Observation on the remarkable stability of transmissible mink encephalopathy virus.

Transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) virus retained biological activity after prolonged storage in formalin (about three and a half years) and in paraffin tissue blocks used for histologic preparations (about six and a half years). Thus, TME tissues in formalin and in paraffin blocks should be handled as contaminated materials.     

Tiering in suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata throughout the phanerozoic

Tiering of benthic marine suspension-feeding communities on soft substrata has varied throughout the Phanerozoic. Epifaunal tiering was most developed during the middle and late Paleozoic and the Triassic to Jurassic, with large-scale reductions in tiering occurring during the Permian-Triassic extinctions and after the Jurassic. Infaunal tiering reached its highest level of organization after the Paleozoic.     

Feline Leprosy: A Review of Forty-four Cases from Western Canada

Forty-four files of cats diagnosed as having feline leprosy were reviewed. All except one were from along the Pacific coast in the Province of British Columbia. The majority of cats were between one and three years of age and there was an increase in the number of diagnosis during the winter months.

Two types of granulomatous responses similar to the tuberculoid and lepromatous phases of human leprosy were recognized. In spite of the overall similarities in the cellular response to human leprosy there were, however, significant differences such as areas of caseous necrosis and constant lack of nerve involvement. Still as there is presently no way to prove that Mycobacterium leprae is not the cause of feline leprosy the public health significance remains uncertain

The treatment of choice would appear to be surgical removal.

     

Characteristics of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae Isolates and Some Epidemiological Findings on Porcine Haemophilus Pleuropneumonia in Saskatchewan

Thirty isolates of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae from clinical and slautherhouse cases of porcine Haemophilus pleuropneumonia in Saskatchewan as well as six isolates from British Columbia and Ontario were subjected to cultural, biochemical, serological and antibiotic sensitivity tests. All strains were Gram-negative pleomorphic rods or coccobacilli which grew only in the presence of V factor and all produced porphyrin from delta-aminolaevulinic acid. Biochemically, the organism was positive for urease, O-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranosidase and the fermentation of sucrose, mannitol, dextrose, lactose and xylose, but was usually negative for indole. Most strains of H. pleuropneumoniae were sensitive to chloramphenicol, furamazone, carbenicillin and ampicillin, but only about 50% were sensitive to tetracycline. Serotype 5 was more common than serotype 1 or the untyped strains among Saskatchewan isolates. In addition, serotype 3 was identified from British Columbia.

Retrospective epidemiological studies showed that Haemophilus pleuropneumonia occurred and recurred on farms in the Saskatoon and adjoining districts, serviced by the diagnostic laboratories of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and that the disease was more common among three month old pigs during the fall-winter season.

     

Effect of age and sex on the eviscerated yield,muscle and edible offal of a commercial broiler strain

1. Comparisons of the effects of age (up to 364 d) and sex on the rate of growth, eviscerated yield, blood loss and yield of skin, breast, thigh and drumstick muscles, heart, liver and gizzard have been made on a commercial British broiler strain.

2. Male broilers grew linearly up to 76 d whereas the females grew more slowly after 35 d. At 364 d the difference in live body weight was small.

3. Up to 56 d, males had a slightly higher eviscerated yield. There was no significant difference between the sexes beyond this age.

4. The proportional yield of breast muscle was variable with age, whereas that of thigh and drumstick increased with age in the male, particularly at 175 and 364 d.

5. After 35 d the proportion of skin was larger in females, whereas the gizzard as a proportion of live body weight in both sexes decreased rapidly between 21 and 76 d. Blood loss during killing was always higher in male broilers after 21 d.     

The relationship between plasma triglyceride concentrations and body fat content in male and female broilers—a basis for selection?

1. The relationship between plasma triglyceride concentrations and body fat content was examined in three groups of male and one of female broiler chickens fed ad libitum on a normal growing diet.

2. Phenotypic correlations between total plasma triglyceride concentration and fat content were + 0.50, + 0.37 and + 0.39 for the three groups of male broilers and +0.33 for the group of females. Triglyceride content of plasma very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) plus low density lipoprotein (LDL) showed similar correlations with fat content.

3. Selection of birds from a flock of 550 male broilers on the basis of high or low plasma VLDL plus LDL triglyceride concentrations produced groups with significant differences in body fat content but little difference in body weight.

4. The results suggest that measurements of plasma triglyceride concentration could be used as an indirect means of selecting for decreased body fat content in broiler breeding programmes.     

Oat cells in the pathology of ovine pneumonia-pleurisy

Light microscope observations on oat cells in the ovine pneumonia-pleurisy complex are presented. This study is based on the experimental production of the disease by viruses and Pasteurella haemolytica. Oat cells appeared only in necrotic lesions associated with large numbers of P. haemolytica in the pneumonic lung. It is suggested that oat cells originate from blood monocytes, which transform into the oat shape when developing in the necrotic, hypoxic environment created by P. haemolytica. They were not, however, observed to be phagocytic. Oat cells are characteristic of pneumonic pasteurellosis but are not pathognomonic because they can also be found in extrapulmonary locations and in other pathological conditions of the lungs.