Mycoplasma bovis is a highly contagious major mastitis pathogen with multiple clinical presentations in dairy cows. This kind of mastitis does not respond to available antibiotics and actually there is no effective therapy for this infection, thus the best way of prevention and control is to diagnose and cull the affected cows in the herd. The objective of this study was to detect Mycoplasma bovis in bulk tank milk samples by nested PCR in Mashhad, Iran. One hundred and four fresh bulk tank milk samples from 52 dairy herds were collected four weeks apart. Mycoplasma bovis was not detected from any of them by either direct PCR on milk or after enrichment in modified Hayflick’s broth. Two other mycoplasma species were detected after enrichment and one other mycoplasma species without enrichment by mycoplasma spp. primer. Sequencing of the PCR products from two positive samples confirmed the presence of mycoplasma that were Mycoplasma canadense and Mycoplasma yeatsii.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gender on the histological and histochemical structures of various anatomical regions of the interdigital sinus in the Iranian native sheep. Tissue samples from different anatomical regions of each sinus were obtained from 15 female and 15 male adult Bakhtiari sheep. The sections stained with H&E, Periodic acid- Schiff, Alcian blue, Verhoeff’s, Masson’s trichrome, and Gomori’s method. The sinus was covered by skin and fibrous capsule. The sinus contained descending part, flexure, ascending part, excretory duct and orifice. The sebaceous glands were simple branched acinar and the sweat glands were simple coiled tubular type. The secretory caps were observed in the secretory cells protruded into the lumen. The various histological and histochemical structures of the interdigital sinus showed no considerable differences among various anatomical regions of the right and left sinuses. Also, no significant sex-based differences were found. The surface epithelial cells of the apocrine glands and their secretion contained both neutral and acidic glycosaminoglycans. It is concluded that the general histological and histochemical structures of the interdigital sinus in Bakhtiari sheep were similar to those of other native sheep, but there were also some differences.

The purpose of the present survey was to determine the seroprevalence rate of FeLV in cats in Ahvaz district, South-West of Iran, as well as, risk factors such as age, gender, breed, life style and clinical findings were evaluated. Blood samples were collected from 60 companion and 124 stray cats and antibody titers were measured against FeLV with ELISA kits. The seroprevalence was obtained 79.89% (95% CI: 74.1-85.68 percent). Chi-square test showed a significant relationship between age groups and infection (p < 0.01). Infection rate in cats with age below 2 years was significantly less than cats between 3-4 years (p < 0.05) and above 4 years old (p < 0.01). Also the seroprevalence was significantly higher in domestic short hair breed than Persian (p < 0.01). The seroprevalence was higher in stray cats than companion, nevertheless, the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the seroprevalence was very high in cat’s population of Ahvaz district and there was a significant difference between clinical findings and serological results.

A non–enterotoxin (CPE)–producing Clostridium perfringens type A, associated with enteritis in a mynah (Acridotheres tristis), a grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was characterized from cases with clinical symptoms from September 2010 until October 2012. Affected birds exhibited anorexia and diarrhea. Gross and histological findings were indicative of acute necrotic enteritis. Clostridium perfringens was isolated in bacterial cultures. Multiplex PCR for toxin profiling of the isolates revealed that the all three isolates were Clostridium perfringens type A, positive for cpb2 and cpa.

Neoplasms in fishes are generally less aggressive than neoplasms in mammals and are most commonly discrete and focal. Although tumors were originated from connective tissue are frequently seen in the fishes, but dermal fibrosarcoma is rarely found in fish. A moribund four years old Goldfish (Carassius auratus), was referred veterinary hospital of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz with an exophytic non-ulcerated mass near the caudal peduncle. Microscopic examination of the mass revealed proliferated spindle cells and the interlacing, loose and eosinophilic bundles. For differential diagnosis, Masson’s trichrome staining was performed and the fibers stained blue. According to histopathological and histochemical results, tumor identified as fibrosarcoma. It is the first report of histopathological features of cutaneous fibrosarcomas in a Goldfish in Iran.

The purpose of this study was evolution of pancreas in ostrich. The study was done on 24 incubated eggs of ostrich embryo on 10, 13, 16, 22, 26, 30 and 36 days of prehatching and 1 day of post hatching life. The histological stains such as haematoxylin eosin (H&E), gomori and Toluidine blue were used for this study. On 13th day of incubation the primary pancreas was developed near the liver and duodenum and it was composed of one part. The pancreas was consisted of undifferentiated epithelial cells, connective tissue, non -organized ducts and blood vessels. On 16th day the pancreas was composed of dorsal and ventral lobe with the similar structure to 13th day. On the 22th day, the zymogen granules were evident in developing exocrine part. By aging the level of connective tissue and ducts were decreased and the acinar cells were increased. On 1th day after hatching the hepatocytes vacuolated severely and pancreatic islets were appeared.

A 63-day experiment was carried out under controlled conditions to compare the effects of fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) at four levels (5, 10, 20 and 30 g/kg) on growth performance, nutritional efficiency indices, haemato-immunological parameters, stress resistance, digestive enzymes and cultivable autochthonous intestinal microbiota of juvenile (68.52 ± 1.52 g) Khaju fish Schizothorax zarudnyi. Fish fed the diet containing 20 g/ kg FOS had significantly (p < 0.05) higher weight. Dietary FOS supplementation (5-20 g/kg) showed significant effects on SGR compared with control treatment. Hb, Haematocrit, MCV, MCH and lymphocytes in fish fed with the diet containing 20-30 g/kg FOS were significantly higher than those in fish fed with control treatment. After 63-day feed ing period and also, 5-min air exposure challenge test, the activities of IG, LYZ and ACP in serum of fish fed with the diet containing 10-30 g/kg FOS showed a significantly higher trend than other treatments. The ratio of lactobacillus count to total autochthonous intestinal microbiota in fish fed with 10-30 g/kg FOS was significantly higher than that in other treatment groups. Furthermore, dietary FOS supplementation significantly increased survival rate of juvenile Khaju fish. Polynomial regression of SGR, FCR, PPV and PER suggested that the optimum dietary FOS level could be higher than 18.2 and < 23.8 g/kg in fish reared in culture conditions. These results indicate the beneficial effects of FOS, and emphasizes the need for further research to analyze the use of prebiotics on growth performance of fish.

This experiment was conducted to determine effect of different extender on recovery and storage of epididymal ram spermatozoa. Testes were obtained from eight mature rams which were slaughtered at four different occasions, a pair in each session. Caudal epididymis was isolated and divided to four equal parts. Spermatozoa recovery from each part of the caudal epididymis was performed by milk (M), Tris (T), Tris plus caproic acid (T-C) and sodium citrate (S) extenders. Spermatozoa in each extender were divided into four parts and then the amount of 0 (E0), 5 (E5), 10 (E10) and 15% (E15) egg yolk were added. Samples were chilled to 4 °C and stored for 7 days. The evaluation of sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were performed daily. The results showed that there was interaction between egg yolk and storage time and also egg yolk and extender on sperm motility (p < 0.05). Sperm motility was highest at 15 % egg yolk (25.6 %) on 7 d (p < 0.05). Sperm motility was higher in ME15 (57.8 %) and T-CE15 (62.3 %) than TE15 (53.4 %) and SE15 (41.9 %; p < 0.05). There was interaction among egg yolk, extender and storage time on acrosome integrity, membrane integrity and sperm viability (p < 0.05). On 7 d, there were no differences among ME15, T-CE15 and TE15 on sperm viability and membrane integrity. Acrosome integrity was higher in T-CE15 (75.25 %) than ME15 (62.5 %) on 7 d (p < 0.05). Therefore, Tris caproic extender was superior to other extender for recovery and storage of ram epididymal spermatozoa.

Microbial activity and spoilage of chicken meat from the market in Mashhad, Iran, stored in air at 0, 4, 10 and 15°C was assessed. Microbial spoilage population, Total VolatileBase Nitrogen (TVB-N), pH and organoleptic changes were determined. Based on the results of sensory analysis, shelf-life of chicken meat stored at 0, 4, 10 and 15°C was 72, 120, 220 and 320 h, respectively. TVB-N that serves as an important indicator increased with storage time and TVB-N values were more than 28 mg/100g at the time of unacceptable sensory analysis. Both of them showed a high correlation coefficient with microbial growth, especially, Pseudomonas spp. However, pH cannot be used as a good indicator of chicken spoilage under aerobic conditions and there was relatively low correlation between this parameter and the sensory analysis. The results from microbiological behavior analysis, organoleptic quality and TVB-N values identified pseudomonas spp. as special spoilage organisms (SSO) of poultry meat stored at 0-15°C and Pseudomonas spp. population level was 7.5 CFU/g at the end of shelf life. The microbial growth under dynamic temperature condition followed the same pattern and the results showed that temperature abuse affects the surviving population of Pseudomonas spp. and it leads to reduction of shelf life.

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