Perceptions of fishers to sea turtle bycatch,illegal capture and consumption in the San Ignacio‐Navachiste‐Macapule lagoon complex,Gulf of California,Mexico

In this study, 10% of all registered fishermen in the coastal towns of Navachiste in Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico, answered a survey designed to collect data on their perceptions of the following topics: the impact of turtle meat consumption; human health; bycatch; illegal turtle fishing; the illegal sea turtle market; the local economy; pollution; environmental education; the success of protective legislation; and sea turtle‐based ecotourism. Perceptions were analyzed using the fuzzy logic method through classification into 5 fuzzy membership sets: VL, very low; L, low; M, moderate; H, high; VH, very high. The 9 topics generated decision areas upon applying fuzzy inference that revealed the membership level of the answers in each fuzzy set. The economic potential of sea turtle‐based ecotourism and the economic profitability of the illegal turtle meat market were perceived as VL. Conservation legislation was perceived as H, although inefficiently applied due to corruption. Ecotourism and impacts on sea turtles were perceived as VL, because they were deemed unprofitable activities at the individual and community levels. Environmental education was perceived as L, because it centers on nesting, hatching and releasing turtles and is directed at elementary and middle‐school students. While fishers perceive a serious negative impact of fishing activities on sea turtles in the San Ignacio‐Navachiste‐Macapule area, they do not see themselves individually as part of the problem. Achieving sea turtle conservation in this region requires: suitable ecotourism infrastructure, government investments in promotion, and studies to estimate the minimum number of tourists needed to assure profitability.     

Some unusual diseases in the birds of Victoria, Australia.

The following unusual diseases were diagnosed in birds submitted to the Veterinary Research Institute, Victoria, between 1978 and 1987: the viral diseases beak and feather disease of psittacines, infectious laryngotracheitis in peafowls, a papovavirus-like inclusion body disease in psittacines, and pox; chlamydiosis; the bacterial diseases actinomycosis, listeriosis and mycobacteriosis; the fungal diseases favus, yeast infections and systemic zygomycosis; the protozoan diseases cryptosporidiosis, hexamitiasis, suspected leucocytozoonosis, sarcosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis and an unidentified protozoan-like organism which caused pneumonia in ducks; a variety of parasites; the metabolic disorders curled-toe paralysis in pheasant poults, encephalomalacia and parenchymatous goitre; toxicity due to dimetridazole and the ingestion of the leaves of the tobacco tree; and other non-infectious conditions including asphyxiation, burns, cataracts, cerebellar degeneration and atrophy, cystic right oviducts and exertional rhabdomyolysis.     

Utilization of stereoisomers from alpha‐tocopherol in livestock animals

Alpha‐tocopherol derived from natural source is a single stereoisomer (i.e. RRR‐α‐tocopherol), whereas synthetic α‐tocopherol consists of a mixture of eight stereoisomers, including RRR‐, RRS‐, RSR‐, RSS‐α‐tocopherol (the 2R isomers, R configuration at positions 2′ of the phytyl tail) and SRR‐, SSR‐, SRS‐ and SSS‐α‐tocopherol (the 2S isomers, S configuration at positions 2′ of the phytyl tail). R and S are assigned by the sequence‐rule procedure, i.e. the priorities of the substituents decrease in clockwise direction or anti‐clockwise direction at each chiral centre. Not all these stereoisomers are equally bio‐available, which can be explained by the differences in the rate of degradation, transportation and retention. Humans and livestock animals can only utilize the 2R forms, while the 2S forms have very low bio‐availability or basically are not bio‐available. The utilization of 2R forms differs between different animal species. For humans and livestock animals, RRR‐α‐tocopherol has the highest bio‐availability compared with other stereoisomers, while other 2R forms have lower bio‐availability compared with RRR‐α‐tocopherol. The relative bio‐availability of RRR‐ and all‐rac‐α‐tocopherol is related to animal species, ages of animals and assessment criteria. In general, recent literature studies have demonstrated that the relative bioavailability of RRR‐ and all‐rac‐α‐tocopherol is 2:1, differing from the commonly used conversion factor of 1.36:1. The latter was based on rat‐resorption‐gestation test. Most recent studies have shown that this conversion factor of 1.36:1 is not applicable to livestock animals and based on other metabolic functions. When IU is required to express vitamin E activity, new conversion factors need to be defined for livestock animals. Quantitative determination of bio‐availability of the individual α‐tocopherol stereoisomers will give a more detailed picture of the bioavailability of natural and synthetic vitamin E forms.     

Serological identification of avian adenoviruses isolated from cases of inclusion body hepatitis in Victoria, Australia

Sixteen avian adenoviruses isolated from 12 cases of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH), 3 cases of respiratory disease, and a case of ruptured tendons were compared using antisera raised against 9 fowl adenovirus prototype strains. Eleven isolates from livers of birds with IBH were classified into 4 different serological groups: 1) YR36 (type 7)-related; 2) HVI (type 8)-related; 3) Variants--type 6-,7-, and S-related; and 4) Type 50--not closely related to any of the prototype antisera tested. These results indicate that, as in other countries, IBH in Victoria is associated with several serologically distinct adenoviruses. The other five adenovirus isolates were found to be related to CELO (type 1).     

进口澳大利亚奶牛附红细胞体的发现与诊断

在对从澳大利亚进口的奶牛进行入境隔离检疫时，发现了牛附红细胞体病，感染率100％（1363／1363），其中：体况较肥的牛血液中30％－50％的红细胞感染附红细胞体，瘦弱牛，极度消瘦的牛血液中60％－80％以上的红细胞感染附红细胞体，使用贝尼尔3．5毫克／千克体重治疗效果较好，在广西是首次从澳大利亚进口的奶牛中发现附红细胞体病。     

Neospora caninum seroprevalence in dairy and beef cattle from the northwest region of Spain, Galicia

Herd and individual animal seroprevalence for Neospora caninum (N. caninum) in dairy, beef and mixed cattle were obtained in all populations within the Galician Farmer Sanitary Defence Associations (ADSG) in 2004. All animals ≥1 year of age were examined serologically by indirect ELISA. 1147 dairy herds (37,090 animals), 1464 beef herds (20,206 animals) and 141 mixed herds (2292 animals) were surveyed. True herd seroprevalence was estimated to be 80.6% (87.7% dairy, 76.7% beef and 78.4% mixed herds), true animal seroprevalence was estimated to be 23.2% (21.9% dairy, 25.1% beef and 24.9% animal to mixed herds), and within-herd seroprevalence was estimated to be 25.4% (23.6% dairy, 28.3% beef and 28.6% to mixed herds). Seropositivity was significantly associated with herd type (higher in dairies), herd size (increased when herd size increases), animal type (higher in beef) and age (lineal increase with the age). Results obtained in this study will be used for the development of a N. caninum control programme in the ADSG in Galicia.     

Comparative study of the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of large animal veterinarians, dairy farmers, and dairy processors in Michigan on bovine somatotropin.

A cross-sectional epidemiologic study was conducted to evaluate two objectives. The first was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of large animal (dairy) veterinarians, dairy farmers, and dairy processors in Michigan toward the use of bovine somatotropin (BST). The second was to compare and contrast the data from the large animal veterinarians, dairy farmers, and dairy processors according to the knowledge, attitude, and behavior variables. A written questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data relating to the objectives. Three basic types of questions were asked of each group: (1) how much do you know about BST? (knowledge-based question), (2) how do you feel about BST? (attitude-based question), and (3) how would you use BST or use dairy products produced through BST biotechnology (behavior-based question)?     

Attitudes and practices of Queensland dairy farmers to the control of the cattle tick, Boophilus microplus

Objective To determine practices for the control of cattle ticks on dairy farms in Queensland, the attitudes of farmers to tick infestations and to identify opportunities for and barriers against the introduction of non-chemical methods of tick control.
Design A survey of 199 dairy farmers from tick-infested parts of Queensland was undertaken by 20 dairy advisers and stock inspectors from October 1996 to June 1997. The sample was a proportional, random selection of dairy farms from four regions. A personal interview was conducted with each farmer and answers to 134 questions were obtained.
Results and conclusions Most farmers were not concerned by cattle ticks on their own farms, although they believed that ticks are important to the dairy industry. They were most concerned about the development of chemical resistance by cattle ticks. Inadequate facilities and lack of motivation appeared to be the factors most limiting to improving the methods of control. Most farmers claimed to have only small numbers of ticks at worst. Although a control program recom mended by the Queensland Dairyfarmers' Organisation was well regarded by farmers, few had adopted it. Many farmers saw no need to implement a strategic control program.     

Comparison of emission estimates for non‐CO2 greenhouse gases from livestock and poultry in Korea from 1990 to 2010

It has often been claimed that non‐carbon dioxide greenhouse gases (NCGGs), such as methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated greenhouse gases, are significant contributors to climate change. Here we nvestigate emission estimates of methane and nitrous oxide from livestock and poultry production, which is recognized as a major source of those NCGGs, in Korea over the period of 1990 through 2010. Based on the data on livestock and poultry populations, emission estimates of methane and nitrous oxide are first derived based on the Tier 1 approach. Then, the Tier 2 approach is adopted to obtain emission estimates of methane and nitrous oxide from cattle, which are known to be the largest sources of these NCGGs and account for about 70% of emissions from livestock and poultry in Korea. The result indicates that the Tier 2 estimates of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management are significantly different from the Tier 1 estimates over the analysis period.     

Within‐ and across‐breed imputation of high‐density genotypes in dairy and beef cattle from medium‐ and low‐density genotypes

The objective of this study was to evaluate, using three different genotype density panels, the accuracy of imputation from lower‐ to higher‐density genotypes in dairy and beef cattle. High‐density genotypes consisting of 777 962 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were available on 3122 animals comprised of 269, 196, 710, 234, 719, 730 and 264 Angus, Belgian Blue, Charolais, Hereford, Holstein‐Friesian, Limousin and Simmental bulls, respectively. Three different genotype densities were generated: low density (LD; 6501 autosomal SNPs), medium density (50K; 47 770 autosomal SNPs) and high density (HD; 735 151 autosomal SNPs). Imputation from lower‐ to higher‐density genotype platforms was undertaken within and across breeds exploiting population‐wide linkage disequilibrium. The mean allele concordance rate per breed from LD to HD when undertaken using a single breed or multiple breed reference population varied from 0.956 to 0.974 and from 0.947 to 0.967, respectively. The mean allele concordance rate per breed from 50K to HD when undertaken using a single breed or multiple breed reference population varied from 0.987 to 0.994 and from 0.987 to 0.993, respectively. The accuracy of imputation was generally greater when the reference population was solely comprised of the breed to be imputed compared to when the reference population comprised of multiple breeds, although the impact was less when imputing from 50K to HD compared to imputing from LD.