Zoonotic Helminths of Urban Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the UK: Neglected Public Health Considerations?

Urban brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) carry microbial human pathogens but their role as reservoir hosts for helminths of public health importance is less well known. In this study, 42 brown rats trapped on Merseyside were subject to thorough combined helminthological and pathohistological post‐mortem examination. Eggs of the rodent‐borne zoonotic nematode Calodium hepaticum were initially detected in histological sections of the livers of 9.5% of rats, but overall diagnostic sensitivity increased to 16.6% when entire liver tissue was disrupted and the resulting filtrates were examined for released eggs. In their rat host, mainly trapped inside the dockland, infections with C. hepaticum were associated with a chronic multifocal pyogranulomatous hepatitis with intralesional eggs and peripheral fibrosis. Mean intensity of hepatic C. hepaticum egg infections was 1041 eggs. This is the first report of C. hepaticum in an urban brown rat population in the UK and provides original data for liver egg burdens in this abundant commensal rodent. The zoonotic cestode Rodentolepis nana had a prevalence of infection of 14.3%. Rodent‐specific, non‐zoonotic helminths found were the spiruroid Mastophorus muris (16.0%) in the stomach, the trichuroid Trichosomoides crassicauda in the urinary bladder (31.0%); the ascarid Heterakis spumosa was the commonest helminth of the large intestine (76.2%). Many millions of brown rats inhabit cities and rural areas of the UK, and the infective stages of the zoonotic worm species, particularly C. hepaticum, are likely to be widely distributed in the environment presenting a threat to public health.     

Environmental impact mitigation and bi-culture: a comparative legal analysis of flexibility within European legal regimes – biofilter deployment

This paper investigates the potential flexibility within the current legal frameworks governing marine aquaculture across Europe to cater for the installation and management of marine biofilters alongside fish farms. The basis for debate is that deployment of these biofilters could be used to facilitate environmental impact mitigation. Furthermore, they have the potential to facilitate the development of bi-culture or polyculture through the harvesting of species from the biofilters themselves, for example, mussels (Mytilus edulis). This study explores the flexibility within and suitability of the current legal systems within Europe to cater for the specific technology’s adoption and management. The challenges identified from the legislative and policy frameworks are discussed along with the applicability of these to the use of biofilters for the development of bi-culture. Penultimately, recommendations are made as to where additional measures are needed and the challenges and difficulties that such measures will need to overcome before biofilters can be applied for environmental impact mitigation. Finally, the paper illustrates an application of ‘Comparative Legal Analysis’, demonstrating links to the question in hand and through so doing to wider coastal issues.     

Possible parachordoma in a dog

Abstract

CASE HISTORY: A 15-mm diameter mass developed in the S/C tissue overlying the right lateral gluteal muscle of a 6½-year-old female Flat-coated Retriever.

PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Cytological preparations following aspiration of the mass were highly cellular and consisted of a population of large polygonal cells containing single to multiple nuclei, large prominent nucleoli, and intracytoplasmic vacuoles. Histologically, the neoplasm consisted of similar large cells surrounded by thick fibrous connective tissue trabeculae. The large polygonal cells reacted positively with antibodies against vimentin, low- and high-molecular-weight variants of cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), but not with antibodies to desmin or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).

DIAGNOSIS: The clinical, gross, histological and immunohistochemical findings are similar to those reported for parachordomas in humans. Neither recurrence nor metastases were noted 18 months after surgical excision of the mass.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This is the first reported case of a possible parachordoma in a dog, a benign tumour with cytological features of malignancy.     

Associations between weather conditions during the first 45 days after feedlot arrival and daily respiratory disease risks in autumn-placed feeder cattle in the United States

Data on associations between weather conditions and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) morbidity in autumn-placed feedlot cattle are sparse. The goal of our study was to quantify how different weather variables during corresponding lag periods (considering up to 7 d before the day of disease measure) were associated with daily BRD incidence during the first 45 d of the feeding period based on a post hoc analysis of existing feedlot operational data. Our study population included 1,904 cohorts of feeder cattle (representing 288,388 total cattle) that arrived to 9 US commercial feedlots during September to November in 2005 to 2007. There were 24,947 total cases of initial respiratory disease (animals diagnosed by the feedlots with BRD and subsequently treated with an antimicrobial). The mean number of BRD cases during the study period (the first 45 d after arrival) was 0.3 cases per day per cohort (range = 0 to 53.0), and cumulative BRD incidence risks ranged from 0 to 36% within cattle cohorts. Data were analyzed with a multivariable mixed-effects binomial regression model. Results indicate that several weather factors (maximum wind speed, mean wind chill temperature, and temperature change in different lag periods) were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with increased daily BRD incidence, but their effects depended on several cattle demographic factors (month of arrival, BRD risk code, BW class, and cohort size). In addition, month and year of arrival, sex of the cohort, days on feed, mean BW of the cohort at entry, predicted BRD risk designation of the cohort (high or low risk), cohort size, and the interaction between BRD risk code and arrival year were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with daily BRD incidence. Our results demonstrate that weather conditions are significantly associated with BRD risk in populations of feedlot cattle. Defining these conditions for specific cattle populations may enable cattle health managers to predict and potentially manage these effects more effectively; further, estimates of effects may contribute to the development of quantitative predictive models for this important disease syndrome.     

Behaviour of domestic ducks exposed to mobile predator stimuli. 1. Flock responses

1. Small flocks of ducks (Anasplatyrhynchos domesticus) were exposed to two stimuli, a small mobile vehicle and a walking human, to investigate their flight responses. 2. Experiment 1. Flocks were herded around an annular arena by each stimulus at 0.5 ms(-1) and the flight distance between the stimulus and the centre of the flock, and individual positions within the flock were recorded every 10 s. Flocks maintained a significantly longer distance from the human (6.0 m) than the vehicle (5.1 m) and usually did not maintain visual contact with either stimulus. Significant consistency in individual positions within the flock was found within and between trials. 3. Experiment 2. Flocks were exposed to each stimulus which approached them as they were feeding in a circular arena. The latencies for cessation and resumption of feeding were recorded and the paths followed by the flocks described. Ducks showed a significantly shorter latency to cease feeding in response to the human (4.9 s) compared with the vehicle (6.9 s). 4. Domestic ducks apparently perceive an approaching human as a greater threat than a small vehicle. The findings are discussed in relation to the development of herding robots.     

Tube cystostomy in the dog and cat]

Prepubic tube cystostomy was performed in 10 dogs and one cat. Indications include urinary bypass following urethral trauma or surgery (six cases), following surgery for prostatic abscesses or cysts (four cases) and bladder atony secondary to urethral obstruction (one case). Tubes were left in situ for a minimum of seven days. All patients returned to normal micturition following tube removal. Urine leakage occurred for up to four days after tube removal by which time the stoma was granulating. Nosocomial infection was a consistent finding, but was controlled with antibiotic treatment following tube removal. Tube cystostomy was considered an effective means for diverting irritant urine from healing epithelium and thereby minimising the risk of urethral cicatrisation. It may also be indicated in the management of urinary retention as an alternative to repeated urethral catheterisation. This study indicates that tube cystostomy is readily performed, with few unexpected or serious complications.     

Effect of prostaglandin F2 alpha on the fertility of dairy cows after calving

Three hundred and thirty-one dairy cows in six herds were used to study the effect of a single injection of 25 mg dinoprost, a prostaglandin F2 alpha derivative, administered eight days after calving on several indices of fertility. A detailed comparison was made between 113 treated cows and 113 control cows of the same parity, which had calved within seven days of each other on the same farm and had experienced the same degree of dystocia. In cows which had calved without assistance, the treatment reduced the mean interval between calving and first heat from 40 days to 37 days but increased the mean interval between calving and conception from 83 days to 85 days. In cows which had required assistance at calving, the treatment reduced the mean interval between calving and first heat from 44 days to 34 days and reduced the mean calving to conception interval from 86 days to 68 days. The cows which benefited most were those which had required assistance during their second, third or fourth calvings; their calving to conception intervals were shortened by 22.5 days. An average of 1.39 services was required to establish conception in the treated cows which calved unaided, with 70 per cent conceiving to the first service, compared with an average of 1.34 services per conception and a 72 per cent conception rate to first service for their untreated herdmates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

COMPARISON OF VISUAL ANALOG AND NUMERIC SCORING SCALES FOR ASSESSING INTRAOPERATIVE MESENTERIC PORTOVENOGRAPHY

A visual analog scale and a numeric scoring scale were designed for the assessment of dynamic intraoperative mesenteric portovenography in the dog and cat. Two independent observers evaluated both scoring scales for reproducibility (differences between observers) and repeatability (within-observer differences) in the assessment of 60 trial portovenograms. Agreement (interchangeability) of both scales was evaluated by comparing the scores obtained in the assessment of 200 portovenograms obtained from 100 dogs and cats. There was no statistical difference between the two observers when scoring the same portovenogram for either the visual analog scale (p = .730, reproducibility coefficient = 17.85 units) or the numeric scoring scale (scores identical, reproducibility coefficient = 0). There was no statistical difference, for either of the observers, when the same portovenogram was assessed on two separate occasions using the visual analog scale (observer 1, p = .35, repeatability coefficient = 17.93 units; observer 2, p = .42, repeatability coefficient = 8.27 units) or the numeric scoring scale (scores given by both observers were identical, repeatability coefficient = 0 for both observers). The results of comparison between the visual analog scale and numeric scoring scale confirmed that the two scoring systems were not directly interchangeable. Although both scoring systems demonstrated good reproducibility and repeatability, the numeric scoring scale possessed a number of inherent deficiencies that suggested it was not the method of choice for the assessment of the subjective data obtained from dynamic intraoperative mesenteric portovenography.