Seasonal transmission of Fasciola hepatica to cattle in northwestern United States

Sentinel steers were placed with 3 beef herds on irrigated pastures in southern Idaho for 1-month periods from May until November 1982 to determine the transmission pattern of Fasciola hepatica. Transmission was found to increase through the pasture season, reaching a peak during November. Overwintering of metacercariae or snail-borne stages was not found to contribute to infections in the year under study. A variety of species of Lymnaea were found to be available in southern Idaho as potential intermediate hosts. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was found to be a good serologic indicator of light infections with F hepatica. The serum gamma-glutamyltransferase activity was not diagnostically significant when the degree of fluke infection was low.     

Diagnosis of naturally occurring Fasciola hepatica infections in cattle with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Sera from 100 herds of cattle located in the state of Washington were examined with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibody to Fasciola hepatica in a screening procedure that included 5 to 10 samples/herd. Twenty-eight herds contained infected cattle and F hepatica was most prevalent in 3 distinct geographic areas. Subsequent retesting of all sera available from 14 herds (mean of 109 samples/herd) revealed that the screening procedure correctly detected 7 of 7 operations in which greater than 40% of samples were positive or suspect and 3 of 3 operations in which 12% to 13% of the samples were positive or suspect. One of 3 herds considered negative after screening was found to contain a few (7%) positive samples and 1 herd considered possibly infected was negative on retest. These results were compared with those obtained by fecal examination for F hepatica eggs in 9 of the 14 herds. A good correlation (5 of 5) was found in which a high percentage (48% to 85%) of sera were positive or suspect. Fasciola eggs were not found in samples from 2 herds with few (7% to 12%) positive or suspect sera or in 2 herds that were negative by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.     

A survey of the causes of mortality in adult mink, with emphasis on the lactation period

A study of the pattern and relative frequency of diseases in adult female mink during the lactation period was undertaken. All adult females that died between parturition (April/May) and July 1, 1990, from 48 farms in southern Ontario were selected for study, and the cause of death was determined by gross necropsy. In addition, the cause of death was determined by gross necropsy for all adults and weaned kits that died on one farm between April 1988 and March 1989.

The mortality rate among farms in the 1990 study, for adult females during the lactation period, ranged from 0.2% to 10.1%, with a median of 1.9%. Nursing disease (56%) was the most common diagnosis, followed by mastitis (11%), metritis (8%), and dystocia (7%). Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus spp. were the most frequent isolates from the cases of mastitis. In the 1988/1989 study, the mortality rate was highest from May to July, with a large increase in June as a result of nursing disease.

     

Induced Acute Ruminai Acidosis in Goats Treated with Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Bicarbonate

Ruminai acidosis was induced in twenty-one 10-month-old West African Dwarf Goats by feeding a suspension of 80 g wheat flour per kg body-weight (day 0) through a stomach tube. Ruminai and systemic acidosis was diagnosed on day 1 in all goats. Clinical signs included loss of rumination and appetite, trembling, and watery diarrhoea. The detection of acidic faeces during the first 24h was considered of diagnostic importance. Subgroups were treated orally on days 1,2, and 3 either with 1 g of sodium bicarbonate per kg bodyweight, with 1 g of baking yeast per kg, or with a combination of these treatments at 0.5 g of each per kg. A fourth group served as untreated controls.Peroral bicarbonate neutralization was highly effective in the treatment of rumen acidosis, whereas the use of yeast was found ineffective. The combined treatment had a moderate effect probably due to the bicarbonate.Three fatal cases (60%) occurred in the untreated group compared with none in the bicarbonate group, and 2 in each of the remaining groups. This corresponded to 33% of the yeast treated group and 40% of the combined treated group. Details were given on post mortem examinations performed on all survivors on day 11. Lesions included subacute rumenitis and abomasal ulcers. No lesions were found in 3 of the bicarbonate treated goats and in 2 of the animals receiving combined treatment.     

Demonstration in live chickens of the carrier state in infectious laryngotracheitis

Two separate groups of nine-week-old specific pathogen free cockerels maintained in isolation were infected with a field strain of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus, either by intratracheal or combined intranasal and supraconjunctival inoculation. Birds were monitored for virus shedding from five sites on alternate days during the acute phase and three times weekly until week 17. They were then treated with cyclophosphamide on three consecutive days and thereafter swabbed daily. During the acute phase clinical signs were observed and virus was recovered from ocular and nasal sites for up to six to eight days. Initially after the acute phase no virus could be detected. However, from the seventh week after infection intermittent, apparently spontaneous shedding was detected in four of five birds in each group. There was no clear effect of cyclophosphamide treatment on re-excretion patterns, possibly because of the high levels of virus shedding already occurring. Thus, a carrier state for ILT virus has been demonstrated experimentally in live clinically recovered birds.     

Pharmacokinetics of oxytetracycline hydrochloride in rabbits

Pharmacokinetics of oxytetracycline HCl (OTC) was studied in rabbits. After 10 mg of OTC/kg of body weight was administered IV, the distribution half-life was 0.06 hour, terminal half-life was 1.32 hours, volume of distribution area was 0.861 L/kg, and total body clearance was 0.434 L/kg/h. After 10 mg of OTC/kg was given IM, the absorption half-life was 2.09 hours, extent of absorption was 71.4%, and total body clearance of the absorbed fraction was 0.576 L/kg/h. Based on these kinetic data, a dosage of 15 mg of OTC/kg, every 8 hours was developed. This dose given IM for 7 consecutive days resulted in observed steady-state maximum and minimum concentrations (mean +/- SD) of 4.7 +/- 0.3 micrograms/ml and 3.2 +/- 0.6 micrograms/ml, respectively. Twice this dose (30 mg of OTC/kg, every 8 hours) given IM caused anorexia and diarrhea.     

The effects of selenium, housing and management on the incidence of pneumonia in housed calves

The occurrence and incidence of pneumonia in housed calves were not related to the selenium status of the herd as measured by blood glutathione peroxidase activity nor were they affected by selenium treatment of calves during the neonatal period. Pneumonia was related more closely to herd size and building design.     

The pathology of lens-induced uveitis in dogs

Rupture of the lens capsule in 20 dogs resulted in zonal, perilenticular inflammation that did not respond to symptomatic therapy and resulted in the loss of the globe. The reaction was dominated by lens epithelial proliferation, pupillary occlusion, and glaucoma in 11 of the 20. This reaction, herein named phacoclastic uveitis, is unique and easily distinguished from the mild lymphocytic-plasmacytic anterior uveitis that accompanies leakage of lens material through an intact capsule of a hypermature cataract (phacolytic uveitis). None of the dog eyes had the granulomatous perilenticular inflammation that is the hallmark of lens-induced (phacoanaphylactic) uveitis in humans.