African swine fever. I. Morphological changes and virus replication in blood platelets of pigs infected with virulent haemadsorbing and non-haemadsorbing isolates

Replicating and mature viral particles were detected with the transmission electron microscope in blood platelets of pigs infected with virulent haemadsorbing and non-haemadsorbing African swine fever virus isolates. Although platelet numbers decreased terminally in infected pigs, the most noticeable morphological damage to these cells apparent in the last 2 days of the disease included cytoplasmic swelling, vacuolation, fragmentation and loss of dense granules.     

Vaccination of pigs with the S48 strain of Toxoplasma gondii – safer meat for human consumption

As clinical toxoplasmosis is not considered a problem in pigs, the main reason to implement a control strategy against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in this species is to reduce the establishment of T. gondii tissue cysts in pork, consequently reducing the risk of the parasite entering the human food chain. Consumption of T. gondii tissue cysts from raw or undercooked meat is one of the main sources of human infection, with infected pork being considered a high risk. This study incorporates a mouse bioassay with molecular detection of T. gondii DNA to study the effectiveness of vaccination (incomplete S48 strain) in its ability to reduce tissue cyst burden in pigs, following oocyst (M4 strain) challenge. Results from the mouse bioassay show that 100% of mice which had received porcine tissues from vaccinated and challenged pigs survived compared with 51.1% of mice which received tissues from non-vaccinated and challenged pigs. The presence (or absence) of T. gondii DNA from individual mouse brains also confirmed these results. This indicates a reduction in viable T. gondii tissue cysts within tissues from pigs which have been previously vaccinated with the S48 strain. In addition, the study demonstrated that the main predilection sites for the parasite were found to be brain and highly vascular muscles (such as tongue, diaphragm, heart and masseter) of pigs, while meat cuts used as human food such as chop, loin, left tricep and left semitendinosus, had a lower burden of T. gondii tissue cysts. These promising results highlight the potential of S48 strain tachyzoites for reducing the number of T. gondii tissues cysts in pork and thus improving food safety.     

Cellular inflammatory response in the lungs of calves exposed to bovine viral diarrhea virus, Mycoplasma bovis, and Pasteurella haemolytica

Three, 5, or 7 days after inoculation with bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus (n = 12) or Mycoplasma bovis (n = 12), groups of calves were exposed to aerosols of Pasteurella haemolytica and were euthanatized 4 hours later. Histologic lesions in the lungs and the ratios of neutrophils to alveolar macrophages, collected by bronchoalveolar lavage, were compared with those of clinically healthy calves (n = 8) and calves inoculated with BVD virus only (n = 4), M bovis only (n = 4), or P haemolytica only (n = 2). Inoculation with BVD virus or M bovis did not have a significant (P greater than 0.05) effect on the neutrophil/macrophage ratio in the bronchoalveolar lavage. Aerosol exposure to P haemolytica induced a marked and significant (P less than 0.01) change in the neutrophil/macrophage ratio (from less than 1:9 to greater than 9:1). The reversed neutrophil/macrophage ratio in calves exposed to P haemolytica correlated well with the histologic changes in which small bronchi and bronchioles were plugged with purulent exudate. Inoculation with BVD virus did not induce gross or microscopic lesions in the lungs. Inoculation with M bovis resulted in a severe peribronchial lymphoid hyperplasia with mild exudation of neutrophils and macrophages into the cranioventral parts of the lungs.     

A bovine respiratory virus vaccination trial

A respiratory virus vaccination trial was carried out in a commercial calf-rearing unit with a history of virus pneumonia. The effects of vaccination on the incidence of virus respiratory disease and growth rate were assessed. Forty-four bought-in calves were allocated to groups and treated as follows: A, unvaccinated controls; B, intranasal temperature-sensitive infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) vaccine at three and 10 weeks; C, intranasal temperature-sensitive combined IBR and parainfluenza-3 (PI3) vaccine at three and 10 weeks; D, intranasal temperature-sensitive combined IBR and PI3 vaccine at three and 10 weeks plus live attenuated bovine respiratory syncytial (BRS) virus vaccine intramuscularly at seven, 10 and 16 weeks. Two outbreaks of virus pneumonia occurred, one at three to four months of age associated with BRS virus and the other at four to five months of age with PI3 virus. During these outbreaks the incidence of pneumonia was lower and the number of days of elevated temperature and the number of treatments were significantly less in groups vaccinated against the associated virus. Despite these findings there were no significant differences between the growth rates of the groups either during the outbreaks of virus pneumonia or during the 10 month period to slaughter.     

Quantitative analysis of production traits in saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus): II. age at slaughter

Crocodile morphometric (head, snout‐vent and total length) measurements were recorded at three stages during the production chain: hatching, inventory [average age (±SE) is 265.1 ± 0.4 days] and slaughter (average age is 1037.8 ± 0.4 days). Crocodile skins are used for the manufacture of exclusive leather products, with the most common‐sized skin sold having 35–45 cm in belly width. One of the breeding objectives for inclusion into a multitrait genetic improvement programme for saltwater crocodiles is the time taken for a juvenile to reach this size or age at slaughter. A multivariate restricted maximum likelihood analysis provided (co)variance components for estimating the first published genetic parameter estimates for these traits. Heritability (±SE) estimates for the traits hatchling snout‐vent length, inventory head length and age at slaughter were 0.60 (0.15), 0.59 (0.12) and 0.40 (0.10) respectively. There were strong negative genetic (?0.81 ± 0.08) and phenotypic (?0.82 ± 0.02) correlations between age at slaughter and inventory head length.