Production and immunological responses associated with controlled-release-capsule vs 5-drench preventive anthelmintic programmes for parasite control in lambs

AIMS: To determine whether: a) using a controlled-release anthelmintic capsule (CRC) instead of a programme of 5 oral drenches administered at 3-4 week intervals, would delay the development of anti-parasite immunity in lambs; b) the use of ivermectin instead of albendazole, administered either as a CRC or as a programme of 5 oral drenches, would delay the development of anti-parasite immunity in lambs; c) lambs treated with CRCs would have higher liveweight gains than lambs drenched orally 5 times at 3-4 week intervals, and; d) delayed onset of anti-parasite immunity is associated with reduced liveweight gains in the period following anthelmintic treatment. METHODS: Three field trials were conducted, 1 on a research farm and 2 on commercial sheep farms, in which groups of 30 lambs were treated with either a CRC containing albendazole, a CRC containing ivermectin, 5 oral drenches with albendazole, or 5 oral drenches with ivermectin, administered at 3-4 week intervals. Liveweights and faecal nematode egg counts (FECs) were recorded in all trials. Immunoglobulin-G (IgG) antibody levels to Ostertagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus colubriformis adult and larval antigens were measured in Trials 1 and 3, and fleece weights and resistance of animals to nematode challenge infection were measured in Trial 1. RESULTS: CRC-treated lambs had higher levels of antibodies to O. circumcincta infective-stage larvae (L3) than orally drenched lambs in Trial 3, but no other immunological differences due to mechanism of delivery were detected. Antibody levels were lower in lambs treated with ivermectin than albendazole, as a CRC or oral drench in Trial 1, but this was not associated with any measurable effects on FEC or productivity. No significant differences (p>0.05) were detected between drench types (albendazole vs ivermectin) or delivery mechanisms (CRC vs oral drenching) in any of the production parameters measured, in any of the trials. Albendazole-CRCs failed to control FECs in all 3 trials. CONCLUSIONS: Although some differences between treatments in antibody levels were detected these were not associated with measurable differences in level of parasitism or productivity of lambs. CRC use did not appear to offer substantial gains in productivity over a structured programme of 5 oral drenches administered at 3-4 week intervals.     

Effects of meloxicam or tolfenamic acid administration on the pain and stress responses of Merino lambs to mulesing

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of two long-acting non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) at reducing the pain and stress responses to mulesing in lambs. PROCEDURES: Merino lambs (n = 60) were allocated at 5 weeks of age to six treatment groups: (1) sham mules; (2) mules; (3) tolfenamic acid-sham mules; (4) tolfenamic acid administered 45 min before mulesing; (5) tolfenamic acid at the time of mulesing; (6) meloxicam at the time of mulesing. Plasma cortisol was measured at -0.75, -0.25, 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h relative to mulesing. Beta-endorphin concentrations in plasma were determined at 0, 0.5, 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. Haematology was performed on blood samples taken at -0.75, 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. Plasma haptoglobin was measured at 0, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h. Rate of wound healing was determined 72 h post mulesing, and animal behaviour, including posture, was measured for 6 h after mulesing. RESULTS: The mulesed lambs exhibited large increases in plasma concentrations of cortisol, beta-endorphin and haptoglobin. All mulesed animals lost weight significantly in the week after mulesing, regardless of analgesic administration, but the difference in weight between mulesed and unmulesed lambs was less at the final measurement, 2 weeks after mulesing. Mulesed lambs spent significantly less time lying ventrally than control lambs. All lambs that were mulesed, including those administered NSAIDs, spent more time standing with a hunched posture and less time walking normally than control lambs. CONCLUSIONS: The NSAID treatments applied 45 min before or at the time of mulesing at the dose levels used in this study were not effective in reducing the acute response of lambs to mulesing.     

An outbreak of avian malaria in captive yellowheads/mohua (Mohoua ochrocephala)

CASE HISTORY: Eight mohua, or yellowheads (Mohoua ochrocephala), were held in a large open aviary over the summer months of 2003-2004, following their capture for captive breeding purposes. Two birds died of transportation trauma shortly after arrival, one became ill and died a month later, and another four died within a 2-week period in February 2004. The eighth bird also became ill at this time but survived for a year following treatment with chloroquine and doxycycline. CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: The affected birds were depressed, lethargic and dyspnoeic. Necropsy of three birds showed a slightly pale and swollen liver and spleen. Impression smears of the liver of one bird revealed schizonts resembling Plasmodium spp. within the cytoplasm of many hepatocytes, which was confirmed histopathologically. Similar protozoal organisms were seen within splenic histiocytes and pulmonary endothelial cells of 5/6 birds. Electron microscopy identified these as protozoal schizonts containing merozoites of similar size and structure to those of Plasmodium spp. DIAGNOSIS: The birds were infected with a protozoal haemoparasite resembling Plasmodium spp.; asexual stages within hepatocytes and endothelial cells of the lung and spleen were typical of this organism. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The mohua captured from west Otago were highly susceptible to avian malaria as they came from an isolated population that was likely to be na?ve and have had no previous contact with this organism. The birds were probably infected by bites from mosquitoes feeding off local populations of blackbirds subsequently found to be infected with Plasmodium spp.     

Transformations of Pesticides in the Atmosphere: A State of the Art

The current knowledge about transformation rates and products of pesticides in the atmosphere is reviewed. Reactive species and their concentrations in the atmosphere are presented. Reactions of pesticides with these species (including photolysis) in the gas and the particulate phase are evaluated from available experimental data. The potential of estimation methods is discussed. Experimental techniques for laboratory and outdoor measurements are reviewed. Finally, an estimation is made of uncertainties in atmospheric lifetimes due to chemical or physical reactions. It is concluded that the most important transformation of pesticides in the atmosphere is due to reaction with OH radicals. Very few experimental data for pesticides are available though. The levels of uncertainty in OH radical concentrations are acceptable, however, for a proper estimation of atmospheric removal rates due to reactions with OH radicals of those pesticides for which experimental transformation rates (of homologues) are available.     

Irrigation scheduling and irrigation systems: optimising irrigation efficiency for container ornamental shrubs

Water use and plant growth and quality were compared across different nursery stock beds, different methods of applying irrigation, and different methods of scheduling irrigation. With overhead irrigation, scheduling of irrigation according to plant demand, along with an irrigation system designed to maximise irrigation uniformity, resulted in substantial water savings, without reducing plant quality. This was the case in both wet and dry years. In the dry year, plant quality was particularly good when grown on a sub-irrigated sand bed; this system also used less water than any of the overhead irrigation systems. Two different systems were effective in scheduling overhead irrigation, one based on the volumetric moisture in the growing substrate, and the other based on plant evapotranspiration. The latter was determined with a small sensor with wet and dry artificial “leaves”, the output of which correlated with that obtained following the Penman–Monteith method based on a full set of meteorological data.     

Investigation of the effects of transport and lairage on hydration state and resting behaviour of calves for export.

Plasma sodium concentrations, packed cell volume, total plasma protein concentration and dermal skinfold thickness were used to assess the state of hydration of 113 transported calves before and after lairage and in 30 control calves on the farm of origin. Skin thickness increased significantly (P less than 0.05) and total protein increased slightly during transport and decreased during lairage. These changes suggest that transport may cause dehydration and lairage may help in recovery. Plasma potassium concentration decreased during transport, but the effect was inversely related to the distance travelled, and the concentration increased during lairage. These changes are consistent with recovery from initially high cortisol levels at loading. The resting behaviour of 150 transported calves was recorded hourly for six hours. More time was spent resting and sleeping by the transported calves than has been reported for non-transported calves and more still by small transported calves, suggesting that transport is exhausting, that lairage helps recovery and that small calves are more adversely affected. During lairage the numbers of calves asleep decreased to values reported for normal calves, suggesting that 10 hours lairage was adequate. However, small calves did not return to their normal rest patterns within the observation period.     

Effect of Sperm Cryopreservation on the European Eel Sperm Viability and Spermatozoa Morphology

The main objective of the present work was to study the effect of cryopreservation of European eel sperm both on the sperm viability and the spermatozoa head morphology. Spermatozoa morphology was evaluated with computer-assisted morphology analysis after collection in fresh samples, after adding the freezing medium containing dimethyl sulfoxide as cryoprotectant and, finally, after the cryopreservation process and thawing. Cell viability was assessed, in both fresh and thawed samples, by Hoechst 33258 staining. Computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) was used to determine the percentage of motile cells and to measure motility parameters in sperm samples. A significant decrease of head perimeter (12.56%) and area (17.90%) was detected from spermatozoa in fresh to thawed samples, indicating that cells do not recover the original size after the cryopreservation process. CASA was used to measure the percentage of motile cells (51.9%) and spermatozoa motility parameters such as curvilinear, straight line and angular path velocities, as well as beating cross frequency. This technique was employed in the fresh sperm samples but proteins present at the freezing medium (L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine) made impossible to use this last technique in thawed samples. When sperm viability was assessed by Hoechst staining, a significant decrease of approximately 15% (73.10 vs 58.26%) of alive spermatozoa was registered from fresh to thawed samples. The percentage of motile cells measured by CASA in fresh samples (51.9%) was lower than the percentage of alive cells determined by Hoechst stainning, suggesting the existence of different batches of spermatozoa in different stages of development, even during the eight to tenth weeks of treatment, when the highest sperm quality was found.