Tuberculosis in alpaca (Lama pacos) on a farm in Ireland. 1. A clinical report

This case report describes tuberculosis (TB) due to infection with Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in alpaca (Lama pacos) on a farm in Ireland. Two severely debilitated alpaca were presented to the University Veterinary Hospital, University College Dublin in November 2004. Bloods were taken, and haematology and biochemistry results were indicative of chronic infection. Radiological examination showed evidence of diffuse granulomatous pneumonia suggestive of tuberculosis. On necropsy there were granulomatous lesions present throughout many body organs including lung, liver, kidney, intestine as well on peritoneum and mesentery. Culture of acid-fast bacilli from lesions led to a diagnosis of tuberculosis due to M. bovis. The use of intradermal skin testing proved inefficient and unreliable for ante mortem diagnosis of tuberculosis in alpaca. Infection due to M. bovis should be considered among the differential diagnoses of debilitating diseases in alpaca, particularly those farmed in areas known to be traditional black spots for tuberculosis in cattle.     

家蚕雄蛾蛋白酶解效果的初步研究

为充分利用家蚕雄蛾蛋白资源,以交配后的家蚕雄蛾为材料,比较分析了脱脂和不脱脂处理对雄蛾蛋白提取效果的影响,同时对碱性蛋白酶、胰蛋白酶、木瓜蛋白酶在各自最适条件下酶解雄蚕蛾蛋白的效果进行评价。结果表明:脱脂处理有利于雄蚕蛾蛋白的提取,蛋白质的质量分数达76.84%;选用的3种蛋白酶对雄蚕蛾蛋白的酶解效果,以碱性蛋白酶最佳,酶解5 h后的酶解液中三氯乙酸可溶性氮的质量浓度为5.67 mg/mL。     

超声波技术在养牛业上的应用

超声波是频率高于20000 Hz的声波,在传播过程中具有方向性好、功率大、穿透性强,会引起空化作用等特点。作者结合超声波原理及其在传播过程中的特性,着重分析探讨了超声波在现代养牛业仪器清洗、繁殖监控和疾病诊断、活体肉质性状检测中的应用,并对其在未来的发展进行了展望。     

Serum biomarker profiling in cancer studies: a question of standardisation?

Companion animals are exposed to similar environmental conditions and carcinogens as humans. In some animal cancers, there also appears to be the same genetic changes associated as in humans. However, little work has been carried out in cancer biomarker identification in animals. The recent dramatic advances in molecular medicine, genomics, proteomics and translational research will allow biomarker identification, which may provide the best strategies for veterinarians and clinicians to combat disease by early diagnosis and administration of effective treatments. Proteomics may have important applications in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and predictive clinical outcome that could directly change clinical practice by affecting critical elemen‐ts of care and management. This review summarizes the advances in proteomics that has propelled us to this exciting age of clinical proteomics, and highlights the future work that is required for this to become a reality. In this review, we will discuss the available proteomic technologies and their limitations, and highlight the key areas of research and how they have been used to discover cancer biomarkers. The principles described here are equally applicable to human and animal disease, but implementation of ‘omic’ technologies requires stringent guidelines for collection of clinical material, the application of analytical techniques and interpretation of the data.     

高剂量60Co-γ了射线辐射家蚕的生物学效应

家蚕作为鳞翅目昆虫的模式生物,其饲养方法简单,是研究遗传和变异的极好模型。本文以家蚕卵为试验材料,研究不同剂量的60Co-γ射线辐射家蚕卵的生物学效应,结果表明:随着射线辐射剂量的增加,蚕卵的孵化率明显降低而死亡率显著升高,当辐射剂量达到300Gy时,蚕卵的孵化率减小到零;在饲育各龄期随着60Co-γ射线辐射剂量的增加,其生长发育状况会出现逐渐减弱的趋势,60Co-γ射线辐射对雌蚕的致死作用比雄蚕明显。     

脂肪酶及其在饲料工业中的应用研究

脂肪酶是一种重要的工业用酶,广泛应用于食品、纺织、化工、医药、饲料和能源等领域。目前,脂肪酶应用于饲料工业的研究相对较少。文中就脂肪酶近年来在饲料工业中的应用研究做简要的综述,为今后脂肪酶在饲料中的开发应用提供参考。     

《家禽屠宰检疫规程》中有关问题分析

《家禽屠宰检疫规程》在规范家禽的屠宰检疫,加强家禽产品的检疫活动管理,保障动物源食品安全方面发挥了重要作用。本文概述了《家禽屠宰检疫规程》关于家禽屠宰场所定义、规程适用动物、检疫对象、检疫合格标准的判定等方面存在的问题,特别是针对家禽产品入库贮藏后才出厂如何出具检疫合格证明,提出可采取贮藏后继续调运或分销的检疫方式出具检疫证明这一解决方案。这提示在今后工作中扩大屠宰检疫的适用范围及检疫对象,进一步修订和完善屠宰检疫规程,提升屠宰检疫技术水平。     

Effect of feeding different levels of wheat roti on nutrient utilization and blood metabolite profile in semi‐captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of wheat roti (WR) on nutrient utilization and blood metabolites in Asian elephants fed roughages ad libitum. Nine (3 M, 6 F) Asian elephants (14–52 years of age, 1909–3968 kg BW) were used in an experiment based on replicated Latin square design. Animals in each group (n = 3) were assigned to one of the three dietary treatments in a manner that animals in all the three groups were exposed to all the three treatments in three different periods. Each feeding trial comprised 30 days (25 days of adaptation and 5 days collection period). The amount of WR fed to the elephants was 0.18, 0.12 and 0.06% of BW in groups I, II and III, respectively. They were allowed to forage in the nearby forests for 6 h/day and to bathe for 2 h/day. The animals had ad libitum access to cut Rohini (Mallotus philippensis) trees in their night shelter. Intake and apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), gross energy (GE), Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn were measured. Feed consumption was not significantly different among the groups. Significant (p < 0.01) decrease in digestibility of DM and GE and blood glucose concentration was observed with decreased level of WR in the diet. Feeding of WR at 0.06% of BW supplied adequate amount of DE, CP, Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn to meet requirement for adult maintenance. Feeding of WR in excess of 0.06% of BW supplied DE in excess of requirement, increased blood glucose concentration which may cause obesity and other associated health problems. It was concluded that the amount of WR should be restricted to 0.06% of BW in the diet of captive Asian elephants.     

Isolation of faecal chlamydia from sheep in Britain andtheir characterization by cultural properties

Faeces samples were taken per rectum from sheep on 26 farms in England and Wales and examined for thepresence of chlamydia by culture McCoy cell monolayers. Thirteen of the fars were known to have had abortion outbreaks associated with Chlamydia psittaci (enzootic abortion) and 13 were free of this infection. The chlamydia isolated were characterized by cultural techniques. Chlamydia were isolated from the faeces of lambs on all 26 farms and the prevalence of infection varied from 5–50% on individual farms. There was no significant difference between the proportion of infected lambs on farms where enzootic abortion was present or absent. Lambs first showed infection when they were 3 months old and the prevalence rate of infection increased up to 9 months old. No chlamydia were isolated from the faeces of 316 adult ewes. The chlamydia were identified as enteric rather than abortion type and thus were C. pecorum rather than C. psittaci.