“Stiff lamb disease” in New Zealand

Extract

During recent years a specific myopathy has been recognized in lambs in the South Island of New Zealand. In view of the similarity of the lesions of this condition to “stiff lamb disease,” as described by various workers in the U.S.A. and also more recently by Cotchin in Great Britain, it was thought desirable to record the problem as encountered in New Zealand.     

Larval cyathostominosis in horses in Ontario: an emerging disease?

From 1991 to 2003, 24 cases of larval cyathostominosis were diagnosed at postmortem in equids, 15 (63%) from 2001 to 2003. Cases occurred from September to May, the majority from October to December. Median age was 12 mo. Diarrhea, colic, and weight loss were common clinical signs. Hypoalbuminemia and microcytosis were consistent findings.     

“Yellow fat disease” (Pansteatitis) in wild hares in New Zealand

Extract

“Yellow fat disease” is a disease of certain species of animals, characterized macroscopically by greyish-yellow discoloration and microscopically by inflammatory and degenerative reactions and the occurrence of a characteristic acid-fast pigment in the fat tissue. The terms “nonsuppurative panniculitis”, “pansteatitis”, or “yellow ear disease (chinchilla)” are synonyms.     

Trichomoniasis in finches from the Canadian Maritime provinces — An emerging disease

Trichomoniasis was diagnosed in multiple incidents of mortality in wild purple finch (Carpodacus purpureus) and American goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) in the Canadian Maritimes. Birds exhibited regurgitation, emaciation, and hyperplastic oropharyngitis, ingluvitis, and esophagitis. Trichomonas gallinae was identified by histopathology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Trichomoniasis (trichomonosis) is an emerging disease in wild finches of eastern Canada.     

‘Progressive ataxia’ in a Charolais steer in New Zealand

Extract

Signs of progressive central nervous system disease in cattle aged 2 years and older should alert farmers and veterinarians to consider the possibility of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Government veterinarians routinely assess all livestock slaughtered in meat plants in New Zealand for signs of any nervous disorder, including abnormalities of behaviour and mental state and abnormalities of posture and gait.     

Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo: an abortifacient in New Zealand? A review of the literature

From experimental and clinical evidence, Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo has been suspected as an abortifacient in cattle overseas. Early reports from North America and Australia described clinical disease with abortions occurring up to 12 weeks later associated with hardjo infections. Recent studies in the United Kingdom have found hardjo infections in nearly 69 percent of aborted foetuses from problem farms, and a prospective epidemiological study determined a relationship between hardjo infection and abortion on one property. In New Zealand, although the epidemiology of hardjo infections has been studied, little attention has been paid to the potential abortifacient role of this organism. In part this is due to the impracticality of using serology to diagnose infections that may have occurred months prior to the abortion. Future research to resolve this question should therefore revolve around hardjo isolation, cohort studies, and the examination of pathogenic mechanisms by which hardjo may induce abortion in cattle.     

New Zealand veterinarians — demography,remuneration and vacancies

AIMS: To determine levels of remuneration for veterinarians in New Zealand, to examine associations between putative explanatory factors and gross annual remuneration, and to quantify the type and prevalence of vacant positions.

METHODS: A postal survey to 486 identifiable clinical practices and 53 identifiable organisations that employ veterinarians was used to gather data for the 2-month period of December 2001 to January 2002.

RESULTS: Data were produced for 972 veterinarians (367 females and 605 males) working in 325 clinical practices, and 299 veterinarians (88 females and 211 males) employed by 32 organisations.

Median levels of gross annual remuneration for assistants, partners/shareholders and sole owners working ≥ days per week in clinical practice were NZ$60,000, $90,000 and $75,000, respectively, and for veterinarians in organisations, irrespective of number of days per week worked, was $68,000. Pay rates increased linearly as the number of years since graduation increased for all clinicians and with increasing age for veterinarians in organisations. Full-time assistants were likely to be paid more if the practice was rural rather than urban in location, if they were males, and if administrative duties were part of the job.

The same factors, except for sex, were significant for remuneration for owners and partners/shareholders working full-time. Their remuneration tended to be higher if the practice was involved with either dairy or deer work but decreased as the number of animal species serviced increased and if they worked >5 days per week. Part-time female veterinarians were generally paid more than male counterparts.

Male veterinarians working in organisations were generally paid about 8% more than their female colleagues. Veterinarians in organisations involved with administration at a head office were generally better paid than those without administrative duties. Pay rates were, on the whole, better in private organisations than in universities, state-owned enterprises, government-operated and other types of organisations

About 50% of all services provided by clinical practices were directed to small animals, 27% to dairy cattle and about 10%, 6% and 3% to horses, sheep and beef cattle, and deer, respectively. About 31% of veterinarians worked solely with small animals but most had multiple species workloads.

Of the 325 respondent practices, 98 reported vacancies for 119 veterinarians, of which 79 were full-time, 27 part-time and 12 locum positions. Of the 32 respondent organisations, seven reported vacancies for 16 mostly full-time positions. Farmer-owned co-operative practices were less likely than privately-owned practices to have full-time vacant positions. The only factor identified as influencing part-time vacancies in clinical practices was hourly pay rate. Vacancies occurred randomly across practices, irrespective of location, and there was no indication of greater demand for services for any particular species. The odds of a vacancy in organisations was lower for state-owned enterprises and private organisations than for government organisations (odds ratios (OR)=0.14 and 0.18, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Relatively more females than males worked part-time and 23% of all assistants in clinical practice worked part-time. Sex made a significant difference to gross remuneration for full-time assistants in clinical practice and for veterinarians employed by private or government organisations. In both situations, males were generally better paid than females. Female part-time assistants and partners/shareholders or sole owners in clinical practice were generally better rewarded than their male counterparts. Sex had no effect on remuneration levels for owners/partners working full-time in clinical practices.

The study confirmed a serious shortage of veterinarians in New Zealand. The probability of a vacancy occurring in farmer-owned co-operative (‘club’) practices was lower than in private practices. Vacancies were distributed randomly among rural, urban and rural/urban practices with no evidence of rural practices being more severely affected than urban or rural/urban practices.     

Libyostrongylus infections in ostriches — a brief review with particular reference to their detection in New Zealand

Following the recent discovery of Libyostrongylus douglassii in ostriches in New Zealand, information relating to this nematode is reviewed. Amongst some of the topics considered are the parasite's distribution and prevalence, its life cycle and survival, and its diagnosis and control. Of particular interest from a New Zealand perspective is the potential for the parasite to infect other ratites, especially the kiwi. While the current evidence suggests that this may be unlikely to occur, the possibility that it might be able to do so cannot be ruled out entirely.     

Opening address—New Zealand veterinary association conference, 1955

Extract

We have recently seen another upsurge of interest in the question of training veterinarians in our own country. Most of you will rembember that a committee to report on the matter was appointed by the Labour Government in 1943 ; but the question of training veterinarians in New Zealand is far older than that. True it is that in the last 10 or 12years it has been bedevilled by some farmer opposition, though the farmers are not, and have not been, as unanimous in opposition as, at one time, they were in support. As far back as 1898, the Conference of Agricultural and Pastoral Associations, which at that time was the only body representing farmer opinion (for there was no Farmers' Union), resolved that provision should be made for veterinary education in one or other of the existing university colleges, or otherwise, as will qualify students for a degree. This resolution was carried, although Dr. Gilruth said it would be cheaper to send men to Britain for training. At the conference in 1902, J. G. Wilson proposed that the Government establish an agricultural college where veterinarians could receive diplomas. In the debate, J. S. Holmes, of Otago, submitted that the proper place was in connection with the medical school in Dunedin; while J. Studholme, of Canterbury, thought a chair should be established at Lincoln College. Dr. Gilruth discounted both suggestions. He would like to have men trained in the colony under his own charge. Kirk and Aston, he said, could lecture on botany and chemistry and his men could do the veterinary teaching. All they wanted was a building and the necessary equipment. He did not mention what sort of diploma would be given, or by whom: but his proposals are not without a certain interest today in the light of Dr. Burns's addendum to the Senate Committee's report of last year, to which I shall return later.     

Anthelmintic resistance in cattle nematodes in New Zealand: Is it increasing?

Extract

In contrast to the situation in sheep, anthelmintic resistance in cattle nematodes in New Zealand appears to be relatively uncommon. A brief review in 1991 indicated that only six confirmed cases had been reported(l). All related to resistance to benzimidazole anthelmintics and involved infections of Cooperia and, to a lesser extent, Ostertugia and Trichostrongylus. Since then, however, a further 13 cases of benzimidazole resistance in cattle have been identified by faecal egg count reduction tests conducted on submissions to the Batchelar and Ruakura Animal Health Laboratories (Table I). In addition, another two cases have recently been detected by similar means by ethers ⁽²⁾⁽³⁾. In the latter two instances, these not only involved resistance to benzimidazole drenches but to milbemycin/ avermectin type anthelmintics as well. Like those listed in Table I, the main parasite genus implicated on both of these occasions was Cooperia.     

Osteodystrophic diseases of sheep in New Zealand II—“Bowie” or “bent-leg”

Extract

This disease was first observed in sheep on a property near Bulls, and has since been found on five other properties in the vicinity. It is an insidious paradontal disease, characterized by a chronic inflammatory process in the periodontal membrane of one or more teeth, resulting in looseness of teeth and in unwillingness to graze and consequent starvation.     

Mycobacteria isolated from deer in New Zealand from 1970–1983

Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from 504 deer from 1970 to 1983. It was first isolated from feral red deer (Cervus elaphus) in New Zealand in 1970, and from farmed deer in 1978. Cervine tuberculosis has emerged as a significant problem in farmed deer and in 1983 M. bovis was found on 40 different farms. Thirty-five isolates of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare have been cultured from deer but were associated with clinical disease in only four cases. Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum, Mycobacterium diernhoferi, Mycobacterium gastri, Mycobacterium chelonei, Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium vaccae were isolated from deer but were not considered to be pathogenic.     

Nocardial infections of animals in New Zealand, 1976–78

Nocardiaspecies that are common in the soil environment can cause disease in man and animals. These infections are usually considered rare, and there have been only four cases of animal disease previously reported in the New Zealand literature. A limited survey, with the co-operation of staff from animal health laboratories, revealed a further 34 cases of Nocardia infection between 1976–78, and this figure is likely to be conservative. Twenty-six cases were mastitic infections and one was an isolate from a bovine placenta; the majority of infected animals were reported from the South Auckland and Waikato regions. The remaining cases were fatal infections of cats, dogs and a seal. Diagnostic tests on the causative organisms from 27 cases for which cultures were available all proved to be N. asteroides strains. Improved epidemiological data may help relate occurrence of disease in animals to the distribution of Nocardia in nature, but this is dependent on recognition of the organism by the specialists involved in the field and laboratory. Without epidemiological data, it will not be possible to evaluate the effects on animals of increasing the multiplication of Nocardia, for example by adding sewage sludge to soil.     

Epidemic characterization and modeling within herd transmission dynamics of an “emerging trans-boundary” camel disease epidemic in Ethiopia

A highly acute and contagious camel disease, an epidemic wave of unknown etiology, referred to here as camel sudden death syndrome, has plagued camel population in countries in the Horn of Africa. To better understand its epidemic patterns and transmission dynamics, we used epidemiologic parameters and differential equation deterministic modeling (SEIR/D-model) to predict the outcome likelihood following an exposure of susceptible camel population. Our results showed 45.7, 17.6, and 38.6 % overall morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rates of the epidemic, respectively. Pregnant camels had the highest mortality and case fatality rates, followed by breeding males, and lactating females, implying serious socioeconomic consequences. Disease dynamics appeared to be linked to livestock trade route and animal movements. The epidemic exhibited a strong basic reproductive number (R (0)) with an average of 16 camels infected by one infectious case during the entire infectious period. The epidemic curve suggested that the critical moment of the disease development is approximately between 30 and 40?days, where both infected/exposed and infectious camels are at their highest numbers. The lag between infected/infectious curves indicates a time-shift of approximately 3-5?days from when a camel is infected and until it becomes infectious. According to this predictive model, of all animals exposed to the infection, 66.8 % (n?=?868) and 33.2 % (n?=?431) had recovered and died, respectively, at the end of epidemic period. Hence, if early measures are not taken, such an epidemic could cause a much more devastative effect, within short period of time than the anticipated proportion.     

New Zealand’s Cetaceans and Pinnipeds

The 8 species of baleen whale in New Zealand waters range in length from 6 to 30+ metres, and the 25 species of toothed whale range up to 18 metres. A single porpoise species is known in New Zealand sub-Antarctic waters.

The baleen whales and many of the toothed whales are migratory, and New Zealand straddles their well-defined routes: a combination which allowed whaling to flourish. The toothed whales are the more gregarious and may indulge in mass strandings. Current research aims to investigate the biology of all of the whale species.

The otariid, or eared seals found in the New Zealand region are the New Zealand sealion and the New Zealand fur seal. The commonest of the phocid, or earless seals on the New Zealand coast are the elephant and leopard seals. All of these breed in the southern parts of the region but range further north. The fur seal population is rising slowly, but the small population size of the New Zealand sealion gives cause for concern.

Marine mammals form an important part of the fauna of the New Zealand region, and veterinary knowledge and general research should be increased.