Situating animal ethics in Thai elephant tourism

Following ethical contextualism, this article situates different animal ethical principles, from anthropocentrism to non‐anthropocentrism and relational caring ethics, in Thai social contexts in order to examine whether these principles can lead to a sustainable ethical practice in elephant conservation. The results show that, as non‐anthropocentrism, animal rights ethics are impractical in Thailand because of temporal, spatial, economic and social constraints. As weak anthropocentrism, animal welfare ethics endorse the tourism industry to commercialise the encounter value of elephants by developing elephant camps. Along with animal welfare, relational ecofeminism justifies the emerging model of elephant sanctuaries. Both camp and sanctuary models create a work‐for‐care cycle, in which elephants work to generate economic gains, some of which are in turn used to care for elephants. However, because of evolving social situations, such as potential market competition and poaching of wild elephants, the morality of the work‐for‐care cycle is weak and can be challenged. Nevertheless, sanctuaries offer a direction for a local solution because of their potentially responsible business model. In conclusion, there is not a single set of ethics that can solve all problems and be sustainable in all contexts.     

Ketosis in Norwegian dairy herds--some epidemiological associations

Ketosis data from the Health Card System, and interview data regarding feeding, housing, management and care were the basis for an epidemiological study in 306 Norwegian dairy herds.Management and care were studied by means of an overall care index. The index was based on 20 questions which provided information about the general standard of management and care. Care was the factor having the most pronounced effect on the treatment rate of ketosis. Highest rates were seen in herds with a high standard of management and care, and lowest rates were seen in herds with a low standard.Most ketosis was found in the mountain valley districts Nord-Østerdal/Gudbrandsdal and Valdres, and least in the lowland coastal district Rogaland. The treatment rate decreased with increasing herd size, and with increasing number of different feedstuffs used. Extra provision of feed concentrates between the morning and evening chores was associated with a lower treatment rate. Also associated with a lower treatment rate was the participation by the farmer’s wife in the daily chores.     

Diagnosing feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection: an update for clinicians

With the commercial release in Australia in 2004 of a vaccine against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV; Fel‐O‐Vax FIV®), the landscape for FIV diagnostics shifted substantially. Point‐of‐care (PoC) antibody detection kits, which had been the mainstay for diagnosing FIV infection since the early 1990s, were no longer considered accurate to use in FIV‐vaccinated cats, because of the production of vaccine‐induced antibodies that were considered indistinguishable from those produced in natural FIV infections. Consequently, attention shifted to alternative diagnostic methods such as nucleic acid detection. However, over the past 5 years we have published a series of studies emphasising that FIV PoC test kits vary in their methodology, resulting in differing accuracy in FIV‐vaccinated cats. Importantly, we demonstrated that two commercially available FIV antibody test kits (Witness? and Anigen Rapid?) were able to accurately distinguish between FIV‐vaccinated and FIV‐infected cats, concluding that testing with either kit offers an alternative to PCR testing. This review summarises pertinent findings from our work published in a variety of peer‐reviewed research journals to inform veterinarians (particularly veterinarians in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, where the FIV vaccine is currently commercially available) about how the approach to the diagnosis of FIV infection has shifted. Included in this review is our work investigating the performance of three commercially available FIV PoC test kits in FIV‐vaccinated cats and our recommendations for the diagnosis of FIV infection; the effect of primary FIV vaccination (three FIV vaccines, 4 weeks apart) on PoC test kit performance; our recommendations regarding annual testing of FIV‐vaccinated cats to detect ‘vaccine breakthroughs’; and the potential off‐label use of saliva for the diagnosis of FIV infection using some FIV PoC test kits. We also investigated the accuracy of the same three brands of test kits for feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) diagnosis, using both blood and saliva as diagnostic specimens. Based on these results, we discuss our recommendations for confirmatory testing when veterinarians are presented with a positive FeLV PoC test kit result. Finally, we conclude with our results from the largest and most recent FIV and FeLV seroprevalence study conducted in Australia to date.     

丁酸梭菌的培养、鉴定、检测方法研究进展

本文介绍了作为禁抗之后的肠道保健剂--丁酸梭菌的培养、鉴定与检测方法,特别介绍了以丁酸梭菌所产芽孢数量的检测以取代对丁酸梭菌数检测的方法。指出为准确鉴定丁酸梭菌,应将表型(菌落形态和革兰染色等)、生化(API 20A和VITEK2等)、16S rRNA序列分析与MALDI-TOF MS等技术进行集成,对丁酸梭菌进行全方面的整体鉴定。