Isolation of a herpesvirus serologically related to bovine herpesvirus 1 from a reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Serological evidence of exposure of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) to a virus related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV1) (Synonym: Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus) has been reported in Canada (El Azhary 1979) and the USA (Dieterich 1981). A serological survey conducted in Finnish Lapland also detected neutralising antibodies to BHV1 in reindeer sera; 23 % of 300 reindeer had detectable antibodies, whereas none of 300 cattle sera from the same region contained antibodies to BHV1 (Ek-Kommonen et al. 1982). There is currently no evidence of BHV1 infection of cattle in Finland, so the isolation and characterisation of the reindeer herpesvirus was of considerable interest. This short communication describes the isolation and preliminary characterisation of a herpesvirus from a reindeer following the administration of dexamethasone.     

Identification of Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae Serotype 2 by Monoclonal or Polyclonal Antibodies in Latex Agglutination Tests

Porcine pleuropneumonia caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae) is a major problem in modern swine industry worldwide. At present 12 serotypes have been recognized (Nielsen 1990). Serotyping has been based upon capsule associated, heat-stabile antigens of polysaccharide (PS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) nature. A variety of tests have been used for serotyping including slide agglutination (Mittal et al. 1982), immunodiffusion (Gunnarsson et al. 1978, Nielsen & O’Connor 1984), indirect haemagglutination (Mittal et al. 1983a) and coagglutination (Mittal et al. 1983b). Recent studies report on serotyping of A. pleuropneumoniae strains using monoclonal antibodies in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Lida et al. 1990, Nakai et al. 1990).     

Comparison of fluorescent antibody tests for tuberculosis and paratuberculosis with antigens coupled to insoluble spheres or taken up by macrophages

Sera of 106 cattle from farms with histories of Mycobacterium johnei infection and sera from 15 human tuberculous patients as well as a number of control sera were examined by means of two different fluorescent antibody tests (FAT) for the occurrence of antibodies against M. johnei and M. tuberculosis respectively. The antigens used were PPD johnin and PPD tuberculin. In the macrophage uptake FAT (MU/FAT) mouse macrophages after phagocytosis of the tuberculins served as the matrix; in the tests performed using the defined antigen substrate spheres (DASS) system, Sepharose beads activated by CNBr were used for the matrix. A good correlation was found between the results of the DASS/FAT and those of the MU/FAT, which is known to be a sensitive and specific test in the diagnosis of Johne's disease in cattle. It is suggested that the FAT, with utilization of the DASS system, might have good prospects for routine examination for antibodies against species of Mycobacterium.     

Prevalence of Antibodies to Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii in Swedish Dogs

Neospora caninum is a newly described coccidian parasite which has been found in various species such as the dog, cattle, horse, sheep and goat. Morphologically it resembles Toxoplasma gondii with which it is related (Holmdahl et al. 1994), and with which it has earlier been confused. The life cycle of N caninum is only partially known. Tachyzoites and tissue cysts are the only known stages of the parasite, and transplacental transmission is the only known route of infection. Subclini-cally infected dams can transmit the parasite to their fetuses and successive offspring from the same mother might be born infected (Dubey et al. 1990b). Clinical neosporosis is mostly seen in pups or young dogs, and the majority or all pups in a litter are often affected. The disease is characterized by ascending paralysis of the legs, with the hind legs more severely affected than the front legs, paralysis of the jaw, difficulty in swallowing and muscle flaccidity and atrophy (Dubey 1992, Dubey & Lindsay 1993). Fatal infections with N caninum in dogs have been reported from many countries, e.g. Norway (Bjerkäs & Presthus 1988), USA (Dubey et al. 1988), Sweden (Uggla et al. 1989a,b) and the United Kingdom (Dubey et al. 1990a). Serological surveys for antibodies to N. caninum in dogs from Kansas, USA and England have shown a prevalence of 2 and 13%, respectively (Lindsay et al. 1990, Trees et al. 1993).     

Focal Symmetrical Poliomyelomalacia in a Calf

Focal symmetrical poliomyelomalacia (FSP) is a neurological disorder mainly described in pigs in connection with experimental or spontaneous cases of selenium toxicosis (Harrison etal. 1983, Wendtetal. 1992, Wilson etal. 1983 & 1989). However, a few cases of FSP have been reported in other domestic animals including sheep, goat, and cattle (Innes & Plow-right 1955, Cordy et al. 1984, Bonniwell & Barlow 1985, Palmer et al. 1986). Common for reports on FSP in other species than pigs is an unsolved aetiology. In cattle only 1 report on FSP has been published previously describing 2 cases (Palmer et al. 1986). The present report describes a further case of FSP in cattle. A 4-month- old Red Danish × American Brown Swiss calf (♀) suddenly became lame on both fore limbs and unwilling to rise. The calf had a swelling around the coronary band and a temperature of 40°C. The calf was treated with antibiotics by a veterinary surgeon. The condition got severe during the next 24 h, and the calf became unable to stand on the fore limbs while the function of the rear limbs was normal. As the condition progressively got worse during the next week, the calf was euthanized by intravenous injection of pentobarbitone sodium and submitted for necropsy.     

IgG-2 deficiency in gangrenous mastitis in cows

In bovine species 4 classes of immunoglobulins have been identified. Murphy et al. (1965) have demonstrated the presence of IgM, while Mach et al. (1969) and Vaerman (1970) have described the presence of IgA in cattle sera. Two subclasses of IgG (IgG-1 and IgG-2) have been described and characterized by Murphy et al., Pierce & Feinstein (1965), and Aalund (1968). Nansen (1970) prefers to designate these subclasses as IgG-fast and IgG-slow. However, it seems to be the general tendency to accept the nomenclature IgG-1 and IgG-2.     

Bovine Abortions Associated with Neospora in Denmark

During recent years protozoa of the Neospora genus have been identified as a major cause of bovine abortions world wide (Barr et al. 1991, Mcintosh & Haines 1994, Thornton et al. 1991, Yaeger et al. 1994). A presumptive diagnosis of Neospora abortion can be made on the foetal histopathology as infected foetuses have a distinctive pattern of multifocal necrotizing and non-suppurative encephalitis often with an accompanying nonsuppurative myocarditis and a varying degree of focal inflammation in other organs (Barr et al. 1990, Thornton et al. 1991). However, confirming the diagnosis of Neospora abortion requires detection of protozoa in foetal tissues that react positively by immunohistochemistry with Neospora specific antisera (Barr et al. 1990, 1991).     

Mycotic lymphadenitis in cattle and Swine

Lymph nodes with granulomatous mycotic lesions from 100 cattle and 9 pigs were examined. More than 90% of cases of mycotic lymphadenitis in cattle occurred in the mesenteric nodes, whereas in swine lesions occurred at multiple sites. All observed mycotic infections were caused by zygomycetes. Histologically the granulomas were characterized by necrosis, mineralization, and fibrosis with infiltration of eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and giant cells. Mucoraceous-type hyphae were identified in most of the lesions, and Absidia corymbifera, Rhizopus rhizopodiformis, and R. oryzae were isolated. Within the lesions, chlamydospores were produced by R. rhizopodiformis. Mycelia in a few lesions were suggestive of infections with fungi of the Mortierellaceae and Entomophthoraceae.     

Passive hemagglutination for detection of autoantibodies against thyroglobulin in dogs

Primary hypothyroidism in dogs is mainly caused by autoimmune thyroiditis or idiopathic follicular atrophy of the thyroid gland (Gosselin et al. 1982). Serologically, autoimmune thyroiditis can be diagnosed by detection of autoantibodies against thyroid antigens in hypothyroid dogs (Mizejewski et al. 1971, Gosselin et al. 1980). Passive hemagglutination test (PHT) has been the serological test, most widly used for detection of antibodies (Mizejewski et al. 1971, Gosselin et al. 1982, Vollset & Larsen 1987).     

Histology of the salivary gland of two leukotic cats

Feline leukemia (leukosis, lymphosarcomatosis) is now known to be caused by a virus (Jarrett et al. 1964). The feline leukemia virus antigen has been demonstrated in salivary glands of leukemic cats (Hardy et al. 1969, 1970) and according to Gardner (1971) the C-type virus particles will replicate in the salivary glands of leukotic cats.     

A Case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Denmark

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, was first described in England by Wells et al. (1987). The infection occurs mainly due to digestion of feedstuffs containing ruminant derived protein in form of meat and bone meal contaminated with a scrapie-like agent (Wilesmith et al. 1991). Later, cases of BSE were diagnosed in the Republic of Ireland, Oman, France, and Switzerland (Marinovic & Senn 1991). This report describes the first case of BSE in Denmark.     

Bovine mycotic abortion in Denmark

A survey is given of the occurrence of mycotic infections associated with abortion in Danish cattle. During a period of six years a total of 748 samples of placenta material were examined. Mycotic abortion was demonstrated in 101 cases (14%). The case rate was significantly higher (21%) during the winter months from December through February than during the rest of the year (10%). Abortions occurred as from the 135th day of pregnancy, with maximum in the eighth month, where 45% of all cases were observed. A. fumigatus was demonstrated in 77 cases, Mucor spp. in 11 cases, Absidia spp. in 5 cases, and a mixed infection with A. fumigatus and Mucor spp. in 3 cases. In 5 cases the fungi were demonstrated by microscopic and histological examination, but not by culture. The annual occurrence of mycotic abortion varied from 10% to 24% of cases of abortion examined. The latter figure was recorded in a year following a particularly heavy rainfall in the month of June.     

Isolation of bovine adenovirus type 1 from a calf with pneumo-enteritis

During the last decade, an increasing number of bovine adenoviruses have been isolated from calves suffering from more, or less, well-defined syndromes. These have consisted of respiratory disorders of varying severity, enteritis, or a combination of both, which in typical cases has been termed “pneumo-enteritis”. These investigations have been reviewed by Darbyshire (1968). Wilcox (1969) isolated adenoviruses from kerato-conjunctivitis (KC) in cattle. Furthermore, strains have been isolated from apparently healthy animals (Darbyshire 1968), and from tissue cultures prepared from various organs from calves such as kidneys (Scho- pov et al. 1968), and testes (Rondhuis 1968, Bartha & Csontos 1969). At the present time 9 serotypes of bovine adenoviruses exist, as determined by neutralization tests, and these have recently been reviewed by Guenov et al. (1970). However, several strains, some from cases of pneumonia (Cole 1970, Lupini et al. 1970) and others from KC (Wilcox 1969) remain to be typed and compared with the known prototypes, thereby enabling possible new serotypes to be identified. So far, serotypes 1 and 2 (Darbyshire et al. 1969), serotype 3 (Darbyshire et al. 1966) and serotypes 4 and 5 (Aldasy et al. 1965) have been shown to cause pneumo-enteritis, and serotype 6 (Rondhuis 1970) a mild respiratory disease in experimentally infected calves. Similarly, KC has been produced experimentally by Wilcox (1970), while the pathogenicity for experimental animals of the other typed and untyped strains remains to be investigated.     

Surveys on Coxiella burnetii infections in Swedish cattle,sheep, goats and moose

Background

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Prevalence data in ruminant species are important to support risk assessments regarding public and animal health. The aim was to investigate the presence of or exposure to C. burnetii in cattle, sheep, goats and moose, and to compare two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). National surveys of antibodies against C. burnetii were performed for dairy cattle (n=1537), dairy goats (n=58) and sheep (n=518). Bovine samples consisted of bulk milk, caprine of pooled milk, and ovine of pooled serum. Antibodies were investigated in moose samples (n=99) from three regions. A one-year regional cattle bulk milk survey was performed on the Isle of Gotland (n=119, four occasions). Cattle, sheep and goat samples were analysed with indirect ELISA and moose samples with complement fixation test. For the sheep, goat, and parts of the cattle survey, samples were run in parallel by ELISAs based on antigens from infected ruminants and ticks. Bulk milk samples from the regional cattle survey and vaginal swabs from a subset of the sheep herds (n=80) were analysed for the agent by polymerase chain reaction. Spatial clustering was investigated in the national cattle survey.

Results

The prevalence of antibodies in dairy herds was 8.2% with large regional differences. High risk clusters were identified in the southern regions. The prevalence among dairy herds on the Isle of Gotland varied from 55.9% to 64.6% and 46.4% to 58.9.0% for antibodies and agent, respectively, overall agreement between agent and antibodies was 85.2%. The prevalence of antibodies in sheep was 0.6%, the agent was not detected the vaginal swabs. Antibodies were not detected in goats or moose, although parts of the moose samples were collected in an area with high prevalence in cattle. The overall agreement between the two ELISAs was 90.4%.

Conclusions

The prevalence of antibodies against C. burnetii in dairy cattle in Sweden shows large regional differences. The results suggest that C. burnetii is a rare pathogen among Swedish moose, dairy goat and sheep. ELISAs based on ruminant and tick antigen performed in a similar manner under Swedish conditions.     

Application of crude and recombinant ELISAs and immunochromatographic test for serodiagnosis of animal trypanosomosis in the Umkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal province,South Africa

A total of 231 serum samples were collected from sheep (n=9), goats (n=99) and cattle (n=123) in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Trypanosome infection was detected using Trypanosoma brucei brucei crude antigen (TbbCA) and T. congolense crude antigen (TcoCA) ELISA assays. Recombinant antigen (T. evansi GM6 which consisted of 4 repeat domains, TeGM6-4r) ELISA and immunochromatographic test (ICT) were also used. Crude antigen ELISA, TeGM6-4r-ELISA and ICT detected 27.3%, 29% and 19.9% of trypanosome seropositive samples, respectively. Trypanosome infection prevalence in cattle and goats was 35.8–46.3% and 0–9.1%, respectively. Out of 9 sheep serum samples, 2–4 sera (22.2–44.4%) were positive. The detection performance of crude and recombinant antigen ELISAs was relatively similar (K=0.6–0.7); both are recommended for reference diagnosis and large scale epidemiological surveys. There is potential application for ICT in on-site diagnosis, but its sensitivity should be improved.     

Serological relationship of a Japanese Babesia species and Babesia bigemina by the complement fixation and capillary-tube agglutination tests

The complement fixation (CF) test and the capillary-tube agglutination (CA) test were used to study the antigenic relationship between Babesia bigemina and the large Babesia species frequently infecting cattle in Japan. The CF antigen was prepared from parasitized erythrocytes by extraction with distilled water. The CA antigen was prepared from parasitized erythrocytes by mild sonification of mixtures of Babesia and erythrocyte stroma, following lysis of the erythrocytes with hypotonic saline solution. All the sera used were collected from experimentally-infected cattle. Cross reaction was demonstrated between the Japanese Babesia species and B. bigemina. There was, however, a difference of two dilutions in titer between homologous and heterologous antibody in the CF test, and a difference of more than three tubes in titer between both antibodies in the CA test. It was possible, therefore, to distinguish the Japanese Babesia species from B. bigemina by the CF and CA tests.     

A Case of Neospora Associated Bovine Abortion in Sweden

Neospora caninum is a recently recognized protozoan organism that causes fatal neuromuscular disease in dogs and abortions and stillbirths in cattle and other animals (Dubey & Lindsay 1993). The parasite is morphologically similar and phylogenetically very closely related to the cyst-forming coccidium Toxoplasma gondii (Ellis et al. 1994, Holmdahl et al. 1994). This group of parasites has a two-host life cycle principally involving a carnivorous definitive host and a herbivorous or omnivorous intermediate host. However, with N. caninum, there is as yet no knowledge of any definitive host harbouring sexual stages of the parasite. The only known route of transmission is vertical from mother to foetus (Dubey & Lindsay 1993).     

The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for the detection of Nosema cuniculi antibodies in the blue fox (Alopex lagopus).

During recent years nosematosis has been a major problem in the breeding of blue fox in the Scandinavian countries, causing heavy losses among growing pups (Nordstoga 1972, Nordstoga et al. 1974). The lack of reliable methods for diagnosing the infection in live foxes has so far made epizootiologic studies of the disease very difficult. However, reports on the IFAT in rabbits with nosematosis (Cox et al. 1972, Chalupsky et al. 1971, 1973, 1974), encouraged the search for a method of detecting Nosema antibodies in fox sera.     

An investigation for seasonal trends in bovine leukemia virus infection

Monthly incidence rates for the detection of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection were calculated for a 15-month period for cattle over 12 months of age in a 200-cow dairy herd. Detection of BLV infection was based on the presence of persisting antibodies as measured by agar-gel immunodiffusion using the glycoprotein-51 antigen. A non-parametric procedure was used to examine 6-month trends in cumulative monthly incidence rates. Over the 15-month study, 25 heifers were detected as becoming infected with BLV after 12 months of age. No differences were found between the 12 monthly incidence rates (p = 0.77). Cumulative incidence rates between June and September (the fly season) were not higher than those for any other 6-month period (p = 0.29). Similarly, there was no evidence that BLV infection was transmitted during artificial insemination (p = 0.18) or during routine vaccination procedures (p = 1.0). Cumulative rates for a period corresponding to exposure of heifers to the dry herd were excessively high (p = 0.01). These findings suggest that transmission of BLV infection in the cattle studied was associated with close physical contact between susceptible and infected cattle, and not with biting flies, artificial insemination, or vaccination procedures.