tested by an indirect ELISA based on lipopolysaccharides from Salmonella spp, in particular Salmonella serovar Typhimurium. Prevalence of positive results for antibodies against Salmonella spp for carcasses, lots, and swine for each producer was determined. Producer-level seroprevalence was used to classify swine from producers as having negligible, low, moderate, or widespread evidence of previous or historical exposure to Salmonella spp. RESULTS: From low-volume producers, 23,609 of 25,478 (92.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 92.4% to 92.9%) samples had negative results, and 1,863 (7.3%; 95% CI, 7.05% to 7.56%) had antibodies against Salmonella spp. Of the 6,299 lots of swine tested, 1,191 (18.9%) contained at least 1 sample with positive results. From high-volume producers, 203 of 2,486 (8.1%; 95% CI, 6.8% to 9.3%) samples had antibodies against Salmonella spp, and 124 of 629 lots had at least 1 sample with positive results for antibodies against Salmonella spp. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Less than 10% of pigs marketed in Iowa are apparently exposed to Salmonella spp. Most swine marketed by low-volume producers had negligible or little evidence of exposure to Salmonella spp, whereas a higher percentage of swine marketed by high-volume producers had positive results when tested to detect antibodies against Salmonella spp.     

Foraging areas of black‐browed and grey‐headed albatrosses breeding on Macquarie Island in relation to marine protected areas

• 1. Although marine protected areas (MPAs) are often established to protect threatened top‐order predators, there is a paucity of data that can be used to evaluate their efficacy in achieving this purpose.
• 2. We assessed the effectiveness of a network of MPAs around Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean by examining the foraging areas of breeding black‐browed Thalassarche melanophrys and grey‐headed albatrosses T. chrysostoma.
• 3. During late incubation and brood periods over 90% of time spent foraging by black‐browed albatrosses was contained within MPAs, principally the Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) around Macquarie Island. In contrast, grey‐headed albatrosses spent only 34% of their time foraging in MPAs.
• 4. Black‐browed and grey‐headed albatrosses spent 30% and 15% of their respective foraging times in the Marine Park around Macquarie Island.
• 5. Both black‐browed and grey‐headed albatrosses foraged in Antarctic waters under the jurisdiction of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), accounting for 5% and 12% of the total foraging times respectively.
• 6. The spatial extent of MPAs around Macquarie Island appear to adequately cover much of the foraging distribution of breeding black‐browed albatrosses from Macquarie Island.
• 7. Breeding grey‐headed albatrosses spend significantly more time in waters outside the spatial extent of the surrounding MPAs and are at higher risk from fisheries activities and other threats.
• 8. Further information on the foraging movements both of albatrosses outside the breeding season and of juvenile albatrosses is required to more fully assess the efficacy of MPAs in protecting foraging habitats of these species.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution of character displacement in Darwin's finches

Competitor species can have evolutionary effects on each other that result in ecological character displacement; that is, divergence in resource-exploiting traits such as jaws and beaks. Nevertheless, the process of character displacement occurring in nature, from the initial encounter of competitors to the evolutionary change in one or more of them, has not previously been investigated. Here we report that a Darwin's finch species (Geospiza fortis) on an undisturbed Galápagos island diverged in beak size from a competitor species (G. magnirostris) 22 years after the competitor's arrival, when they jointly and severely depleted the food supply. The observed evolutionary response to natural selection was the strongest recorded in 33 years of study, and close to the value predicted from the high heritability of beak size. These findings support the role of competition in models of community assembly, speciation, and adaptive radiations.     

Explanatory model of cattle death by starvation in Manitoba: Forensic evaluation

Cattle death by starvation is a persistent annual event in Manitoba. Herds with more than 10% overwinter death loss are usually identified in the late winter or early spring. Field and postmortem findings suggest that there is complete mobilization of fat followed by inability to maintain adequate thermoregulation and death by cardiac arrest. Carcasses show only mild evidence of muscle catabolism and are in excellent preservation if located prior to or around the time of spring thaw. A forensic diagnosis of death by starvation-induced exposure can be made with a high level of confidence when considering field data, whole carcass appearance, and postmortem evaluation of residual fat stores.     

Mycoplasma hominis ssp. associated endocarditis with myocardial necrosis in an alpaca (Vicugna pacos) in Manitoba in 2011

Severe endocarditis with myonecrosis, moderate to severe pleural and pericardial effusions, and mild ascites were found on necropsy in 3 alpacas. Mycoplasma hominis ssp. was detected on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of fresh affected endocardial tissue in 1 alpaca.     

Aspects of male fertility in group Tuberosum dihaploids

Summary Male fertility was examined in dihaploids from the Pentlandfield collection. Significant differences were found in pollen stainability among groups of dihaploids from different parent sources. and crossing dihaploids together produced a very significant increase of stainable pollen in their progeny. Most pollen sterility was of the ‘empty microspore’ type. Deficiences were also found in quantity of pollen produced. Completely indehiscent anthers were rare, but dehiscence was frequently delayed until shrivelling rendered it ineffective. Abnormalities of anther development were recorded, there being some evidence of segregation for the ‘malformed’ type. There was no direct relation between regular meiosis and production of stainable pollen. Likewise, functional male fertility was not ensured by high pollen stainability. Seed production and viability were both reduced by dihaploid male parentage. Results are discussed relative to fertility at the tetraploid level in group Tuberosum and to the inbreeding effect of dihaploid production.

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Zusammenfassung An hand der Dihaploidkollektion von Pentlandfield. Schottland, wurden die verschiedenen Aspekte der m?nnlichen Fertilit?t untersucht. Diese Dihaploiden stammten alle von tetraploiden Tuberosumformen britischen Ursprungs. Signifikante Unterschiede (P<0,025) in der F?rbbarkeit der Pollen wurden zwischen den Elterngruppen gefunden, wobei 66 Dihaploide von 11 Tuberosumeltern untersucht wurden (Tabelle 2). Die F?rbbarkeit der tetraploiden Eltern hatte keinen voraussagenden Wert. In den Dihaploiden sp?terer Generationen war die F?rbbarkeit hingegen signifikant h?her (P<0,001) als in den prim?ren Dihaploiden (Fig. 1), die unter einer Inzuchtdepression zu stehen schienen. Die Pollensterilit?t wies meist den Typ der ‘leeren Mikrospore’ auf. 14 von 93 prim?ren Dihaploiden zeigten ungenügende Pollenproduktion bei fast leeren Antheren, die Pollen waren kaum zu f?rben. Die Antheren von 49 Dihaploiden wurden untersucht: nur in 2 Klonen fehlte das Aufspringen vollst?ndig, in vielen anderen Klonen war es bis zum Beginn des Schrumpfens der Antheren verz?gert. Schwache und missgebildete Typen von abnormalen Antheren wurden gefunden, die letzteren schienen genetisch zu spalten, obwohl die Probenmengen zu gering waren, um ein Spaltungsverh?ltnis bestimmen zu k?nnen. Die Meiose wurde bei 17 Dihaploiden aus ursprünglich 8 Tuberosumformen untersucht (Tabelle 3). Das Verhalten der Chromosomen wurden untersucht und es war geeignet zum Ausschluss von genetischem Material aus Kerntetraden zu führen. Regul?re Meiose garantierte jedoch keine Pollen von guter Qualit?t. Testkreuzungen wurden gemacht, um den Grad der Funktion m?nnlicher Fertilit?t in 16 Dihaploiden aus 8 Tuberosumherkünften zu bestimmen (Tabelle 4). Diese Dihaploiden umfassten einen weiten Bereich der Pollenf?rbbarkeit. Gegenüber irgendeinem Standard waren sie im Hinblick auf die Samenproduktion schlechte Best?uber und der Zustand des Pollens gab nur wenig Hinweise auf die Eignung. Die Lebensf?higkeit der Samen konnte ungünstig durch den m?nnlichen Teil der Dihaploideltern beeinflusst werden. Die Ergebnisse werden in bezug gesetzt zum Fertilit?tsgrad in der tetraploiden Tuberosum-population im allgemeinen und im Hinblick auf die wirksame Inzucht (?quivalent zu S₃), die beim Vorgang der Dihaploidisierung hervorgerufen wird.

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Résumé Les données présentées dans cet article concernent différents aspects de la fertilité male des dihaplo?des de la collection de Pentlandfield, en Ecosse. Ces dihaplo?des sont presque tous issus de Tuberosum tétraplo?des. La fertilité du pollen est mise en évidence par la méthode de coloration à l'iode, décrite par Carroll en 1974. Un échantillon de 66 dihaplo?des provenant de 11 Tuberosum parentaux est divisé en groupes établis selon l'aptitude à la coloration du pollen observée chez les parents: différences significatives entre groupes P<0.025 (tableau 2). Cette aptitudes du pollen à se colorer n'est pas prévisible chez les parents tétraplo?des, elle est plus hautement significative (P<0.001) chez les dihaplo?des des générations ultérieures que chez les premières générations (Fig. 1) qui sont considérées comme souffrant d'une dépression due à la consanguinité. Le pollen stérile est, en majeure partie, de type ‘microspore vide.’ Quatorze des 93 dihaplo?des primaires sont des producteurs de pollen déficient avec des anthères presque vides, le pollen ayant une faible tendance à la coloration. Les caractéristiques des anthères sont examinées dans un échantillon de 49 dihaplo?des: chez deux clones seulement la déhiscence ne s'est pas effectuée, mais elle a été retardée chez beaucoup d'autres clones jusqu'au début du dessèchement des anthères. Des types d'anthères anormaux, gréles et mal formés, sont observés et semblent être en rapport avec une disjonction, bien que l'importance de l'échantillon soit trop faible pour en déterminer la corrélation. La mé?ose est étudiée sur 17 dihaplo?des issus de 8 Tuberosum parentaux (tableau 3). Les chromosomes sont comptés et le matériel génétique comportant des noyaux tétraplo?des est éliminé: toutefois, une mé?ose régulière ne garantit pas de la bonne qualité du pollen. Des tests de croisement sont faits pour déterminer le niveau de fertilité male effective dans 16 dihaplo?des issus de 8 Tuberosum parentaux (tableau 4). Ces dihaplo?des comprennent une gamme importante des possibilités de coloration du pollen. A n'importe quel niveau, ils sont de faibles pollinisateurs pour la production de semences et l'état du pollen donne peu de renseignements sur leurs performances. La viabilité des semences peut être aussi affectée par le pourcentage de males dihaplo?des. Les résultats obtenus sont interprétés comme étant en relation avec le niveau de fertilité de la population de Tuberosum tétraplo?des en général et avec l'effet de la consanguinité (équivalent à S₃) provoquée par le processus conduisant à la production de dihaplo?des.