La Sota vaccination may not protect against virus shedding and the lesions of velogenic Newcastle disease in commercial turkeys

The aim of this project is to study the clinical signs and lesion of velogenic Newcastle disease (vND) in commercial turkeys, and also to find out if La Sota vaccination offered protection against these signs and lesions. The cockerels were included as positive controls. One hundred and twenty turkey poults and cockerels were divided into eight groups as follows: unvaccinated unchallenged turkeys (UUT), unvaccinated challenged turkeys (UCT), vaccinated unchallenged turkeys (VUT), vaccinated challenged turkeys (VCT), and along the same lines, the cockerel groups were UUC, UCC, VUC and vaccinated challenged cockerels (VCC). Vaccination was at 3 weeks of age while challenge was at 6 weeks of age. The unvaccinated turkeys and cockerels (UCT and UCC) showed different degrees of depression, diarrhoea and later paralysis at challenge. Total mortality was 100% in cockerels within 6 days, but 60% in turkeys. Similar but milder clinical signs were found in the VCC with a total mortality of 13.3%. The VCT showed mild drop in feed and water consumption, and no mortality. All the challenged groups had significant (p < 0.05) loss of weight when compared with their controls. Necropsy showed that while the UCC had severe proventricular haemorrhages, intestinal and caecal tonsil ulcers, the UCT had no digestive tract lesion. There was severe atrophy of the lymphoid organs in all the challenged groups. Histopathological sections of the bursa, spleen and thymus in all the challenged groups with special emphasis on the vaccinated and unvaccinated turkeys with mortalities of 0 and 60%, respectively, had very severe necrosis and depletion of the lymphoid tissue. Virus was isolated from the cloacal swabs. The haemagglutination inhibition antibodies were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the challenged groups than the unchallenged. The above observations in the intestinal tracts of UCT are of diagnostic significance while the gross and microscopic lesions in the UCT and VCT show that La Sota vaccination may not protect turkeys against the destruction of the lymphoid organs by vND as earlier reported in chickens. This may lead to immunosuppression and production problems in areas where vND is enzootic.     

Assessment of age-related morphological changes in the testes of post-hatch light ecotype Nigerian indigenous chicken

The age-related morphological changes of the testes in light ecotype Nigerian indigenous chicken were evaluated in this study using gross anatomical, histological and histomorphometric techniques. The results showed that the testes of 3- to 9-month-old birds were light pink while testes of sexually mature chicken were creamy white in colour. The left and right testicular weight, length, diameter, circumference and the organosomatic indices increased significantly (p < .05) with increasing age across the groups. Although the mean tubular diameter and epithelial height of the left and right seminiferous tubules increased significantly (p < .05) with age, the tubular diameter, epithelial height and luminal diameter did not vary significantly (p > .05) between the left and right testes of all the groups. The one-cell layer thick germinal epithelium of the left testes at 3 to 6 months old showed islands of cell proliferation that contained spermatogonia and spermatocytes. At 6 to 9 months, the left testes exhibited numerous early spermatids with occasional occurrence of late stage spermatids while the right testes showed scanty early stage spermatids. At 12 to 18 months, the germinal epithelia of both left and right testes were characterized by the presence of Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, numerous early and late stage spermatids as well as spermatozoa. In conclusion, the morphological features highlighted in the present study show that at pre-pubertal periods, the left testes may develop faster than the right testes. However, both left and right testes may participate actively in the production of spermatozoa during the post-pubertal life.     

SCINTIGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF THE STIFLE IN NORMAL HORSES AND HORSES WITH FORELIMB LAMENESS

We tested the hypotheses that mature horses without lameness have a repeatable radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern in the stifle, which is bilaterally symmetric; immature horses have a different radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern; and forelimb lameness alters the radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern in the stifle. The objectives of the study were to describe the normal radiopharmaceutical uptake patterns using region of interest (ROI) analysis; to compare uptake patterns between left and right stifles of the same horse and between mature and immature horses; to compare radiopharmaceutical uptake in mature normal horses with those with forelimb lameness. Lateral scintigraphic images of the stifle from 51 horses aged 2-16 years were evaluated using seven ROIs and a reference site (midfemur). After subtraction of a background count, ratios between the mean counts per pixel for each ROI to the reference site were calculated. There was a repeatable radiopharmaceutical uptake pattern in mature normal horses that was bilaterally symmetrical. The caudoproximal aspect of the tibia and the patella had the highest ratios. Radiopharmaceutical uptake patterns in horses with forelimb lameness were not significantly different. Immature normal horses had a different symmetric pattern, with greatest radiopharmaceutical uptake ratios in the caudoproximal aspect of the tibia and the tibial crest. It was concluded that there are symmetric, repeatable radiopharmaceutical uptake patterns in both immature and mature horses, which are not altered by forelimb lameness.     

Plasmodium falciparum malaria: band 3 as a possible receptor during invasion of human erythrocytes

Human erythrocyte band 3, a major membrane-spanning protein, was purified and incorporated into liposomes. These liposomes, at nanomolar concentrations of protein, inhibited invasion of human erythrocytes in vitro by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Liposomes containing human band 3 were ten times more effective in inhibiting invasion than those with pig band 3 and six times more effective than liposomes containing human erythrocyte glycophorin. Liposomes alone or liposomes containing erythrocyte glycolipids did not inhibit invasion. These results suggest that band 3 participates in the invasion process in a step involving a specific, high-affinity interaction between band 3 and some component of the parasite.     

Newcastle disease in a vaccinated flock which had experienced subclinical infectious bursal disease

A flock of 4,500 Cobb broilers inoculated with Newcastle disease vaccine intra-ocular strain B1 type at 10 days of age developed clinical signs of the disease 19 days later; the mortality rate was 71%. Necropsy examinations showed characteristic lesions. Newcastle disease virus was isolated and identified in the allantoic fluid of embryonating chicken eggs by haemagglutination and haemagglutination-inhibition tests. Histopathological examination showed that follicles of the bursa were depleted of lymphocytes, had many large cavities and were being repopulated by newly formed healthy lymphocytes. Both the acute and convalescent serum samples were positive for infectious bursal disease antibodies in agar gel precipitation tests. Haemagglutination inhibition titres of the acute and convalescent sera were 20 to 80 and 80 to 640 respectively. The vaccine failure may be due to either the subclinical bursal disease or the highly pathogenic nature of the wild Newcastle disease virus.     

Factors Affecting Agroforestry Sustainability in Bee Endemic Parts of Southeastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts, in an exploratory manner, to identify the various ways in which unsustainable beekeeping and honey hunting practices result in the loss of important multi-purpose agroforestry tree species in bee endemic parts of Southeastern Nigeria. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), community fora, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and semi-structured interview schedules) were used in an interactive manner to collect data for this study from five randomly selected communities in Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti, Uzo-Uwani, Igbo-Eze South and Udenu Local Government Areas of Enugu State. Results show that beekeeping/honey hunting in the area is traditionally gender-specific occupations involving only male members of the households, while female members play an active role in processing, preserving, and marketing the products. The majority (69.6%) of the beekeepers/ honey hunters were within the age range of 31–50, and most (75.2%) of them did not receive secondary school education. Findings reveal that outright felling of some trees in order to extract honey, cutting tree trunks open and/or cutting down tree branches and setting surrounding bush on fire are among the major factors negatively impacting on the agroforestry of the area. Species of trees particularly at risk include Irvingia gabonensis, young Chlorophera excelsa, Raphia spp., Elaeis guineensis, Brachystegia eurycome, Dialium guineense, Erythrophleum guineese and Strychnos spinosa. Recommendations are proffered to improve harvesting practices for hive and other non-timber forest products in order to avert the erosion of natural resource base of the fragile farming ecosystem of the area.     

The toxicity of Castanospermum australe seeds for cattle

Two calves given a mean of 16.1 g and 16.4 g ripe Castanospermum australe seeds/kg body weight daily for 13 and 16 days respectively developed haemorrhagic gastroenteritis. The first calf died. The second calf had mild myocardial degeneration and necrosis and mild nephrosis at necropsy. Two calves given a mean of 16.8 g unripe C. australe seeds/kg body weight daily for 18 days remained clinically normal and had mild gastritis at necropsy. The activity of alpha-glucosidase was reduced in the mononuclear cells of peripheral blood and in skeletal muscle. This was attributed to the presence of the indolizidine alkaloid, castanospermine, in the seeds. The toxin causing the gastroenteritis and other lesions is unknown.     

The first case of genetically confirmed monozygotic twinning in the dog

Monozygotic twinning has not previously been genetically confirmed in the dog. This case report describes the finding of two viable male monozygotic foetuses within one placental site during caesarean section. Their umbilical cords attached to a single placenta. Genetic profiling using a total of 38 microsatellite markers, as well as amelogenin and SRY for sex determination, revealed identical DNA profiles, whether derived from blood or tissue (buccal swabs) samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of monozygotic twinning in the dog confirmed using DNA profiling.