A literature review of equine piroplasmosis after an episode of acute babesiosis in a Dutch Standardbred foal after a stay in Normandy

Piroplasmosis, a disease endemic to most tropical and subtropical areas, appears to be spreading to more temperate zones. This article gives a review of equine piroplasmosis and describes an acute case of infection with Babesia caballi in a Dutch Standard bred foal after a short stay at a stud in Normandy (France). A 3-month-old stallion foal was presented with lethargy, fever of 41 degrees C, and pale mucosal membranes. Haematology revealed a low packed cell volume (14 l/l) leucytosis (25 G/l) and a high blood urea nitrogen concentration (20.1mmol/l). Infection with B. caballi was diagnosed on the basis of Giemsa staining blood smears and was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in combination with RLB. Treatment with imidocarb dipropionate and a blood transfusion resolved the haemolytic crisis.     

Composition,Acidity and Rennet-coagulation Properties of Early- and Late-lactation Milks from Italian Friesian Cows

Veterinary Research Communications -     

Golden retriever pigmentary uveitis: Challenges of diagnosis and treatment

Pigmentary uveitis (PU), also known as Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis (GRPU), is a common ocular condition of Golden Retrievers that has severe, vision‐threatening ocular complications and can require surgical intervention. In order to ensure consistency in the diagnosis of GRPU between examiners, a specified set of diagnostic criteria must be applied. This is critical to ensure owners, breeders, and veterinary ophthalmologists maintain confidence in the ocular certification process. Therefore, current and former members of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists’ Genetics Committee came together to draft this Viewpoint Article on the challenges of diagnosis and treatment of Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis for veterinary ophthalmologists, Golden Retriever owners, and Golden Retriever breeders.     

The effect of postexsanguination infusion of beef on composition, tenderness, and functional properties.

Ninety culled dairy cows were used in this study and were paired by weight and conformation similarity. Forty-five cows were arterially infused immediately after bleeding with 10% volume by weight of a solution composed of dextrose (.23%), glycerin (.21%), a phosphate blend (.14%) and maltose (.1%). The remaining cows (45) served as controls. In infused carcasses, some quantity of solution retained was in the following order: supraspinatus, chuck greater than longissimus, loin greater than semitendinosus, round muscles. Accordingly, percentage of protein, ether-extractable fat, and protein fat-free amounts were lowered (P less than .05) and percentage of moisture and moisture protein ratio were raised (P less than .05) in the supraspinatus muscle. Tenderness (P less than .01) and protein extractability (P less than .15) were improved. No difference was observed in water-holding capacity between infused and control carcasses. Percentages of moisture fat-free (r = .85) and protein fat-free (r = -.97) were highly correlated to moisture-protein ratio. Moisture percentage of the fat-free tissue was shown to be a more consistent indicator of added moisture in infused whole carcasses compared with moisture:protein ratio and percentage of protein fat-free. Very low correlations were observed between tenderness, percentage of moisture, percentage of water-holding capacity, and ether-extractable fat. The economics of the infusion process to the beef industry is discussed.     

Causes of anaphylactoid reactions in cattle after administration of lipoid preparations]

In 1986-1988, adverse anaphylactoid reactions (AR) were observed in animals in Czechoslovakia after the administration of oil adjuvant-containing vaccines or other lipoid drugs. Treated animals showed signs resembling the classic anaphylactic reaction, i.e. restlessness, salivation, pruritus, oedema and cyanosis of udder and vulva, and eyelid oedema, developing within a few minutes. The reactions were not elicited by the antigen alone, but by the oil adjuvant. The aim of our experiments was to identify substances eliciting the reaction in susceptible animals and to investigate possible induction mechanisms. The emulsifier Tween 80 has been demonstrated to be an AR inducing component of vaccines and drugs (Tab. I and III). Weak or moderate reactions were observed in 33% of animals treated with 5% Tween and 66% of those treated with 10% Tween showed strong reactions. On the other hand, no reactions were elicited by treatment with several paraffin oils of different quality (Tab. I) nor with an oil-in-water emulsion containing Montanid as an emulsifier (Tab. II). The role of the vegetative nervous system in the rise of AR has been confirmed. AR were suppressed in animals pretreated with parasympatholytic atropine and enhanced in a part of those pretreated with parasympathomimetic pilocarpine (Tab. III). The percentage of animals affected and the intensity of AR were also lower in animals pretreated with complement inhibitor epsilon-aminocapronic acid (Tab. IV). A major role of complement activation is suggested in the discussion of possible mechanisms of AR induction. It is possible to draw a conclusion on the basis of the results presented here and of the analysis of individual cases that a certain degree of animal susceptibility, depending on the phase of reproductive cycle, metabolism level and neurovegetative balance is necessary besides the administration of an AR inducer (Tween 80 in our case). Hence it seems that the adverse anaphylactoid reactions results from interactions of the two factors, i.e. administration of an AR inducer to susceptible animals.     

Natural and experimental infection of rodents (Rattus norvegicus) with Salmonella gallinarum]

Thirty five (35) rats (Rattus norvegicus) were trapped in the area of four egg producing poultry farms and were examined for Salmonella spp., micro-biologically. The samples were taken from liver, spleen and intestinal content. Cultures were made directly in MacConkey Agar, in Selenite broth and Rappaport Vassiliadis at 37 degrees C and 43 degrees C. Five strains of S. gallinarum and one strain of Salmonella subgroup II were isolated from the intestinal content of six rats. An experimental study was also carried out. Ten rats Rattus norvegicus were trapped near poultry farms of N. Greece. No Salmonella could be detected in their feces when examined three times by the Selenite 37 degrees C and Rappaport-Vassiliadis 37 degrees C methods. The rats were orally infected with an 18 hours culture of S. gallinarum (1 x 10(9)/ml microorganisms). One hundred and sixty samples of feces were periodically collected and examined for the isolation of the microorganism by the methods mentioned above. Although not any clinical sign of a disease was noticed, S. gallinarum was isolated from their feces up to 121 days post infection.     

Accessory sperm: their importance to fertility and embryo quality, and attempts to alter their numbers in artificially inseminated cattle.

Accessory sperm number and its relationship to fertilization and embryo quality was evaluated in cattle after nonsurgical recovery of ova or embryos 6 d after insemination. Efforts to alter accessory sperm number per ovum included 1) blockage of retrograde sperm loss at insemination using a modified insemination device, 2) elevated sperm number per inseminate (40 x 10(6) vs 20 x 10(6], and 3) alteration in semen quality (percentage of viable and morphologically normal sperm in the inseminate). None of these efforts affected accessory sperm number per ovum or embryo. However, blockage of retrograde semen flow for 3 h or use of semen of below-average quality (decreased percentage of viable and morphologically normal sperm) resulted in significant decreases in number of viable embryos and increases in number of degenerate embryos and unfertilized ova compared with conventional insemination (P less than .03) and use of semen with an average percentage of viable and morphologically normal sperm (P less than .06). Number of accessory sperm per embryo or ovum was positively related to fertilization and embryo quality (P less than .05). Mean accessory sperm +/- SD and the median value (in parentheses) for unfertilized ova, degenerate embryos, and embryos classified fair to poor and excellent to good were, respectively, .3 +/- .8 (0), 5.4 +/- 8.9 (1.0), 15.8 +/- 28.6 (3.5), and 16.9 +/- 29.5 (5.0). We conclude that efforts to improve accessory sperm numbers per embryo or ovum failed and that high variation and skewness of accessory sperm toward 0 may make median values more meaningful than means.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)