Rickettsial infection in farmed Atlantic salmon in eastern Canada

The cause of death in a postsmolt, Atlantic salmon population with elevated levels of mortalities was investigated. Diagnosis of a rickettsia-like organism was based on gross pathology, histopathology, differential staining, electron microscopy and fluorescent antibody tests. The course of the infection and response to treatment are discussed. This is the first reported occurrence of salmon rickettsias in the Atlantic coast of North or South America.     

Immunopathogenic behaviors of canine transmissible venereal tumor in dogs following an immunotherapy using dendritic/tumor cell hybrid

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is a naturally occurring tumor that can be transmitted between dogs via live tumor cell inoculation. It is also a spontaneous self-regression tumor and its behavior is closely related to host immune responses. Since CTVT had been widely used for tumor models in canine cancers, whether this self-regression may overtake the immunity elicited from an exogenous tumor vaccine remains unclear and certainly worthwhile to be investigated. In this study, we used DCs/tumor hybrids as a tumor vaccine to evaluate the CTVT model. We prepared mature allogeneic dendritic cells from bone marrow and then assessed their phenotype (CD80, CD83, CD86, CD1a, CD11c, CD40 and MHC II), antigen uptake and presenting abilities. Fused dendritic cell/CTVT hybrids were then used as a vaccine, administered three times at two-week intervals via subcutaneous injection near the bilateral auxiliary and inguinal lymph nodes. In comparison with unvaccinated dogs (spontaneous regressed group), within a period of 2.5 months, the vaccinations substantially inhibited tumor progression (p<0.05) and accelerated the rate of regression by a mechanism involving amplification of the host tumor-specific adaptive immune responses and NK cytotoxicity (p<0.001). Pathologic examination revealed early massive lymphocyte infiltration resulting in final tumor necrosis. In addition, there are not any detectable effects on routine physical, body temperature or blood chemistry examinations. In conclusion, our data furnishes a reference value showing that CTVT is a model of potential use for the study of immunity elicited by vaccines against tumors, and also enable early-phase evaluation of the dendritic cell/tumor vaccine in terms of raising host immunity.     

Postnatal development of canine axial globe length measured by B-scan ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to document the development of axial globe length (AGL) in normal mesocephalic cross-bred dogs between 2 and 52 weeks of age, to determine a relationship between AGL and age, and derive an equation to predict AGL in normal mesocephalic cross-bred dogs. ANIMALS STUDIED AND PROCEDURE: The AGL of twenty normal mesocephalic cross-bred dogs was measured at 12 time points from 2 to 52 weeks of age using B-scan ultrasonography. RESULTS: The mean (+/- SEM) AGL increased from 12.65 mm (+/- 0.18) at 2 weeks of age to 19.52 mm (+/- 0.18) at 52 weeks of age. The correlation between AGL and age was evaluated by fitting possible variables to a regression pattern. A linear model of natural logarithmic-transformed value of AGL (mm) and age (week) was established. Side (left or right eye) and gender did not correlate with development of AGL. CONCLUSIONS: A reverse transformation of the formula can be used to predict AGL in mesocephalic cross-bred dogs: AGL = 10.847 * age in weeks 0.1653.     

Angiographic Anatomy of External Iliac Arteries in the Sheep

External iliac artery atherosclerotic disease and aneurism occur in man. For treatment, imaging is required to facilitate minimally invasive introduction and advancement of stents within the intended vessels. Sheep are commonly used to test and improve stents. However, little information is published regarding the angiographic anatomy of the iliac arteries in the ovine species. The objective of this study was to describe the angiographic anatomy of the iliac arteries in the sheep. Computed tomography (CT) angiography and gross anatomical dissection were performed in, respectively, 10 and 43 adult ewes. Diameters and lengths of the arteries were measured. In comparison with man, salient anatomical differences were identified in the sheep: (1) the absence of common iliac arteries, (2) the common trunk at the origin of internal iliac arteries and (3) the location of the bifurcation of the external iliac arteries into femoral arteries in the pelvis (not in the limb). External iliac arteries in this series of sheep were 86 mm long in average and had a mean diameter of 7.5 mm. Lengths of arteries are only slightly different between man and sheep, while diameters are rather similar. Therefore, the sheep model appears to be sufficiently similar to man to test stent properties. This study provides useful reference images and measures of lengths and diameters of relevant arteries that could be applied to research with ovine models.     

A cost/benefit study of paratuberculosis certification in French cattle herds

Paratuberculosis has received increasing attention in France because of the important losses this disease may provoke. The use of certification schemes has proven its effectiveness for the protection of healthy herds against diseases transmitted mainly by trade. The economic justification of such schemes in the particular case of paratuberculosis is studied, for French cattle herds, using a cost/benefit approach. The basic economical hypotheses and estimates have been proposed and carefully examined by a working group composed of paratuberculosis experts and field specialists. By adopting the point of view of a breeder that buys animals, we first estimated the benefits resulting from the non-introduction of the disease. They were then compared with the costs resulting from the fact that the vendor reports its own certification costs on the price of the animals he sells. Two average herds (the mean French beef herd and the mean French dairy herd), and two certification levels were studied. The results show that, currently, the use of the certification is not very economically profitable in French cattle herds. This conclusion, however should be reappraised if the certification costs decrease, for example with the commercialization of diagnostic tests on mixtures.     

Trial design to estimate the effect of vaccination on tuberculosis incidence in badgers

The principal wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis in Ireland is the European badger. Studies in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) have shown that badgers culled in association with cattle herd tuberculosis breakdowns (focal culling) have a higher prevalence of infection than the badger population at large. This observation is one rationale for the medium term national strategy of focal badger culling. A vaccination strategy for the control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in badgers is a preferred long-term option. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been shown to decrease disease severity in captive badgers under controlled conditions. As the vaccine has been tested in a controlled environment with precise information on infection pressure, it cannot be assumed a priori that the effects of vaccination are similar in the wild, where other environmental and/or ecological factors prevail. For this reason we have designed a vaccine field trial to assess the impact of vaccination on the incidence of TB infection in a wild badger population. The selected study area for the vaccine trial (approximately 755 square kilometers) is divided into three zones each of which has similar characteristics in terms of size, number of main badger setts, cattle herds, cattle and land classification type. Three vaccination levels (100%, 50% and 0%) will be allocated to the three zones in a way that a gradient of vaccination coverage North to South is achieved. The middle zone (zone B) will be vaccinated at a 50% coverage but zone A and C will be randomly allocated with 100% or 0% vaccination coverage. Vaccination within zone B will be done randomly at individual badger level. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of a field tuberculosis vaccination trial for badgers, the epidemiological methods that were used to design the trial and the subsequent data analysis. The analysis will enable us to quantify the magnitude of the observed vaccination effect on M. bovis transmission in badgers under field conditions and to improve our knowledge of the biological effects of vaccination on susceptibility and infectiousness.     

Laboratory studies with antifeedants against larvae of Boarmia (Ascotis) selenaria on alfalfa

The antifeedant effect of five organotin compounds (fentin acetate, fentin hydroxide, fentin chloride, cyhexatin and fenbutatin oxide) and of three other compounds known to possess antifeeding activity (guazatine triacetate, 4′-chloroacetophenone isobutyrylhydrazone and thiram) was investigated by feeding treated alfalfa to larvae of Boarmia selenaria. The three fentins and cyhexatin were highly active at 0.1 g litre^?1, the order of activity at this concentration being fentin chloride > fentin hydroxide > fentin acetate ? cyhexatin, whereas the other compounds were practically inactive at either this or a somewhat higher concentration (0.5 g litre^?1). Guazatine triacetate had a concentration-independent antifeedant effect at much higher concentrations (5–20 g litre^?1).