Clearance of ovine isolates of Bordetella parapertussis from murine trachea and lungs

Thirty-six mice were inoculated intranasally with Bordetella parapertussis organisms (isolated from sheep with chronic non-progressive pneumonia) to study their deposition and clearance in the lower respiratory tract. The deposition of the organism was greater in the trachea than in the lungs. At 48 hours after inoculation, almost 100% of organisms were cleared from the trachea but only 55% of organisms were cleared from the lungs. This result correlates well with the morphological changes seen previously in the pulmonary parenchyma and airways of mice and lambs experimentally infected with this organism.     

Visual assessment of pneumonic area in ovine lungs

Twelve veterinarians were asked to estimate the percentage of lung surface that appeared consolidated in eleven projected colour transparencies of pneumonic ovine lungs. The estimates were compared to the pneumonic area measured by image analysis. Although all observers had some experience in veterinary pathology there was considerable variation between individuals in the accuracy of their estimates. Large lesions were underestimated and small lesions overestimated by most observers.     

Airway hypersensitivity induced by Ascaris suum extract in New Zealand Romney sheep

Sheep from local farms with and without previous exposure to pigs were tested for their skin and airway responses to a commercial Ascaris suum antigen. There was an immediate reaction to intradermal injection of the antigen in 90% of 101 sheep. A bronchial provocation test by aerosol of the same antigen was undertaken on 43 of the sheep with a positive skin reaction. About 70% of sheep showed an immediate airway response to the antigen as an aerosol, reflected as a significant increase in airway resistance and/or decrease of dynamic lung compliance. The mean peak airway resistance and mean lowest dynamic lung compliance were 165% above and 61% below their baselines, respectively. No significant changes were recorded when the same animals were given an aerosol of phosphate buffered saline. Similarly, no correlation was found between the degree of skin reaction and the magnitude of bronchoconstriction (p>0.05). The sheep with previous exposure to pigs showed no significant differences in airway responses to antigen challenge, although they showed significantly greater skin reactions than those without exposure to pigs. These results indicate that the majority of Romney sheep in the Manawatu have a natural skin and airway sensitivity to A. suum antigen and may therefore be used as an animal model to study human airway hypersensitivity. The origin of this sensitivity has yet to be determined.     

Observations on blood coagulation after snakebite in dogs and cats

Blood samples from 13 cases of snakebite, 6 in dogs and 7 in cats, were tested for activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT) and fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products (FDP). Four cases were tested for fibrinogen concentration. Based on the results of a commercially available ELISA test, 9 cases were caused by tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) and 1 case by a brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis). Three other cases had clinical signs and increased creatine phosphokinase values which suggested tiger snake envenomation. Although the period post-envenomation varied, results indicated a marked prolongation of the APTT and PT in 5 of 6 dogs. Three of these 5 dogs also had increased FDP values and 3 (of 3 examined) were hypofibrinogenaemic. Clinical manifestations of this coagulopathy were: haematoma formation after venepuncture (3 cases), gingival petechiae (1 case) and hyphaema (1 case). In contrast, there was minimal or no prolongation of the APTT and PT values, and no increase in FDP, in all 7 cats. Furthermore, no cat exhibited clinical signs of a coagulopathy.     

Hairy shaker disease of lambs

A serological survey of 213 randomly chosen dairy farm residents in the Manawatu showed that 66 (34%) of the people who milked cows had leptospiral titres ≤ 1:24 by the Microscopic Agglutination Test. Forty-eight (72.7%) of these people had titres to hardjo, while 29 (43.9%) had titres to pomona. Dual hardjo/pomona titres occurred in 12 people. Ballum and Copenhageni accounted for 8% of the titres found. Women milkers and farm residents who did not milk were all serologically negative. A third of the seropositive milkers had a history of clinical leptospirosis. Other factors which significantly correlated with leptospiral titres included the time spent in the dairy shed during milking, the wearing of shorts, the keeping of pigs for sale, and the number of years the individual had been working on a dairy farm. The type of milking shed and the size of the herd were interrelated and both showed strong trends towards a correlation with serological prevalence.     

Obituary-Roger Brereton Marshall

Roger Marshall was born in Christchurch on 27 May 1933 and died at his home in Palmerston North on 24 October 2001. He graduated BVSc from the University of Sydney in 1958 and began his professional career in clinical veterinary practice in Morrinsville. Wishing to specialise in veterinary microbiology, he later enrolled in the postgraduate course for the Diploma in Microbiology at the University of Otago under Professor JAR Miles. On gaining the Diploma in 1963, Roger was appointed a foundation lecturer in veterinary microbiology in the newly formed Faculty of Veterinary Science at Massey University.     

Ameliorative Effects of Melatonin against Hydrogen Peroxide‐Induced Oxidative Stress on Boar Sperm Characteristics and Subsequent In Vitro Embryo Development

Melatonin, the major secretory product of the pineal gland, scavenges a variety of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in vivo and in vitro, indicating that melatonin is a potent function as an antioxidant. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of melatonin in the presence or absence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) on sperm characteristics (motility, viability, survival rate, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and mitochondria activity) and also to examine the developmental rates to the blastocysts stage of porcine oocytes fertilized in vitro with semen treated with or without melatonin (100 nm ) in the presence or absence of H₂O₂ (250 μm ). The sperm were treated with melatonin in the presence or absence of H₂O₂ for 3, 6, 9 and 12 h at 37°C and then analysed for the sperm characteristics. The porcine embryos were produced by in vitro maturation and in vitro fertilization (IVM/IVF) using semen treated with or without melatonin (100 nm ) in the presence or absence of H₂O₂ (250 μm ) for 6 h. The semen characteristics, including motility, viability, survival rate, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity, were higher in the groups that were treated with melatonin in comparison to other groups, irrespective of incubation periods. Malondialdehyde levels in control, melatonin and melatonin + H₂O₂ groups were lower than H₂O₂ only group. A positive correlation was shown among motility, viability, survival rate and membrane integrity, but a negative correlation was observed between LPO and the other evaluation methods. The developmental rates to blastocysts of IVM/IVF porcine oocytes fertilized by semen treated with melatonin were significantly increased compared with any other groups, with the cell number of blastocysts shown to have a similar trend to the developmental rates. These results demonstrate that melatonin can improve the semen characteristics during in vitro storage and support the developmental ability of IVM/IVF embryos in pigs.     

Pneumonia in lambs inoculated with Bordetella parapertussis: clinical and pathological studies

Eight one-week-old, colostrum-deprived lambs were inoculated intratracheally with ovine isolates of Bordetella parapertussis. After inoculation, the lambs showed slight depression and anorexia. The total circulating leucocyte counts in these animals rose gradually to a peak five days post-inoculation. Neutrophil counts also increased and were highest at Day 3. Lesions grossly and histologically similar to those of naturally-occurring ovine chronic non-progressive pneumonia were seen in the majority of infected animals. Grossly, they consisted of many small areas of collapse and dull-red consolidation. Histologically, B. parapertussis caused mild acute tracheobronchitis, severe alveolar collapse and acute bronchopneumonia, which was most severe from Days 1 to 3. Pure cultures of B. parapertussis were consistently recovered from nasal swabs of infected lambs throughout the study. Viable bacterial counts of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid showed a rapid elimination of this organism from the lower respiratory tract between Days 1 to 5. Bordetella parapertussis infection in the respiratory tract of lambs has the potential to compromise pulmonary defence mechanisms and allow other pathogenic organisms to become established in the lower respiratory tract.