Objective—To investigate the effects of acepromazine maleate and morphine on aqueous tear production before, during, and after sevoflurane anesthesia in dogs. Animals—6 mixed-breed dogs. Procedures—In a Latin square study design, dogs underwent IM administration of morphine (1 mg/kg), acepromazine (0.05 mg/kg), or saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (0.05 mL/kg), followed by induction and maintenance of anesthesia with sevoflurane for 30 minutes. The protocol was repeated until all dogs had received all treatments, with a minimum of 7 days between anesthetic episodes. Aqueous tear production was measured via Schirmer tear test I before treatment (baseline); before anesthetic induction; 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after anesthetic induction; immediately once dogs recovered from anesthesia; and 2 and 10 hours after recovery. Results—Aqueous tear production for all treatments was significantly lower 10, 20, and 30 minutes (but not 5 minutes) after anesthetic induction than at baseline, before anesthetic induction, at recovery, and 2 and 10 hours after recovery. Aqueous tear production was significantly higher after saline solution administration than after morphine administration at the preinduction measurement point and 2 hours after recovery. No other differences were detected among the 3 treatments. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Aqueous tear production after anesthesia did not differ significantly from baseline values after any treatment following 30 minutes of sevoflurane anesthesia, suggesting premedication with morphine or acepromazine does not contribute to a decrease in lacrimation in these circumstances.

Objective—To evaluate the diagnostic value of plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations in Doberman Pinschers in various stages of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Animals—328 Doberman Pinschers. Procedures—Staging of DCM was determined via analysis of results of physical examinations, 24-hour ambulatory ECG (Holter) recordings, and echocardiographic evaluations. Plasma samples for NT-proBNP assays were obtained at each examination. Concentrations of NT-proBNP were measured in 337 samples obtained from 196 healthy Doberman Pinschers (control dogs) and in 195 samples obtained from 132 Doberman Pinschers in various stages of DCM. These included dogs that had ventricular premature contractions (VPCs; 79 samples), echocardiographic changes (23 samples), or both (51 samples); 16 samples were from dogs with overt DCM, and 26 were from dogs that were considered normal during initial examination but developed DCM within 1.5 years after this assessment. Receiver operating characteristic curves were analyzed to determine sensitivity and specificity of NT-proBNP concentrations for detection of DCM. Results—NT-proBNP concentrations in dogs that had or developed DCM were significantly higher than those of control dogs. Sensitivity and specificity of NT-proBNP concentrations (cutoff value, > 400 pmol/L) to detect all stages of DCM were 81.1 % and 75.0%, respectively; sensitivity was 90.0% and specificity was 75.0% to predict echocardiographic changes. Specificity to detect echocardiographic changes was 90.4% at a cutoff value of 550 pmol/L. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP were increased in dogs with DCM and in apparently healthy dogs that developed DCM within 1.5 years after samples were obtained, compared with concentrations in control dogs.

Objective—To evaluate symmetry of the hind limbs in orthopedically normal trotting dogs. Animals—19 orthopedically normal Labrador Retrievers with no history of lameness. Procedures—Retroreflective markers were applied to the hind limb joints, and a 4-camera kinematic system captured positional data at 200 Hz in tandem with force platform data collection while the dogs trotted. Morphometric data were combined with kinematic and force data in an inverse dynamics method to calculate net joint moments and powers at the joints as well as total support moment for each limb. Dogs were identified as right or left dominant when their total support moment was > 10% asymmetric between sides. Results—10 of the 19 dogs were mechanically dominant in the right hind limb as determined by their total support moments. One dog was left dominant, and the remaining 8 were symmetric. Right-dominant dogs had larger net joint moments at the right hip, tarsal, and metatarsophalangeal joints and a smaller moment at the right stifle joint, compared with values for the left hind limb. The 1 left-dominant dog had the exact opposite findings. Hip and stifle joint moments and powers varied between limbs of the right-dominant and left-dominant groups in the timing of their transition from negative to positive, and power amplitudes varied at the hip, tarsal, and metatarsophalangeal joints but not the stifle joint. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Sound trotting dogs can have asymmetries in limb and joint mechanics. These natural mechanical asymmetries should be taken into account when considering models to evaluate stresses at joints and when considering surgery for cruciate ligament rupture.

Objective: To compare temporospatial variables (TSVs) and kinetic variables (KVs) for fore-limbs and hind limbs of small and large dogs of various breeds during walking and to determine associations among body weight (BW), TSVs, and KVs in these groups. Animals: 12 adult dogs with no evidence of lameness. Procedures: Dogs (grouped according to BW as small [< 10 kg; n = 6] or large [> 25 kg; 6]) were walked in a straight line at their preferred velocity on a wooden platform with an embedded pressure-sensing walkway. Five valid trials were analyzed for each dog; mean TSVs and KVs were determined for each group. The TSVs and KVs for forelimbs and hind limbs were compared between groups, and correlations among BW, TSVs, and KVs were determined. Results: Small dogs had significantly smaller TSVs and KVs than did large dogs. Temporal variables of small dogs and absolute vertical force variables of small and large dogs increased as BW increased. However, normalized peak vertical force and weight distribution values among the 4 limbs were similar between groups. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Substantial similarities and differences were detected in gait characteristics between small and large dogs. Results indicated TSVs and KVs can be used for comparison of the walking gait between dogs or for comparison of variables between limbs in an individual dog. Use of the pressure-sensing walkway is a simple method for acquisition of TSVs and KVs for large and small dogs.

Sixteen steers were used to investigate the efficacy of the sustained-release implant of bovine somatotropin (bST) in improving growth and feed:gain ratio during 12 weeks. Administration of the 400 mg bST implant resulted in a 16.1% increase in growth rate, and this increase was significant (p less than .05). The use of the sustained-release implant did not alter (p greater than .05) feed intake and feed:gain ratio. Thirty-four cows were used to investigate the efficacy of the sustained-release implant of bST in milk production during 4 weeks. Administration of the 200 mg bST implant resulted in an 8.7% increase in milk production, and this increase was significant (p less than .05). Twenty-four barrows were used to investigate the efficacy of the sustained-release implant of porcine somatotropin (pST) in improving growth, feed:gain ratio and backfat thickness during 6 weeks. Administration of the 120 mg pST implant resulted in a 11.4% increase in feed:gain ratio and a 60% decrease in backfat thickness, and these results were significant (p less than .05). But the use of the sustained-release implant did not alter (p greater than .05) growth rate and feed intake.

This study was focused on the genotyping and quantification of Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) in thirty PCV2-positive pigs with different clinical symptoms (PCV2-infected without wasting, PCV2-infected with wasting, PCV2-infected with wasting and lymphoid depletion). The quantity of PCV2 DNA in diverse tissues was significantly differed among these groups. (One-way ANOVA test, p less than 0.001) Interestingly, PCV2-DNA load in tissues of PCV2-infected pigs without wasting and PCV2-infected pigs with wasting and lymphoid depletion were not significantly differed (p = 0.38), while they were all significantly higher when compared with PCV2-infected pigs with wasting-only. PCV2 DNA quantity in tissues was significantly higher in PCV2a and 2b co-infected pigs compared to the PCV2b only-infected pigs (Wilcoxon test, p = 0.039). The PCV2a and 2b co-infected pigs had increased wasting and lymphoid depletion rate but it was not statistically significant. Therefore, this cross-sectional study suggested that PCV2 DNA load in tissues was diverse by clinical and histological findings. Furthermore, co-infection of PCV2a and 2b affected to the PCV2 DNA load in tissues with increased rate of wasting and lymphoid depletion.

Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) has been a major causative agent of food-borne human disease due to consumption of contaminated eggs and poultry meat. To prevent SE infection in poultry, and therefore minimize human infections, vaccination with either killed or live SE vaccine is suggested. We evaluated a newly developed killed bacterin using a representative SE isolate in Korea. Among pool of SE isolates, two highly virulent isolates (the one isolate from chicken, the other from human) were selected by measuring mortality in mouse and chickens administered. The chickens were injected intramuscularly with killed vaccine and were challenged with highly virulent SE strain 3 week after vaccination. The recovered colony count (cfu/g) of spleen and cecal content in the vaccinated groups was reduced compared with those of the unvaccinated control group. The antibody level in the vaccinated groups was higher at 3 week post vaccination. These results indicate that vaccination with killed vaccine was effective in preventing the infection of virulent SE. Further study for a large number of layers should be needed for the effect of egg production, SE shedding in feces, persistence of antibody level.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a member of the Avibirnavirus genus of the Birnaviridae family which genome consists of two segments (A and B) of double stranded RNA. Segment A gene of KNU08010 isolate, which was isolated from a 15-day-old chicken flock in 2008, was sequenced and compared with other IBDV isolates including SH/92 strain, the first Korean very virulent (vv) IBDV isolate. The amino acid sequences of segment A gene showed that KNU08010 had 99.2% homology with SH92 strain. KNU08010 isolate had specific amino acids A222, I242, I256, I294 and S299 which are highly conserved among vvIBDV strains. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nucleotide sequences of variable region of the VP2 gene of 18 IBDV strains revealed that KNU08010 was grouped with vvIBDVs and was closely related to Korean vvIBDVs isolated from wild birds.

Two 4-day-old Thoroughbred foals with acute clinical signs of depression, elevated pulse and respiratory rates, anemia, and jaundice were referred to the equine hospital of Korea Racing Authority. The foals were seemingly normal at birth, but showed clinical signs such as abnormal behavior, jaundice and anemia suddenly after ingestion of the mare's colostrum, followed by death at 4 days after birth. According to the results of the hematology, serum chemistry analysis, jaundice foal agglutination test, and blood groups test, the foals were diagnosed as neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI) caused by the mare's antibodies. These results suggested that the pregnant mares have a potential for NI.

Theileria (T.) buffeli (formerly T. sergenti/T. orientalis) is the major hemo-protozoan distributed in the Far East Asian countries such as Korea, China and Japan. It is responsible for the clinical symptoms of anorexia, ateliosis, anemia, fever and icterus. It also causes abortion and sudden death under severe cases, resulting in economic losses for many livestock farms. The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of the major surface protein (Msp) gene in T. buffeli in Holstein in Korea, and we characterized the association of the diversification of the Msp gene and its relationship with the pathogenicity of Theileria. For this, complete blood counts and Theileria PCR sequence analysis were performed from 57 Holstein in Jeju Island. A total of 26 PCR positive Holstein (16 anemic and 10 non-anemic) were then randomly selected based on 18s rRNA sequence typing of the Theileria Msp gene. The DNA sequence of the T. buffeli Msp gene in Holstein showed 99.0%, 99.2%, 99.9%, 99.5%, 98.7%, 98.4% and 98.4% homology with T. sergenti, Theileria spp., T. sergenti, Theileria spp., Theileria spp., Theileria spp. and Theileria spp., respectively. The result showed a genetic variation of 57.7% (type Ⅰ), 3.8% (type Ⅱ), 15.4% (type Ⅲ), 7.7% (type Ⅳ), 13.5% (type Ⅴ) and 1.9% (type Ⅵ). Type Ⅰ is the most frequent type in both anemic and non-anemic Holstein while type Ⅱ was found in only non-anemic Holstein. This results of our study help confirm the diversity of Msp gene types and demonstrate that the gene type distribution of Msp genes varies among Theileria-infected Holstein in Jeju Island.