The macroscopic features of the venous drainage of the reproductive system of the male ostrich were studied in six pre-pubertal and three sexually mature and active birds. Each testis was drained by one to four testicular veins. The right testicular veins drained the right testis and epididymis and its appendix to the caudal vena cava and to the right common iliac vein, whereas the left testicular veins drained the left testis and epididymis and its appendix exclusively to the left common iliac vein. A number of variations in the drainage pattern based on the point of entry and number of testicular veins were observed. The cranial aspect of the testis was also linked to the caudal vena cava or common iliac vein via the adrenal veins. The cranial, middle and caudal segments of the ductus deferens (and ureter) were drained by the cranial, middle and caudal ureterodeferential veins respectively, to the caudal testicular veins, the caudal renal veins and pudendal / caudal part of the internal iliac veins. In some specimens, the caudal ureterodeferential veins also drained into the caudal mesenteric vein. The surface of the phallus was drained by tributaries of the pudendal vein. The basic pattern of venous drainage of the reproductive organs of the male ostrich was generally similar to that described for the domestic fowl. However, important differences, including the partial fusion of the caudal renal veins, drainage of the cranial aspect of the testes via the adrenal veins, drainage of the caudal ureterodeferential veins into the caudal mesenteric vein and the presence of veins draining the surface of the phallus, were observed. Although significant, these differences may simply reflect variations in the normal pattern of venous drainage of the reproductive tract of birds which could be verified by studying more specimens and more species.

A Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) real-time reverse-transcription (rRT-PCR) assay was developed that distinguishes stains of South African and European highly pathogenic (HPAI) from low pathogenicity (LPAI) H5 avian influenza viruses in the absence of virus isolation, irrespective of the length of insertion at the hemagglutinin cleavage site (H0). The assay was used to pathotype H5-type viruses detected by rRT-PCR in ostrich tracheal swabs collected during the 2006 HPAI H5N2 outbreak in the Western Cape Province.

This work reports the first molecular analysis study of chicken anaemia virus (CAV) in backyard chickens in Africa using molecular cloning and sequence analysis to characterize CAV strains obtained from commercial chickens and Nigerian backyard chickens. Partial VP1 gene sequences were determined for three CAVs from commercial chickens and for six CAV variants present in samples from a backyard chicken. Multiple alignment analysis revealed that the 6 % and 4 % nucleotide diversity obtained respectively for the commercial and backyard chicken strains translated to only 2 % amino acid diversity for each breed. Overall, the amino acid composition of Nigerian CAVs was found to be highly conserved. Since the partial VP1 gene sequence of two backyard chicken cloned CAV strains (NGR/Cl-8 and NGR/Cl-9) were almost identical and evolutionarily closely related to the commercial chicken strains NGR-1, and NGR-4 and NGR-5, respectively, we concluded that CAV infections had crossed the farm boundary.

Previous studies have shown that crude extracts from Pavetta harborii as well as dried plant material have cardiotoxic effects on rats and sheep that can lead to heart failure. The active component has since been isolated and identified. This substance has been named pavetamine. The aim of this study was to determine whether pavetamine has cardiotoxic effects similar to those seen in previous reports, when administered to rats intraperitoneally. Sprague Dawley rats received two doses, initially 4 mg / kg and then 3 mg / kg pavetamine respectively and were monitored for 35 days before cardiodynamic parameters were measured by inserting a fluid-filled catheter into the left ventricle via the right carotid artery. These values were compared to those of control rats that had received only saline. Pavetamine significantly reduced systolic function and body mass in the treated rats, which indicates that it has the potential to induce heart failure in this animal model.

TURNBULLP, P.C.B. DIEKMANNM,M., KILIAN, J.W., VERSFELDW, W.,DE VOS, V., ARNTZENL, L.,WOLTER, K., BARTELS, P. & KOTZE, A. 2008.N aturally acquired antibodies to Bacillusa nthracisp rotective antigeni n vultureso f southern Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, T5:95-102 Sera from 19 wild caught vultures in northern Namibia and 15 (12 wild caught and three captive bred but with minimal histories) in North West Province, South Africa, were examined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbenats say( ELISA)f or antibodiesto the Bacillus anthracis toxin protective antigen (PA). As assessed from the baseline established with a control group of ten captive reared vultures with well-documented histories, elevated titres were found in 12 of the 19 (63%) wild caught Namibian birds as compared with none of the 15 South African ones. There was a highly significant difference between the Namibian group as a hole and the other groups (P < 0.001) and no significant difference between the South African and control groups (P > 0.05). Numbers in the Namibian group were too small to determine any significances in species-, sex- or age-related differences within the raw data showing elevated titres in four out of six Cape Vultures, Gyps coprotheress, six out of ten Whitebacked Vultures, Gyps africanus, and one out of three Lappet-faced Vultures, Aegypiust racheliotus, or in five of six males versus three of seven females, and ten of 15 adults versus one of four juveniles. The results are in line with the available data on the incidence of anthrax in northern Namibia and South Africa and the likely contact of the vultures tested with anthrax carcasses. lt is not known whether elevated titre indicates infection per se in vultures or absorption of incompletely digested epitopes of the toxin or both. The results are discussed in relation to distances travelled by vultures as determined by new tracking techniques, how serology can reveal anthrax activity in an area and the issue of the role of vultures in transmission of anthrax.

Malignant theileriosis of sheep is a highly fatal, acute or subacute disease is caused by the tick-borne protozoan parasite, Theileria hirci. In this investigation ten healthy male lambs aged 5-6 months were randomly divided into two groups, A and B and were kept in isolated tick-proof pens. They were treated for internal and external parasite before commencement of the experiment. The lambs were experimentally infected with T. hirci by placing ticks Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum infected with T. hirci on them. The ticks used in this survey had originally been isolated from sheep and colonies of them were established in an insectarium. Before and after infection rectal temperatures and clinical signs of the lambs were recorded, blood and prescapular lymph node smears were prepared and examined to determine the extent of the parasitaemia, and blood samples were analyzed to evaluate their haemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) rates. Three days after the commencement of a febrile reaction and appearance of the schizonts in the lymph node smears, treatment of the lambs in Group A with an extract containing the alkaloids of Peganum harmala (wild rue) was commenced. Group B lambs were kept untreated controls. Before treatment there were no significant differences in the rectal temperature, parasitaemia rate, and the Hb and PCV values between animals in the two groups but after treatment significant differences in these values was detected (P < 0.05). After treatment, the clinical signs and parasites in the lymph node smears of the animals in Group A disappeared and they all animals recovered. These parameters in the animals of Group B progressed until their death. Pathological studies showed the characteristic lesions of theileriosis in lambs in Group B, but not in Group A. The results indicate a therapeutic effect of the alkaloids of P. harmala for treatment of ovine malignant theileriosis.

The prevalence and geographic distribution of the fowl tampan, Argas walkerae Kaiser & Hoogstraal, 1969 was determined in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa by inspecting two fowl houses in the vicinity of each of 72 randomly selected communal cattle dip-tanks. Tampans were collected from 102 (70.8 %) of the 144 fowl houses in the neighbourhood of 57 (79.2 %) of the 72 selected dip-tanks, and the localities of the collections were mapped. Argas walkerae was present in fowl houses from the warm coastal regions of the Indian Ocean in the south to the cold and mountainous Drakensberg in the north-east of the Province. Taking into account the probable sensitivity of the sampling method, it is estimated that A. walkerae is likely to be present in fowl houses belonging to between 74 and 84 % of communities making use of cattle dip-tanks in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape Province, and that when it is present, between 64 and 75 % of fowl houses will be infested. The geographic distribution of A. walkerae seemed to be more strongly associated with the presence of fowls and fowl houses containing raw or processed wood in their structure than with climate.