Seroprevalence and risk factors of Coxiella burnetii infection in cattle in northeast Algeria

Tropical Animal Health and Production - A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and the risk factors associated with C. burnetii infection in cattle in the state of...     

Pituitary apoplexy-like disease in 4 dogs

BACKGROUND: Pituitary apoplexy in humans is a clinical syndrome resulting from sudden infarction, hemorrhage, or both in a normal or an adenomatous pituitary gland. OBJECTIVE: Describe a clinical syndrome in dogs similar to pituitary apoplexy in humans. ANIMALS: Four dogs exhibiting a sudden onset of neurologic signs. METHODS: A retrospective study was used, including clinical examination, computed tomography (CT), postmortem examination, and histopathology of the brain. Pituitary tissue from 3 of the dogs was subjected to immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: Four dogs (2 Mongrels, 1 Bordeaux Dog, and 1 Cocker Spaniel; median age, 11 years; median body weight, 20.5 kg) presented with acute neurologic signs including depression (n = 3), behavioral changes (n = 1), vision loss (n = 1), seizures (n = 1), and collapse (n = 1). CT disclosed suprasellar infarction, hemorrhage, or both associated with a pituitary macroadenoma in 3 dogs and a frank hemorrhage in a nonadenomatous pituitary gland in 1 dog. CT findings were correlated with postmortem findings, and pituitary apoplexy was confirmed by histopathology and immunocytochemistry of the pituitary tissue. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This study provides histopathologic evidence of pituitary apoplexy in dogs. The results are relevant for future diagnosis and treatment of pituitary disease in dogs.     

Squash-prep cytology in the diagnosis of canine and feline nervous system lesions: a study of 42 cases

BACKGROUND: The increased sophistication of imaging techniques in veterinary medicine allows the detection of a wide variety of intracranial and intraspinal lesions; however, imaging often does not provide a definitive diagnosis for nervous system (NS) lesions. Cytology is emerging as a useful diagnostic tool for obtaining a fast and accurate assessment of NS lesions, but little information is available for dogs and cats. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of cytologic evaluation of squash samples from NS lesions in dogs and cats and to consider cytology-based diagnostic guidelines and sources of misdiagnosis. METHODS: Cytologic specimens from masses localized in the central and peripheral NS taken during surgery or postmortem examination were classified into 3 groups according to the final histopathologic diagnosis: Group 1 = completely correct diagnosis, when the cytologic diagnosis and final histologic diagnosis were exactly correlated; Group 2 = partial correlation, when the cytologic diagnosis only partially correlated with the final histologic diagnosis, and Group 3 = no correlation, when the cytologic diagnosis was incorrect and there was no correlation with the general histologic type of lesion. The diagnostic accuracy of cytopathology was calculated by considering the histopathologic diagnosis as the "gold standard," and calculating a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total of 42 animals (33 dogs and 9 cats) were included in the study. The cytologic diagnoses were classified in Group 1 for 32 cases (76%; 95% CI 0.63-0.89), in Group 2 for 6 cases (14%; 95% CI 0.04-0.25), and in Group 3 for 4 cases (10%; 95% CI 0.006-0.18). Considering both complete and partial correlation as an adequate result, cytologic diagnosis was satisfactory in 90% of biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: Although the current series of cases is relatively small, cytologic evaluation of squash preparations can be considered a fairly accurate and reliable tool in the diagnosis of NS lesions.     

Multilobular tumour of bone of the thoracic wall in a cat

Multilobular tumour of bone is a rare neoplasm of the skull in middle-aged, medium-to-large breed dogs even if a few cases have also been described in cats and one horse. The aim of the present paper is to show both the computed-tomography features and the pathological findings of the above neoplasm affecting the thoracic wall of a cat. To the best of the authors' knowledge, such anomalous tumour localisation has never been reported and imaged in feline medicine.     

The effects of two different light intensities on the production and behavioural traits of Italian heavy pigs

Eighty Italian heavy pigs having an initial body weight of about 75 kg were allotted to two experimental groups: a low light intensity group (LL), in which pigs received the lowest level of illumination mandatory in piggeries (40 lux) and a high light intensity group (HL), in which pigs were exposed to a higher level of illumination (80 lux). For both groups the light phase lasted 12 hours per day. Pigs were slaughtered at about 160 kg body weight. Light intensity showed to have no effects on the growth traits, carcass parameters or neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio of heavy. With the exception of drinking (more frequently observed among LL pigs; P < 0.01) and sternal recumbency (more frequently observed among pigs belonging to HL group; P < 0.01), the behavioural observations, carried out on 20 pigs per group, indicated that light intensity did not affect the main behavioural traits of pigs. Agonistic interactions were significantly higher (P < 0.05) among pigs receiving a lower level of illumination (40 lux; LL group) and pigs exposed to the higher level of illumination (80 lux; HL group) showed a tendency (P < 0.1) towards a higher proportion of tactile social interactions. Our results confirm that a proper illumination level can be included among environmental conditions having a positive effect in order to preserve swine welfare.     

Dynamics and efficacy of sulfentrazone,flumioxazin, and isoxaflutole herbicides applied on eucalyptus harvest residues

New Forests - Eucalyptus harvests generate residues that remain on the soil and affect the efficacy of preemergent herbicides in the following planting cycle. The objective of this work was to...