Dermal responses to Ostertagia ostertagi in Ostertagia ostertagi- and Cooperia punctata-inoculated calves

Calves harboring patent Ostertagia ostertagi or Cooperia punctata were given intradermal injections of O ostertagi 3rd-stage larval antigen. The initial injections were followed 30 days later by a 2nd series of injections. Skin thickness was measured at injection sites for 72 hours after injection. Selected injection sites including saline solution control sites were biopsied at 30 minutes, at 3, 24, 48, and 72 hours, and at 30 days after injection. After the 1st series of injections, there was a clear distinction in dermal reactions between O ostertagi-inoculated calves and C punctata-inoculated calves; after 24 hours, reactions were not seen in the C punctata-inoculated calves. Marked dermal reactions occurred in the O ostertagi-inoculated calves. The reactions at 30 minutes and 3 hours were characterized by slight-to-extensive infiltration of neutrophils and dermal edema. The 24-hour cellular reaction was principally due to neutrophil and eosinophil infiltration with edema and necrosis. Reactions at 48 to 72 hours were due to eosinophils and perivascular accumulations of macrophages and lymphocytes. Necrosis, neutrophils, and edema were present in foci where fragments of nematodes were located. On reinjection, a clear distinction in dermal reactions between calves was not seen based on the type of nematode infection. Thirty days after dermal inoculation, large nodules developed at the site of the initial antigen injection. The nodules were characterized by marked intradermal proliferation of lymphocytes in a follicular pattern with occasional macrophages and rare multinucleated giant cells.     

Residues of endosulfan in the tissues of lactating goats

SUMMARY: The sites of tissue accumulation in lactating goats of the organochlorine insecticide endosulfan were studied. Twelve lactating goats were dosed orally with endosulfan (1 mg/kg body weight per day) for 28 days. Groups of 3 animals were killed on days 1, 8, 15, and 21 after endosulfan treatment ended and their tissues examined for the presence of endosulfan. Total residues of α and β endosulfan and endosulfan sulphate (mg/kg) were detected in kidney (0.29), gastro-intestinal tract (0.20), liver (0.12), brain (0.06), muscle and spleen (0.04), lung and heart (0.01) and milk (0.02) on the flrst sampllng day but within 15 days, concentrations had fallen to < 0.01 mg/kg in all tissues except kidney (0.20). Endosulfan could not be detected in animals 21 days after dosing had ceased. The residue in milk could only be detected on day 1 of sampling. This study indicates that kidney rather than fatty tissue should be used to monitor the presence of endosulfan in animals intended for human consumption.     

A scanning and transmission electron microscopic study of rotavirus-induced intestinal lesions in neonatal gnotobiotic dogs

Neonatal gnotobiotic dogs orally inoculated with canine rotavirus had ultrastructural changes limited to the jejunal and ileal regions of the small intestine. Early scanning electron microscopic findings consisted of swollen villus epithelial cells, denuded foci on intestinal villi, and slight to moderate villus atrophy. Later changes were slight villus atrophy with no denuded intestinal villi. Transmission electron microscopic changes in villus epithelial cells from 12 to 48 hours post-inoculation included: rotavirus particles associated with intracytoplasmic vacuoles near the terminal web and apical tubules; viral particles in dilated cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum; and moderate numbers of necrotic cells having no microvilli, swollen mitochondria, membrane-bound lipid-like material in the cytoplasm, clumped chromatin around the periphery of the nucleus, and disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane. In jejunum and ileum at 72 to 154 hours post-inoculation, there were fewer necrotic villus epithelial cells and fewer virus particles. In addition, the ultrastructural morphology of the majority of the villus epithelial cells was similar to crypt epithelium. These studies showed that rotavirus infected the villus epithelial cells with subsequent propagation of the rotavirus and destruction of villus epithelial cells.     

Amoxycillin as an alternative to dihydrostreptomycin sulphate for treating cattle infected with Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar hardjo

Objective To assess the effect of amoxycillin treatment on urinary excretion of leptospires from cattle infected with Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar hardjo .
Design A chemotherapy trial with controls.
Procedure Fourteen heifers serologically negative to L hardjo were inoculated with L hardjo via the conjunctival route and assessed for evidence of infection by serological, fluorescent antibody and microbiological tests. Two injections (48 h apart) of amoxycillin at a dose of 15 mg/kg were administered intramuscularly to seven heifers 6.5 weeks after infection; the remaining heifers acted as untreated controls. Later, these seven control group heifers were treated with a single dose of amoxycillin (15 mg/kg). Samples of urine were collected before and after amoxycillin treatments; kidneys were collected at slaughter, and examined by fluorescent antibody test and microbiological culture.
Results Leptospires were isolated from the urine of 11 of 14 heifers inoculated with L hardjo . After treatment of six of these with two injections of amoxycillin, leptospires were not isolated. Of the controls, four of the five initially leptospiruric heifers continued to shed leptospires; after a single injection of amoxycillin, no leptospires were detected in the kidneys of these four.
Conclusion Amoxycillin may be an acceptable alternative to dihydrostreptomycin sulphate for the treatment of cattle infected with L hardjo .     

Inoculation of neonatal gnotobiotic dogs with a canine rotavirus

Neonatal gnotobiotic dogs were inoculated orally with a rotavirus isolated from a pup with fatal diarrhea, and in the gnotobiotic dogs, diarrhea was observed between postinoculation hours (PIH) 20 and 24. The diarrhea persisted through PIH 154, and inoculated pups had clinical signs of dehydration after PIH 24. Negative-contrast electron microscopy of the feces from inoculated pups revealed rotavirus particles from PIH 12 through 154. Using an indirect-fluorescent antibody test, serum rotavirus antibody was detected in inoculated pups by PIH 96. In the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of inoculated pups, group-specific rotaviral antigen was observed within absorptive villus epithelial cells and mononuclear cells in the villus lamina propria with an indirect-fluorescent antibody test. Fluorescence was seen in the small intestine of inoculated pups killed by PIH 12 and was present in intestines of pups killed through PIH 154. Rotaviral antigen was also seen in the mesenteric lymph nodes of a few inoculated pups killed at PIH 48.     

Diversity and abundance of earthworms across an agricultural land-use intensity gradient

Understanding how communities of important soil invertebrates vary with land use may lead to the development of more sustainable land-use strategies. We assessed the abundance and species composition of earthworm communities across six replicated long-term experimental ecosystems that span a gradient in agricultural land-use intensity. The experimental systems include a conventional row-crop agricultural system, two lower-intensity row-crop systems (no-till and tilled organic input), an early successional old-field system, a 40–60 years old coniferous forest plantation, and an old-growth deciduous forest system. Earthworm populations varied among systems; they were lowest in the most intensively managed row-crop system (107 m⁻²) and coniferous forest (160 m⁻²); intermediate in the old-field (273 m⁻²), no-till (328 m⁻²) and tilled organic (344 m⁻²) cropping systems; and highest in the old-growth deciduous forest system (701 m⁻²). Juvenile Aporrectodea species were the most common earthworms encountered in intensively managed systems; other species made up a larger proportion of the community in less intensively managed systems. Earthworm community biomass and species richness also varied and were lowest in the conventional row-crop system and greatest in the old-growth forest system. These results suggest that both land-use intensity and land-use type are strong drivers of the abundance and composition of earthworm communities in agricultural ecosystems.     

Visualization of eosinophil chemotactic factor in abomasal tissue of cattle by immunoperoxidase staining during Ostertagia ostertagi infection

Eosinophil chemotactic factor (ECF) was localized predominantly in the intestinal cells and lateral hypodermal cords of developing fifth stage larvae (L5) of Ostertagia ostertagi within abomasal tissue cross-sections by peroxidase in an antibody sandwich technique using monoclonal antibody to ECF. Cooperia oncophora larvae in tissue cross-sections did not stain using this technique. These experiments demonstrate that ECF is localized in Ostertagia ostertagi organelles and is probably released by the developing L5 into the abomasal tissue surrounding the parasitized gland. The presence of ECF within O. ostertagi larvae in situ and the results of previous experiments demonstrated in vitro and in vivo ECF chemotactic activity help to explain why eosinophils are observed histologically in abomasal tissues from cattle with ostertagiasis.     

Sequential histopathologic changes of type I, pre-type II and type II ostertagiasis in cattle

Yearling cattle in Louisiana were examined at monthly intervals for abomasal nematode burdens and histological lesions over a year. Tracer calves were grazed for 3 to 4 weeks and removed from pasture for 2 to 3 weeks, then slaughtered; a few animals were killed in extremis shortly after removal from pasture. Histological changes were correlated with worm burdens and characterized according to the type of Ostertagia ostertagi infection present. In cattle with acute Type I ostertagiasis, changes varied from eosinophil infiltration to glandular dilation and slight mucous cell hyperplasia with submucosal edema. During the summer months the cattle had worm burdens that were primarily early 4th stage larvae (EL4), with changes characterized by minimal glandular dilation and mucous cell metaplasia and moderate lymphoid cell proliferation and with intramucosal migration of EL4. In the autumn, the maturation of EL4 produced the Type II syndrome with severe glandular changes, prominent mucosal hyperplasia and marked lymphoid cell accumulation. With increased duration of the pre-Type II interval, there was greater development of the subepithelial lymphoid tissue and increased frequency of epithelial globule leukocytes. The lymphoproliferation which occurred during the prolonged pre-Type II interval appeared to be related to the increased severity and mortality seen with the Type II ostertagiasis syndrome.     

Phycomycosis caused by Basidiobolus haptosporus in two horses

Basidiobolus haptosporus was isolated from a horse with a rapidly progressive ulcerative lesion of the ventral midline. The pathologic findings of an irregular line of yellow material composed of hyphae, eosinophils, and granulomatous inflammation between the superficial edematous tissue and the underlying muscle, and hyphae in tissue sections intimately surrounded by granular eosinophilic cuffs were considered diagnostic for this and one other case diagnosed retrospectively. Both horses were successfully treated by surgery and potassium iodide.