Each of twenty blood samples taken from apparently healthy Korean cows was used to produce five different mixtures of autologous plasma and blood corpuscles such that their values of packed cell volume(PCV) lay between 10 to 50ml/100ml. The measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR) using 45 degree-angled Wintrobe hematocrit tube, 3mm bore, (45deg C-Wintrobe-ESR) was practised for the blood of various levels of PCV lowered. Correlation of the ESR to PCV showed curvilinear regression each in three levels of PCV under the ambient temperature of 10deg C, 20deg C and 30deg C. Correlation of the ESR to the ambient temperature showed linear regression each in five levels of PCV. The ESR increased with ascending ambient temperature, and magnitude of the increase of the ESR became greater as the level of PCV lowered. Correlation of the ESR to PCV showed curvilinear regression each in three levels of the ambient temperature, and the ESR was increased with decreasing PCV. The data were statistically analysed and a list of relative anticipated 45deg C-Wintrobe-ESR values for PCV and ambient temperature was presented.

For the comparison of surface fine structures in the proliferative forms of two major protozoan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis species in mammalian hosts, isolated from the artificially infected mice and from the naturally infected cattle, respectively, an SEM(Hitachi S-570) was applied to the fixed, dried and coated with gold ion on the microslide glasses. The tachyzoites of T. gondii from the peritoneal cavity of the mouse showed the crescent-like feature and measured as 5.57 micro m in length and 2.33 micro m in width, while the bradyzoites of Sarcocystis species from the heart muscle of slaughtered cattle was banana-shaped and measured 14.18 micro m in length and 2.85 micro m in width. On the surface of Sarcocystis species bradyzoite, a distinct elliptical micropore was identified in the high magnification observation of 60,000X, and it measured as 0.35 micro m in length and 0.18 micro m in width.

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.