THE EFFICIENCY OF CYPERMETHRIN (NRDC 149) FOR THE TREATMENT AND ERADICATION OF THE SHEEP LOUSE DAMALINIA OVIS

SUMMARY A synthetic pyrethroid, cypermethrin (NRDC 149), showed activity in killing lice (Damalinia ovis) in the fleece of sheep at concentrations as low as 1 ppm in a dip. In addition concentrations of 5 and 10 ppm showed a persistent effect and prevented reinfestation from contact challenge sheep for 7 and 19 weeks respectively.     

Biochemical changes in horses during a 50-mile endurance ride

Blood samples were taken from 15 horses before and after a 50-mile ride to examine the changes occurring in some biochemical constituents. There was a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease in plasma potassium, calcium and magnesium concentrations and a rise in inorganic phosphate but there was no alteration in plasma sodium, chloride or protein levels or change in haematocrit. After the ride there was a highly significant (P less than 0.01) fall in blood glucose corresponding with increased lipolysis and a rise in plasma free fatty acids (P less than 0.001) and glycerol (P less than 0.001). There was a modest increase in blood lactate and a rise in plasma creatine phosphokinase. The results of this preliminary investigation are discussed in relation to the problem of exhaustion in horses during endurance rides.     

The development of forage production and utilization gradients around livestock watering points

Large herbivores can impose spatial patterns on otherwise homogeneous vegetation, but how these patterns change through time is poorly understood. Domestic livestock pastures are model systems for studying how foraging behavior influences the development of coupled grazing and vegetation patterns. We sampled forage production and utilization by cattle along distance-from-water gradients to provide a snapshot of grazing and vegetation patterns, and then evaluated the ability of simulation models to qualitatively reproduce these patterns. In the field, forage production increased with distance from water, as expected, but utilization peaked at intermediate distances from water in two of three study areas. Likewise, simulations based on a variety of foraging strategies produced gradients in forage production and, after forage availability near water declined sufficiently, peaks in utilization at intermediate distances. Distance-from-water gradients thus represent cumulative but not necessarily present day gradients in grazing intensity. The model with a foraging strategy based on time minimization produced slightly more realistic patterns in forage abundance than a model based on energy maximization, although results were sensitive to the value of the threshold for rejecting sites of low forage biomass. However, all models produced implausible thresholds in grazing and forage distribution, suggesting that factors besides resource distribution influence herbivore distributions. Moreover, different foraging rules produced similar vegetation gradients, especially on point water source landscapes, illustrating the difficulty of inferring foraging processes from vegetation patterns.     

Use of sodium deoxycholate to extract cell wall components of virulent Mycobacterium bovis

Mycobacterium bovis ATCC No. 19210 was grown on Middlebrook 7H-10 medium with pyruvate. Cells were harvested, and extracts were prepared, using 2% sodium deoxycholate (DOC) and 0.003M EDTA (in 0.1M Tris-HCl, 0.15M NaCl with 0.02% sodium azide [pH 8.4]). Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride was added, and the cells were extracted for 48 hours at 4 C. Cells were removed by centrifugation at 10,000 X g for 30 minutes. The supernatant was filter sterilized and separated into 2 fractions (peak A and peak B) by size-exclusion chromatography. The nonfractionated DOC extract and DOC peak A elicited delayed-type hypersensitivity responses at each of the protein concentrations tested (0.5, 1.5, and 4.5 micrograms) in M bovis-sensitized guinea pigs; responses were not detected, using DOC peak B. Significant differences were detected for each of the antigens when enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay values were compared, using sera from cattle before and 10 months after they were exposed to M bovis (P less than 0.01).     

Small intestinal disease – is endoscopic biopsy the answer?

Endoscopic biopsy of the canine and feline small intestine is becoming more widely available and is generally preferred to surgical biopsy. However, it has limitations which must be recognised if the appropriate interpretation of biopsy findings is to be made. Lack of histological changes in biopsy specimens is a frequent and often frustrating finding, until it is understood that it may reflect either the inevitable problem of examining only the proximal intestine or the fact that not all intestinal diseases are associated with morphological changes. Some newer advances in non-biopsy methods for investigating small intestinal disease are described.     

Gastric emptying of nondigestible radiopaque markers after circumcostal gastropexy in clinically normal dogs and dogs with gastric dilatation-volvulus.

Using radiopaque particles mixed with food, gastric emptying was assessed in healthy dogs not subjected to surgery, in healthy dogs 9 to 35 days after circumcostal gastropexy, and, in dogs 1 to 54 months after surgical treatment and recovery from gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV). Circumcostal gastropexy surgery did not alter the 90% gastric emptying time for radiopaque particles in healthy dogs. However, 90% gastric emptying time was significantly (P less than 0.05) increased after circumcostal gastropexy in dogs with GDV, compared with healthy dogs after the same surgical procedure and recovery period. These results imply that dogs with GDV have delayed gastric emptying of solid particles. Whether delayed gastric emptying of markers detected in affected dogs after surgical treatment and recovery was the result or the cause of GDV was not determined. Results indicate that circumcostal gastropexy could be recommended as a prophylactic procedure for GDV in large breeds with deep thorax, because delayed gastric emptying of markers secondary to the surgical procedure is unlikely.     

Serum haptoglobin concentration as an indicator of weight gain in pigs.

Serum haptoglobin concentration was investigated as an indicator of weight gain in commercially-reared pigs. The serum haptoglobin concentrations and weights of 40 pigs were monitored on a weekly basis, from weaning to 13 weeks of age. All data were ranked based on the week 13 weights, and divided into high, middle and low weight gain groups. By the fourth week of the study, when the pigs were seven weeks old, serum haptoglobin concentrations could be used to differentiate pigs that would have a high weight gain at the end of the study from those which would have a low weight gain.