Seroprevalence of porcine and human influenza A virus antibodies in pigs between 1986 and 1988 in Hassia

1,268 sera collected from slaughtered pigs in Hassia (FRG) from 1986 to 1988 were tested for antibodies against porcine and human influenza A virus strains using the single radial haemolysis test (SRHT). Antibodies against the porcine strains (subtype H1N1) A/Swine/Arnsberg/1/81, A/Swine/Iowa/15/30 and A/New Jersey/7/76 were detected in 411 (32.4%), 318 (25.1%) and 304 (24.0%) of sera, respectively. Up to 1988 a slight increase (10%) in the seroprevalence to A/Swine/Arnsberg/1/81 was noticed, whereas the results obtained with the other strains showed little variation. Antibodies against the human H1N1 strain A/Singapore/6/86 were only found in sera collected 1987 and 1988 in rates of 1.6% and 3.0%. Serological indication of infections with the human H3N2 strains A/Victoria/1/75, A/Hong Kong/1/68 and A/Philippines/2/82 could be shown in 286 (22.6%), 178 (14.4%) and 135 (10.6%) of the serum samples. Within the three year period the rate of sera positive for antibodies against A/Philippines/2/82 increased from 6.5% to 23.0%, whereas no variation in the rates were found using the other H3N2 strains. Antibodies simultaneously against porcine (H1N1) and human (H3N2) virus strains were detected in 9.9% of all sera tested.     

Antibody responses to avian encephalomyelitis virus vaccines when administered by different routes

Antibody responses to a commercial avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV) vaccine administered by different routes were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Responses to single doses of vaccine administered by the ocular route to 10% of a flock were comparable with those obtained when all birds received a single dose in the drinking water. However, ocular vaccination of 5% of the flock resulted in significantly lower responses than those obtained when 10% were vaccinated. Maternal antibody was shown by the ELISA to persist in chickens from vaccinated flocks for up to 21 days after hatching. Day-old chickens with serum absorbances of < 0.3 at 492 nm, as determined by the ELISA, were shown to be susceptible to intracerebral challenge with the neurotropic Van Roekel strain of AEV.     

Das Rete mirabile der Arteria maxillaris des Löwen (Panthera leo, L. 1758)

Seventeen lion heads were examined. Their arteries were injected with colored supervinyl-chloride (dissolved in acetone) after which the heads were macerated biologically. The rete mirabile of the maxillary artery was located extracranially and was formed by numerous arteries that arose from the dorsal and medial surfaces of the maxillary artery. The rete released branches (rami retis) which entered the cranial cavity through the orbital fissure where they anastomosed with the intracranial segment of the internal carotid artery. The extracranial portion of the internal carotid was found to be obliterated. Some other arteries leaving the rete anastomosed with the internal ophthalmic artery before it entered the optic canal. The following further arteries left the rete: A. ethmoidalis externa, A. ophthalmica externa, rami musculares and ramus pterygoideus. The rete mirabile of the maxillary artery in the lion provides the principal source of the blood for the brain; it also supplies the orbit.     

Acute selenium toxicosis in a dog

A toxic dose of selenium administered by IM injection to a 3-year-old Chihuahua resulted in pulmonary edema and death. The compound had been dispensed to the owner inadvertently in combination with a vitamin E preparation. Vitamin and mineral products often are considered safe for use in megadoses by the uninformed public. The potential danger of selenium overdosage should not be underestimated.     

Pathology of infectious diarrhea of infant rats (IDIR) induced by an antigenically distinct rotavirus

Suckling rats were inoculated with a group B rotavirus to determine the progression of the morphologic changes induced in the intestine by this virus. Several changes were observed by light microscopy 1 day after viral inoculation: shortening of small intestinal villi, villous epithelial necrosis, and villous epithelial syncytia. The lesions were most often present in the distal small intestine, although other small intestinal segments were affected to a lesser degree. By day 3 post-inoculation, epithelial necrosis, and syncytia were no longer present; however, the villous epithelium was disorganized and irregularly vacuolated, and intestinal crypt epithelium was hyperplastic. Alterations in villous height to crypt depth ratios were present in portions of the small intestine for the remainder of the 12-day study period. Epithelial syncytia appeared to form by the breakdown of the lateral interdigitating membranes of the absorptive villous epithelium. Viral particles, abundant in the syncytia, appeared to form from amorphous or reticular arrays of viral precursor material. Group B rotaviral antigens, as detected by indirect immunofluorescence, were present in large amounts in the small intestinal villous epithelium only on the first day after viral inoculation. These studies show that two important diagnostic features of group B rotaviral infections of rats, epithelial syncytia and viral antigen as determined by immunofluorescence, are present only on the first day of disease. These findings should be taken into consideration when attempting to diagnose disease induced by this agent.     

Correlation of DNA ploidy to tumor histologic grade, clinical variables, and survival in dogs with mast cell tumors.

By using flow cytometry, a retrospective analysis of the DNA content of 40 primary canine mast cell tumors and seven lymph nodes that contained metastatic mast cell tumor from 44 dogs of various breed, sex, and age was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples of the tumors and nodes. These samples were chosen according to the following criteria: samples contained sufficient well-preserved tumor tissue in the paraffin block for processing, sufficient patient history data were available, clean and homogeneous cell suspensions were obtained after processing, and interpretable DNA histograms were produced on analysis. The ploidy data obtained were compared with the histopathologic grade, the anatomical site of occurrence, the clinical stage of the tumors, and the survival of the dogs. Over 70% (29/40) of the mast cell tumors were diploid. Three metastatic mast cell tumors in lymph nodes had the same ploidy status as their corresponding primary tumors. In five dogs, mast cell tumors from multiple sites in each dog displayed similar ploidy status. Of 26 dogs evaluated for survival times, 69% (18/26) had diploid tumors and 31% (8/26) had aneuploid tumors. When numbers of diploid versus aneuploid tumors were compared, no significant difference was found between any two grades, clinical stages, or anatomic sites. A significant difference (P = 0.02) was found, however, between aneuploid and diploid tumors when comparing Stage I and non-Stage I disease. The Kaplan-Meier survival plot indicated a tendency towards an increased survival within the first year in dogs with diploid versus aneuploid tumors (P = 0.06).     

Effects of atherosclerosis on mean and daily variation of arterial pressure in conscious WHHL rabbits.

Effects of atherosclerosis on the mean value and daily variation of arterial pressure were studied in 12 Watanabe-heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits aged 12 to 35 months and 25 normal Japanese white rabbits aged 6 to 30 months. A pressure catheter was inserted through the left subclavian artery under pentobarbital anesthesia. A few days after the catheterization, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of the rabbits, which were active and in a good state of appetite, was recorded by an analogue-to-digital converter every second for about 6 hrs and stored in a computer. The mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) in the WHHL rabbit, calculated from each successive MAP record, ranged widely from 85.8 to 131.4 mmHg and 5.6 to 12.6 mmHg, respectively. There was no significant correlation between M and SD in the WHHL rabbit. M and variance (V) of MAP in the WHHL rabbit were significantly higher than those in the normal rabbit. M did not show any significant change with increasing ages, whereas SD increased significantly with aging in the WHHL rabbit. Concentrations of serum total cholesterol and triglyceride in the WHHL rabbit were 475 and 328 mg/dl, which were about nine and seven times as high as those in the normal rabbit, respectively. Macroscopic and histopathological examinations of the aorta revealed development and spread of sclerotic lesions with aging in the WHHL rabbit. We can conclude that development of atherosclerosis with aging in the WHHL rabbit causes malfunction of the baroreceptors, which contributes to hypertension and lability of arterial pressure.     

Leibniz and veterinary medicine--a contribution to Leibniz research]

This study examines LEIBNIZ' idea of Veterinary medicine in a biographical context. It is based on material from the Leibniz-Archives of the Nieders?chsische Landesbibliothek Hannover, primary sources as well as the correspondence between LEIBNIZ and F. HOFFMANN and B. RAMAZZINI. Critical analysis of LEIBNIZ' proposal to establish a medical administrative authority and an analysis of further sources corroborate the view of LEIBNIZ as a progressive thinker who included the epidemiology of veterinary medicine (the preventive approach) in his conception. In this way he conceived of veterinary medicine in scientific terms which is going to be the relevant approach today.