Detection of novel kobu-like viruses in Japanese black cattle in Japan

During surveillance for bovine diarrhea of unknown causes in Japanese black cattle in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, we found two types of novel kobu-like viruses in fecal samples of calves. Sequence analyses revealed that they had L protein and 2A protein with H-box/NC sequence motif, which are present in kobuviruses. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they were related to kobuviruses; however, they clustered apart from other kobuviruses. In the prevalence study of two types of novel kobu-like viruses, 16.9% and 10.4% prevalence of these viruses were observed in the feces of diarrheal calves in this area.     

Restenosis after balloon valvuloplasty in a dog with pulmonary stenosis

A two-month-old female Chihuahua was diagnosed as severe pulmonary valvular stenosis (PS). Although balloon valvuloplasty (BV) was successfully performed, restenosis was observed 19 months after the procedure. Euthanasia was chosen due to low output syndrome during the surgical repair attempted when the dog was 5 years old. Postmortem examination revealed markedly thickened pulmonary valve due to the increase of extracellular matrix which might be produced by increased α smooth muscle actin-positive myofibroblasts. The thickening of the valve was associated with restriction of the valve’s motion, resulting in restenosis in the present case. This is the first case report documented histopathological and immunohistochemical findings of the restenotic pulmonary valve in dogs with PS after BV.     

Assessment of left ventricular longitudinal function in cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using tissue Doppler imaging and speckle tracking echocardiography

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in cats is characterized by concentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and both diastolic and systolic dysfunction. Although impaired cardiac function detected by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in cats with HCM was previously reported, reference ranges of TDI in normal cats and cats with HCM have been reported as widely variable. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) was useful for assessment of cardiac function in human patients with HCM, but clinical utility was not known in cats. The aim of this study was to assess global and segmental LV myocardial function using STE in cats with HCM whose TDI variables were within the reference range. A total of 35 cats of different breeds were enrolled in this study. The HCM group (n=22) was cats diagnosed as HCM without left atrial enlargement and with normal TDI measurements. HCM cats were further divided into a segmental hypertrophy (S-HCM) group and a diffuse hypertrophy (D-HCM) group. The control group consisted of 13 clinically healthy cats. No cats in any group showed any clinical symptoms. Conventional echocardiography, TDI, and global and segmental STE indices were evaluated and compared between groups. Only the longitudinal strain rate during early diastole was significantly decreased in both HCM groups, even in all segments including those without hypertrophy in S-HCM group. This study suggests that STE parameters are the more sensitive variables compared with conventional TDI parameters to detect early myocardial diastolic dysfunction in cats with HCM.     

Changes in drug resistance of Vibrio anguillarum in cultured ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis Temminck and Schlegel, in Japan

Abstract. Two-hundred-and-fifty-nine strains of Vibrio anguillarum isolated from diseased cultured ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis in various districts of Japan from 1974 to 1977 were studied for their sensitivity to 12 different chemotherapeutic agents: chloramphenicol (CM), tetracycline (TC), streptomycin (SM), kanamycin (KM), aminobenzyl penicillin (ABP), colistin (CL), nalidixic acid (NA), oxolinic acid (OA), piromidic acid (PA), furazolidone (NF), sulpharaonomethoxine (SA) and trimethoprim (TMP). One-hundred-and-thirty-four of the strains were additionally tested for sensitivity to O/129(2,4-diamino-6,7-diisopropyl pteridine) and ormethoprim (OMP). All strains were susceptible to SM, KM and ABP and also highly sensitive to CL. A correlation of resistance was found among the chemically-related drugs NA, OA and PA, and TMP, OMP and O/129, Nine strains were sensitive to all the drugs tested. The remaining 250 strains were resistant to various combinations of six drugs (CM, TC, NA, NF, SA and TMP). In particular, strains resistant to NA and NF (20.1%), to CM, TC, SA, NA and NF (29.7%) and to all six drugs (28.2%) were frequently detected. NA- or NF-resistant strains have increased since 1974 and TMP-resistant strains have increased since 1976. Transferable R plasmids were detected in 165 out of 250 resistant strains. The most common type of R plasmid determined resistance to CM, TC and SA. These multiple drug-resistant strains with transferable R plasmids were isolated from many different districts.     

Detection of transferable R plasmids in strains of the fish–pathogenic bacterium, Pasteurella piscicida

Abstract. Sixty strains of Pasteurella piscicida were collected from cultured yellow–tail, Seriola quinqueradiata Temminck & Schlegel, in various districts of Japan. These strains were tested for their sensitivity to 14 different chemotherapeutic agents and the detected drug resistant strains were investigated to determine whether or not they possessed R plasmids. All strains were most susceptible to ampicillin of the tested drugs. All except five strains were found to be susceptible to chloramphenicol (CM) and doxycycline (DOTC). However, the strains were only moderately susceptible to cephazolin, cephalexin, nalidixic acid, trimethoprim and ormethoprim, and their MIC values were under 3–lμg/ml. Twenty–one strains showed resistance to furazolidone (NF). Five out of the 60 strains were resistant to CM, tetracycline (TC), kanamycin (KM), NF and sulphamonomethoxine (SA). Transferable R plasmids were detected in these drug–resistant strains. These R plasmids had markers for resistance to CM, TC, KM and SA.     

Long-term changes in the assemblage of demersal fishes and invertebrates in relation to environmental variations in Tokyo Bay, Japan

Abstract Long-term changes in the demersal assemblage, including both fishes and invertebrates, in Tokyo Bay, Japan, were examined between 1977 and 1995. A total of 255 species were collected, of which 113 were regarded as representative in terms of occurrence. Multivariate analyses of the representative species showed that fluctuations in the catch were related to three periods that reflected changes in relative abundance and species composition. In particular, mantis shrimp, Oratosquilla oratoria (de Haan), whipfin dragonet, Repomucenus valenciennei (Temminck & Schlegel), and marbled sole, Pleuronectes yokohamae Günther, showed high dominance in the mid-1980s. Discriminant analysis suggested that the demersal assemblage changed synchronously with environmental conditions. Causes of the temporal changes in the demersal assemblage in relation to variations in environmental factors are discussed.     

Relationship between the Placental Retention Time and the Reproductive Performance at the Foal Heat in Thoroughbred and a Comparison with Heavy Draft

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between the placental retention time (PRT) and the reproductive performance following mating at the foal heat in Thoroughbreds. For this purpose, we interviewed 292 farmers over a period of 3 years with questionnaires evaluating foaling, expulsion of placenta and reproductive performance at the foal heat in 1,432 mares. The obtained data were later compared with a previous study of heavy draft mares. The average of the PRT of the 1,432 Thoroughbred mares was 58 ± 88 min (mean ± SD). The mean PRT of Thoroughbreds was significantly shorter than that of the148 min of heavy draft mares. The incidences of retained placenta (RP) occurring in the Thoroughbred mares were 5.2 and 4.0%, for over 3 and 4 hr after foaling, respectively. The incidence of RP over 4 hr was significantly lower than that of 25% in heavy draft mares. The pregnancy rate at foal heat of the mares in which PRT was less than 3 hr was 37%, and it significantly decreased to 11% for those with PRT of more than 3 hr. In the comparison of the reproductive performance between Thoroughbred and heavy draft mares, the pregnancy rate of Thoroughbreds dropped drastically to 10% when PRT exceeded 40, and in consequence, the pregnancy rate of Thoroughbreds was significantly lower than the 30% of heavy draft mares, which had a PRT of over 4 hr. In conclusion, the Thoroughbred mares had a low incidence of RP, however, a PRT exceeding 3 hr severely affected the reproductive performance at the foal heat.     

Effects of first breeding age on the production and reproduction of Holstein heifers up to the third lactation

The effects of early initiation of first service for dairy heifers on their fertility and productivity up to the third lactation were examined under constant raising and management conditions. Eight Holstein heifers in their early breeding regimens and eight Holstein heifers in their late breeding regimens were initiated to be bred at 12 and 15 months of age, respectively, and were first calved at 21.5 and 25.1 months of age, respectively, with bodyweights of 563 and 638 kg after calving, respectively. Early first breeding resulted in a lower bodyweight and a lower body condition score, but it did not affect the fertility or milk production during the first lactation of heifers as cows. The calving intervals of cows to the second and third calving were similar in early and late bred heifers. Although the early bred heifers had a significantly lower fat‐corrected milk yield at the second lactation than that of the late bred heifers, early breeding did not impair the productivity indicated by the mean milk yield per day from birth to the end of the third lactation with a shorter production period.