Experimental infection of normal and immunosuppressed pigs with Pseudomonas pseudomallei

A single dose of 5 x 10(8) bacilli of Pseudomonas pseudomallei by intratracheal injection resulted in acute (21 cases) or chronic (19 cases) melioidosis in 40 of 48 pigs. Fifteen (10 acute and 5 chronic) had been immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamide before inoculation. The major clinical signs were initial fever, marked neutrophilia and, in the acute cases, respiratory distress. There were no signs of the nasal and ocular discharge, paresis or diarrhoea seen in acute cases in south-east Asia. The cyclophosphamide treatment caused a significant decrease in the neutrophil count by 7 d after inoculation in all 15 immunosuppressed pigs, and all were culture positive at necropsy. Eight of the 33 non-treated pigs were culture negative at necropsy. Pigs overcoming the initial phase of infection had more abscess-like nodules that were bacteriologically sterile at necropsy than the pigs with acute cases of melioidosis. P. pseudomallei was isolated predominantly from the spleen, lungs and the injection site. Although only one strain was used in this study, it is likely that Australian strains of P. pseudomallei are not as virulent as the south-east Asian isolates.     

Seroprevalence and comparison of isolates of endometriotropic bovine herpesvirus-4.

Sixty-eight cases of suppurative, ulcerative endometritis associated with Bovine Herpesvirus-4 (BHV-4) in postparturient dairy cows (62 Holsteins and 6 Jerseys, mean age 4.2 years) were confirmed by a combination of histopathology, fluorescent antibody assays, electron microscopic evaluation of uterus, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All cases occurred in the 3- to 28-day postpartum period, and histologic lesions among various cows were consistent when compared with postpartum interval. The endometrial lining epithelium was necrotic and ulcerated from 3 to 7 days postpartum, with only mild inflammation in the lamina propria and submucosa. From 1 to 4 weeks postpartum, the ulcers were confluent to diffuse. Epithelium was replaced by fibrinonecrotic, suppurative mats, resulting in severe bacterial pyometra by day 24. Seroprevalence to BHV-4 in one dairy with a history of 18 mortality cases was 36% (107 of 296). In a random sample of 8 cows from this herd, none had serologic titers in blood sampled 2 weeks prepartum, but 3 of 8 seroconverted with significant titers of 1:8 to 1:16 at 2 weeks postpartum. By 10 weeks postpartum, all 8 cows returned to negative serologic status. Two of 6 cats from the premises also had positive titers. Random serum samples taken from 480 dairy cattle at sale barns indicated 76 (16%) were positive by serum neutralization. Clinical signs, postparturient timing, and histologic lesions were very similar to those previously reported in Belgium with BHV-4. But sequence analysis of PCR products of the glycoprotein B region of 4 separate field isolates of endometriotropic BHV-4 suggests these field isolates were more closely related to the North American nonvirulent strain DN-599 than to the endometriotropic European strain V.     

Sequential study of lesion development in experimental haemophilus pleuropneumonia

Recently weaned pigs were infected aerogenically with Haemophilus (Actinobacillus) pleuropneumoniae, serotype 5. At three, six, 12, and 18 hours and one, two, four and seven days after exposure to haemophili a pair of animals were killed and necropsied. Pulmonary oedema with multifocal petechial haemorrhages and a diffuse neutrophilic bronchiolitis and alveolitis were observed at three and six hours after infection. Focal areas of coagulative necrosis developed in areas of intense suppuration at 12 and 18 hours after infection. At one and two days after infection, necrotic areas were surrounded by dense bands of degenerating leucocytes and contained unidentifiable round and elongated cells characteristic of this disease. In subacute lesions a thick layer of granulation tissue formed around the outer margin of developing abscesses. Most of the round and elongated cells in alveolar exudates could not be identified by enzyme histochemistry or electron microscopic examination. Neutrophils in various stages of degeneration and deterioration provided strong evidence that some of the cells were of this type. These findings suggest that neutrophils may play an early and significant role in development of lesions.     

Cutaneous Melanocytoma in a Llama (Lama glama)

Veterinary Research Communications -     

The relationship of soil province to molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum isolated from calves in Georgia

Although Cryptosporidium spp. are found throughout the world and in multiple environmental conditions, few data are available that explore the possibility of an association between specific environmental parameters and the species or strain of Cryptosporidium. This study examines the potential association between a particular Cryptosporidium species/strain found in calves and soil provinces in Georgia, USA. Necropsy cases spanning the years 1996-2002 were tested. No significant differences (P=0.962, chi(2) test of homogeneity) between numbers of positive cases were noted among soil provinces. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences for the PCR products revealed sequence similarity of the products with Cryptosporidium parvum strain C1. Although, clinical Cryptosporidiosis in calves was not found to be affected by soil province and may be caused by a single genotype, other genotypes may be responsible for subclinical infection and warrant further investigation.     

Impacts of intensification of pastoral agriculture on soils: Current and emerging challenges and implications for future land uses

Abstract

AIM: To find evidence for localisation in the uterus, and fetal infection, of Leptospira spp. in farmed deer in the lower North Island of New Zealand during and shortly after the breeding season.

METHODS: Between February and July 2008, 116 blood samples, 120 kidneys, 120 uteri and 27 fetuses were collected from 120 mixed-age hinds from lines from nine farms, at a deer slaughter premises. Serum samples were tested for antibodies against Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo-bovis and Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona, using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). For both serovars, a titre of >1:48 was considered positive. Samples from kidneys, uteri and fetal tissue were subjected to bacterial culture, using Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris (EMJH) medium, and real-time PCR, using DNA gyrase subunit B gene primers.

RESULTS: Thirty-four of 116 (29.3%) serum samples were positive for serovar Hardjo-bovis, and 13 (11.2%) for serovar Pomona. Seven of 120 kidneys were positive for serovar Hardjo-bovis by culture, and five of these, but no others, were positive by real-time PCR. Of 120 uteri, none was culture- or PCR-positive. None of 27 fetal samples was culture-positive but one was positive by real-time PCR. The dam of the PCR-positive fetus was culture-negative from the kidney, but had an MAT titre of 1:192 for Hardjo-bovis.

CONCLUSIONS: Attempts to isolate Leptospira spp. from the genital tracts and early fetuses of farmed deer were unsuccessful. However, molecular evidence suggested fetal infection in one case. This finding justifies further study of the role of leptospires in the genital tract and fetus and its association with reproductive loss in farmed deer.