Exercise-induced changes of pro-oxidant generating substances and muscle fibre damaging enzymes are the possible causes of reduced performance in endurance horses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate on the performance of different age and gender using biochemical profile of endurance horses during 120 km endurance race. One hundred and eighty four Arabian endurance horses were physically examined and blood samples were collected post-race.&#xD;After physical examination, the MD (F, n= 44; G, n = 86) and SC (F, n = 20; G, n = 34) were identified. T-test and pairwise correlation were used for the analysis. There were significant differences in&#xD;CK, uric acid, lactate and age (P<0.0001) respectively between the gender in the MD and SC. There were significant differences in AST (P<0.0029) and GGT (P<0.0039) respectively between the gender in the&#xD;MD and SC. In conclusion age and gender significantly affect performance of endurance horses in relation to biochemical profile during 120 km endurance race. Therefore, further studies are required to determine if age, gender and biochemical profile could be used to assess performance in endurance horses.

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are well-known ascendant nosocomial pathogens. The recent detection of epidemiologic strain&#xD;carrying vanA gene in the community of people working with animals and in chickens has brought to the forefront the potential public health danger posed by these organism. The farm environment is a major source of VRE persistence in poultry farms. We carried out survival test to test the survival of the VRE isolates on dry condition and surface test to evaluate the inactivation of the isolates by in-use concentration of commonly used disinfectants. In the survival test, all isolates survived for at least 4 weeks in&#xD;colony counts of (1.00 × 103 – 3.86 × 103 CFU/ml) under clean condition and (1.00 × 103 – 2.02 × 104) for soiled condition.&#xD;Those that were suspended in 5% BSA solution to mimic organic matter load as obtainable on farms survived for at least 8 weeks at (1.54 × 102 – 1.34 × 103 CFU/ ml). In the surface test, inactivation of VRE isolates by in-use concentration of Lindores®, Omnicide® and Ecos Timsen® was tested using the European surface test (EST). All the tested disinfectants were active against the VRE isolates on both the standard test surface (stainless steel) and our test surface (wooden). The results shows microbiocidal effects (ME) for test disinfectants, i.e. the log10 CFU of micro-organisms compared between test biocide and control treated with distilled water, after 7 min of exposure as follows; Lindores® active on both surfaces 5.24 and 3.17, Ecos Timsen® active significantly on steel 4.90 than wood 2.98 and Omnicide® significantly less active on stainless steel&#xD;2.40 than on wood 3.50.

A total of 204 rodents comprising of 14 species were identified from four different habitats namely urban, forest, paddy field and coastal. The Gombak forest reserve habitat was found to be ideal&#xD;for the survival of 11 different rodent species. Maxomys rajah, Leopoldamys sabanus and Sundamys muelleri were the predominant rodent species distributed in the Gombak forest. Rattus ratus diardii was found mainly in the urban, paddy field and coastal habitat (67.1%). Morphological measurements of the rodents trapped from the four habitats did not show any major changes.

Four types of products made from Neem namely, neem leaf decoction, neem capsule, neem fresh juice and neem extract were given to 4 groups of goat for a period of 10 weeks to evaluate the effectiveness of these products in controlling natural gastrointestinal helminth infection. During the course of the study, faecal egg counts, Packed Cell Volume and FAMACHA readings were&#xD;monitored weekly. Results of feeding these products were variable when compared to untreated control animals, however, a 40-60% worm control was observed. Further testing is required to fine tune these&#xD;products for use in the field especially where anthelmintic resistance deems drugs to be ineffective.

The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of dourine from imported horses using Complement Fixation Test. Dourine is classified as a OIE listed B disease (OIE Terrestrial Manual 2008) where equines are mainly susceptible to it and it had occurred in many countries such as Africa, the Middle East, South America and South-eastern Europe. Malaysia regularly imports Australian horses for the equestrian sector which encompasses activities such as racing and endurance as well as other recreational or leisure activities in Malaysia. As such, awareness towards this disease is important during importation of horses to avoid dourine embark into Malaysia. A total of 288 horse sera samples obtained from animal quarantine stations and private stables were examined for dourine by complement fixation test. Results showed serologically negative results for dourine with all the samples tested.

Objective: To characterize the dynamics of calcitonin secretion in response to experimentally induced hypercalcemia in cats. Animals: 13 healthy adult European Shorthair cats. Procedures: For each cat, the calcitonin response to hypercalcemia (defined as an increase in ionized calcium concentration > 0.3 mM) was investigated by infusing calcium chloride solution and measuring circulating calcitonin concentrations before infusion (baseline) and at various ionized calcium concentrations. Calcitonin expression in the thyroid glands of 10 of the cats was investigated by immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Preinfusion baseline plasma calcitonin concentrations were very low in many cats, sometimes less than the limit of detection of the assay. Cats had a heterogeneous calcitonin response to hypercalcemia. Calcitonin concentrations only increased in response to hypercalcemia in 6 of 13 cats; in those cats, the increase in calcitonin concentration was quite variable. In cats that responded to hypercalcemia, calcitonin concentration increased from 1.3 ± 0.3 pg/mL at baseline ionized calcium concentration to a maximum of 21.2 ± 8.4 pg/mL at an ionized calcium concentration of 1.60 mM. Cats that did not respond to hypercalcemia had a flat calcitonin-to-ionized calcium concentration curve that was not modified by changes in ionized calcium concentration. A significant strong correlation (r = 0.813) was found between the number of calcitonin-positive cells in the thyroid gland and plasma calcitonin concentrations during hypercalcemia. Conclusions and clinical relevance: Healthy cats had very low baseline plasma calcitonin concentrations. A heterogeneous increase in plasma calcitonin concentration in response to hypercalcemia, which correlated with the expression of calcitonin-producing cells in the thyroid, was identified in cats.

<p>Isolados do vírus da diarreia viral bovina (BVDV) detectados em amostras de soro sanguíneo de dois animais persistentemente infectados (PI), identificados num rebanho bovino localizado na região sul do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, foram submetidos à caracterização genética através do sequenciamento parcial de nucleotídeos da região 5’UTR do genoma viral. Os isolados foram caracterizados como pertencentes ao genótipo BVDV-1, subgenótipo BVDV-1b. Os resultados do presente estudo sugerem o BVDV-1b como um agente de importância na ocorrência da diarreia viral bovina (BVD) nos rebanhos da região. Ademais, a caracterização genotípica dos isolados do BVDV contribui para a melhor compreensão da epidemiologia da enfermidade, pois a variabilidade genética do BVDV interfere nos testes sorológicos e também possui implicações na utilização de vacinas, cuja maioria é produzida apenas com estirpes de referência do BVDV, requerendo, portanto, investigações sobre a diversidade genética do BVDV existente no Brasil para o aprimoramento das medidas de prevenção e controle da enfermidade no país.</p> | Isolates of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) detected in serum samples of two persistently infected animals (PI) identified in a herd located in the southern state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, underwent genetic characterization trough partial nucleotide sequencing and analysis of the 5’ Untranslated Region (5’UTR) of the viral genome. The isolates were characterized as belonging to genotype BVDV-1, subgenotype BVDV-1b. The results of this study suggest BVDV-1b as an agent of importance in the occurrence of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) in the herds of the region. Moreover, the genotypic characterization of isolates of BVDV helps to better understand the epidemiology of the disease, as the genetic variability of BVDV interferes in the serological tests and has implications for the use of vaccines, whose majority is produced only with reference strains of BVDV. Therefore, the investigation on the genetic diversity of BVDV existing in Brazil is required for the improvement of the disease prevention and control measures

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