Veterinary Science & Technology

Independent variables based on EU standards were used to compare environmental and other differences between three hunting systems, in terms of safety and quality. System 1 (Sys1) supplied game animals intended for the export market, System 2 (Sys2) supplied game carcasses intended for the local market, but was subjected to the training and application of specific hygiene and safety guidelines and System 3 (Sys3) game carcasses intended for the local market, but not subjected to the application of any health and safety guidelines. Although the process of obtaining a game carcass cannot be compared to the process followed in beef slaughterhouses, the export market standard was used as criterion of compliance and due to a total lack of standards or control for the local game meat market. The identified variables are situational and are based on procedural, environmental and other parameters as specified in the South African Veterinary Procedural Notices (VPN) that are specific guidelines linked to a regulation and in compliance with standards from countries of import.

The observations and tests conducted in the study showed a considerable difference in the independent variables tested for the three systems. It was however, concluded that Sys1 and Sys2 differed only with regards to the training component. It was concluded that the independent variables compared with these two systems questions the strict EU requirements and costly formal registered abattoirs when simplified and practical hygiene guidelines render carcasses with similar status.

Pasteurella multocida B:2 causes haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) in cattle and buffalo, leading to acute death of many animals, usually in the form of outbreaks. HS occurs especially in Asia and Africa, leading to devastating loss of animals and economics. The involvement of respiratory tract as the route of infection and transmission has been well established. The present study describes the distribution of P. multocida B:2 using bacteriological isolations in the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary tracts of buffalo calves following different dosages of subcutaneous exposure to live wild-type P. multocida B:2. Nine buffalo calves were divided into 3 groups before calves of Group 1 were inoculated subcutaneously with 109 cfu/ml of live wild-type P. multocida B:2. Calves of Group 2 were similarly inoculated with 105 cfu/ml while calves of Group 3 were exposed to PBS. All calves of Group 1 were euthanised between 6 and 12 h post-infection, while calves Group 2 were euthanized between 24 and 48 h post-infection. P. multocida B:2 was isolated from the lungs, liver, deodenum, rectum, urinary bladder swabs and the urine of all infected calves of Groups 1 and 2. Bacterial concentration varied between the organs with the lungs showed significantly (p<0.05) higher concentration than other tracts. Nevertheless, duodenum, colon, liver and urinary bladder of infected calves showed considerably high concentrations of P. multocida B: 2. Both infected groups showed similar concentrations of P. multocida B:2 in the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary tracts. Isolation and detection of P. multocida B:2 in the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts of infected calves re-emphasize the role of these tracts in transmission of haemorrhagic septicaemia and aid in understanding the terminal stage of bacteraemia in HS.

On a pasture five heavily pregnant heifers out of 15 animals in total developed severe apathy, haemorhagic enteritis as well as photodermatosis both at the mouth and vulva (mortality rate 80%). The vegetation of the 3-hectare pasture was recorded at species level. Both a botanical investigation of 500 g rumen content of one heifer and a quantitative analysis of cyanides in the blood of three animals were carried out. The sward consisted of fodder plants and reed sweet grass (Glyceria maxima), the latter a nutritious species containing cyanogenic glycosides. The blood samples contained up to 1.56 mg cyanide/l serum. Therefore, the heifers had eaten about 7 kg reed sweet grass, slightly less than the lethal amount. Marsh horsetail (Equisetum palustre) growing in between, was unintentionally ingested and caused haemorhagic enteritis. As a possible post-ingestive effect this could have evoked a positive selection of caraway (Carum carvi) as a remedy for stomach disorders in ruminants. 45% of the caraway population on the pasture had been grazed, one fragment having been found in the rumen. Photosensitising substances in caraway resulted in photodermatosis in the heifers. The complex finding underlined the need for an interdisciplinary approach in cases of suspected poisoning in general.

Animal derived raw materials such as trypsin and Fetal Bovine Serum are used in vaccine manufacturing and pose the threat of introducing animal pathogens as contaminants into the final products. Thus screening for adventitious virus/ genome is part of quality control in manufacturing of biologicals. Various in-vitro and in-vivo detection assays have been developed for the detection of potential viral contaminants in vaccines. However, these assays are expensive, time consuming, labor intensive and incomplete limiting their ability to meet the increasing demands of the biological industry. Polymerase chain reaction technology scores over the in-vitro and in-vivo assays in speed, specificity, sensitivity and robustness of detection and can replace them in regular use. In the present study, a set of multiplex and individual PCRs were developed for the detection of porcine (n=6) and bovine viral genomes (n=5). Veterinary vaccines (10), human vaccines (9), porcine typsin lots (9), and fetal bovine serum (8) were screened for adventitious viral genomes using multiplex PCRs. It was observed that 60% of veterinary vaccines, 77.7% of trypsin, and 62.5% of fetal bovine serum were contaminated with adventitious viral genomes.

The study was conducted to physically characterize indigenous sheep types in Selale area, Debre Libanos and Wuchale districts, Central Ethiopia. A total of 560 mature sheep were sampled randomly for characterization of phenotypic traits. Majority of the ewes and rams in both districts had plain coat color pattern (58.21%) followed by patchy (33.33%). Majority of female and male sheep in the study areas had medium and smooth coat cover. All the sampled sheep population in both districts has characteristics of long fat tailed type. Body weight of female sheep in age group1(0PPI), age group2(1PPI) and age group 3(≥ 2PPI) were 24.3 ± 0.6 kg, 25.8 ± 0.5 kg and 28.7 ± 0.2 kg, respectively, and the values for males in the same age groups were 25.7 ± 0.3 kg, 31.9 ± 0.8 kg and 38.2 ± 2.0 kg, respectively. Wuchale sheep (27.9 ± 0.20 kg) were comparable with Debre Libanos sheep (27.6 ± 0.2 kg). Debre Libanos sheep had significantly higher linear body measurements (P<0.05) than Wuchale sheep population. Sex of the sheep had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the body weight, ear length and rump length. The interaction of sex and age group significantly (p<0.05) influenced all linear body measurements except ear length of the sheep. The interaction of age group and location was significant (p<0.05) for all linear body measurements. Heart girth and body length were found to be the most important variables for estimation of body weight in sheep. For any breed improvement program and to boost productivity of indigenous sheep, characterization is the baseline so; this preliminary work could be used to support genetic analyses to determine variation between and within these small populations.

Duck rising is a lucrative livestock industry in the globe because of its egg, meat and feather. Like chicken, ducks are reared for eggs and meat. As per livestock census 2007, the duck population of India is 27.43 million constituting 8.52 percent of the totalpoultry population. The distribution and demographic dynamics of duck population revealed that they are concentrated in Eastern, North eastern and Southern states of the country. Duck farming in India is characterized by nomadic, extensive, seasonal,and is still held in the hands of small and marginal farmers and nomadic tribes. There are three systems of duck rearing i.e., free range system, Confined system and Indoor system. Duck can also be reared integrated with other farming such as fish farming and/or paddy cultivation. Duck feeds on insect, snails, kitchen waste, paddy grains and weeds are the food sources for ducks in addition to the feed received from foraging. But for better production extra feed supplements is necessary. Grower stage of duckup to 16 weeks of age and after that laying starts. The age at first egg and 50 percent egg production are 120, 140 days and the annual egg number is 320 eggs for Khaki Campbell ducks in intensive farming. The desirable sex ratio for good fertility andhatchability for ducks is 1:6 for intensive rearing and 1:15-20 for extensive rearing system. Ducks are more vigorous and less subject to diseases than chicken and turkeys. For better disease prevention vaccination is necessary.

Dairy herd-level prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), causative agent of Johne’s disease (JD), Mycoplasma spp., and Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) virus were estimated in Utah and surrounding states and compared to previous surveillance results. Milk was collected at 3-4 day intervals on 5 dates (duplicate samples) from each bulk tank on participating farms, samples analyzed separately. One frozen sample was shipped to a laboratory for JD/MAP testing with ELISA and real-time PCR, the other paired sample was shipped to another laboratory for mycoplasma and BVD testing. Mycoplasma was cultured on modified Hayflick medium, standard methods; BVD testing was real-time, RT-PCR. 151/209 (72%) eligible dairy farms participated. Farms detected positive (some had multiple diseases) were: 58 JD (38%); 4 mycoplasma (3%); 14 BVD (9%). Sensitivity of testing was: 284/528 milks = 54% for JD, 17/61 = 28% for mycoplasma (lower than previous reports), 41/117 = 35% for BVD. Of 67 herds positive for JD in 2009, 28 (42%) remained positive, 14 (21%) became test-negative, and 25 (37%) were lost to follow up. Of 16 herds positive for mycoplasma in 2007, one (6%) remained positive, 8 (50%) became testnegative, and 7 (44%) were lost to follow up. Bulk milk remains a practical way to screen dairy herds for presence of JD, mycoplasma and BVD, provided that repeated sampling is used. Mycoplasma-positive herds were more likely to become test-negative in bulk milk in subsequent years than were JD-positive herds. Prevalence of BVD was similar to but slightly lower than previously reported.

The present investigation was performed to clarify the histological features of the left ventricles in the heart of the mature dromedary camel. This investigation was carried out on the left ventricles of six healthy mature camels. Microscopically, the left ventricles is consisted of three major layers or tunics; the internal endocardium, the middle myocardium, and the external epicardium. The endocardium is consisted of three layers; the endothelial layer of simple squamous epithelium, subendothelial layer of loose connective tissue and the subendocardial layer that connecting the endocardium with the myocardium and housing bundles of the purkinje cardiomyocytes; purkinje fibers. The myocardium, is the middle layer of the ventricular wall, is sandwiched between an outer epicardium, that covers the ventricular wall, and an inner endocardium, that lines the chamber, containing two bundles of cardiac fibers; the working cardiac myocytes (myocardiocytes) and the purkinje bundles. The epicardium is the outer most layer of the ventricular wall. This layer is a relatively thin in comparison with the myocardium and is consisted of a subepicardial layer of loose connective tissue which housing many blood vessels, lymph vessels, nerves and adipocytes and mesothelium of simple squamous epithelium.

Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a retrovirus that naturally infects goats and induces chronic inflammatory and degenerative disease. Infection of goats has a worldwide distribution but it has not been previously recognized by molecular method in Iran. For this reason, 95 blood samples were taken from 4 months to 3 years goats to determine naturally infected animals with caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The PCR primers were designed to amplify a 433 base pair region of the proviral gag gene. Results showed that 15.7 percent of sampled goats (15 cases) were positive for CAEV. The present study was confirmed the presence of CAEV genome in goats flock of Iran for the first time.

Objectives: To assess the value of the intra-articular Wallace distractor in stifle arthroscopy in the dog.

Methods-Ex-vivo study: ten cadaver limbs of dogs were used to explore the stifle joints by arthroscopy each once without and once with the aid of a Wallace distractor. Radiographs and observational data were used to assess the degree of joint distraction and to evaluate any collateral intra-articular damages. In vivo study: distractor-assisted arthroscopy was thereafter performed in 12 consecutive clinical cases of dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture. The use of the Wallace distractor, clinical setting, time to complete joint evaluation were recorded.

Results: In the cadaver study, radiographic findings showed a significant increase of the joint space after the insertion of the distractor. Visual range during arthroscopy employing the Wallace distractor increased substantially and facilitated the assessment of all visible intra-articular structures. Mean time to evaluate the femoropatellar space was 4,1 minutes, to observe cruciate ligaments 6,5 minutes and to complete joint inspection 10,1 minutes. In the clinical study, the use of Wallace distractor allowed improved arthroscopic observation of all relevant structures, without sub-patellar fat pad removal. Mean time to complete joint inspection was 28,5 minutes.

Clinical significance: The use of the Wallace joint distractor may be helpful in the arthroscopic assessment of the canine stifle. It is easy to insert, it allows a considerable distraction of the joint making it easier visibility and reducing the possible need to remove the sub patellar fat pad. With its blunt pins Wallace joint distractor limits the risk of iatrogenic damage and can be easy to use even for surgeons who do not have much experience in knee arthroscopy.

Cross sectional study with the objective of assessing the prevalence of hydatid cyst on 440 cattle was conducted from May to June 2014 in Shire municipal abattoir. The present finding revealed that the overall rate of the parasite was 32%. Sex wise distribution of the parasite was -29.9% and 3.2% in male and female cattle with no statistical significance variation between male and female. Similarly, the rates in adult and old cattle were 23.6% and 8.4% respectively. The rate of the parasite in adult and old cattle showed significance variation (p<0.05). Similarly the prevalence in local and cross breed was also 31.6% and 0.5% with no statistical variation between the two breeds. Moreover, hydatid cysts prevalence of each organ at the abattoir survey indicated 70 (17.5%) in lung; 65 (14.77%) in liver; 2 (0.45%) in heart and 4 (0.9%) in kidney respectively. This indicates that the parasite was found in cattle of the area and it was responsible for high condemnation of different organs. Hence, strategic deworming with strong surveillance system and good management practice of animals is essential for reduction of the disease prevalence.

Raillietina (Fuhrmannetaa) echinobothrida, (Magnin, 1881) cestode parasite of Gallus gallus domesticus is redescribed on the basis of type material from Aurangabad, Marathawada, Maharashtra, India. The present worms resemble with R. echinobothrida, (Magnin, 1881) in having all essential morphological characters. having scolex oval, rostellum elongated/rounded, presence of four suckers, short neck, mature proglottids are broader than long, testes rounded and excretory canal long tube. But the same differ due to number of testes. Hence it is redescribed. We carried out the phylogenetic analyses to observe molecular resemble of related proteins.