Isolation of Clostridium perfringens from neonatal calves with ruminal and abomasal tympany, abomasitis, and abomasal ulceration

Eight neonatal calves (2 to 21 days old) with suspected abomasal displacement or intestinal obstruction after acute onset of abdominal tympany, colic, depression, or death were referred to Kansas State University for clinical examination or for necropsy. Results of routine hematologic and serum chemical analyses did not reveal consistent changes. Necropsy revealed abomasal distention, with various degrees of abomasitis, hemorrhage, and ulceration, but did not reveal evidence of displaced abomasum or obstructed intestine. Specimens of ruminal contents collected via stomach tube or at necropsy and abomasal contents collected at necropsy were obtained for anaerobic bacteriologic culture. Clostridium perfringens was isolated from all specimens, and on the basis of toxin neutralization tests in mice, 7 were type A and one was type E. Copper concentrations in serum and tissues were within normal limits. It appeared that the acute abdominal syndrome in these neonatal calves was unrelated to copper deficiency, and that C perfringens, particularly type A, may have had an appreciable contributory role in its pathogenesis.     

Effects of slaframine on ruminant digestive function: liquid turnover rate and fermentation patterns in sheep and cattle

Two trials were initiated to determine if slaframine (SF) can be used to alter fluid digesta flow and fermentation patterns in the rumen. In trial 1, a preliminary experiment, four Dorset X Barbados Black-belly ruminal-cannulated wethers (avg weight 41.6 8.7 kg) given ad libitum access to a pelleted concentrate/hay diet were injected intramuscularly with 0, 12, 24 or 48 micrograms SF/kg body weight (BW) in a 4 X 4 Latin-square design. Ruminal fluid dilution rate was determined using a single intraruminal infusion of polyethylene glycol (7 g), followed by seven hourly ruminal fluid samples. The administration of 48 micrograms SF/kg BW increased (P less than .10) ruminal volume and outflow by 27 and 25%, respectively, compared with controls. In trial 2, two Hereford and two Angus ruminal cannulated steers (avg weight 568 +/- 93 kg) were injected with 0, 6, 12 or 24 micrograms SF/kg BW at 8-h intervals over a 24-h period in a 4 X 4 Latin-square design. Steers were fed a concentrate diet at twice maintenance in 24 equal portions daily. Ruminal fluid dilution was measured using a single intraruminal infusion of cobalt-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (20 g) administered 9 h after the initial SF injection. Ruminal fluid was collected each hour during 8 to 24 h after the initial SF injection and analyzed for pH, osmolality and volatile fatty acids (VFA).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Experimental infection of calves with strains of Bovid herpesvirus-4

Fourteen calves were inoculated intranasally (i.n.) with the viral isolates as follows: 5 with 85/BH 16TV, 1 with 85/BH 17TV, 1 with 85/BH 18TV, 2 with 85/BH 231TN and 5 with 85/BH 232TN. Strain 85/BH 16TV was the only one which caused overt respiratory-like disease in all inoculated calves. Onset of the disease was observed after 7-8 days of incubation and was characterized by fever, depression, nasal discharge and coughing. Virus was isolated from the nasal swabbings of calves obtained from post-infection day (PID) 2-10. The other viral strains did not cause any sign of disease although virus was isolated regularly from the nasal swabbings of the inoculated calves. Virus was recovered from central nervous system tissues of calves that were infected with 85/BH 16TV or 85/BH 232TN strains and were killed on PID 4 or 8. Virus was also isolated from other tissues, such as lymph node, nasal mucosa (PID 8), or lung (PID 4). It was speculated that the nervous system could be one of the target areas of the virus of the naturally occurring infection by BHV-4. This might indicate a possible role of the nervous system (site of latency?) in the pathogenesis of BHV-4 as is the case in certain herpesviral infections of man and the lower animals.     

Effect of lasalocid on weight gains, ruminal fermentation and forage intake of stocker cattle grazing winter wheat pasture

Fifty fall-weaned heifers with initial weights of 209 kg (yr 1) and 222 kg (yr 2) were used to determine effects of lasalocid on weight gains, forage intake and ruminal fermentation of stocker cattle grazing winter wheat pasture. The heifers grazed a single wheat pasture for about 100 d each year, and were individually fed 1.06 kg of supplement (6 d/wk) pro-rated to supply 0, 100 or 200 mg lasalocid.head-1.d-1. Also, eight mature Hereford steers with large rumen cannula were used to evaluate further effects of lasalocid (0 or 300 mg) on ruminal fermentation during two grazing periods (immature and mature wheat forage) of yr 2 and an additional third year. Daily gains of heifers fed 200 mg lasalocid/d were .11 kg greater (P less than .05) than those of heifers fed 0 or 100 mg lasalocid/d. One hundred milligrams lasalocid did not increase weight gains. Digestibilities of forage dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) were similar (P greater than .05) among treatments, and lasalocid did not affect (P greater than .10) forage intake. Ruminal ammonia concentrations (10.57, 15.22 and 17.81 mg/dl +/- 1.71) were increased (P less than .05) by both levels of lasalocid in yr 1, but differences among treatment means of 8.32, 11.95 and 11.66 (SE +/- 1.44) were not significant in yr 2. Lasalocid did not consistently affect total volatile fatty acids concentrations. The acetic:propionic acid ratios in heifers were not different (P greater than .05) among treatments, but were decreased (P less than .10) by lasalocid in cannulated steers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Two cases of IgA multiple myeloma in the dog

Clinical and laboratory findings are presented from two cases of canine IgA multiple myeloma. One of these animals presented with typical clinical and pathological changes including haematological abnormalities and skeletal lesions with secondary invasion of other organs. In contrast, the primary focus of disease in the second dog was the anterior alimentary tract and there were no skeletal changes. In this respect this second case was similar to the condition in man known as alpha chain disease. The two paraproteins differed in electrophoretic mobility.     

Evaluation of the influence of supplementing the diet with mannose or palm kernel meal on salmonella colonisation in poultry

1. The dietary inclusion of 15 and 25 g/kg mannose was associated with a reduction in the numbers of Salmonella enteritidis (PT4) in the caecal contents of chicks challenged by the food. The same benefit was not recorded for S. infantis, possibly because this strain, unlike S. enteritidis PT4, lacked mannose‐sensitive fimbriae.

2. The addition of 25 g/kg palm kernel meal (PKM), but not 20 g/kg desiccated coconut, to the food reduced the degree of salmonella colonisation in the intestinal tract of broiler chicks given diets contaminated with S. kedougou or S. enteritidis from the day of their arrival from the hatchery.

3. The beneficial effect of PKM was also demonstrated at an inclusion rate of 5 g/kg and was similar for preparations with a particle size of either < 150 μm or < 300 μm.

4. Day‐old birds challenged orally with S. enteritidis and given food supplemented with 25 g/kg PKM, became clear of infection by 3 weeks of age while birds given unsupplemented food remained infected.

5. These preliminary results suggest that the inclusion of PKM, which contains inter alia, oligosaccharides containing mannose, in the diet of chicks may reduce the extent to which the intestine is contaminated with salmonellas.     

Antigenic relatedness and partial amino acid sequences of pili of Escherichia coli serotypes O1, O2, and O78 pathogenic to poultry

Pilus proteins from Escherichia coli serotypes O1, O2, and O78 pathogenic to poultry were compared with regard to their antigenic relatedness and partial amino acid sequences. Agglutination, immunodiffusion, and immunoblot assays with polyclonal antibodies to these pili showed that these pili not only share some common antigens but also contain antigens unique to each pilus. The partial amino-terminal amino acid sequences support our earlier findings that the pili are different but contain some structural homologies.