肉鸡肿头综合征的病理形态学变化

对黑龙江省某鸡场发生肿头综合征（ Ｓ Ｈ Ｓ） 的４ 例肉鸡进行了病理学观察。肉眼所见为病鸡的眼周围、肉髯、肉冠的肿胀,包括肉髯、肉冠在内的头部皮下的蜂织炎,头盖骨气室内的干酪样物贮留。病理组织学所见主要为头部皮下组织、头盖骨气室及鼻粘膜下的纤维素性、化脓性肉芽肿性炎,并见有间质性心肌炎及支气管粘膜上皮组织纤毛脱落等变化。从上述病例的头部病灶中分离到了大肠杆菌。     

Production responses and cost-benefit of long-acting pre-lambing anthelmintic treatment of yearling ewes in two commercial flocks in New Zealand

AIMS: To investigate the production responses and cost-benefit of administering a controlled-release anthelmintic capsule (CRC) to pregnant yearling ewes prior to lambing.

METHODS: Yearling ewes from two commercial sheep flocks (A, n=489; B, n=248) in the North Island of New Zealand were enrolled in the study. Prior to lambing, CRC containing albendazole and abamectin were administered to half the ewes while the other half remained untreated. Ewe liveweights and body condition scores were measured prior to lambing, at weaning and, for Flock B, prior to subsequent mating. Lambs were matched to dams shortly after birth and the weight and number of lamb weaned per ewe were determined. A cost-benefit analysis was undertaken for Flock B considering the increased weight of lamb weaned per ewe, and the weight of ewes at the next mating and the benefit in terms of lambs born.

RESULTS: The mean weight at weaning of treated ewes was greater for treated than untreated ewes by 2.76 (95% CI 0.64–4.88)?kg in Flock A (p<0.001) and 2.35 (95% CI ?0.41–5.12)?kg in Flock B (p=0.003); the weight of lamb weaned per ewe was greater for treated than untreated ewes by 1.43 (95% CI ?0.71 to –3.49)?kg in Flock A (p=0.041) and 3.97 (95% CI 1.59–6.37)?kg in Flock B (p<0.001), and ewe liveweight prior to subsequent mating was greater for treated than untreated ewes in Flock B by 4.60 (95% CI 3.6–5.6)?kg (p<0.001). There was no difference in the percentage of lambs reared to weaning between treated and untreated ewes in either flock (p>0.8). The overall cost-benefit of treatment for Flock B was NZ$9.44 per treated ewe.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Pre-lambing CRC administration to yearling ewes resulted in increased ewe weaning weights and weight of lamb weaned in both the flocks studied. There was an economic benefit in the one flock where this was assessed.     

Epidemic of blindness in kangaroos - evidence of a viral aetiology

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cause of an epidemic of blindness in kangaroos. DESIGN AND PROCEDURES: Laboratory examinations were made of eyes and brains of a large number of kangaroos using serological, virological, histopathological, electron microscopical, immunohistochemical methods, and PCR with cDNA sequencing. In addition, potential insect viral vectors identified during the disease outbreak were examined for specific viral genomic sequences. SAMPLE POPULATION: For histopathological analysis, 55 apparently blind and 18 apparently normal wild kangaroos and wallabies were obtained from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. A total of 437 wild kangaroos and wallabies (including 23 animals with apparent blindness) were examined serologically. RESULTS: Orbiviruses of the Wallal and Warrego serogroups were isolated from kangaroos affected with blindness in a major epidemic in south-eastern Australia in 1994 and 1995 and extending to Western Australia in 1995/96. Histopathological examinations showed severe degeneration and inflammation in the eyes, and mild inflammation in the brains. In affected retinas, Wallal virus antigen was detected by immunohistochemical analysis and orbiviruses were seen in electron microscopy. There was serological variation in the newly isolated Wallal virus from archival Wallal virus that had been isolated in northern Australia. There were also variations of up to 20% in genotype sequence from the reference archival virus. Polymerase chain reactions showed that Wallal virus was present during the epidemic in three species of midges, Culicoides austropalpalis, C dycei and C marksi. Wallal virus nucleic acid was also detected by PCR in a paraffin-embedded retina taken from a blind kangaroo in 1975. CONCLUSION: Wallal virus and perhaps also Warrego virus are the cause of the outbreak of blindness in kangaroos. Other viruses may also be involved, but the evidence in this paper indicates a variant of Wallal virus, an orbivirus transmitted by midges, has the strongest aetiological association, and immunohistochemical analysis implicates it as the most damaging factor in the affected eyes.     

Pathological changes in the mammary gland and biochemical changes in milk of the goat following oral dosing with leaf of the Avocado (Persea americana)

Two varieties of avocado leaves (Persea americana var Guatemalan and var Mexican) were administered to lactating goats. The Mexican variety was without effect. The Guatemalan variety in doses exceeding 20 g fresh leaf per kg bodyweight, produced damage to the mammary gland with decreased milk production. The lesions were characterised by oedema and reddening, with clots in the large ducts. Microscopically, there was widespread degeneration and necrosis of the secretory epithelium, the necrotic cells sloughing into the lumen. There was no significant cellular inflammatory response. Concentrations of antitrypsin in the milk, indicating changes in vascular permeability, increased rapidly 15 h after a single high dose, coinciding with palpable oedema. Concentrations of NAGase, indicating cell damage, increased after 24 h. Goats given multiple doses followed a similar pattern but the initial response was delayed. The toxic principle, and its mode of action in selectively damaging mammary secretory cells, remains to be determined.     

Studies on the biology of black mould (Aspergillus niger) on temperate and tropical onions. 2. The effect of treatments on the control of seedborne A. niger

Treatment of A. niger -inoculated onion seed with benomyl dust (1 g a.i./kg), or a foliar spray of thiram (0·4% a.i./ha) applied to plants grown from inoculated seed under temperate (UK) conditions reduced the incidence of A. niger in harvested crops. Treatment of naturally contaminated Sudanese onion seed with a benomyl + thiram mixture at a rate of 2·5 + 2·5 g a.i./kg or soaking the seed in hot water (15 min at 60°C) reduced the incidence of black mould on bulbs grown in the Sudan in field soil that had not previously been used for onion production. The seed treatments were less effective in crops produced in fields regularly used for onion production. However, incubation of harvested bulbs in moist chambers showed that damage to the internal storage tissue of onion bulbs caused by A. niger was reduced by seed treatment.     

Risk factors for post-weaning mortality of Merino sheep in south-eastern Australia

Objective   To measure associations between body weight, growth rate, sex, time of shearing and post-weaning mortality of Merino sheep.
Design   Uni- and multivariable survival analyses of sheep mortality during the first year after weaning, using records (n = 3657) from two field experiments conducted in Western Victoria from 1996 to 2003.
Results   Overall mortality was 14.3% (range 4.5–26.8%) and mean maximum mortality rate was 29 deaths/1000 weaners/month. Increased mortality risk was associated with decreases in fleece-free body weight and mean weaner growth rate, particularly at low weights and growth rates. Weaners in the lightest weaning weight quintile had a hazard ratio of 3.5, compared with the middle quintile. The hazard ratio for a 2-kg decrease in weaning weight was 1.2 to 1.7 for weaners lighter than 22 kg. The hazard ratio for a reduction in mean weaner growth rate in the first 5 months after weaning of 0.25 kg/month was 1.1 to 6.8 if mean growth rate was less than 1 kg/month, but did not differ significantly from 1 at greater growth rates. The hazard ratio for wether weaners was approximately 1.5 compared with ewe weaners. The hazard ratio for weaners shorn between December and May, compared with unshorn weaners, was 1.2 to 3.5, with the greatest risk difference associated with shearing in March (45 deaths/1000 weaners/month).
Conclusion   Improving the body weight and mean growth rate of weaner sheep is likely to reduce post-weaning mortality. Lightweight weaners in a flock should be managed separately from the main portion after weaning. In southern Australia, not shearing spring-born Merino weaners between December and May may assist in reducing overall post-weaning mortality.