Prospective determination of the specificity of a commercial snake venom detection kit in urine samples from dogs and cats

Objective To determine the specificity of a snake venom detection kit in urine samples from dogs and cats presenting to a referral centre for diseases unrelated to snake envenomation. Design Urine was collected from 50 dog and 25 cats presented for investigation and treatment of diseases unrelated to snake envenomation. Urine was collected as a voided sample, by cystocentesis or by catheterisation, and routine urinanalysis was performed. Snake venom testing was performed within 2 h of collection using a commercially available snake venom detection kit, which was observed continuously during the 10-min colour reaction phase for evidence of a visible colour indicating a positive test. Results No false-positive reactions occurred in any sample analysed. Conclusion The snake venom detection kit appears to have 100% specificity for using urine as a test sample.     

Factors associated with the early detection of foot-and-mouth disease during the 2001 epidemic in the United Kingdom

An essential objective of an effective foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) eradication campaign is to shorten the infectious period by rapidly detecting and destroying cases of disease. The purpose of our investigation was to identify factors associated with the early detection of clinical FMD during the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom. We performed a logistic regression analysis, using early versus late detection of disease as the outcome of interest.During the 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom, infected premises were more likely to be detected early under the following circumstances: 1) cattle (particularly dairy) were infected rather than sheep; 2) a recently confirmed infected premises was within 3 km of the new case; and 3) the case was initially reported by the farmer, rather than a Local Disease Control Centre-initiated surveillance activity (patrol, tracing, pre-emptive cull). Our findings suggest that reporting by farmers and initiatives that increase farmer education and awareness should be encouraged.     

Association between cellulitis (enlarged sternal bursa) and focal ulcerative dermatitis in Ontario turkeys at the time of processing

We conducted a processing plant survey to determine the prevalence of cellulitis (enlarged sternal bursa) and focal ulcerative dermatitis (FUD) in Ontario turkeys during the summer and to establish whether the two conditions were associated. A total of 11,772 birds from 24 different farms were observed at three processing plants in Ontario between June and August 2001. Each bird was examined for the presence of cellulitis and FUD. The severity and location of lesions were also noted. The overall prevalence of severe cellulitis (requiring either extensive trimming or condemnation of the bird) was 8.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.7, 10.9) and the overall prevalence for FUD was 22.6% (19.3, 25.9). The Pearson correlation coefficient between the prevalences of the two lesions was 0.56 (P = 0.0043), suggesting farms with a high prevalence of FUD in their birds also had a high prevalence of cellulitis. More specifically, birds with FUD were, on average, 10.8 times more likely to have cellulitis than birds without FUD (Mantel-Haenszel summary odds ratio = 10.8; 95% CI = 9.5, 12.3). Our observations suggest FUD may predispose birds to cellulitis, in which case, preventing FUD may reduce the occurrence of cellulitis condemnations in turkeys.     

Comparison of prices paid for feeder calves sold at conventional auctions versus special auctions of vaccinated or conditioned calves in Ontario

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether vaccinated or conditioned feeder calves sold through special auctions in Ontario commanded a premium, compared with feeder calves sold at conventional auctions, and whether various physical characteristics of the calves were associated with the sale price. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. ANIMALS: 14,037 calves sold through conventional and special auctions at the Keady Livestock Market during the fall of 1999 and 2000. PROCEDURE: Calves were observed as they were sold by lot in the auction ring. Lot characteristics and the price received for each lot were recorded. Multivariate analysis was used to estimate the effect of lot characteristics and sale type on price. RESULTS: Information was recorded for 2,601 calf lots. Multivariate analysis indicated that various lot characteristics were associated with sale price, with 68% of the variation explained by the model. Overall, lots sold at special auctions received a premium of 0.06 dollars/lb (Canadian dollars), compared with lots sold at conventional auctions. However, the premium varied with mean body weight of the lot and year. In addition, frame size, breed, body condition score, uniformity of the lot, weaning status, mean body weight, lot size, sex, year, and sale type were significantly related to sale price. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggested that producers selling calves at special auctions at this market received a premium, compared with producers selling calves at conventional auctions.     

Survey of veterinary technical and professional skills in students and recent graduates of a veterinary college

OBJECTIVES: To determine perceptions of veterinary technical and professional skills among veterinary students and recent graduates. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SAMPLE POPULATION: 281 students and 142 recent graduates from the Ontario Veterinary College. PROCEDURE: A survey was designed and administered to first- through fourth-year students and veterinarians who had graduated either 1 or 6 years before survey administration. RESULTS: Overall response rate was 70%. Learning about technical and professional skills was highly valued. Most participants felt they had not received instruction about professional skills, but those who had felt more competent about them. Perceptions of competence increased slightly with increased comfort discussing emotional veterinary issues with instructors. Neither gender nor increased age was related to increased feelings of competence. Almost all fourth-year students felt competent and comfortable about examining an animal with the client present, assessing suffering, diagnosing parvovirus infection, performing surgery, and working as group members. However, many did not feel competent or comfortable about delivering bad news, setting time limits yet providing quality service, helping clients with limited funds make treatment decisions, dealing with demanding people, and euthanasia. Feelings of competence and comfort were closely related but were not identical. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In the interests of best preparing entry-level veterinarians, technical and professional skills need to be emphasized in a learning environment where students feel comfortable discussing emotional veterinary issues. A professional skills curriculum addressing underlying self-awareness, communication, and interpersonal issues, as well as procedural matters, would likely increase the proportion of fourth-year students who feel competent and comfortable about professional skills by the end of their undergraduate training.     

Echinococcus granulosus in the Northern Territory,Australia: hydatid disease reported in beef cattle from the region

Hydatid disease in beef cattle has been reported to be widespread throughout Australia, but cattle bred and raised in the Northern Territory were previously believed to be free of the disease. Between 2010 and 2016, 1061 cattle from the Northern Territory were slaughtered at a New South Wales abattoir and inspected for hydatid disease. The proportion of cattle reported infected with hydatid disease was 3.5%. Individual cattle identification numbers indicated that the cattle included in the study had most likely remained within the Northern Territory from birth until immediately prior to slaughter, so were assumed to have become infected within the region. We suspect that the sylvatic cycle of Echinococcus granulosus transmission could be responsible for infection of cattle in this region.     

Mortality surveys as a tool for studying marine anaemia in seapen-reared Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum)

Because of their rapid autolysis and post mortem contamination, the examination of dead seapen salmon has been considered of limited value for investigating disease in farmed salmon. Marine anaemia is a recently described plasmacytoid leukemia of farmed salmon that is diagnosed primarily by histological findings. The objectives of this study were to determine if marine anaemia could be reliably diagnosed in dead fish under commercial conditions and to identify the factors that affect the quality of data that are derived from mortality surveys. Surface moribund fish and dead salmon were recovered from four adjacent pens on 31 farm visits to commercial salmon farms over a 6-month period. Mortality surveys provided six times as many fish for gross pathological diagnosis and three times as many fish for reliable histological diagnosis of marine anaemia than did surveys of surface moribund salmon. The interval between recovery of dead fish from a pen most strongly influenced the quality of information derived from the mortality surveys. Mortality surveys proved to be more sensitive to finding the disease than did surface morbidity surveys. The results demonstrated that mortality surveys can provide reliable information, which can generate new insights not only into the impact and epidemiology of marine anaemia, but also for other fatal diseases of seapen salmon.     

Stray dog population health in Jodhpur, India in the wake of an animal birth control (ABC) program

Our objectives were to (1) estimate the prevalence of various health indices in the stray dog population in Jodhpur, India and (2) determine if there was an association between an animal birth control (ABC) program and the prevalence of these health indices in this population. A prevalence survey of 323 sexually intact stray dogs >3 months caught from the streets of Jodhpur from September to November, 2005 indicated that low body condition score (70%), skin conditions (69%) and tick infestation (68%) were the most common health problems in this population. An observational study of 888 stray dogs on the streets of Jodhpur from March to April, 2006 revealed that sterilized dogs were more likely to have a higher body condition score (BCS) than sexually intact dogs when controlling for age, based on a multinomial regression model. However, sterilized dogs were more likely to have a skin condition than sexually intact dogs, based on a logistic regression model. Our observations of the surgical/kennel facility indicated that an effective tick control program was needed. Additionally, the current parasite control protocol at the kennel/shelter facility was inadequate to treat mange, a contact-transmitted skin disease. This is the first study to evaluate the associations between an ABC program and stray dog health, apart from rabies.     

Estimating potential epidemic size following introduction of a long-incubation disease in scale-free connected networks of milking-cow movements in Ontario, Canada

We used the movements of adult milking cows among farms enrolled in the Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) program in Ontario to explore the size of an epidemic that might result from farm-to-farm movements of cows in the Province if a reportable long-incubation infection like tuberculosis (TB) were introduced and not detected for 1-3 years after introduction. A directed network was created for each year (2004-2006) using all pairs of individual shipments, defined as the movement of one or more cows on a single day, from a single source DHI farm to a single recipient DHI farm. A 3-year network was also developed that included all cow shipments that took place during these 3 years. The lower and upper bounds of potential maximal epidemic size were estimated using four network-analysis measures: (1) the farm out-degree, (2) the size of the largest strong and weak components, (3) the bow-tie approach, classifying farms into six different areas of a directed network and (4) the infection chain of a farm. All four of the DHI movement networks were found to be small-world, indicating that infection could spread over considerable distances by shipments that linked potentially distant clusters of farms. The networks were also scale-free, indicating most farms had relatively few connections to other farms, while there were a few highly connected farms. Characterization of the yearly networks showed that 41-47% of DHI farms were not involved in any cow shipments and were therefore not at risk of infection from this movement network; furthermore, if infection were introduced into a DHI farm that shipped animals that year, the infection would have stopped at that farm (or at least, not been passed on by shipment of adult milking cows) >50% of the time, and 75% of the time only one more DHI farm would have become infected through animal movements. Compared to the infection chain, which accounted for both the direction and the time sequence of shipments in the movement network, the other network-analysis measures provided biased estimates of potential epidemic size. The bow-tie approach provided a schematic representation of the level of risk of each farm in the network in spreading an infection, but overestimated the lower- and upper-bound measures of potential epidemic size because it did not account for the time sequence of shipments. Our infection-chain results suggest that introducing a long-incubation disease into the network of farms enrolled in the DHI program in Ontario that was not identified until 12 months after the incursion would, in a worst-case scenario, have resulted in 168 farms (representing 5% of all Ontario DHI herds) being infected as a consequence of adult cow movements among DHI farms. This estimate increased to 850 farms (26% of all DHI herds) if the infection were not identified for 36 months.