A clinical field trial was performed to determine the effectiveness of an autogenous Salmonella Typhimurium bacterin compared with a commercial live S. Choleraesuis vaccine in pigs. The association between Salmonella shedding and weight gain was also investigated. Nine cohorts of weaned pigs, (330 to 350 pigs per cohort), were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups (injection with S. Typhimurium bacterin, vaccination via water with S. Choleraesuis vaccine, or a control group receiving no vaccine). In each cohort, the average daily gain was calculated for a selected pen throughout the production stage. Pen (pooled) fecal samples were collected bi-weekly and cultured. The odds of Salmonella shedding in both vaccinated groups was higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). The prevalence of Salmonella shedding declined overall as pigs aged (P = 0.04). However, the control pigs showed the smallest decrease in Salmonella shedding over the entire production stage, while prevalence of Salmonella shedding in the vaccinated groups decreased twice as much as the control group over the entire production stage. Salmonella Typhimurium var. Copenhagen DT104, S. Cerro, and S. Agona, which had been isolated on the study farm previously, were recovered from pigs in this study. Shedding of S. Typhimurium var. Copenhagen decreased over time in both vaccine treatment groups. On the other hand, S. Cerro shedding rate was lower in the control pigs compared with vaccinated pigs and S. Agona could be recovered only from the samples collected from S. Choleraesuis vaccinated pigs. The pigs from pens with a higher Salmonella recovery rate experienced slower growth compared with pigs from pens where Salmonella was not isolated. This latter finding indicates that there might be an economic incentive for producers to try to control endemic salmonellosis if effective programs could be developed.

The molecular diversity of the gene encoding the outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of Haemophilus parasuis has been unclear. In this study, the structural characteristics, sequence types, and genetic diversity of ompA were investigated in 15 H. parasuis reference strains of different serovars and 20 field isolates. Three nucleotide lengths of the complete open reading frame (ORF) of ompA were found: 1098 base pairs (bp), 1104 bp, and 1110 bp. The OmpA contained 4 hypervariable domains, mainly encoding the 4 putative surface-exposed loops, which makes it a potential molecular marker for genotyping. Western blot analysis showed that the recombinant OmpAs of serovars 4 and 5 could cross-react with antiserum to all 15 serovars. Hence, although ompA of H. parasuis exhibited high variation among serovars, this variation did not seem to affect the strong antigenic characteristics of OmpA.

The objective of this study was to determine the capsular serotypes and potential virulence factors of Streptococcus suis isolated from pigs with polyserositis. Among the 24 isolates evaluated, serotype 3 [7 (29%) of the isolates] and serotype 4 [5 (21%)] were the most common. The isolates were also studied for the presence of the genes mrp, epf, and sly, which encode muramidase-released protein (MRP), extracellular factor (EF), and suilysin (SLY), respectively. Of the 24 isolates, 8 carried mrp: 4 of serotype 3, 2 of serotype 2, and 2 of serotype 4. One mrp+ isolate (serotype 2) also carried the epf gene. All 24 isolates carried the sly gene. The serotype and genotype distribution greatly differed from that reported for isolates from pigs with other clinical manifestations of S. suis infection in other countries.

The objective of this study was to investigate the short-term cardiovascular effects of intravenous (IV) medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl (MMF) injections in the rabbit using vascular ultrasonography and echocardiography.Anesthesia with MMF was induced intramuscularly (IM) in 8 female New Zealand White rabbits before 3 defined bolus injections of MMF were given IV. Before and for 10 min after each MMF injection the following vascular variables [at the left common carotid artery (ACC) after the first injection and at the abdominal aorta (AA) after the second injection]: vessel diameter (D), peak systolic, minimum diastolic, end-diastolic and average blood flow velocities (psBFV, mdBFV, edBFV, Vave), average volumetric flow (VFave), resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) and other clinical variables: mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), peripheral arterial oxygen saturation and end-tidal CO2 were recorded. Echocardiography was used after the third injection to investigate changes in cardiac parameters. Additionally, hemodynamic effects were observed at the ACC after complete subcutaneous antagonism of anesthesia by atipamezole-flumazenil-naloxone (AFN) until recovery of the animals. Medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl IV caused a significant decrease of blood flow velocity in both investigated vessels which was associated with a significant decrease of HR and cardiac performance indicated by the decrease of FS and average volumetric blood flow. Mean arterial pressure significantly increased after each MMF injection; whereas, it significantly decreased after AFN injection. Therefore, MMF and AFN should be carefully used in rabbits and may not be suitable in patients with ventricular dysfunction.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of Rocky Mountain elk in North America. Recent studies suggest that tissue and blood mineral levels may be valuable in assessing TSE infection in sheep and cattle. The objectives of this study were to examine baseline levels of copper, manganese, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and molybdenum in the brains of Rocky Mountain elk with differing prion genotypes and to assess the association of mineral levels with CWD infection. Elk with leucine at prion position 132 had significantly lower magnesium levels than elk with 2 copies of methionine. Chronic wasting disease-positive elk had significantly lower magnesium than control elk. The incorporation of manganese levels in addition to magnesium significantly refined explanatory ability, even though manganese alone was not significantly associated with CWD. This study demonstrated that mineral analysis may provide an additional disease correlate for assessing CWD risk, particularly in conjunction with genotype.

Ticks collected from domestic cats (Felis catus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), caracals (Caracal caracal), African wild cats (Felis lybica), black-footed cats (Felis nigripes), a serval (Leptailurus serval), lions (Panthera leo), and leopards (Panthera pardus) were identified and counted. Thirteen species of ixodid ticks and one argasid tick were identified from domestic cats and 17 species of ixodid ticks from wild felids. The domestic cats and wild felids harboured 11 ixodid species in common. The adults of Haemaphysalis elliptica, the most abundant tick species infesting cats and wild felids, were most numerous on a domestic cat in late winter and in mid-summer, during 2 consecutive years. The recorded geographic distribution of the recently described Haemaphysalis colesbergensis, a parasite of cats and caracals, was extended by 2 new locality records in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.

The present study concerned with Listeria monocytogenes which were isolated from apparently healthy buffaloes, buffaloes suffered from abortion, bedding and silage, which were collected from different localities. From the total examined samples (375), (300 samples from apparently healthy buffaloes, bedding and silage, also 75 samples from buffaloes suffered from abortion , bedding and silage) the prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 11(14.7%), isolates from buffaloes suffered from abortion, bedding and silage. All isolates were motile at room temperature, also exhibited positive CAMP test and exhibited narrow zone of β-hemolysis. Serological identification of isolates revealed 6(54.5%) were serotype 4 while 5(45.5%) were untyped. There were differences in isolates susceptibilities to different anti-microbial agents. L. monocytogenes had 100% sensitivity to Ampicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline and ceftiofur sodium. Virulence of isolates was assayed by I/P inoculation of 109 CFU in mice, all inoculated mice died within 1-5 days. PCR assay for L. monocytogenes isolates revealed positive amplification of 827 bp fragment of act A gene.

This study was carried out to evaluate the immunomodulating effects of, inactivated cells of Propionibacterium acnes and cell wall lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the a pathogenic E. coli (INMUNAIR® 17.5) 0.5ml/ L and 1-3, 1-6 β-glucans (BETAPOLO®) 1 ml / L on the immune response of chickens to Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine. The results showed that administration of IMR before vaccination was resulted in food conversion rate (FCR) higher than after vaccination . Significantly higher NDV HI antibody titers in IMR and Betapolo medicated groups as compared with control groups which in turn induce high protection rate in challenge test .Thymus, spleen and bursal indices of control negative showed significantly lower values than vaccinated medicated and non- vaccinatedmedicated groups (P≤ 0.05).

The present study was designed to determine the effect of the antioxidants; taurine, ascorbic acid '' AA '' and beta-mercaptoethanol '' β-ME '' separately or in combination, on reproductive performance of adult male rats suffering from cadmium chloride "CdCl2" - induced oxidative stress. A total of 180 mature male Albino rats were equally divided into 9 groups; the rats of the 1st were administered distilled water while those of the 2nd group were administered 1/100 LD50 of CdCl2. Rats of the remaining groups were administered 1/100 LD50 of CdCl2 followed 3 days later by 1 / 50 LD50 of either taurine, AA and β-ME or a combination of AA and taurine, AA or β-ME, taurine and β-ME as well as AA, taurine and β-ME, respectively for 2 successive months. The results revealed that application of CdCl2 for 8 successive weeks decreased pituitary and serum levels of gonadotropins (gametogenic hormone”FSH” and interstitial cell stimulating hormone “ICSH”) as well as serum testosterone “T” level, altered semen quality, and decreased serum level of total antioxidant capacity with increased serum malondialdhyde "MDA" level. On the other side, application of different antioxidants to CdCl2 –induced oxidative stress increased pituitary and serum levels of gonadotropins and serum level of T as well as improved semen quality, increased serum level of total antioxidant capacity and decreased serum level of MDA. In addition, the best improvement in male reproductive performance was achieved after administration of AA and taurine separately or in combination while the least improvement was obtained when β-ME was applied alone.

A total of 90 one-day-old male broiler chicks were fed on balanced ration for 15 days and then divided into 3 equal groups. Control group fed ration probiotic free, group 2 and 3 fed ration supplemented with probiotic at concentration levels 0.5 and 1.0g/kg ration respectively for 4 weeks.It was found that probiotic improve body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Relative organs weights were not altered in groups of birds fed ration mixed with probiotic. Serum values of biochemical parameter (AST, ALT, ALP, total protein, A/G ratio, Ph) were not significantly changed in comparison to control group. Probiotic enhance the immune response of broiler chickens in a dose dependent relation as documented by increasing the serumNDHI antibody geometric mean titres to ND vaccine, phagocyte percentage and phagocytic index of peripheral blood monocyte of broiler chickens. We concluded that probiotic composed of 3 strains of bacteria (Pediococcus acidilactici, Pediococaoccus pentosaceus and Bacillus Amylolique- faciens) in addition to 2 strains of yeast( Pichia farinose and Dekera anomala ) enhance body weight gain, feed conversion, growth performance and Newcastle disease antibody titres in broiler chickens. Moreover, probiotic was safe as proved by serum biochemical profile and relative organ weight of male broiler chickens.