Here, we report the poisoning case of 10 cows. Several distinct clinical signs such as convulsion, excessive salivation, circling, lateral recumbency, and death were observed. Necropsy and histopathological examination did not reveal any significant abnormal findings. Moreover, no bacteria or viruses were detected in tissue, blood, and feeding food. However, endosulfan was detected from the stomach contents and microbials. Our results strongly suggest that death of cows may be closely associated with endosulfan poisoning.

In this study, we isolated 12 of Brucella (B.) spp. from cattle, which have been positive in Rose Bangal test and tube agglutination test in Gyeongbuk province in 2009. According to AMOS PCR analysis, isolated 12 strains were identified as B. abortus. Murine derived macrophage, RAW 264.7 cells, were infected with isolated 12 strains or reference strain (B. abortus 544), and bacterial internalization were characterized. According to these results, we divided the isolated strains into the following three groups: class Ⅰ, lower internalization than that of B. abortus 544; class Ⅱ, similar internalization to that of that of B. abortus 544; class Ⅲ, higher internalization than that of B. abortus 544 within RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, intracellular growth, bacterial adherent assay, LAMP-1 colocalization, virulence in mice and surface protein pattern were characterized. From these results, representative strains of class Ⅲ showed lower LAMP-1 colocalization, higher adherent efficiency, higher virulence in mice than those of B. abortus 544, and showed different pattern of surface proteins. These results suggest that B. abortus field strains, isolated from cattle in Korea, possess various virulence properties and higher internalization ability of field strain may have an important role for its virulence expression.

Members of the genus Brucella are facultative intracellular bacteria and cause brucellosis, a chronic disease in humans and abortion in animals. In this study, we tested sera for brucellosis of 15 Hanwoo farms in the western part of Gyeong-buk province, resulting 5 farms were brucellosis positive in 2008. We collected blood from 277 heads in the brucellosis positive 5 farms, and performed serological diagnosis, brucella positive cattle which had shown higher than 200 antibody titer in tube agglutination test were slaughtered, supramammary lymph nodes were collected, and Brucella spp. wild type isolation and identification were performed. From these results, 15 of Brucella spp. wild type strains were isolated and all strains were identified as B. abortus biotype 1 by biological and molecular analysis. In the antimicrobial susceptibility test, all 15 strains had a similar susceptibility and resistance pattern. This study may be useful for bacteriological and epidemiological understanding of cattle brucellosis in Korea.

Akabane disease is caused by an arthropod-borne viral pathogen and leads congenital abnormalities of the central nervous system in infected ruminants. One isolate, KV0505, showed cytopathic effect in Vero cells. The KV0505 isolate was obtained from plasma, which was collected from a cattle raised on Jeju Island in May 2005. Jeju Island is located near the southern part of the Korean peninsula. The isolate was confirmed as Akabane virus (AKAV) by immunofluorescence assay using AKAV specific monoclonal antibodies and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Suckling mice inoculated with the isolate showed signs of paralysis and died within 10 days post-inoculation. Comparisons of the KV0505 N gene sequence with 39 other known AKAV strains revealed nucleotide homologies ranging from 83.6% (MP496 strain) to 99.7% (M171 strain). When compared with the K-9 strain, which was isolated from a cow in Korea in 1994, the nucleotide sequence homology with the N gene was 99.7%. Thus, genes of the KV0505 isolate were closely related to those of the M171 strain, which were clustered into the Ic group of AKAV.

This study was carried out to determine the effects of beta-carotene on the control of mastitis in dairy cows during the dry period. The relationship between the levels of plasma beta-carotene and the status of udder health in Holstein dairy cows were investigated. Blood samples were collected from 117 cows to compare the levels of plasma beta-carotene in lactating cows. The levels of plasma beta-carotene were 1.82 micro gram/ml in healthy cows(n=65) and 1.12 micro gram/ml in mastitic cows(n=52), respectively(p0.01). In the experiment to compare the level of plasma beta-caroten in the cows at different stages of lactation, the plasma beta-carotene levels were 1.73 micro gram/ml in lactating cows(n

Cytogenetic and hematological analysis was performed in peripheral blood of cattle in the vicinity of Uljin nuclear power station and control area. The frequency of micronuclei(MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from cattle was used as a biomarker of radiobiological effects resulting from exposure to environmental radiation. An estimated dose of radiation was calculated by a best fitting linear-quadratic model based on the radiation-induced MN formation from the bovine lymphocytes exposed in vitro to radiation over the range from 0 Gy to 4 Gy.

Torque teno virus (TTV), a species of Anellovirus, is a non-enveloped single stranded DNA virus with a wide range of animal hosts. The incidence of TTV is quite ubiquitous throughout the world. A total of 235 serum samples obtained from 137 pigs and 98 cattle at slaughterhouses in Korea during April 2005 to May 2005 were tested by TTV-specific PCR as to monitor prevalence of TTV among swine and cattle. As a result, the prevalent rates of TTVs in pigs and cattle were 43.1% and 4.1%, respectively. It seems that TTV infection is quite prevalent in swine population.

In korea, burial is the most common method of disposing animal carcasses culled due to brucellosis infection. However, burial has many disadvantages such as shortage of appropriate burial sites, possibile pollution of ground water supply, and negative view of the public. In this study, we have reviewed 3 legal methods for disposing bovine carcasses, which are burial, incineration, and rendering. We also described the overall process, advantages and disadvantages, and required costs for each method. About 75% of bovine brucellosis outbreak farms had less than 3 reactors, and in our study, rendering required the least amount of cost for farms with a small number of reactors (1-3 heads). Our findings suggest that the use of rendering should be encouraged for farms with bovine brucellosis and other methods considered only if rendering is inappropriate.

The present study describes an investigation on an epidemic of Tuberculosis (TB) which has been occurred among dairy cattle farms in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do since 2007. The investigation was performed in three ways as follows: 1. Collecting information about bovine TB outbreaks using investigation reports, an on-the-spot and tracing-back investigations; 2. Analyzing the outbreak pattern; 3. Establishing hypothesis and performing statistical analysis on potential risk factors. In the early 2000s, TB outbreaks were sporadically reported in beef cattle, and only a small number (1~2) of reactors was confirmed in each of outbreak farms. The number of TB outbreaks has been suddenly increased from 2007, mainly in dairy cattle farms. And these outbreaks were temporarily clustered during the period, from March 2007 to April 2009 (relative risk, RR=13.7, p less than 0.001). And two spatial clusters of which radiuses were 0.3 km (RR=6.9, p less than 0.001) and 0.9 km (RR=3.6, p less than 0.01). The analysis to find risk factors was performed on 99 dairy farms (21 outbreaks), which are located in the most seriously affected village during 2007-2009. Middleman (odds ratio, OR=47.4, p less than 0.05) and raw milk collecting system (OR=6.9, p less than 0.05) were recognized as with the highest association. Considering the fact that all the outbreak farms except one had their own manure composting tank, it might be that the manure containing pathogen was leaked from tank and transmitted to other farms by fomites such as middleman or raw milk collecting system.

We report the electrocution of Korean native cattle by a fallen electric wire, which caused the death of thirteen animals. The owner of the cattle felt an electric shock on touching the steel pen and found a fallen 220-V wire on the roof of the barn; additionally, the roof was singed. Clinically, the animals developed spasm, difficulty breathing, and excessive salivation. Histopathologically, many visceral organs revealed severe congestion or hemorrhage, which is consistent with previous reports. This study revealed that the proper installation of electric wires on farms is essential to prevent economic loss by electrocution.