Foram revisados os dados de 138 equinos com laminite, atendidos no período de dez anos. Destes, 48 casos de laminite crônica foram selecionados com o objetivo de relacionar a recuperação clínica dos cavalos com a utilização de dois métodos diferentes de distribuição de apoio sobre os cascos: palmilha de isopor e palmilha de isopor associada ao ferrageamento. Os cavalos foram divididos de acordo com a recuperação clínica, método de distribuição de apoio escolhido e grau de rotação da terceira falange. Também foi estabelecido o tempo médio de tratamento. Considerando os graus de rotação 3 a 5, 6 a 8, 9 a 11 e acima de 11, e comparados os dois métodos de distribuição de apoio sobre os cascos, não foi observada diferença estatística na porcentagem de animais com recuperação clínica. Contudo, dos animais que utilizaram palmilha de isopor, 43,5 ± 14% recuperaram-se clinicamente, e nos que utilizaram palmilha de isopor associada ao ferrageamento, obteve-se 69,5 ± 19% de recuperação clínica. Não houve correlação entre o aumento do grau de rotação da terceira falange e tempo de tratamento. Também a recuperação clínica dos animais não teve relação com tempo de tratamento. A literatura correlaciona vários fatores ao prognóstico, porém, neste trabalho demonstrou-se que a o retorno à função anteriormente exercida pelo cavalo não está relacionado ao tempo de tratamento, contudo, sofre influência da utilização do método de ferrageamento. | Data from 138 horses with laminitis treated in the period of ten years were reviewed. Of these, 48 cases of chronic laminitis were selected in order to relate the clinical recovery of horses using two different methods of distribution of body weight on the hooves: foam pad and foam pad associated with shoeing. The horses were divided according to clinical recovery, the weight distribution method chosen and degree of rotation of the third phalange. Also the average time of treatment was established. Considering the degrees of rotation 3-5, 6-8, 9-11 and above 11, and comparing the two methods of distribution of body weight on the hooves, there was no statistical difference in the percentage of animals with clinical recovery. However, 43.5 ± 14% of horses that used foam pad and 69,5 ± 19% of them that used foam pad associated with shoeing recovered clinically. There was no correlation between the increase of the degree of rotation of the third phalanx and treatment time. Clinical recovery of animals was not related to treatment time. Several factors are correlated with prognosis in the literature, but this study demonstrated that the return of the function previously performed by the horse is not related to treatment time, however, is influenced by the use of shoeing.

A imunodeficiência viral felina e a leucemia viral felina representam importantes doenças infecciosas causadas por retrovírus. O presente estudo teve por objetivos investigar a sorofrequência da infecção pelo vírus da imunodeficiência felina (FIV) e pelo vírus da leucemia felina (FeLV) em gatos provenientes do município de Araçatuba, Estado de São Paulo. Amostras de sangue de 302 gatos foram colhidas e testadas quanto à presença de anticorpos antivírus da imunodeficiência felina e do antígeno do vírus da leucemia felina por meio do ELISA Snap-Combo®FIV-FeLV (IDEXX Laboratories). A frequência de positividade para FIV foi de 5,63% (17/302) e para FeLV de 0,33% (1/302). Dos 17 gatos infectados pelo FIV, nove (52,94%) eram sintomáticos. Houve um predomínio da infecção pelo FIV em machos (p = 0,0316) e em gatos com idade variando entre um e três anos (p = 0,0324). | Feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia represent important infectious diseases caused by retroviruses. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of infection by feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) in cats from the municipality of Araçatuba, São Paulo. Blood samples from 302 cats were collected and tested for the presence of antibodies against feline immunodeficiency virus and antigen of feline leukemia virus by ELISA ® Snap-Combo FIV-FeLV (IDEXX Laboratories). The frequency of FIV positivity was 5.63% (17/302) and of FeLV was 0.33% (1/302). Of the 17 cats infected with FIV, nine (52.94%) were symptomatic. There was a prevalence of FIV infection in males (p = 0.0316) and cats aged between one and three years (p = 0.0324).

Despite many studies regarding tick ecology, limited information on long-term changes in tick populations exist. This study assessed the long-term population dynamics of the less frequently collected questing ixodid ticks in the Kruger National Park (KNP). From 1988 to 2002, monthly dragging of the vegetation was performed in three habitats (grassland, woodland and gully) at two sites in the KNP (Nhlowa Road, Landscape Zone 17, and Skukuza, Landscape Zone 4). Amblyomma marmoreum and Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi were collected as larvae most commonly. Most A. marmoreum larvae were collected at Skukuza and numbers peaked from March to July. More R. evertsi evertsi larvae were collected at Nhlowa Road and numbers peaked in summer and in winter, while at Skukuza there was a single peak in spring. Haemaphysalis elliptica, Rhipicephalus simus and Rhipicephalus turanicus were collected as adults most commonly. More Ha. elliptica and R. turanicus were collected at Nhlowa Road than at Skukuza, while R. simus numbers from the two sites were approximately equal. Ha. elliptica were collected most often between February and June, and R. simus and R. turanicus during February and March. All three species were collected more frequently in gullies than in grassland or woodland. Their numbers increased in 1994/1995 following an eruption of rodents, the preferred hosts of the immature stages. The different host-seeking strategies of ticks largely determine the development stage at which they are likely to be collected during vegetation dragging and reflect a complex interaction between ticks, their hosts and the environment.

Bluetongue (BT), a disease that affects mainly sheep, causes economic losses owing to not only its deleterious effects on animals but also its associated impact on the restriction of movement of livestock and livestock germplasm. The causative agent, bluetongue virus (BTV), can occur in the semen of rams and bulls at the time of peak viraemia and be transferred to a developing foetus. The risk of the transmission of BTV by bovine embryos is negligible if the embryos are washed according to the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) protocol. Two experiments were undertaken to determine whether this holds for ovine embryos that had been exposed to BTV. Firstly, the oestrus cycles of 12 ewes were synchronised and the 59 embryos that were obtained were exposed in vitro to BTV-2 and BTV-4 at a dilution of 1 x 102.88 and 1 x 103.5 respectively. In the second experiment, embryos were recovered from sheep at the peak of viraemia. A total of 96 embryos were collected from BTV-infected sheep 21 days after infection. In both experiments half the embryos were washed and treated with trypsin according to the IETS protocol while the remaining embryos were neither washed nor treated. All were tested for the presence of BTV using cell culture techniques. The virus was detected after three passages in BHK-21 cells only in one wash bath in the first experiment and two unwashed embryos exposed to BTV-4 at a titre of 1 x 103.5. No embryos or uterine flush fluids obtained from viraemic donors used in the second experiment were positive for BTV after the standard washing procedure had been followed. The washing procedure of the IETS protocol can thus clear sheep embryos infected with BTV either in vitro or in vivo.

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB), a chronic disease of mammals caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a threat to South African wildlife. It has been reported that African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) are reservoir hosts of BTB in South African wildlife populations. This study reports on the molecular identification and typing of 31 M. bovis isolates collected between 1993 and 2008, mainly from buffaloes but also from two lions and a bush pig, in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) in KwaZulu-Natal. To study the dynamics of BTB in the buffalo populations, 28 M. bovis isolates from the HiP and epidemiologically related parks were characterised using regions of difference deletion analysis for species identification and spoligotyping, variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR), polymorphic G–C-rich sequences and IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genotyping methods. At least three distinct M. bovis genotypes were found amongst HiP samples. The combination of VNTR typing (using a 16-loci panel) and IS6110 RFLP revealed the presence of three additional genetic profiles in individual buffaloes, demonstrating that the highest level of discrimination was achieved by these typing methods. One of the observed spoligotypes (SB0130) was dominant and represented 75% of isolates from buffaloes. A novel M. bovis spoligotype (SB1474), which is reported for the first time in this study, was observed in 14.3% of isolates from buffaloes. Based on the observed genetic relationships, the findings suggest independent introductions from at least three unrelated sources. These findings improve the knowledge regarding the diversity of circulating M. bovis strains in the HiP.

Free-range rural chickens (FRCs) dominate the poultry industry in developing countries and chickens are exposed to multi-host infections, including Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The knowledge about the characteristics of NDV from FRCs is limited. This study investigated the persistence, spread and risks of NDV from FRCs. NDV isolates (n = 21) from unvaccinated FRCs in Tanzania were characterised by conventional intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) and sequence analysis of a partial region of the deduced fusion protein encompassing the cleavage site. Results showed that five isolates were screened as lentogenic, nine as mesogenic and six as velogenic. Phylogenetic analysis of the 21 isolates compared to reference sequences revealed three, four, nine and five isolates in genotypes 1, 2, 3c and 4a, respectively. Genotype 3c also included published sequences of Tanzanian isolates obtained from exotic birds and chicken isolates from Uganda. The analysis showed that NDV were persistently present among chicken populations and possibly spread through live chicken markets or migration of wild birds. Differences in amino acid sequences detected around the cleavage site separated the isolates in six types. However, cleavage site pattern could not fully differentiate mesogenic isolates from velogenic isolates.

Several studies on ticks infesting small mammals, including elephant shrews, have been conducted in South Africa; however, these studies have included only a single four-toed elephant shrew and no hedgehogs. This study thus aimed to identify and quantify the ixodid ticks infesting four-toed elephant shrews and Southern African hedgehogs. Four-toed elephant shrews (Petrodromus tetradactylus) were trapped in dense shrub undergrowth in a nature reserve in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal. They were separately housed, first in cages and later in glass terraria fitted with wire-mesh bases to allow detached ticks to fall through for collection. Southern African hedgehogs (Atelerix frontalis) were hand caught on a farm in the eastern region of the Northern Cape Province and all visible ticks were collected by means of tweezers while the animals were anaesthetised. The ticks from each animal were preserved separately in 70% ethanol for later identification and counting. The immature stages of five ixodid tick species were collected from the elephant shrews, of which Rhipicephalus muehlensi was the most common. It has not been recorded previously on any species of elephant shrew. Three ixodid tick species were collected from the hedgehogs. Large numbers of adult Haemaphysalis colesbergensis, which has not been encountered previously on hedgehogs, were collected from these animals. Four-toed elephant shrews are good hosts of the larvae and nymphs of R. muehlensi, and Southern African hedgehogs are good hosts of adult H. colesbergensis.

Despite its important role as vector for African horse sickness virus (AHSV), very little information is available on the dissemination of this virus in Culicoides (Avaritia) imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). This study reports on the applicability of a real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to detect AHSV in dissected midges. A total of 96 midges were fed on AHSV-infected blood, after which one test group was dissected into head/thorax and abdomen segments immediately after feeding and the other only after 10 days of incubation. The majority of the midges (96%) ingested the virus successfully and there was no significant difference between the virus concentration in the heads/thoraxes and the abdomens immediately after feeding. After incubation, virus was detected in 51% of the midges and it was confined to the abdomen in the majority of these. The fact that virus was detected only in the heads/thoraxes of four Culicoides midges after incubation suggests the presence of a mesenteronal escape barrier. Replication in the salivary glands was not shown. An increase of the mean virus concentration in the abdomen after incubation indicates localised viral replication. The real-time RT-qPCR is recommended for further studies investigating the replication and dissemination of AHSV in Culicoides midges.

The study aimed to assess the long-term population dynamics of questing Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus zambeziensis in two landscape zones of the Kruger National Park (KNP). Ticks were collected by dragging the vegetation monthly in three habitats (grassland, woodland and gully) at two sites in the KNP (Nhlowa Road and Skukuza) from August 1988 to March 2002. Larvae were the most commonly collected stage of both species. More R. appendiculatus were collected at Nhlowa Road than at Skukuza, with larvae being most abundant from May to August, while nymphs were most abundant from August to December. Larvae were most commonly collected in the gullies from 1991 to 1994, but in the grassland and woodland habitats from 1998 onwards. Nymphs were most commonly collected in the grassland and woodland. More R. zambeziensis were collected at Skukuza than at Nhlowa Road, with larvae being most abundant from May to September, while nymphs were most abundant from August to November. Larvae and nymphs were most commonly collected in the woodland and gullies and least commonly in the grassland (p 0.01). The lowest numbers of R. appendiculatus were collected in the mid-1990s after the 1991/1992 drought. Rhipicephalus zambeziensis numbers declined after 1991 and even further after 1998, dropping to their lowest levels during 2002. The changes in numbers of these two species reflected changes in rainfall and the populations of several of their large herbivore hosts, as well as differences in the relative humidity between the two sites over time.

Intestinal contents were collected from eight impala at three different localities during the winter hunting season (2005–2009), as well as from another 24 animals from a one-year trial at a game farm called Ditholo (2003–2004). Gas production, protozoa counts and several other physiological parameters were measured from both rumen and caecum or colon contents. Only higher ophryoscolecid and Isotrichidae species of protozoa were counted and identified. Ostracodinium gracile was present in all 32 impala. Eudiplodinium maggii was present in 31 animals and Eudiplodinium impalae and Epidinium (either ecaudatum or caudatum) in 30 animals. Dasytricha ruminantium was present in only 11 of the impala. Concentrations of protozoa were correlated with the season of sample collection and highly correlated with the animals living on the game farm. Gas production (mL/g of wet rumen ingesta) was weakly correlated with protozoa concentration but not with the season of collection.