Trichinella species circulating among wild and domestic animals in Romania

Trichinellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases in Romania. Even though the disease is a serious public health concern, only a limited number of Trichinella isolates have been identified at the species level; in the past, all larvae were assumed to be Trichinella spiralis. The present study was conducted to identify Trichinella spp. circulating among wild and domestic animals in Romania, using PCR-based methods. Trichinella spp. larvae originating from 54 wild and 23 domestic mammals were examined. No Trichinella spp. larvae were detected in muscle samples of 182 birds. T. spiralis and Trichinella britovi were the only two species identified in the 40 isolates that yielded a positive PCR result. Overall, T. britovi was more prevalent (n = 26; 65%) than T. spiralis (n = 14; 35%). T. spiralis was the predominant species found in domestic animals (n = 9; 75%), while T. britovi was more prevalent in wildlife (n = 24; 86%). No mixed infections were found. The highest prevalence of Trichinella infection was detected in wolves (11/35; 31%), in European wild cats (4/28; 14%), and in red foxes (5/71; 7%). The distribution of Trichinella spp. in Romania does not show a species-specific clustering; both of the two species found were present over the entire range of counties studied.     

Some leptospira agglutinins detected in domestic animals in British Columbia.

During a period of six years 7,555 bovine sera, 421 canine sera, 251 porcine sera and 135 equine sera were tested for agglutinins to Leptospira interrogans serotypes canicola, grippotyphosa, hardjo, icterohemorrhagiae, pomona and sejroe. The bovine sera reacted predominantly with hardjo and/or sejroe at a rate of 15% compared to 3.5% with pomona. Breeding or abortion problems were associated with pomona but not with sejroe/hardjo agglutinins. The canine sera reacted to canicola (9.9%y and icterohemorrhagiae (5.4%), tcted predominantly with canicola (8.9%) and icterohemorrhagiae (8.1%).     

Hemoprotozoa of domestic animals in France: Prevalence and molecular characterization

Very limited information is available on epizootiology of haematozoan infections in French domestic animals. In an attempt to address this issue, prevalence of piroplasmida was studied in carnivores and ruminants, whereas prevalence of Hepatozoon spp. was only investigated in carnivores. In total, 383 animals were included in the survey (namely 116 cats, 108 dogs, 91 sheep and 68 cows). Parasite diagnosis was carried out using molecular methods such as PCR and sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene. In addition, ruminant samples were analyzed with the reverse line blotting technique (RLB). Results of RLB and PCR plus sequencing were in total agreement.     

Occurrence of staphylococcal species in clinically healthy domestic animals

The incidence of staphylococcus species in healthy animals was investigated in young and adult individuals of cattle, in pigs and in domestic fowl, using the method of selective isolation of strains. A total of 6066 samples was examined; 4567 strains were revealed and they included all known species, except Staphylococcus caseolyticus, S. saccharolyticus, S. schleiferi and S. lugdunensis. 3.8% of strains failed to be identified with any species. The test samples were taken from slaughtered animals, only in calves intravital smears of tonsils were examined. The species most frequently isolated from the tonsil tissue in adult cattle were as follows: S. aureus (19.9%), S. saprophyticus (12.4%), S. hyicus (8.8%) and S. hominis (8.6%). The following species were isolated from the lung tissue: S. saprophyticus (28.8%), S. cohnii (10.6%) and S. epidermidis (10.2%); from the mammary gland parenchyma these were the species S. saprophyticus (17.4%), S. xylosus (13.1%) and S. epidermidis (10%). In the tonsil tissue of pigs the percent proportions of S. aureus and S. hyicus were 44.5% and 31.8%, respectively; the most frequent species detected from the lungs were S. aureus (20.6%), S. saprophyticus (12.3%), S. hyicus (12.1%) and S. epidermidis (11.5%). In domestic fowl the most frequently occurring species were S. epidermidis (23.7%), S. gallinarum (16.5%) and S. aureus (15.4%). In calves the incidence of S. xylosus (37%), S. saprophyticus (19.2%) and S. cohnii (15.2%) was found to be highest. The indicence of the other staphylococcus species in all test animals can be expressed by low percentages.     

Onion toxicity in farmed animals

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Feeding cull onions (A llium cepa) to livestock is practised in onion growing regions around the world. While sheep are able to tolerate onions in their diet, cattle are susceptible to toxicity. Onion poisoning has recently been reported in dairy cows in New Zealand (Carbery, 1999). Given the recent seasonal abundance of onions available for feeding to stock, it seems timely to draw attention to this syndrome.     

Distemper vaccination of farmed fur animals in Finland

The most important farmed fur animal species in Finland are the American mink (Mustela vison), blue fox (Alopex lagopus), silver fox (Vulpes vulpes) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides); all are susceptible to canine distemper. The only distemper vaccines currently available are for mink, although they also have been used for fox and raccoon dogs in emergency situations. The efficacy in eliciting neutralizing antibodies and the safety of three mink-distemper vaccines were studied under field conditions with mink and silver fox. Two of the vaccines were also studied with raccoon dogs and blue fox. All three vaccines elicited a satisfactory antibody response in mink, whereas the response varied in the other species. No side effects were observed in any species tested. One of the vaccines was safe and immunogenic in all four species.     

Values of acid-base equilibrium in the blood of various species of domestic animals]

By means of the Astrup equilibration method the values of the acid-base balance of the blood were determined in 104 cows, 99 horses, 100 pigs, 15 sheep, 20 goats, and in 101 dogs. The pH values of the blood, the partial pressure of CO2, the base excess, the base buffer, the standard bicarbonate, the actual bicarbonate, and the total CO2 were processed statistically and are presented in tables.     

三种抗原对家畜日本血吸虫病诊断价值的比较

以日本血吸虫基因重组抗原LHD-Sj23／pGEX、可溶性虫卵抗原（soluble egg antigen，SEA）及SEA经Sephadex G-200柱层析分离后得到的第一峰SEAl作为诊断抗原，应用ELISA检测人工感染日本血吸虫绵羊血清及自然感染日本血吸虫水牛血清。结果显示，三种抗原用于检测人工感染日本血吸虫绵羊血清的阳性符合率分剐为88．79％、98．15％、100％，阴性符合率均为100％；自然感染日本血吸虫水牛血清的阳性符合率分别为80％、80％、84％，阴性符合率分别为88．9％、93．3％、91．1％；三种抗原与伊氏锥虫病牛血清无交叉反应；检测感染日本血吸虫不同时间绵羊血清，发现感染6周后均被检出针对这三种抗原的特异性抗体，且SEA及SEAl在感染4周后即可检出特异性抗体。三种抗原的诊断效果差异不显著。