Isolation of Actinomyces hyovaginalis from sheep and comparison with isolates obtained from pigs

Actinomyces hyovaginalis, an organism initially described from pigs, was recovered from nine sheep and a moufflon. Further strains of A. hyovaginalis were recovered from five samples from pigs over the same period. 16S rRNA sequencing and extensive phenotyping demonstrated high similarity between the ovine and porcine isolates; however differences with respect to erythritol, adonitol and l-arabitol fermentation were detected. Ovine isolates were made from various sample sites including abscesses and highlight the importance of the accurate identification of the various coryneform isolates which affect sheep. A. hyovaginalis can be added to the growing list of coryneforms which can cause disease in sheep including Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, Trueperella pyogenes and Arcanobacterium pluranimalium.     

EFFECT OF REGION OF INTEREST SELECTION AND UPTAKE MEASUREMENT ON GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE MEASURED BY 99mTc-DTPA SCINTIGRAPHY IN DOGS

Determinations of different methods of measurement of uptake of 99mTc-DTPA using scintigraphy of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were made from 29 studies on 10 healthy beagle dogs. GFR was measured by calculating the percentage dose uptake (integral method) and rate of uptake (slope method) of 99mTc-DTPA using manual kidney regions of interest (ROI) and automatic kidney and background ROIs at different time periods of the uptake phase. These results were compared using linear regression analysis to the GFR obtained from 99mTc-DTPA plasma clearance using multiple blood samples. The best correlation coefficient between percentage DTPA uptake and GFR by DTPA clearance (r = 0.84, P < 0.001) was derived from time intervals between 30s-120s with a perirenal background ROI at 1 or 2 pixels out from the kidney ROI using automatic kidney ROI at 20% threshold. With the slope method, the best correlation coefficient (r = 0.85, P < 0.001) was obtained from time intervals between 30s-peak with the background ROI at 2 pixels out from the kidney ROI using automatic ROI at 35% threshold. The offset was higher, and the correlation varied more with different ROIs and the method was unreliable at time intervals extending beyond the peak radioactivity. Manual kidney ROIs with automatic background ROIs had slightly lower correlations. With DTPA renography both integral and slope uptake method with automatic kidney and background ROIs are accurate methods to estimate the GFR, but that the integral method is much more stable to variations in ROI size and the duration of the uptake phase of the renogram.     

Differential susceptibility to tetracycline,oxytetracycline and doxycycline of the calf pathogens Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida in three growth media

For clinical isolates of bovine Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida, this study reports minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) differences for tetracycline, oxytetracycline and doxycycline between cation‐adjusted Mueller‐Hinton broth (CAMHB), foetal bovine serum (FBS) and Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) medium. MICs were determined according to CLSI standards and additionally using five overlapping sets of twofold dilutions. Matrix effect: (a) free drug MICs and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) for all drugs were significantly higher in FBS than in CAMHB for both pathogens (p < 0.001); (b) MICs and MBCs were higher for CAMHB and FBS compared to RPMI for P. multocida only. Net growth rate for P. multocida in CAMHB was significantly slower than in FBS and higher than in RPMI, correlating to MIC and MBC ranking. Drug effect: doxycycline MICs and MBCs were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in both CAMHB and FBS than tetracycline and oxytetracycline for both pathogens. Only for M. haemolytica were oxytetracycline MIC and MBC significantly lower than tetracycline, precluding the use of tetracycline to predict oxytetracycline susceptibility in this species. Determining potencies of tetracyclines in a physiological medium, such as FBS, is proposed, when the objective is correlation with pharmacokinetic data for dosage determination.     

Surgical decompression,with or without adjunctive therapy,for palliative treatment of primary vertebral osteosarcoma in dogs

Vertebral osteosarcoma (OSA) is the most common primary vertebral tumor in dogs, however studies examining the survival time after surgical decompression of these tumors are limited. There is also limited information regarding the benefit of adjunctive treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy in these patients. The goal of this study was to determine survival time of dogs with primary vertebral OSA after palliative decompressive surgery alone and combined with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Records from 22 client‐owned dogs diagnosed with primary vertebral OSA and treated with decompressive surgery were collected retrospectively from eight referral institutions. Survival time was assessed for dogs treated with surgery alone as well as dogs who received adjunctive radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. Median survival time in the 12 dogs treated with surgery alone was 42 days (range: 3‐1333 days). The three dogs treated with surgery and chemotherapy had a median survival time of 82 days (range: 56‐305 days). Only one dog was treated with surgery and radiation therapy; this dog survived 101 days. Six dogs were treated with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy; these dogs had a median survival time of 261 days (range: 223‐653 days). Cause of death in all cases that survived the initial postoperative period was euthanasia secondary to confirmed or suspected tumor regrowth. The results of this study suggest that definitive radiation therapy, possibly combined with concurrent chemotherapy, significantly improves survival in dogs treated with palliative decompressive surgery for vertebral OSA and should be the treatment of choice in selected cases.     

Effect of transdermally administered fentanyl on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in cats

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of two doses of fentanyl, administered transdermally, on the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in cats. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. ANIMALS: Five healthy, spayed, female cats. METHODS: Each cat was studied thrice with at least 2 weeks between each study. In study 1, the baseline isoflurane MAC was determined in triplicate for each cat. In studies 2 and 3, isoflurane MAC was determined 24 hours after placement of either a 25 or 50 microg hour(-1) fentanyl patch. In each MAC study, cats were instrumented to allow collection of arterial blood and measurement of arterial blood pressure. Twenty-four hours prior to studies 2 and 3, a catheter was placed and secured in the jugular vein and either a 25 or 50 microg hour(-1) fentanyl patch was placed in random order on the left thorax. Blood samples for plasma fentanyl determination were collected prior to patch placement and at regular intervals up to 144 hours. After determination of MAC in studies 2 and 3, naloxone was administered as a bolus dose (0.1 mg kg(-1)) followed by an infusion (1 mg kg(-1) hour(-1)) and MAC redetermined. RESULTS: The baseline isoflurane MAC was 1.51 +/- 0.21% (mean +/- SD). Fentanyl (25 and 50 micro g hour(-1)) administered transdermally significantly reduced MAC to 1.25 +/- 0.26 and 1.22 +/- 0.16%, respectively. These MAC reductions were not significantly different from each other. Isoflurane MAC determined during administration of fentanyl 25 micro g hour(-1) and naloxone (1.44 +/- 0.16%) and fentanyl 50 micro g hour(-1) and naloxone (1.51 +/- 0.19%) was not significantly different from baseline MAC (1.51 +/- 0.21%). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Fentanyl patches are placed to provide long-lasting analgesia. In order to be effective postoperatively, fentanyl patches must be placed prior to surgery. Plasma fentanyl concentrations achieved intraoperatively decrease the need for potent inhalant anesthetics in cats.     

Influence of the Expert Effect on Cultural Models

We examined hunters’ perceptions of fauna to see if expert hunters and other hunters perceive wildlife abundance similarly. We used cultural consensus analysis (CCA) to assess the knowledge of 25 hunters in the Bolivian Amazon about the abundance of 38 animals. CCA indicated highly shared beliefs among hunters concerning wildlife abundance (average agreement = .62). However, expert hunters (as judged by their reported successful hunts of rare species, having hunted recently, and consuming more game in their diet) perceived more animals as abundant than did non-experts, although they all shared the same model. Since the expert hunters did not always agree on which species was more abundant, they had low cultural knowledge scores in CCA results. These experts may be unwilling to curtail hunting efforts on key species that they perceive to be abundant.     

Cervical injury following a horse kick to the head in two dogs

Two dogs were presented to North Carolina State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital following blunt trauma to the head delivered by a horse kick. On presentation, both dogs had resolving clinical signs directly related to the head trauma, but both also had compromise to their upper airway as a result of indirect injury to the soft tissues of the neck, visible on plain radiographs. One dog made a full recovery following a period of assisted ventilation. The other dog was euthanized at the request of the owner. These injuries illustrate the importance of evaluating the cervical spine and soft tissues of the neck following blunt trauma to the head.     

Immunochemical analyses of serum antibodies from pig herds in a Salmonella non-endemic region.

In a large comparative survey of Danish and Swedish slaughter pig herds performed prior to this work, it was unexpectedly found that some Swedish herds harbored seropositive pigs. Serum samples from the Swedish herds had moderate responses in the Salmonella mix-ELISA (detecting serogroup B and C1 infections) compared to the Danish herds classifying some of them as seropositive using a cut-off value at 40 OD%. In Sweden, extensive Salmonella control is carried out by bacteriological screening of feces and lymph nodes, and the overall prevalence has been proven to be below 0.1%. The serological positive results were therefore unexpected; hence the reactivities of the Swedish sera were studied by a number of immunochemical analyses (Western blot, indirect ELISA, inhibition ELISA, avidity ELISA) and compared to sera from Danish pig herds with verified Salmonella infections ("the reference sera").In Western blot, the Swedish sera had high binding reactivities against Salmonella Typhimurium LPS of different molecular weights, and gave binding patterns similar to that of the reference sera. Pre-incubation with free S. Typhimurium LPS or PS (the polysaccharide part of LPS) was able to inhibit the reactivity of the Swedish sera in the mix-ELISA. Reactivities against other related bacterial LPS such as Citrobacter freundii LPS and Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 LPS were observed in the Swedish sera, but these LPS antigens were unable to inhibit the reactivities in the mix-ELISA as efficiently as S. Typhimurium LPS. Furthermore, the Swedish sera did not bind Salmonella LPS of another serogroup (S. Meleagridis LPS, serogroup E1) or rough Salmonella LPS, both lacking the specific O-antigenic parts of S. Typhimurium LPS. The avidity of the Swedish sera was much lower than the avidity of the reference sera, which could indicate the presence of transient low-dose infections or stimulation by inactivated bacteria in feed. The results obtained in this investigation strongly indicate that the Swedish sera contain antibodies directed against the O-antigenic part of LPS from S. Typhimurium or possibly on as yet unknown bacterium.     

猪繁殖与呼吸综合征引起的疾病风险评估

起始于2003年的开发工作已经完成了一个PRRS风险评估系统,利用该系统能够对会影响PRRS病毒被清除后的猪群是否能够保持PRRS阴性的风险因素进行评估.