Impact of foot-and-mouth disease on mastitis and culling on a large-scale dairy farm in Kenya

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly transmissible viral infection of cloven hooved animals associated with severe economic losses when introduced into FMD-free countries. Information on the impact of the disease in FMDV-endemic countries is poorly characterised yet essential for the prioritisation of scarce resources for disease control programmes. A FMD (virus serotype SAT2) outbreak on a large-scale dairy farm in Nakuru County, Kenya provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of FMD on clinical mastitis and culling rate. A cohort approach followed animals over a 12-month period after the commencement of the outbreak. For culling, all animals were included; for mastitis, those over 18 months of age. FMD was recorded in 400/644 cattle over a 29-day period. During the follow-up period 76 animals were culled or died whilst in the over 18 month old cohort 63 developed clinical mastitis. Hazard ratios (HR) were generated using Cox regression accounting for non-proportional hazards by inclusion of time-varying effects. Univariable analysis showed FMD cases were culled sooner but there was no effect on clinical mastitis. After adjusting for possible confounders and inclusion of time-varying effects there was weak evidence to support an effect of FMD on culling (HR = 1.7, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.88-3.1, P = 0.12). For mastitis, there was stronger evidence of an increased rate in the first month after the onset of the outbreak (HR = 2.9, 95%CI 0.97-8.9, P = 0.057).

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0173-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Fluorescence-force spectroscopy maps two-dimensional reaction landscape of the holliday junction

Despite the recent advances in single-molecule manipulation techniques, purely mechanical approaches cannot detect subtle conformational changes in the biologically important regime of weak forces. We developed a hybrid scheme combining force and fluorescence that allowed us to examine the effect of subpiconewton forces on the nanometer scale motion of the Holliday junction (HJ) at 100-hertz bandwidth. The HJ is an exquisitely sensitive force sensor whose force response is amplified with an increase in its arm lengths, demonstrating a lever-arm effect at the nanometer-length scale. Mechanical interrogation of the HJ in three different directions helped elucidate the structures of the transient species populated during its conformational changes. This method of mapping two-dimensional reaction landscapes at low forces is readily applicable to other nucleic acid systems and their interactions with proteins and enzymes.     

Comparative effects of various antibiotics, fungicides and disinfectants on Aphanomyces invaderis and other saprolegniaceous fungi

Fifty-four isolates of various fish-pathogenic and saprophytic fungi were characterized in terms of their susceptibility to three antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin and oxolinic acid), three fungicides (malachite green, hydrogen peroxide and sodium chloride) and three disinfectants (an iodophore, sodium hypochlorite and a solution of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide). Aphanomyces invaderis, the fungus associated with the Asian fish disease epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS); other Aphanomyces isolates from the similar conditions redspot disease (RSD) and mycotic granulomatosis (MG); and the crayfish plague fungus, Aphanomyces astaci, were more sensitive to most of the chemical agents than the other fungi tested. Two compounds currently being considered for use in aquaculture, hydrogen peroxide and Proxitane 0510, are shown here to have some potential for fungicidal treatments and disinfection, respectively. The implications of this study with respect to the isolation, treatment and control of A. invaderis are discussed.     

Pathogenicity and culture studies comparing the Aphanomyces involved in epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) with other similar fungi

Pathogenicity and cultural experiments described here provide futher evidence that a distinct species of Aphanomyces is responsible for much of the characteristic pathology of epizootic ulceration syndrome (EUS). Zoospores from 58 fungal isolates were injected intramuscularly in snakehead fish, Channa striata (Bloch). These fungi comprised: Aphanomyces strains isolated from EUS-affected fish; saprophytic Aphanomyces , Achlya and Saprolegnia spp. from infected waters; and further saprolegniaceous fungi involved in other diseases of aquatic animals. Only the Aphanomyces strains isolated from fish affected by EUS, Australian red spot disease (already considered synonymous with EUS) or mycotic granulomatosis described from Japan were able to grow invasively through the fish muscle and produce the distinctive EUS lesions. In contrast to Aphanomyces astaci Schikora, the EUS- Aphanomyces was shown to be unable to infect noble crayfish, Astacus astacus L. The snakehead-pathogenic strains were further distinguished from all the other fungi under comparison by their characteristic temperature-growth profile and inability to grow on certain selective fungal media.     

Tick paralysis in dogs and cats in Australia: treatment and prevention deliverables from 100 years of research

This review of tick paralysis caused by Ixodes holocyclus in Australia addresses the question: What are the key discoveries that have enabled effective treatment and prevention of tick paralysis in dogs and cats? Critical examination of 100 years of literature reveals that arguably only three achievements have advanced treatment and prevention of tick paralysis in animals. First, the most significant treatment advance was the commercial availability of tick antiserum in the 1930s. Hyperimmune serum currently remains the only specific anti-paralysis tick therapy available to veterinarians in Australia. Second, advances in veterinary critical care have increased survival rates of the most severely affected dogs and cats. Critical care advancements have been enabled through specialised veterinary hospitals that can provide appropriate care 24 h a day, and advanced training of veterinarians, veterinary nurses and technicians. Third, perhaps that biggest advance of all in the last 100 years of research has been the commercial availability of the isooxazoline class of acaricidal preventatives in Australia specifically for I. holocyclus. This highly effective class of preventatives offers long duration of action, low cost, spot-on or oral formulations and a low rate of adverse reactions. Animal owners and veterinarians now have the most useful tool of all – a reliable preventative. This review reveals the key events in research over the last 100 years and the tortuous pathway to delivering better treatment and preventative options for this enigmatic Australian parasite.     

Exogenous paraoxonase‐1 during oocyte maturation improves bovine embryo development in vitro

Paraoxonase‐1 (PON1) is an enzyme found in serum and follicular fluid that protects cell membrane and circulating lipids against oxidative damage. The aims of this study were to measure the direct effects of recombinant PON1 (rPON1) on bovine oocyte maturation at the molecular level (gene expression) and to measure the carry‐over effects of PON1 on pre‐implantation embryo development in vitro. COCs were submitted to IVM with the addition of 0.0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08 mg ml^?1 of rPON1, corresponding to an average PON1 arylesterase enzyme activity of 2.2 ± 0.4, 15.5 ± 1.5, 30.2 ± 3.0 and 57.9 ± 5.0 U ml^?1, respectively. The results indicated that addition of rPON1 during IVM improved embryo development in a dose‐dependent manner as D7 embryo development was 22.2%, 29.4%, 32.2% and 37.0% for the treatment groups, respectively (p = 0.02). In conclusion, addition of PON1 enzyme during IVM exerted dose‐related positive effects on embryo development rates to blastocysts.     

Compressibilities of lunar crystalline rock, microbreccia, and fines to 40 kilobars

The compressibilities of three lunar samples were studied at room temperature from 0 to 40 kilobars. The samples were a fine-grained vesicular crystalline rock (type A), a microbreccia (type C), and fines (type D). All samples were porous. The microbreccia and fines were quite compressible at all pressures; the compressibility of the crystalline rock was somewhat less, being 8.4 megabar(-1) at 1 atmosphere and 1.5 megabar(-1) at 35 kilobars. Some porosity appeared to remain in the samples at all pressures. Thus the pressure-volume data derived from these samples may be representative of porous surface and near-surface material in the vicinity of the Apollo 11 landing site but may not be representative of lunar material at depth.     

First Established Pregnancies in Mediterranean Italian Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) Following Deposition of Sexed Spermatozoa near the Utero Tubal Junction

At the time of AI following Ovsynch protocol, a total of 51 buffaloes were randomly divided in a first group (n = 30) subjected to conventional AI into the uterine body with 20 million non-sex sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa, while a second group (n = 21) was inseminated near the utero-tubal junction (UTJ) ipsilateral to the ovary carrying the preovulatory follicle with 2.5 million live (4 million total) sex-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa. The semen used for flowcytometric sorting was collected and processed on a farm in Italy, and then shipped to a laboratory in Germany. Eleven buffaloes were inseminated with X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa and 10 with Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa. Conception rates after conventional and UTJ inseminations were 43.3% (n = 13) and 42.8% (n = 9) respectively (p = 0.97). Eight of the nine foetuses obtained after insemination with sexed spermatozoa corresponded to the sex as predicted by the cell sorting procedure (five male and four female foetuses by ultrasound vs six male and three female foetuses by cell sorting). In conclusion, for the first time buffalo semen has been successfully subjected to procedures for flowcytometric sperm sorting and freezing. Low doses of sexed spermatozoa have been deposited near the UTJ giving conception rates similar to those of conventional AI with full dose.