A note recording the occurrence of bovine viral vaginitis in New Zealand

Episodes of frenzy lasting approximately 30 minutes were observed among horses confined to enclosures surfaced with sand or soil. The probability of sighting these episodes increased by a factor of three when within 24 hours there was 0.2mm or more of rain, a maximum air temperature between 16.7 – 26.6°and a soil temperature of 16.3 – 23.9°C at 30 cm. High egg counts of Strongyloides westeri appeared in faeces four to five days later and persisted for several days.

Rhodococcus equi was recovered from all soil samples, and from the faeces of 76% of mares and 82% of foals. The youngest foal was five days old when the organism was isolated from rectal faeces. In contrast to the majority of reports, the lesions of R. equi in the foals were confined to limbs and peripheral lymph nodes.

It is proposed that the percutaneous invasion of these foals by third stage larvae of S. westeri facilitated invasion of R. equi, and ubiquitous saprophytic opportunist pathogen.⁽²⁾     

A preliminary note on a bovine infertility syndrome

Extract

Investigations into herd-breeding problems frequently fail to reveal evidence of Brucellosis, Vibriosis, or Trichomoniasis, although the causes appear to be infectious. Sixteen out of 37 herd-breeding problems examined during the 1955 breeding season were considered due to such undiagnosed infection.     

Studies on the occurrence and significance of bovine respiratory syncytial virus in Saskatchewan.

Seventy-six percent of 49 blood samples from Saskatchewan cattle had serum antibodies against bovine respiratory syncytial virus. Experimental infection of one week and seven month old calves with bovine respiratory syncytial virus (Iowa strain) caused transient fever, mucopurulent nasal discharge and coughing but no macroscopic or microscopic lesions attributable to bovine respiratory syncytial virus.     

A national survey of the occurrence of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis

SUMMARY A national mail survey of 4880 beef and dairy producers was undertaken to record details of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. One thousand four hundred and fifty eight (29.8%) questionnaires were returned. The survey confirmed the widespread nature of the disease with higher prevalence in the summer months, in calves and dairy cattle, and in Bos taurus breeds. The constant prevalence contrasts with the disease in New Zealand where it is increasing.     

Studies of bovine mycoplasma mastitis. 1. Review of literature on the occurrence of bovine mastitis with Mycoplasma involvement]

The clinical pattern as well as the pathologico-anatomic or histological changes due to mycoplasma mastitis are neither specific nor pathognomic. Mastitis pathogens so far described included M. bovis, M. bovigenitalium, A. laidlawii, A. axanthum, M. alkalescens, M. canadense, M. dispar, M. bovirhinis, strains of Group 7 according to Leach, strain ST 6, and ureaplasma strains. In the GDR, enzootic mastitis has been confined to A. laidlawii and A. axanthum.     

The occurrence of schistosomus reflexus in bovine dystocia

The occurrence of schistosomus reflexus as a cause of bovine dystocia in south western Victoria is described. Examination of records made by 21 veterinarians during a 20-year period (1966 to 1985) showed that of 6901 cases of bovine dystocia attended, 90 (1.3%) were caused by schistosomus reflexus. Most cases (56.7%) were treated by embryotomy, 25.6% by caesarean section and 3.3% by simple traction. Treatment of the remaining 14.4% of cases was not completed and was considered hopeless, mainly becuase of the emphysematous condition of the foetus and the toxic condition of the cow, which gave a poor prognosis. Some of these hopeless cases were sent to slaughter, but most were euthanased by the attending veterinarian. Sixty-nine (76.7%) of the patients were cows and 21 (23.3%) were heifers. Seventy-two (80%) were dairy breeds and 18 (20%) were beef breeds. Jersey was the main dairy breed (63.8%) and Hereford the dominant beef breed.     

Familial occurrence of bovine dilated cardiomyopathy in Denmark

Bovine dilated cardiomyopathy (BDCM) is a hereditary disease genetically related to the Canadian Holstein sire Montwick Red Apple Sovereign (MRAS). The occurrence of this disorder in the Red Danish Dairy breed, Holsteins, and Red Holsteins in Denmark is reported. Fourteen cases were diagnosed during a 13-year period. All suffered from congestive heart failure because of progressive myocardial fibrosis. Pedigree information was available in 12 cases revealing both maternal and paternal relationship to MRAS. Several sires were identified as carriers of BDCM. These sires originated from breeding lines used to upgrade Danish cattle populations. The findings indicate that BDCM is a potential health problem for Danish cattle.     

A note on diseases of mink.

The paper describes in brief the findings in 5,616 autopsies of adult mink, performed at the Institute of Pathology-CIC, La Plata, during the last five years. Nearly all these carcasses, coming from the most important ranches, were examined bacteriologically and histopathologically. Observations about the incidence of different causes of death, its distribution annually and prophylactic measures were reported. It concludes that Aleutian disease is the most important cause of death and produces severe economic losses.     

Predictive qualitative risk model of bovine rabies occurrence in Brazil

Bovine rabies remains endemic in Brazil and despite control efforts, the disease still spreads insidiously. The main vector is the hematophagous bat, Desmodus rotundus. The present work aimed to create a predictive qualitative model of the occurrence of bovine rabies in each municipality in 25 of the 27 Brazilian States. The risk of rabies transmission from bats to bovine was estimated using decision-tree models of receptivity and vulnerability. Questionnaires, which covered a number of questions related to the surveillance of possible risk factors, such as bovine rabies outbreaks in the previous year, the presence of bat roosts, bat rabies positivity and environmental changes, were sent to the local veterinary units of each State. The bovine density and geomorphologic features were obtained from national databases and geographic information systems. Of the 433 municipalities presenting bovine rabies outbreaks in 2010, 178 (41.1%) were classified by the model as high risk, 212 (49.0%) were classified as moderate risk, 25 (5.8%) were classified as low risk, whereas the risk was undetermined in 18 municipalities (4.1%). An ROC curve was built to determine if the risk evaluated by the model could adequately discriminate between municipalities with and without rabies occurrence in future years. The risk estimator for the year 2011 was classified as moderately accurate. In the future, these models could allow the targeting of rabies control efforts, with the adoption of control measures directed to the higher risk locations and the optimization of the field veterinary staff deployment throughout the country. Additionally, efforts must be made to encourage continuous surveillance of risk factors.