Quarantine requirements for the importation of black rhinoceros from Zimbabwe into Australia

SUMMARY The proposal by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales to import 10 southern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) from Zimbabwe as part of an international project for conservation of the species presented the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) with a unique challenge. This importation is, at least in the modern era, the first importation of live herbivores from the African continent. Many of the serious animal diseases in the world are endemic in parts of Africa. Knowledge of which of these diseases infect wild species and may be transmitted from the wild species to domesticated species, is limited. This paper describes the strategies adopted by AQIS to facilitate the importation of rhinoceros while maintaining protection of Australian consumers, rural industries, domestic livestock and fauna against the entry and spread of unwanted pests and diseases.     

Review: The strobilurin fungicides

The original article to which this Correction refers was published in Pest Management Science 58 (7): 649–662 (2002).Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Theileriosis in a Missouri beef herd caused by Theileria buffeli: case report, herd investigation, ultrastructure, phylogenetic analysis, and experimental transmission

A 6-year-old Simmental cow infected with Theileria buffeli had a clinical disease characterized by theilerial parasitemia, macrocytic normochromic anemia with acanthocytosis and spherocytosis, lymphoid hyperplasia (lymphocytosis, edematous lymphadenomegaly), dysproteinemia, evidence of liver disease, and a low serum antibody titer against T. buffeli. The cow was in a herd in which all cattle originated in Missouri; 22/75 (29%) of cattle had a theilerial parasitemia and 26/75 (35%) had titers to T. buffeli of > or =1:160. Classification of the Missouri bovine organism as T. buffeli was based on DNA sequencing and comparison to sequences for T. buffeli and Theileria sp. type A obtained from GenBank. Intraerythrocytic veils and piroplasms were seen during transmission electron microscopy. The organism was successfully transmitted to two splenectomized calves, which developed mild anemias while parasitemic. Blood from the second calf was used as the source of T. buffeli antigen for an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test. Theilerial isolates from a Missouri white-tailed deer were also sequenced and resembled Theileria sp. types F and G and were not consistent with the bovine organism.     

Limited host range in the idiobiont parasitoid Phymastichus coffea,a prospective biological control agent of the coffee pest Hypothenemus hampei in Hawaii

Phymastichus coffea LaSalle (Hymenoptera:Eulophidae) is an adult endoparasitoid of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera:Curculionidae:Scolytinae), which has been introduced in many coffee producing countries as a biological control agent. To determine the effectiveness of P. coffea against H. hampei and environmental safety for release in Hawaii, we investigated the host selection and parasitism response of adult females to 43 different species of Coleoptera, including 23 Scolytinae (six Hypothenemus species and 17 others), and four additional Curculionidae. Non-target testing included Hawaiian endemic, exotic and beneficial coleopteran species. Using a no-choice laboratory bioassay, we demonstrated that P. coffea was only able to parasitize the target host H. hampei and four other adventive species of Hypothenemus: H. obscurus, H. seriatus, H. birmanus and H. crudiae. Hypothenemus hampei had the highest parasitism rate and shortest parasitoid development time of the five parasitized Hypothenemus spp. Parasitism and parasitoid emergence decreased with decreasing phylogenetic relatedness of the Hypothenemus spp. to H. hampei, and the most distantly related species, H. eruditus, was not parasitized. These results suggest that the risk of harmful non-target impacts is low because there are no native species of Hypothenemus in Hawaii, and P. coffea could be safely introduced for classical biological control of H. hampei in Hawaii.

     

Monitoring distances travelled by horses using GPS tracking collars

Objective The aims of this work were to (1) develop a low-cost equine movement tracking collar based on readily available components, (2) conduct preliminary studies assessing the effects of both paddock size and internal fence design on the movements of domestic horses, with and without foals at foot, and (3) describe distances moved by mares and their foals. Additional monitoring of free-ranging feral horses was conducted to allow preliminary comparisons with the movement of confined domestic horses. Procedures A lightweight global positioning system (GPS) data logger modified from a personal/vehicle tracker and mounted on a collar was used to monitor the movement of domestic horses in a range of paddock sizes and internal fence designs for 6.5-day periods. Results In the paddocks used (0.8–16 ha), groups of domestic horses exhibited a logarithmic response in mean daily distance travelled as a function of increasing paddock size, tending asymptotically towards approximately 7.5 km/day. The distance moved by newborn foals was similar to their dams, with total distance travelled also dependent on paddock size. Without altering available paddock area, paddock design, with the exception of a spiral design, did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled. Feral horses (17.9 km/day) travelled substantially greater mean daily distances than domestic horses (7.2 km/day in 16-ha paddock), even when allowing for larger paddock size. Conclusions Horses kept in stables or small yards and paddocks are quite sedentary in comparison with their feral relatives. For a given paddock area, most designs did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled.     

Neospora-like protozoal infections associated with bovine abortions

Eighty bovine fetuses with presumed protozoal infections from a previous 2-year retrospective study were examined by immunohistochemistry using antisera against Neospora caninum. In 66 (83%) of the fetuses, protozoa were found that reacted positively with anti-N. caninum sera. In three (4%) additional fetuses, protozoa identified as Sarcocystis species did not react, and in two fetuses (3%) single protozoal clusters were found only in hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides. A group of 20 fetuses were chosen for further evaluation. They included 14 fetuses from the first group of 80 fetuses plus six additional fetuses that had large numbers of protozoa in the fetal brain. The 20 fetuses were examined immunohistochemically with antisera to N. caninum, Hammondia hammondi, and Toxoplasma gondii. Protozoa from 3/20 fetuses, identified as Sarcocystis species, failed to react with any antisera. In 16/20 fetuses protozoa reacted positively to antisera against N. caninum, and in most cases reacted to H. hammondi, and weakly to one or more of the antisera against T. gondii. Thick-walled protozoal tissue cysts were found in the brain of four of these 16 fetuses by transmission electron microscopy. The cyst wall morphology was comparable to N. caninum. The results suggested that a single protozoal parasite of unknown identity was responsible for most of the bovine abortions. By immunohistochemistry, the unknown protozoon reacted most strongly and consistently to N. caninum antisera, but was antigenically distinct from N. caninum. Ultrastructurally, tissue cysts found in four fetuses most closely resembled Neospora caninum.