SnakeMap: four years of experience with a national small animal snake envenomation registry

SnakeMap is a national cloud-based, veterinary snakebite registry. It was designed to prospectively collect data of the clinical circumstances and temporospatial information on cases of snake envenomation in dogs and cats. We herein introduce the project and summarise the data from the first 4 years of SnakeMap. The registry is a veterinary community-based online database allowing case entry from veterinary hospitals across Australia. Registry data comprise hospital characteristics, patient characteristics, envenoming snake type, treatment and outcome variables, including time and geolocation of the snake bite. We present summative information on select key variables from the SnakeMap registry (1 July 2015 to 30 June 2019). Twenty-eight hospitals from 6 states/territories entered 624 cases into the registry, including 419 dogs (67%) and 205 cats (33%). Bite time was available in 216 animals of which 90 (42%) were reported to be bitten in the 3 hours between 03:00 pm and 05:59 pm; median bite to presentation interval was 60 (interquartile range [IQR] 30, 211) minutes in dogs and 95 (IQR 41, 238) minutes in cats. Bites occurred in the owner's yard in 356 dogs (85%) and 53 cats (26%). A snake venom detection kit was used in 172 cases (28%) and antivenom was administered in 523 cases (85%). Most animals (n = 534, 88%) survived to discharge (median hospitalisation of 25 [IQR 16, 62] hours). SnakeMap effectively collects relevant clinical data from dogs and cats with presumed snake bite and provides locally specific information on the epidemiology of snake envenomation in small animals.     

Superficial digital flexor tendonitis in Thoroughbred race horses: outcome following non-surgical treatment and superior check desmotomy

Objective This study documents the results of non-surgical treatment and treatment by superior check desmotomy in Thoroughbred racehorses with superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendonitis. Design A prospective study was made of 124 thoroughbred racehorses with unilateral or bilateral SDF tendonitis. Procedure The flexor tendons were assessed by physical and ultrasonographic examination before treatment, and the lesions detected in affected tendons were characterised according to lesion type, length and cross-sectional area. Ninety three horses were managed non-surgically and 31 by superior check desmotomy. Recurrent or new injuries were defined as injuries affecting a previously injured superficial digital flexor tendon, the contralateral SDF tendon, or the suspensory ligament (interosseous muscle) in either forelimb. Results No statistically significant difference was found in ultrasonographic lesion severity between treatment groups. Horses managed by superior check desmotomy were 1.3 times more likely to complete five or more races than horses managed non-surgically (95% confidence limits 0.93–1.82). Horses treated surgically were 1.2 times more likely to develop recurrent or new injuries after returning to training than horses managed non-surgically (95% CL 0.95–1.55). Horses under-going superior check desmotomy were 5.5 times more likely to develop suspensory desmitis than horses treated non-surgically (95% CL 1.13–26.4). There was no difference in the time to recurrent or new injury between treatment groups. Conclusion There was no statistically significant difference between treatment groups in the proportions of horses able to complete five or more races after an episode of superficial digital flexor tendonitis. Superior check desmotomy did not appear to offer an advantage over non-surgical treatment in preventing recurrent or new injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses. Horses undergoing superior check desmotomy appeared to be at greater risk of developing suspensery ligament injuries than horses managed non-surgically.     

Detection of antibody to Mycoplasma F38 in goat sera by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Summary An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to screen goat sera at a single dilution for antibody to mycoplasma F38. Antibody was detected in sera of six convalescent goats following experimental infection. Antibody was also detected in 34 sera three to four weeks after vaccination. No antibody was detected in 164 sera from goats without a history of vaccination or infection with contagious caprine pleuropneumonia. The ELISA was more sensitive than the complement fixation test in detecting antibody in vaccinated goats.

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Deteccion De Anticuerpos Contra Micoplasma F38 En Suero Caprino Mediante La Prueba Elisa

Resumen Se utilizó la prueba ELISA para detectar anticuerpos contra micoplasma F38. Se detectaron anticuerpos en el suero de seis cabras convalecientes, después de la infección experimental. Los anticuerpos también se detectaron en 34 sueros, tres a cuatro semanas después de la vacunación. Ciento sesenta y cuatro sueros de cabras sin historia de vacunación e infección con pleuroneumonía caprina, se encontraron libres de anticuerpos. La prueba enzimática ELISA fue más sensitiva que la prueba de fijación de complemento para detectar anticuerpos en cabras vacunadas.

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Detection De l'Anticorps Dirige Vers Le Mycoplasma F38 Dans Des Serums De Chevre Par Un Test Immuno-Enzymatique

Résumé Un test immuno-enzymatique indirect (ELISA) a été développé pour trier à une seule dilution les sérums de chèvre vis-à-vis de l'anticorps anti-mycoplasma F38. L'anticorps a été détecté dans les sérums de six chèvres convalescentes après infection expérimentale. L'anticorps a également été détecté dans 34 sérums trois à quatre semaines après vaccination. Les sérums de 164 chèvres sans commémoratifs de vaccination ou d'infection par la pleuropneumonie contagieuse caprine ne possédaient pas d'anticorps. L'ELISA est plus sensible que le test de fixation du complément pour détecter l'anticorps chez les chèvres vaccinées.

     

Confirmation of rinderpest in experimentally and naturally infected cattle using microtitre techniques

Summary Virulent rinderpest virus was detected by immunoperoxidase staining of microtitre bovine kidney cell cultures within 24 to 48 hours of inoculation with prescapular lymph node and spleen homogenates from experimentally infected steers. Rinderpest virus specific cytopathic effects were evident from 48 hours in microtitre plates and from 72 hours in rolled tube cultures. Nasal and ocular secretions collected from cattle naturally infected with rinderpest and inoculated into bovine kidney cell cultures did not readily yield cytopathic virus in both tubes and microtitre plates, but immunoperoxidase staining of microtitre cultures on the fourth day of inoculation detected replication of virus in cultures inoculated with ocular and nasal secretions from seven of 17 cattle tested.

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Resumen Se detectó el virus virulente de mediante la tinción con inmunoperoxidasa de cultivos de células de ri?ón bovino en bandejas de microtitulación, después de la inoculación de estos con suspensiones homogenizadas de ganglios linfáticos preescapulares y de bazo provenientes de novillos infectados experimentalmente. El efecto citopático del virus de la peste bovina fue evidente desde las 48 horas en bandejas de microtitulación y desde las 72 horas en tubos de cultivo giratorios. Secreciones oculares y nasales colectadas de ganado infectado en forma natural con la peste bovina e inoculadas en cultivos de células de ri?ón bovino, no mostraron efecto citopático fácilmente en tubos giratorios o bandejas de microtitulación, pero la tinción de las bandejas con inmunoperoxidasa reveló replicación del virus a partir del cuarto día de inoculación con secreciones oculares y nasales en siete de los 17 animales examinados.

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Résumé Un virus bovipestique virulent a été décelé par le test de coloration à l'immunoperoxydase de cellules rénales bovines en culture dans des plaques de microtitrage et infectées 48 heures plus t?t avec des homogénats de ganglions lymphatiques et de rate provenant de bouvillons infectés expérimentalement. Les effets cytopathogènes du virus étaient évidents au bout de 48 h dans les plaques de microtitrage et 72 h dans les tubes en rollers. Les sécrétions nasales et oculaires prélevées sur du bétail infecté naturellement par la peste bovine et inoculées sur des cellules rénales bovines n'ont pas toujours montré d'effet cythopathogène aussi bien dans les tubes que dans les plaques de microtitrage. Cependant, la coloration à la peroxydase au jour 4 après l'inoculation a permis de déceler la présence de virus dans 7 cas sur 17.

     

Local Control of Microdomain Orientation in Diblock Copolymer Thin Films with Electric Fields

Local control of the domain orientation in diblock copolymer thin films can be obtained by the application of electric fields on micrometer-length scales. Thin films of an asymmetric polystyrene-polymethylmethacrylate diblock copolymer, with cylindrical polymethylmethacrylate microdomains, were spin-coated onto substrates previously patterned with planar electrodes. The substrates, 100-nanometer-thick silicon nitride membranes, allow direct observation of the electrodes and the copolymer domain structure by transmission electron microscopy. The cylinders aligned parallel to the electric field lines for fields exceeding 30 kilovolts per centimeter, after annealing at 250°C in an inert atmosphere for 24 hours. This technique could find application in nanostructure fabrication.     

The Current State of Solar Modeling

Data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project and other helioseismic experiments provide a test for models of stellar interiors and for the thermodynamic and radiative properties, on which the models depend, of matter under the extreme conditions found in the sun. Current models are in agreement with the helioseismic inferences, which suggests, for example, that the disagreement between the predicted and observed fluxes of neutrinos from the sun is not caused by errors in the models. However, the GONG data reveal subtle errors in the models, such as an excess in sound speed just beneath the convection zone. These discrepancies indicate effects that have so far not been correctly accounted for; for example, it is plausible that the sound-speed differences reflect weak mixing in stellar interiors, of potential importance to the overall evolution of stars and ultimately to estimates of the age of the galaxy based on stellar evolution calculations.     

The Seismic Structure of the Sun

Global Oscillation Network Group data reveal that the internal structure of the sun can be well represented by a calibrated standard model. However, immediately beneath the convection zone and at the edge of the energy-generating core, the sound-speed variation is somewhat smoother in the sun than it is in the model. This could be a consequence of chemical inhomogeneity that is too severe in the model, perhaps owing to inaccurate modeling of gravitational settling or to neglected macroscopic motion that may be present in the sun. Accurate knowledge of the sun's structure enables inferences to be made about the physics that controls the sun; for example, through the opacity, the equation of state, or wave motion. Those inferences can then be used elsewhere in astrophysics.     

Improved isolation of rinderpest virus in transformed bovine T lymphoblast cell lines.

Bovine T lymphoblast cell lines transformed by the protozoan Theileria parva were compared with bovine kidney (BK) and Vero cells for their ability to isolate various strains of rinderpest virus from tissues and infected secretions. All of the strains of rinderpest virus that were tested, including attenuated cell-culture, caprinised and lapinised vaccines, and both mild and virulent pathogenic strains, readily induced syncytial cytopathic effect (cpe) in T lymphoblasts. The cpe could often be detected within one day of inoculation of lymphoblasts, whereas it took three to 14 days to appear in Vero and BK cells. Using lymphoblasts it was possible to reisolate rinderpest virus from nine of 42 swabs collected from three cattle experimentally infected with an isolate from a recent outbreak of mild disease whereas the same swabs yielded only one reisolate on BK cells. It was also possible using the lymphoblasts to detect infectious virus in the ocular, nasal and oral secretions of goats and rabbits infected with caprinised and lapinised virus, respectively. Peste des petits ruminants virus appeared to grow as rapidly as rinderpest virus in the lymphoblasts whereas canine distemper virus readily induced cpe on first passage but less readily on subsequent passage. Measles virus induced relatively little cpe when inoculated into lymphoblasts and did not appear to passage in these cells. The lymphoblasts are easy to maintain in culture and since they rapidly recovered 11 isolates from 37 diagnostic samples could prove useful in laboratories carrying out rinderpest diagnosis.     

Surveillance and monitoring programmes in the control of rinderpest: A review

Tropical Animal Health and Production -