Practicing veterinarians play an important role in detecting the initial outbreak of disease in animal populations. A pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility of a veterinary-based surveillance system for the Ontario swine industry. A total of 7 practitioners from 5 clinics agreed to submit information from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. The surveillance program was evaluated in terms of timeliness, compliance, geographic coverage, and data quality. Our study showed that the veterinary-based surveillance system was acceptable to practitioners and produced useful data. The program obtained information from 25% of pig farms in Ontario during this time period. However, better communication with practitioners, more user-friendly recording systems that can be adapted to each clinic’s management system, active involvement of the clinics’ technical personnel, and the use of financial incentives may help to improve compliance and timeliness.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a novel 2-catheter technique for urethral catheterization in female cats and small dogs and compare the time required for and success rates achieved by use of the novel technique versus traditional methods (blind technique in cats and digital palpation in dogs) as performed by personnel (catheter placers [CPs]) with different levels of experience in urinary catheter placement. ANIMALS 39 healthy sexually intact female animals (24 cats and 15 dogs weighing < 10 kg). PROCEDURES 2 CPs were board certified in veterinary surgery, 1 of whom had experience with the novel technique, and the other did not. The third CP was a veterinary surgical intern who was unfamiliar with the novel technique. For each animal enrolled in the study, 1 CP performed catheterization with the novel technique and traditional methods. Data recorded included the time required for successful catheterization and whether a successful catheterization was achieved within a 3-minute time limit. RESULTS The overall success rates were 79.5% (31/39 animals) with the novel technique and 43.6% (17/39 animals) with traditional methods. Median times for successful catheter placement were 48 seconds for the novel technique and 41 seconds for traditional methods. Among CPs, success rates or times to successful catheter placement did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Study results suggested that the novel 2-catheter technique for urethral catheterization may be a more efficient option than traditional methods for gaining access to the urinary bladder in cats and small dogs, particularly when patient size limits use of instrumentation or digital palpation.

Streptococcus suis is an important pathogen in the swine industry. This article is the first to report the occurrence, risk factors, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility of S. suis recovered from employees and environmental samples of swine slaughterhouses in Brazil. Tonsillar swabs from all 139 pig-slaughtering employees and 261 environmental swabs were collected for detection of S. suis and serotyping by monoplex and multiplex polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk-diffusion method. Although S. suis was not detected in any of the tested employees, it was isolated from 25% of the environmental samples. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in the occurrence of S. suis were observed between slaughterhouses and between areas of low, medium, and high risk. The most frequent serotypes were 4 and 29, each accounting for 12% of the isolates, followed by 5, 12, 21, and 31, each accounting for 6%. High rates of susceptibility to the antimicrobials doxycycline (100%), ceftiofur (94%), ampicillin (81%), and cephalexin (75%) were observed. However, multidrug resistance was observed in all the isolates. Because S. suis is present in the environment of swine slaughterhouses, on carcasses and knives, as well as on the hands of employees in all areas, all employees are at risk of infection.

Objective--To evaluate effects of a Salmonella Newport siderophore receptor and porin protein (SRP) vaccine on cattle health and performance and on prevalence of fecal shedding of Salmonella bacteria in feedlot cattle. Animals--1,591 beef cattle. Procedures--Cattle were randomly allocated within a replicate (n = 10 replicates [20 total pens]), administered 2 mL of a Salmonella Newport SRP vaccine (n = 795 cattle) or a placebo (796), and revaccinated approximately 21 days after the first administration. Health and performance data were recorded by trained feedlot personnel who were blinded to treatment. Fresh fecal samples (n = 25) were collected from pen floors on days 0, 60, and 120 and within 24 hours of cattle harvest and were subjected to selective Salmonella culture and serotyping by laboratory personnel who were blinded to treatment. Pen-level mixed models were used to analyze data. Results--Significant differences in fecal prevalence of Salmonella bacteria or health and performance variables were not detected between vaccinated and control cattle. Salmonella bacteria were recovered from all 10 replicates, and cumulative prevalence estimates ranged from 1.5% to 22%. Overall prevalence of fecal shedding of Salmonella bacteria was 10.2% and 10.9% in vaccinated and control cattle, respectively. Overall morbidity risk was 34.8% for both vaccinated and control cattle. Overall mortality risks were 1.9% and 1.1% for vaccinated and control cattle, respectively. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance--In this setting, administration of the Salmonella Newport SRP vaccine in feedlot cattle had no effect on fecal prevalence of Salmonella bacteria or cattle health and performance.

As a part of a larger study, the psychodemographic profile of Quebec pig stockpeople was described based on a sample of 48 persons working on independent farms randomly selected in the Richelieu-Saint-Hyacinthe region, and on a convenience sample of 38 others employed by 5 organizations of integrated swine production chosen among the largest ones in Québec. The 2 groups of stockpeople were described separately because of the differences between the 2 types of production. Demographic data (age, sex, level of education, training and experience in swine production, seniority on the farm) were obtained through a face-to-face interview. The personality profile was assessed using a standard personality test (French translation of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire). Both the stockpersons on independent farms and those employed by the organizations were more reserved, emotionally stable, serious, conscientious, unsentimental, controlled, introverted, and less anxious than the average person in the general population. However, multivariate analyses revealed some differences between these two groups of stock-persons (P = 0.021) as well as between the employees of the different organizations (P = 0.0038). These differences in personality profiles may reflect differences in working conditions, particularly regarding the human relationships, and in corporate cultures of the organizations.