The efficacy of GI24-lysed Brucella abortus cells as a vaccine candidate against brucellosis in goats was evaluated on 2 groups of Korean black goats. Group A goats were immunized subcutaneously (SC) with sterile phosphate-buffered saline, whereas group B goats were immunized SC with approximately 3 × 10(9) lysed B. abortus cells. Subcutaneous immunization with the lysed cells did not cause any negative impact on the overall clinical status, such as behavior and appetite, throughout the study period. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) optical densities values for B. abortus lipopolysaccharide in serum were considerably higher in group B than those in group A. Also, the levels of the cytokines interleukin 4 (IL-4), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) were significantly elevated in group B compared with those in group A. Following intraconjunctival challenge with B. abortus strain 544, the severity of brucellosis in terms of infection index and colonization of B. abortus in tissues was significantly lower in group B than in group A. The present study concluded that 3 of 5 goats immunized with GI24-lysed bacteria were completely protected against challenge. Future investigations are required to improve the protective efficacy offered by lysed B. abortus cells for practical applications in small ruminants.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether IV regional limb perfusion (IVRLP) and intraosseous regional limb perfusion (IORLP) of ceftiofur sodium resulted in clinically relevant drug concentrations in the synovial fluid of the tibiotarsal-tarsometatarsal joint of chickens (ie, an avian model) and to determine whether one of those techniques was superior to the other. ANIMALS 12 healthy adult hens. PROCEDURES Birds were randomly assigned to receive ceftiofur sodium (2 mg/kg) by the IVRLP (n = 4), IORLP (4), or IM (control; 4) route once daily for 6 consecutive days. Blood and tibiotarsal-tarsometatarsal synovial fluid samples were collected 15 minutes after ceftiofur administration on predetermined days for quantification of ceftiofur concentration. Plasma and synovial fluid ceftiofur concentrations were compared among the 3 groups. RESULTS All 4 birds in the IVRLP group developed mild to moderate bruising around the injection site, but this bruising did not prohibit completion of the prescribed treatment regimen. No adverse effects were observed in any of the other birds. The mean plasma and synovial fluid ceftiofur concentrations exceeded the therapeutic threshold for most common bacterial pathogens (> 1.0 μg/mL) at all sample acquisition times for all 3 groups. The mean synovial fluid ceftiofur concentration for the IVRLP group was significantly greater than that for the IORLP and control groups at all sample acquisition times. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that IVRLP may be a safe and effective technique for antimicrobial administration to birds with joint infections, contaminated wounds, pododermatitis, and other musculoskeletal infections of the distal aspect of a limb.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of high doses of orally administered levothyroxine sodium (LT4) on serum concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in euthyroid horses. ANIMALS 12 healthy adult horses. PROCEDURES 10 horses initially received water (vehicle) or 240 mg (5X treatment) or 480 mg (10× treatment) of LT4, and blood samples were collected at baseline (0 hours) and 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after treatment to measure serum T3 and T4 concentrations. Three horses then received 480 mg of LT4 for 14 days, and T4 concentration was measured on days 0, 14, 21, 28, and 35. Changes in T3 and T4 concentrations were compared over time and among treatments. RESULTS One-time administration of LT4 resulted in variable but significant increases in both T3 and T4 concentrations for up to 120 hours; however, T3 and T4 concentrations rarely exceeded reference intervals with either treatment. Prolonged administration of 480 mg of LT4 resulted in a 15-fold increase in T4 concentration after 14 days, but concentration returned to day 0 values within 21 days after LT4 administration was discontinued. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE In euthyroid horses, administration of a high dose of LT4 resulted in mild increases in thyroid hormone concentrations; however, prolonged administration of high doses of LT4 resulted in markedly increased thyroid hormone concentrations that returned to pretreatment values within 3 weeks after discontinuation of LT4 administration. These results indicated complex kinetics of LT4 and suggested a possible saturation of T4 excretion in euthyroid horses.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate effects of bite distance of an interlocking horizontal mattress epitendinous suture (IHMES) from the repair site on tensile strength of canine tendon repairs. SAMPLE 72 canine cadaveric superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs). PROCEDURES Transverse tenotomy was performed, and SDFTs were repaired with a locking-loop construct (LL construct) or 3 LL constructs with IHMES suture bites placed 5 (LL + 5ES construct), 10 (LL + 10ES construct), or 15 (LL + 15ES construct) mm from the transection site (18 SDFTs/group). Constructs were loaded to failure. Load at 1− and 3-mm gapping, yield force, failure load, and failure mode were evaluated. RESULTS Mean ± SD yield force and failure load for LL constructs were significantly lower than for IHMES constructs. Load at 1− and 3-mm gapping was significantly higher for IHMES constructs. Increasing the bite distance significantly increased construct strength (134.4 ± 26.1 N, 151.0 ± 16.8 N, and 182.1 ± 23.6 N for LL + 5ES, LL + 10ES, and LL + 15ES constructs, respectively), compared with strength for the LL construct. Failure mode differed significantly among constructs when an IHMES was used. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Addition of an IHMES to an LL construct led to increased ultimate tensile strength by 2.5 times and significantly reduced gap formation. Increasing the IHMES bite distance increased yield force by 2.1, 2.3, and 2.7 times for bites placed 5, 10, and 15 mm from the tenotomy, respectively. Positioning an IHMES at a greater distance from the repair site provided superior biomechanical strength for tendon repairs in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To provide an objective, quantitative morphometric description of the caudal cervical intervertebral disk (IVD) spaces of dogs. SAMPLE Vertebral specimens consisting of C4 through C7 from 5 medium-sized dogs. PROCEDURES CT images were obtained with the specimens positioned in neutral, flexion, extension, and lateral bending positions. Size and shape of the cranial and caudal end plates, angle between the end plates (IVD wedge angle), and craniocaudal distance (IVD width) between end plates for the 4 loading positions were measured and compared for the 3 segments (C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7). RESULTS End plate size and shape, IVD wedge angle, and IVD width were not significantly different among the 3 segments. Caudal cervical end plates were consistently larger than cranial cervical end plates. The IVD wedge angle ranged from −4.8° to 15.2°. Flexion induced a reduction in IVD width in the ventral portion of the IVD, whereas extension induced a decrease in width in the dorsal portion of the IVD. Central IVD width remained unchanged among the loading positions. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Unique morphometric and dynamic characteristics of the caudal cervical IVD space of dogs were detected. These findings may help investigators when designing IVD prostheses for dogs with cervical spondylomyelopathy.

Trypanosoma evansi is enzootic in camels in Egypt, and water buffaloes act as a reservoir for camel infection. Molecular techniques have contributed towards understanding the epidemiology of T. evansi. Trypanosoma evansi was detected in acute and chronic stages of the disease in male and female mice by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two primers. Two experiments were conducted. In experiment I, two groups consisting of 26 female and 26 male mice received 104 trypanosome by I/P inoculation for each mouse. In experiment II, 42 female and 42 male mice were inoculated I/P with 102 trypanosome/mouse. In addition, five mice were kept as uninfected control for each group. Mice were monitored daily for parasitaemia level during the pre-patent period using the micro-haematocrit centrifugation technique (MHCT) and conventional PCR. The primer pairs, (Trypanosoma brucei) TBR1/2 and TeRoTat1.2 (T. evansi Rode Trypanozoon antigen type [RoTat] 1.2), detected the infection after 24 hours earlier than MHCT in both experiments. The course of infection that was detected by MHCT revealed three waves of parasitaemia in female mice and two waves in male mice in the chronic stage of infection. In addition, PCR was able to detect T. evansi in different organs in the chronic stage (i.e. disappearance of parasite from blood). Application of the two primer sets on blood samples from camels showed that all samples were positive by TBR1/2 primers and only 32 of 44 were positive by TeRoTat1.2 primers. Acutely and chronically Trypanosoma-infected mice were detected by PCR in blood and organs. TBR1/2 primers were more sensitive than TeRoTat1.2 primers in detecting Trypanosoma-infected mice, and more reliable in detecting field-infected camels and excluding carrier animals.

Infectious diseases are serious constraints for improving livestock productivity. Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a virus causing grave economic losses throughout the cattle producing world. Infection is often not apparent, but the virus can also cause respiratory signs, diarrhoea, reproductive problems and immunosuppression. Risk factors for disease transmission include, but are not limited to, herd size, animal trade and grazing on communal pastures. Several prevalence studies have been conducted in southern Africa, but in Botswana the occurrence is largely unknown. In this study, blood samples were obtained from 100 goats from three villages around the capital city, Gaborone. Also, 364 blood samples from cattle around Gaborone, collected as part of another study, were analysed. The detected antibody prevalence was 0% in goats and 53.6% in cattle when using a competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay. Three animals from two different herds were positive for viral nucleic acids on polymerase chain reaction. The two herds with viraemic animals had significantly higher antibody prevalence compared to the other herds. Also, two of the detected viruses were sequenced and found to be most similar to BVDV-1a. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that sequencing has been performed on BVDV isolated in Botswana.

Clinical indicators such as diarrhoea (DISCO) or anaemia (FAMACHA©) are used as a measure for targeted selective treatments against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN). Enteric cestodes such as Moniezia may interfere directly with DISCO or indirectly with the FAMACHA© score. We investigated 821 Ouled Djellal rams naturally infected in a steppe environment (GIN alone, cestodes alone, GIN and cestodes) or not. The rams were treated with ivermectin 2 months before being slaughtered to reduce the impact of nematodes on the clinical scores; however, persistent or newly acquired GINs were not related to both scores. Of the non-infected rams (n = 296), 26% identified as needing treatment against GIN using the FAMACHA score, and 34.5% using DISCO would have been thus selected. This implies that the clinical indicators used for the targeted selective treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes are not fully reliable when a low infection is recorded and may well be influenced by confounding factors. As expected, only DISCO was affected by cestode infection, and we suggest that the presence of Moniezia should also be taken into consideration.

Lake Kariba is a tropical lake with slight variations in seasonal temperature. Temperature is an important physical variable in the biology of both fish and their parasites. Currently, there is no information on the seasonal occurrence of fish parasites in Lake Kariba. The objective of this study was to investigate the seasonal occurrence of metazoan parasites in Hydrocynus vittatus in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Twenty fish specimens were collected by seine netting per season between October 2014 and July 2015 in the Sanyati Basin, Lake Kariba, and examined for metazoan parasites. Mean water temperatures ranged from 24.1 °C to 31.2 °C with slight variations between the seasons. Metazoan parasites consisting of Monogenea (Annulotrema pikei, Annulotrema pseudonili, Annulotrema bracteatum), Nematoda (Contracaecum larvae), Copepoda (Lamproglena hemprichii), Cestoda (larval cestodes, Ichthybothrium sp.) and Pentastomida (pentastomid larvae) were recorded. Larval cestodes were recorded in autumn and spring, while pentastome larvae were recorded in summer and spring. The Ichthybothrium sp. was recorded once in winter. Annulotrema pikei and A. pseudonili were observed on the gills and A. bracteatum on both the gills and the skin. Contracaecum larvae, L. hemprichii and A. bracteatum (from the skin) were recorded in all the seasons, with slight variations in prevalence, mean abundance and mean intensity. However, these variations were not statistically significant (analysis of variance or ANOVA, p > 0.05). The slight variations in occurrence of the parasites were probably because of the thermal stability of the lake where variation in temperature was small between seasons. Both A. bracteatum and Contracaecum larvae were aggregated on the fish host, whereas L. hemprichii exhibited a random distribution. Parasite diversity was at its highest during winter.

Peste des petits ruminant (PPR) is a highly contagious, infectious viral disease of small ruminant species which is caused by the peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), the prototype member of the Morbillivirus genus in the Paramyxoviridae family. Peste des petits ruminant was first described in West Africa, where it has probably been endemic in sheep and goats since the emergence of the rinderpest pandemic and was always misdiagnosed with rinderpest in sheep and goats. Since its discovery PPR has had a major impact on sheep and goat breeders in Africa and has therefore been a key focus of research at the veterinary research institutes and university faculties of veterinary medicine in Africa. Several key discoveries were made at these institutions, including the isolation and propagation of African PPR virus isolates, notable amongst which was the Nigerian PPRV 75/1 that was used in the scientific study to understand the taxonomy, molecular dynamics, lineage differentiation of PPRV and the development of vaccine seeds for immunisation against PPR. African sheep and goat breeds including camels and wild ruminants are frequently infected, manifesting clinical signs of the disease, whereas cattle and pigs are asymptomatic but can seroconvert for PPR. The immunisation of susceptible sheep and goats remains the most effective and practical control measure against PPR. To carry out PPR vaccination in tropical African countries with a very high temperature, a thermostable vaccine using the rinderpest lyophilisation method to the attenuated Nigeria 75/1 PPR vaccine strain has been developed, which will greatly facilitate the delivery of vaccination in the control, prevention and global eradication of PPR. Apart from vaccination, other important questions that will contribute towards the control and prevention of PPR need to be answered, for example, to identify the period when a susceptible naïve animal becomes infectious when in contact with an infected animal and when an infectious animal becomes contagious.