Primary cutaneous coccidioidomycosis in a dog and a cat.

Primary cutaneous coccidioidomycosis was diagnosed in a dog and a cat examined because of lymphangitis and lymphadenitis associated with skin wounds. This benign and self-limiting form of disease was distinguished from the skin lesions associated with systemic coccidioidomycosis by means of historic, physical, and serologic criteria established in human medicine.     

Inheritance of congenital cataracts and microphthalmia in the Miniature Schnauzer

Congenital cataracts and microphthalmia in the Miniature Schnauzer were inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Eighteen matings of affected X affected Miniature Schnauzers resulted in 87 offspring with congenital cataracts and microphthalmia (49 males/38 females). Two matings of congenital cataractous and microphthalmic Miniature Schnauzers (2 females) X a normal Miniature Schnauzer (1 male) yielded 11 clinically normal Miniature Schnauzers (7 males/4 females). Eighteen matings of congenital cataractous and microphthalmic Miniature Schnauzers (6 males) X carrier Miniature Schnauzers (9 females) produced 81 offspring; 39 exhibited congenital cataracts and microphthalmia (20 males/19 females) and 42 had clinically normal eyes (17 males/25 females).     

Influences on the occurrence of abomasal displacements in German Holstein cows]

The objectives of this study were to analyse risk factors for the prevalence of abomasal displacement in German Holstein cows. In the period from 02/01/1999 to 01/31/2000 five veterinary surgeons in Northern Lower Saxony registered all cases of abomasal displacement in German Holstein cows being under the official milk recording scheme. In total, the investigation included 160 farms and 9315 cows. An abomasal displacement was registered in 151 German Holstein cows, corresponding to a frequency of 1.6%. More than 75% of the abomasal displacements appeared during the first 30 days after calving. The left abomasal displacement (74.8%) was recorded more often than the right abomasal displacement (25.2%). Milk recording and pedigree data were supplied by the VIT (Vereinigte Informationssystem Tierhaltung), Verden, and merged with the own recordings. The influences of the calving month, the lactation number, the age at calving, the inbreeding coefficient, calving performance, duration of pregnancy, breed of calf sire, calf sire and the breeding values for the milk performance did not explain a significant part of the variation of the frequency of the abomasal displacement. Significant effects of the sire, birth of twins or even more calves and the herd were obtained for the leftsided abomasal displacement. For the rightsided abomasal displacement and for all abomasal displacements the herd effect was not significant. Heritability estimates using bivariate linear REML models were h2 = 0.043 +/- 0.012 for the leftsided abomasal displacement, and h2 = 0.007 +/- 0.004 for the rightsided abomasal displacement, respectively. Using the threshold model the heritabilities yielded estimates of h2 = 0.51 for the left abomasal displacement, and for the right abomasal displacement of h2 = 0.19, respectively.     

The economics of dairy production.

The structure of the dairy farm industry has been changing rapidly in recent years. Milk production has increased, with dramatic increases in milk produced per cow and with a steep decline in number of milk cows and fewer farms with larger herds. The change in dairy farm size has not been uniform across regions. The growth in farm size has occurred much more rapidly in the Pacific and South regions than in the traditional dairy-producing regions (Upper Midwest, Northeast, and Corn Belt). Using USDA data to examine costs and returns over time reveals that the incentives to produce milk have been much greater in the Pacific and South regions in recent years. Although the cash costs are similar across regions, accounting for all costs including unpaid factors such as labor and capital replacement yields a clear advantage for the Pacific region. Dairy farm size and cost of production are jointly determined. The incentive to increase farm size is derived from the economies of size that may be achieved by spreading the capital, labor, and managerial costs across more units of milk production. Empiric evidence from previous studies indicates a declining cost of production over a large range of herd sizes. Even in the presence of a flat average cost curve, the incentive to maximize farm income provides incentive to increase production. Adjustment costs may fix dairy production facilities in their current use. Those firms facing higher adjustment costs because of individual or regional characteristics or because of different timing of growth will be smaller or grow more slowly than if they faced smaller adjustment costs. This situation may explain the continued lag of farm size and technology adoption in the traditional dairy producing regions relative to the Pacific and South regions where the more recent population growth coincided with the presence of modern, large-scale production technologies. Finally, dairy marketing policies almost certainly have affected the structure and regional pattern of dairy farm size and production. For the most part, however, the policy effects have been of indirect nature. The Pacific region has grown (despite having the lowest average price) by taking advantage of economies of size by specializing in milking cows. The United States dairy industry is a technologically advanced, well-managed, and economically important sector of United States agriculture. Future challenges include the ability to remain viable economically while dealing with environmental and social sustainability issues in the form of new constraints from formal policies and from consumer perceptions.     

Efficacy of tulathromycin in the treatment and prevention of natural outbreaks of bovine respiratory disease in European cattle

The efficacy of tulathromycin in the treatment (phase 1) and prevention (phase 2) of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) was evaluated on commercial farms in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In phase 1, commingled cattle with clinical BRD were treated with tulathromycin (n = 128) or florfenicol (n = 125) on day 0. Similar percentages of animals showed sustained clinical improvement at day 14 (tulathromycin 83.3% versus florfenicol 81.0%) and had not relapsed by day 60 (tulathromycin 63.3% versus florfenicol 58.4%). In phase 2, healthy in-contact cattle were treated with tulathromycin (n = 492), tilmicosin (n = 494), or saline (n = 265) on day 0. Significantly more (P = .0001) tulathromycin-treated cattle remained healthy to day 14 (92.4%) than tilmicosin-treated (83.7%) or saline-treated (63.7%) cattle, and this was maintained through day 60 (tulathromycin 85.4% versus tilmicosin 75.1% and saline 56.2%). Tulathromycin was highly effective in the treatment and prevention of BRD.     

Ovarian teratoma and endometritis in a mare

An 8-year-old Arabian mare was admitted for a large ovarian anovulatory follicle. A clinical diagnosis of ovarian tumor and endometritis was established. Histological examinations revealed an ovarian teratoma and a grade II endometritis. Three months after unilateral ovariectomy, the mare was confirmed pregnant and eventually gave birth uneventfully.