Pigs were inoculated with various strains of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) or with porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV), and antigenic site-specific antibody responses were compared. A blocking-ELSIA was used to study to what extent antibodies in convalescent sera interfered with the binding of monoclonal antibodies (MAB) 57.16 or 57.110 to the attenuated TGEV/Purdue virus. Monoclonal antibody 57.16 is directed against the A site on the peplomer, neutralizes virus, and recognizes TGEV and PRCV. Monoclonal antibody 57.110 is directed against the X site on the peplomer, but does not neutralize virus, and recognizes only TGEV. Antibodies directed against TGEV and PRCV could be detected in a blocking ELISA, using MAB 57.16 as a conjugate. Antibodies directed against both viruses were detectable as early as 1 week after inoculation. Antibody titers correlated well with those in a virus-neutralization test. Antibodies against TGEV could be detected in a blocking ELISA, using MAB 57.110 as a conjugate. Such antibodies were not induced by a PRCV infection. In the blocking ELISA, using MAB 57.110 as a conjugate, antibodies were detectable as early as 2 weeks after inoculation. There was a significant difference between antibody titers reached after infection with various TGEV strains, however. This difference is ascribed to a variation of the antigenic site defined by MAB 57.110 in TGEV strains. Conditions for a differential test for TGE serodiagnosis, and for serologic discrimination between TGEV- and PRCV-infected pigs, are discussed. It is concluded that by using a blocking ELISA with MAB 57.110, no definite distinction can be made between antibodies directed against TGEV and PRCV, because low antibody titers develop after infection with some TGEV strains, and because antibodies directed against antigenic sites that PRCV has in common with TGEV may interfere with the binding of MAB 57.110 to TGEV.

The purpose of the study reported here was to get detailed information about the normal size and texture of the liver in sheep by means of ultrasonographic examinations. Structure, location, and shape of the liver, gallbladder, portal vein, and caudal vena cava were examined ultrasonographically in 100 sheep. Furthermore, 10 sheep were scanned 10 times within 2 weeks to determine reproducibility of findings. Examinations were performed on the right side of the abdomen in the seventh through twelfth intercostal spaces. In each intercostal space, the dimensions of the liver, and, if visible, the location and diameter of the caudal vena cava and portal vein were determined. The angle of the liver, and location and size of the gallbladder also were determined. Ultrasonographic measurements of liver size and location in healthy sheep can be used as references for changes in liver size attributable to illness.

The duration of the incubation period for scrapie, a fatal transmissible neurodegenerative disorder of sheep and goats, is mainly determined by the Sip gene, which has 2 alleles (sA-susceptible and pA-resistant). A diagnostic test is not available to detect scrapie in live animals. We analyzed genomic DNA extracted from frozen sheep brains collected from Cheviot sheep of the United States that had been inoculated with the SSBP/1 scrapie inoculum. Digestion of the DNA with EcoRI or HindIII followed by the addition of a scrapie-associated fibril protein (PrP)-specific marker probe, yielded fragments of 6.8 (e1) and 4.0 (e3) kb, or 5.0 (h1) and 3.4 (h2) kb, respectively. Fragments e1 and h2 were associated with the histopathologic diagnosis of scrapie, and fragments e3 and h1 were associated with survival. A valine/alanine polymorphism within the PrP coding region that resulted in a BspHI site was further used to determine the genotype of these Cheviot sheep. Digestion of polymerase chain reaction fragments with BspHI resulted in an undigested fragment b- (0.840 kb), digested fragments b+ (0.460 and 0.380 kb), or both types of fragments. Survival time of b+/b+ homozygous sheep was significantly (P < 0.01) shorter (218 +/- 26.0 days) than survival time for b-/b- sheep (> 700 days after inoculation). Results indicated that b+ and b- are markers for the Sip sA and pA alleles, respectively. The intermediate duration of the incubation period for heterozygous sheep (b+/b-; 342.9 +/- 25.3 days) indicated that the Sip sA allele is expressed codominantly to the Sip pA allele.

Vascular patterns to thoracic limbs, thorax, and neck muscles were studied in 10 dogs (20 limbs) to identify muscles most suitable for transposition in the treatment of large wounds. Gross dissection of injected specimens and angiography were used to identify vascular pedicles. Size and location of pedicles were generally consistent, and any variations would not interfere with most muscle transfers. The cutaneous trunci, latissimus dorsi, sternothyroideus, sternohyoideus, deep pectoral, anconeus, ulnaris lateralis, and ulnar head of flexor carpi ulnaris muscles were identified as suitable for transfer. The cranial trapezius, caudal omotransversarius, cleidobrachialis, and caudal sternocephalicus muscles also had potential for use. Other muscles, because of inaccessibility or unfavorable vascular pattern, were not suitable candidates for transfer.

Tissues obtained from pigs inoculated with African swine fever virus (ASFV), fixed by vascular perfusion using glutaraldehyde, and embedded in paraffin or araldite were used for an immunohistologic electron microscopic study. To detect ASFV antigens, 4 methods were used on paraffin sections with or without pretreatment of the tissues. Use of biotinylated anti-ASFV antiserum combined with avidin -biotin complex and peroxidase proved to be the most suitable method, and antigen was detected in tissues infected with 2 ASF viruses of different virulence. Use of the glutaraldehyde fixation method should ensure optimal morphologic (structural and ultrastructural) data while allowing an immunohistologic study, and add to knowledge of the pathogenesis of ASF.

Polypeptides from whole cell preparations of Pasteurella multocida serotypes A:12 and A:3 were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose paper. Antigens were detected by immunoblot analysis, using sera from 3 groups of rabbits. Sera were obtained from rabbits inoculated intranasally with P multocida serotype A:12 or A:3, from rabbits maintained in a rabbitry with enzootic P multocida A:12 infection, and from rabbits maintained in a rabbitry with enzootic P multocida A:3 infection. Immunoblot analyses of pre- and postinoculation sera from experimentally infected rabbits, using serotype A:12 antigen, revealed 3 polypeptides with approximate molecular mass of 28, 30, and 37 kDa that consistently detected antibodies after P multocida-induced infection. Sera from rabbits naturally infected with either serotype, tested against serotype A:12 and A:3 antigens, detected the same polypeptides in both serotypes. Thus, immunologic reactivity to these polypeptides may be useful for serologic detection of P multocida infection.

Electrodes were surgically implanted at 15-cm intervals in the jejunum and ileum of 4 healthy neonatal calves so that myoelectric activity could be recorded on 2 consecutive days. On the first day, each calf received a control treatment, and myoelectric activity was recorded for 340 minutes. Phase I was recorded for a mean of 175.8 +/- 22.8 minutes (51.5%), phase II for 124 +/- 27.4 minutes (36.5%), and phase III for 40.3 +/- 6 minutes (11.9%). On the second day, each calf was treated with approximately 200 micrograms of heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) of Escherichia coli orally. All calves developed diarrhea after the administration of STa. Phase I was recorded for a mean of 92.5 +/- 42.3 minutes (27.2%), phase II for 227.3 +/- 52.5 minutes 66.9%), and phase III for 20.3 +/- 11.4 minutes (6.0%). Increase in phase II and decrease in phases I and III after STa administration were significant (P < 0.05). Duration of the migrating myoelectric complex was longer after STa administration (median, 64 minutes), compared with the control treatment (median, 54 minutes). Minute rhythms, recorded on the day of toxin administration, ranged from 49 to 153 minutes. There was no difference between the number of migrating action potential complexes on the control days (range, 1 to 10), compared with those on treatment days (range, 1 to 14). These findings are suggestive that enterotoxin-induced diarrhea of calves is accompanied by increased total spiking activity and minute rhythms in the distal portion of the jejunum and ileum.

Effect of fluoride was assessed on molars during and after mineralization. Two groups of 7 sheep each were dosed orally with 3.5 mg of fluoride/kg of body weight daily for 4 months (from 5 to 9 months after birth). Sheep of the first group were slaughtered immediately after fluoride administration; those of the second group were slaughtered 4 months later at the age of 13 months. Three control groups of 7 sheep each were slaughtered at 5 months (to determine the state of the teeth at the beginning of fluoride administration), and at 9 and 13 months. During fluoride administration, plasma fluoride concentration rapidly increased to about 0.50 micrograms/ml; after fluoride administration, it stabilized at 0.20 micrograms/ml in treated sheep, whereas controls had concentration of 0.10 micrograms/ml (P < 0.01). Parts of the molars that were in the process of mineralization during fluoride administration (mainly second molars) had thinning enamel, with pits, mainly close to the apex, marked decrease in hardness throughout the layer (< 100 Vickers U, compared with 240 Vickers U), and fluoride accumulation twice as high as that in controls (1,000 to 2,500 mg(kg [dry weight]). Fluoride accumulation was higher in dentine (2,700 to 4,200 mg/kg), but hardness was less affected. On parts of the molars that were already mineralized mostly, the first molar), changes in the appearance of enamel and cementum, decreased hardness (less important than in teeth during mineralization) affecting outer enamel more than inner enamel, high fluoride concentration (4,000 to 5,500 mg(kg [dry weight]) in outer enamel extending over 200 Km were observed. Thus, in sheep, fluoride has a substantial postsecretory effect that may be explained by a slower maturation phase of enamel in this species. Because molar wear is correlated to enamel hardness (dentine at the occlusal surface has low resistance--30 Vickers U), abnormal abrasion of molar teeth that have mineralized before and during fluoride intakes can be observed.

The microvascular circulation of the descending colon was studied in 5 adult horses, using microangiography and light microscopy combined with gross studies and scanning electron microscopy of vascular replicas. After heparinization, horses were euthanatized, and 3 segments of the descending colon and its mesentery containing 1 vascular arcade were removed from each horse. The fecal bars were gently massaged from the lumen, and the blood was flushed free of the circulation with isotonic NaCl. In 5 segments, the vascular system was injected with a modified radiopaque medium and evaluated radiographically. Specimens examined radiographically also were prepared for histologic examination, using standard methods. Ten segments were injected with 1 of 2 types of plastics and studied grossly or by scanning electron microscopy. Arcuate arteries gave rise to a descending colonic rete that surrounded the vein and supplied numerous descending colonic lymph nodes. The rete also supplied the mesocolon and the descending colonic tissue. Short filamentous vessels arising from the rete directly penetrated the mesenteric tenia to supply an intermuscular plexus between the longitudinal and circular muscle layers of the muscularis externa. Larger vessels arising from either side of the rete divided into the long- and short-terminal arteries that supplied an extensive submucosal plexus, which was continuous around the circumference. The submucosal plexus supplied the mucosa, the tunica muscularis, and the serosa. Vessels running centrifugally from the submucosal plexus formed an intermuscular plexus between the longitudinal and circular muscle layers of the muscularis externa. The intermuscular plexus at the mesenteric angle also was supplied by vessels branching from the short-terminal arteries as they penetrated the muscularis externa. At the antimesenteric tenia, the submucosal plexus gave rise to larger vessels that formed a subserosal loop. From this loop, 5 vessels penetrated the longitudinal muscle layer to contribute to the intermuscular plexus. Vessels within the longitudinal and circular muscles of the muscularis externa ran parallel to the muscle fibers and, consequently, perpendicular to each other. Arteries supplying the mucosa penetrated the muscularis mucosa and branched into a capillary network at the base of the descending colonic glands. These capillary networks anastomosed with the networks around adjacent glands at the luminal surface, forming a honeycomb-like pattern. Drainage was facilitated by more sparsely distributed venules that united with venules from adjacent areas and descended to the submucosal plexus. These veins were characterized by regular, helical, smooth muscle constrictions.

Membrane associated proteins from 8 untypeable Pasteurella haemolytica strains were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and compared with those of P haemolytica serotypes 1 and 2. Cattle antisera obtained from P haemolytica serotype 1 vaccine trials were used in immunoblotting assays to compare the membrane proteins from the 8 untypeable strains with those from P haemolytica serotypes 1 and 2. Densitometry was used to identify bands, and using linear regression analyses, the peak area optical densities (measuring antibody response) were correlated to lesion scores from the vaccinated calves. Significant antibody responses to proteins of 99, 69, 60, 55, 47, 45, 39, 33, 30, 16, and 14.5 kDa were detected for 4 or more of the 8 P haemolytica untypeable strains. Serotypes 1 and 2 of P haemolytica contained a comigrating 30-kDa protein. Antibody responses to proteins of 39, 33, and 32.5 kDa were significant for 3 of the untypeable strains and had significant correlation to lesion scores. Antibody responses to various other proteins were significant for 2 untypeable strains each.