The protective effect of pretreatment with killed Corynebacterium parvum against acute babesiosis in calves

Yearling calves were pre-treated intravenously (IV) with a 0.20 mg kg^?1 dose of Corynebacterium parvum and challenged after 30 days by IV inoculation of 3 × 10⁹Babesia bigemina. The relatively low 0.20 mg kg^?1 dose of C. parvum enhanced resistance as indicated by lower mean Babesia parasitemias and less severe decreases in packed-cell volumes than in non-treated calves, but failed to stimulate a significant (P ≤ 0.05) level of protection against B. bigemina challenge.     

GnRH in the infundibular stalk-median eminence is related to percentage body fat in carcasses of beef cows.

Mature Hereford cows (n = 28) were used to determine the effect of percentage body fat on secretion of LH and content of GnRH in the infundibular stalk-median eminence (ISME). Cows were fed to maintain, lose, or gain weight to achieve body condition scores (BCS; 1 = emaciated; 9 = obese) of 3 to 7. Then cows were fed to maintain weight and body condition. Before slaughter, estrus was synchronized using two injections of prostaglandin F2 alpha(PGF) 11 d apart. Five d after the second PGF injection, cows were given 100 micrograms of GnRH (im) and serum samples were obtained. LH was quantified using RIA. The anterior pituitary and ISME were obtained within 45 min of death. Anterior pituitary weight and LH concentration, total GnRH in the ISME, total carcass fat, and percentage carcass fat were determined. BCS of cows at the time of slaughter influenced percentage carcass fat (P less than .001), total GnRH in the ISME (P less than .02), and maximum LH after GnRH treatment (P less than .09), but did not influence pituitary weight or concentration of LH in the pituitary. Content of GnRH in the ISME averaged 76 +/- 12, 32 +/- 14, 27 +/- 13, and 24 +/- 13 ng for cows with BCS of 3, 5, 6, and 7, respectively. BCS was correlated (P less than .001) with percentage carcass fat (r = .94) and total fat in the carcass (r = .92). Total GnRH in the ISME was negatively correlated (P less than .005) with BCS (r = -.54), percentage carcass fat (r = -.55), and total carcass fat (r = -.49).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Congenital internal hydrocephalus in a quarter horse foal

Since the normal absorption of CSF occurs in the cerebral veins and venous sinuses, any obstruction to the normal flow and absorption of CSF will result in accumulation of CSF central to the site of obstruction. Such accumulation within the cranium is defined as hydrocephalus.A foal was presented with an enlarged and an abnormally-shaped skull, but with normal behavior. The filly's condition deteriorated. Radiographs showed a domeshaped cranial vault with compression of the frontal sinus region. Massive hydrocephalus with little normal cerebral tissue left was diagnosed with ultrasound.Surgery was attempted to relieve the pressure. Eventually the foal was euthanized. Post-mortem confirmed the radiographic and ultrasound diagnosis. Since there was a lack of demonstrable obstruction, the authors suspected the foal had suffered from the Arnold-Chiari syndrome.     

Amoebic meningoencephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris in an orang utan

Objective
To describe a case of meningoencephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris in an orang utan.
Design
A pathological case report.
Animal
A 20 years old male orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus).
Procedure
The disease process was investigated by clinical pathology, necropsy, histopathology and immunofluorescence labelling.
Results
The orang utan developed sudden onset of depression, lethargy, inappetence and apparent head pain. The condition was considered to be related to a 2 year history of upper and lower respiratory disease, and the animal was placed on antibiotics after extensive testing. By the seventh day the animal had become ataxic and disoriented and a brain abscess was suspected. He died on the ninth day of illness. At necropsy, and subsequent sectioning, the brain showed multiple circular, soft, white to grey brown areas of varying size, the largest being in the left temporal (3.5 cm diameter) and right occipital (2.5 cm diameter) regions of the cerebrum. Histological examination of these regions revealed many amoebic trophozoites and occasional cysts associated with areas of haemorrhage and inflammatory necrosis. The trophozoites were packed in perivascular spaces and their nuclei often contained two or more prominent nucleoli. Immunofluorescent labelling of histological sections suggested that the agent was B mandrillaris.
Clinical implications
This report provides further evidence that B mandrillaris , a free living amoeba, can act as a pathogen in animals as well as people, and cause fatal meningoencephalitis. Along with Naegleria and Acanthamoeba spp, B mandrillaris should be considered amongst the causes of acute onset meningoencephalitis in animals.     

The Effect of Management Factors on the Seroprevalence of Anaplasma marginale in Bos indicus cattle in the Mexican Tropics

A cross-sectional study with a two-stage design and proportional distribution was carried out to determine the effect of management factors on the seroprevalence of Anaplasma marginale in Bos indicus cattle in the Mexican tropics. Serum was obtained from 384 cattle aged 1-2 years on 92 farms. The number of samples was proportionally distributed according to the number of farms in eastern Yucatan. Antibody activity against A. marginale was assessed using the card agglutination test. A primary screening using a 2 x K contingency table of the exposed variables with the outcomes was performed. All variables for which p < 0.20 were included in a fixed-effects log regression. The seroprevalence in the cattle was 69.75% (SE +/- 0.02). Sixty-four per cent of the farms had a seroprevalence > or = 75%. The risks related to managemental factors were stocking density ( > or = 1 animal/ha, OR = 10.94), type of acaricide (pyrethroids, OR = 3.8), dipping interval ( > 60 days, OR = 0.13) and type of veterinary instruments used (needles, scalpels, ear tattoos, and dehorners, OR = 0.17).     

Allele frequency and likely impact of the glycogen branching enzyme deficiency gene in Quarter Horse and Paint Horse populations

Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED), a fatal condition recently identified in fetuses and neonatal foals of the Quarter Horse and Paint Horse lineages, is caused by a nonsense mutation in codon 34 of the GBE1 gene, which prevents the synthesis of a functional GBE protein and severely disrupts glycogen metabolism. The aims of this project were to determine the mutant GBE1 allele frequency in random samples from the major relevant horse breeds, as well as the frequency with which GBED is associated with abortion and early neonatal death using the tissue archives from veterinary diagnostic laboratories. The mutant GBE1 allele frequency in registered Quarter Horse, Paint Horse, and Thoroughbred populations was 0.041, 0.036, and 0.000, respectively. Approximately 2.5% of fetal and early neonatal deaths in Quarter Horse-related breeds submitted to 2 different US diagnostic laboratories were homozygous for the mutant GBE1 allele, with the majority of these being abortions. Retrospective histopathology of the homozygotes detected periodic acid Schiff's (PAS)-positive inclusions in the cardiac or skeletal muscle, which is characteristic of GBED, in 8 out of the 9 cases. Pedigree and genotype analyses supported the hypothesis that GBED is inherited as a simple recessive trait from a single founder. The frequency with which GBED is associated with abortion and neonatal mortality in Quarter Horse-related breeds makes the DNA-based test valuable in determining specific diagnoses and designing matings that avoid conception of a GBED foal.     

Detection of Salmonella in onion and garlic powders: collaborative study.

The relative efficiency of trypticase soy broth with added 0.5% K2SO3 and lactose broth as pre-enrichment media for recovering Salmonella from onion powder and garlic powder was collaboratively studied. For each spice, 13 collaborators each received 5 duplicate samples; 4 of the 5 replicate samples were inoculated with 1 of 4 levels of S. thompson ranging, at initiation of analysis, from greater than 3 to 93 organisms/g onion powder and greater than 3 to 43 organisms/g garlic powder. Salmonella growth was inhibited in each of these spices as evidenced by a rapid decline of most probable number values in samples determined immediately after and 7 days following inoculation. Collaborative results of cultural analyses demonstrated superiority of the modified tripticase soy broth for recovering Salmonella in each of the 2 spices. The improved method of detecting Salmonella in onion and garlic powders has been adopted as official first action.     

Survey on the Listeria contamination of ready-to-eat food products and household environments in Vienna, Austria

Qualitative and quantitative contamination of ready-to-eat food-stuffs with the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes was studied in 1586 samples collected from 103 supermarkets (n = 946) and 61 households (n = 640) in Vienna, Austria. Seventeen groups of ready-to-eat foods were classified into three risk categories for contamination (CP1-CP3). Three to four samples were randomly collected at the retail level from each CP. Regarding the households, the sampling procedure was started with food items of CP1, and if not available, was continued with sampling of food items of CP2 and finally of CP3. Additionally, 184 environmental samples (swabs from the kitchen area, dust samples from the vacuum cleaner) and faecal samples (household members and pet animals) were included. One-hundred and twenty-four (13.1%) and 45 (4.8%) samples out of 946 food samples collected from food retailers tested positive for Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes, respectively, with five smoked fish samples exceeding the tolerated limit of 100 CFU/g food. Food-stuffs associated with the highest risk of contamination were twice as frequently contaminated with L. monocytogenes as food-stuffs associated with a medium risk of contamination. Products showing the highest contamination rate were fish and seafood (19.4%), followed by raw meat sausages (6.3%), soft cheese (5.5%) and cooked meat products/patés (4.5%). The overall contamination rate of foods collected at the household level was more than two times lower. Only 5.6% and 1.7% of 640 food-stuffs analysed tested positive for Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes, respectively. However, CP1 foods were rarely collected. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing of the collected L. monocytogenes isolates revealed a high degree of diversity between the isolates, with some exceptions. PFGE typing of isolates harvested from green-veined cheese revealed a match among strains, although the manufacturer seemed to be distinguishable. Typing of household strains revealed an epidemiological link within one family. In this case, food-stuffs and the kitchen environment were contaminated by an indistinguishable isolate. In addition, the same isolate was collected from a pooled faecal sample of the household members suggesting that consumption of even low contaminated food items (<100 CFU/g) results in Listeria shedding after the passage through the gut.     

Serological prevalence of bovine babesiosis in Mali

Summary A serological survey of cattle in Mali was carried out to determine the prevalence of antibody activity toBabesia bovis andB. bigemina. It was found that the level ofB. bovis infection as indicated by antibody activities was too low to be of immediate concern. However, the serological prevalence ofB. bigemina was high and this may indicate a potential disease problem. It was also found that when zebu and N'Dama cattle grazed together the N'Dama were twice as likely to have positive titres toBabesia as were the zebus.

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Prevalencia Serologica De Babesiosis Bovina En Mali

Resumen Se llevó a cabo un análisis serológico en Malí, para detectar la prevalencia deBabesia bovis yBabesia bigemina. Se encontró, que la prevalencia serológica deB. bovis es baja para considerar la enfermedad una amenaza inmediata. Sinembargo, la prevalencia deB. bigemina fué alta, un problema potencial. Tambien se encontró, que cuando el ganado Cebu y N'Dama pastorea junto, el N'Dama presenta el doble de títulos serológicos deB. bigemina.

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Frequence Serologique De La Babesiose Bovine Au Mali

Résumé Une enquête sérologique sur le bétail au Mali a été effectuée pour déterminer la fréquence de l'activité des anticorps àBabesia bovis etB. bigemina. On a trouvé que le degré d'infection àB. bovis tel qu'indiqué par les réactions anticorps était trop faible pour constituer un souci immédiat. Cependant la fréquence sérologique deB. bigemina était élevée, ce qui peut indiquer un problème pathologique potentiel. On a aussi noté que lorsque les zébus et les N'Dama broûtaient ensemble, les N'Dama avaient deux fois plus de chance d'avoir des titres positifs àBabesia que ne l'avaient les zébus.