A visual health assessment of captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) housed in India

A visual health assessment and survey questionnaire was conducted on 81 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) housed in 10 animal facilities throughout India between November 2004 and February 2005. The survey questionnaire consisted of 10 questions that evaluated the health of the elephants, and they were completed after visually assessing each individual elephant. The information collected was ranked on a scale that was used to statistically compare the health among the study subjects. This study documented that 43.21% of the captive elephants surveyed exhibited hyperkeratosis. A significant proportion of the elephants owned by tourist camps had poor skin condition when compared with elephants from zoos and at a forest camp. Similarly, captive-born individuals were found to have better skin condition than animals that were caught from the wild. Sixty (74.1%) of the captive elephants that were observed during this study had fissures in their footpads, 20% of which were severe. The prevalence of foot fissures was significantly higher in females. A greater proportion of elephants owned by tourist camps displayed vertical and horizontal toenail cracks in comparison with the forest camp and zoo elephants. It was noted that 76.9% of the wounded animals and 80% of those having abscesses were housed at temples and tourist camps. Also, approximately 8.5% of the captive elephant population observed during this study had eye-related problems, and they were all housed at temples and tourist camps. In conclusion, it was evident that elephants housed at temples or tourist camps exhibited poor skin condition with wounds and abscesses. These findings suggest that the overall condition of the elephants housed at tourist camps was poor compared with elephants housed at zoos and at the forest camp.     

Prion genotypes of scrapie-infected Canadian sheep 1998-2008

This report describes the genetics of the prion protein gene (PRNP) at codons 136, 154, and 171 for sheep diagnosed with naturally acquired classical scrapie in Canada between 1998 and 2008. Genotyping analysis was performed on 249 sheep with confirmed classical scrapie infection representing 98 flocks from 6 provinces. A further case-control analysis of 3 of these flocks compared the genotypes between infected sheep (n = 72) and those of their healthy flockmates (n = 1990). The incidence of classical scrapie in the Canadian sheep population was highly associated with the ARQ haplotype (91.8%) and the ARQ/ARQ genotype (91.6%). In addition, the ARQ haplotype was found at significantly higher frequency in scrapie-infected sheep when compared with their healthy flockmates. Comparison with other published data suggests that the scrapie risk of PRNP genotypes differs between Canada and countries where the VRQ allele is associated with the highest susceptibility to infection.     

Proteins specified by bovine herpesvirus-2

Polypeptides synthesized in bovine testes cells infected with bovine herpesvirus type 2 were labeled with [35S]methionine and were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Thirty-eight virus-induced proteins, ranging in molecular weight from 32,000 to 149,000, were detectable by analysis of whole cell lysates between postinfection hours 2 and 36. A similar number was immunoprecipitated by rabbit antiserum to bovine herpesvirus type 2. Twelve proteins incorporated [3H]glucosamine. On the basis of their temporal characteristics and their pattern of synthesis in the presence of cycloheximide and dactinomycin, 3 proteins, including at least one that was nondetectable in the absence of drugs, were classified as alpha proteins, 4 as beta proteins, 1 as a beta/gamma protein, and 27 as gamma proteins. Host cell protein synthesis was not reduced substantially until postinfection hours 22 to 28.     

Investigation of the effects of experimental autolysis on the detection of abnormal prion protein in lymphoid and central nervous system tissues from elk and sheep using the Western blotting method

Tissues unsuitable for standard immunohistochemical and histopathological examinations for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids and for scrapie in sheep are frequently submitted for testing. This study investigated the effects of experimental autolysis on the detection of abnormal prion protein (PrPsc) in lymphoid and central nervous system (CNS) tissues from elk and sheep. The PrPsc was detected using a Western blotting (WB) test following PrPsc enrichment using sodium phosphotungstic acid (PTA) precipitation (PTA-WB). A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used as a reference test for quantitative measurement. This study showed that the amount of PrPsc in lymphoid and CNS tssues from elk and sheep decreased gradually as a result of autolysis, but PrPsc was still detectable after 5 and 15 d incubation at 37°C by PTA-WB for all lymphoid and CNS samples. The results of the ELISA supported those of PTA-WB, particularly for CNS tissues. In conclusion, autolysis at 37°C for 15 d would not significantly affect the detection of PrPsc in lymphoid and CNS tissues by WB and ELISA and, particularly, PTA-WB is a valuable and alternative confirmatory test to detect PrPsc in autolyzed lymphoid and CNS samples.     

Chronic wasting disease in Canada: Part 1

The purpose of part 1 is to provide an overview of published literature (1980-2002) on chronic wasting disease (CWD) to inform Canadian readers about the disease and to explain Canadian regulatory approaches to the surveillance and control of CWD. Much of the scientific information is drawn from American publications obtained from internet searches in PubMed and Medline databases. The following keywords were used: chronic wasting disease, prion, diagnosis, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, CWD and deer, CWD and elk, and CWD and environment. The article also presents information from Canadian publications and unpublished observations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) documents, and both government and nongovernment internet Web sites. The article highlights some different features of CWD in Canada, as compared with the situation in the United States, and mentions public health implications of the disease. It also describes the basis for development of Canada's surveillance and control program. Part 2 will detail the activities and results of the surveillance and control program during 2000 to 2002 and discuss factors that will influence the feasibility of eradicating CWD. Chronic wasting disease appears to have been introduced into Canada through the importation of infected farmed elk from the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when little was known about the disease. Since then, eradication efforts in Canada have led to the control of the spread of CWD in the farmed elk industry. Still, management of this disease, especially in free-ranging cervids, is a challenge.     

A case of chronic wasting disease in an elk imported to Korea from Canada

A seven-year-old male elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) was euthanized and necropsied after having a 3-week history of body weight loss, emaciation, excessive salivation, teeth grinding, fever, anorexia, and respiratory distress. The elk was imported into Korea from Canada on March 9, 1997. Gross pathologic findings were restricted to a diffuse fibrinous pneumonia. Microscopic lesions included mild neuronal vacuolation and spongiform change in the neuropil of selected brain stem nuclei and generalized astrocytosis. Immunohistochemistry for protease-resistant prion protein (PrP(res)) was positive in all brain sections but more pronounced in the section of the obex of the medulla. And the PrP(res) was also detected by western immunoblotting in the brain and spinal cord. All the remaining elk and deer that had been in contact with this elk were destroyed and negative for chronic wasting disease (CWD). To our knowledge, this is the first case of CWD occurring outside of the U.S.A. and Canada.     

Experimental oral transmission of chronic wasting disease to red deer (Cervus elaphus elaphus): Early detection and late stage distribution of protease-resistant prion protein

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), an important emerging prion disease of cervids, is readily transmitted by intracerebral or oral inoculation from deer-to-deer and elk-to-elk, suggesting the latter is a natural route of exposure. Studies of host range susceptibility to oral infection, particularly of those species found in habitats where CWD currently exists are imperative. This report describes the experimental transmission of CWD to red deer following oral inoculation with infectious CWD material of elk origin. At 18 to 20 months post-inoculation, mild to moderate neurological signs and weight loss were observed and animals were euthanized and tested using 3 conventional immunological assays. The data indicate that red deer are susceptible to oral challenge and that tissues currently used for CWD diagnosis show strong abnormal prion (PrP^CWD) accumulation. Widespread peripheral PrP^CWD deposition involves lymphoreticular tissues, endocrine tissues, and cardiac muscle and suggests a potential source of prion infectivity, a means of horizontal transmission and carrier state.     

Variable patterns of distribution of PrP(CWD) in the obex and cranial lymphoid tissues of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with subclinical chronic wasting disease

Sections of medulla oblongata, taken at the level of the obex, palatine tonsil and medial retropharyngeal lymph node from 10,269 captive Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), were examined by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibody for the prion protein associated with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, chronic wasting disease (PrP(CWD)). The protein was detected in 226 of them. On the basis of the anatomical location of the deposits in the brainstem of 183 elk, four distinct patterns of distribution of PrP(CWD) within the parasympathetic region of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve and the adjacent nuclei were observed. Mild gross lesions of chronic wasting disease (serous atrophy of fat) were observed in only three elk, all with spongiform degeneration; the other elk were considered to be in the preclinical stage of the disease. In contrast with the relatively predictable distribution of prion protein (PrP) in the brain and cranial nodes of sheep and mule deer, the distribution of PrP(CWD) in the brain and nodes of the elk was more variable and unrelated to their PrP genotype. One hundred and fifty-five of the 226 positive elk had deposits of PrP(CWD) in the brainstem and lymphoid tissues, 43 had deposits only in the lymphoid tissue and 28 had deposits only in the brainstem.     

Influence of chloride and sulphate ions on soil enzymes

Ammonium chloride (AC) and ammonium sulphate (AS) are commonly used nitrogen fertilizers. But the effect of chloride and sulphate ions from these fertilizers on soil enzyme activity has received scant attention. Hence, we conducted a pot culture study to assess the influence of chloride (as AC) and sulphate (as AS) on the activities of urease, amidase, phosphatase and dehydrogenase in soil using rice as the test crop. Chloride and sulphate levels were fixed at 132, 264 and 396 kg ha⁻¹ respectively. Controls were also performed. The enzymes were assayed at three stages of the crop growth viz., active tillering, panicle initiation and harvest.
The enzyme activities decreased with increasing chloride and sulphate levels; however, the degree of inhibition varied among the enzymes assayed and the nature and amounts of salts added. The inhibition may be due to the specific effects of chloride and sulphate ions on microbial growth and subsequent enzyme synthesis, osmotic desiccation leading to microbial cell lysis, and a salting-out effect modifying the ionic conformation of the active site of the enzyme protein.     

Hypoglycemic activity of Nymphaea stellata leaves ethanolic extract in alloxan induced diabetic rats

The ethanolic extract of leaves of Nymphaea stellata given by oral route to diabetic rats at dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for seven days reduced significantly by 31.6 and 42.6 % the plasma glucose level increased by intraperitoneal injection of 120 mg/day of alloxan. Moreover, the treatment significantly affected the plasma level of cholesterol and triglyceride.