A vaccine containing a caprine strain of contagious ecthyma virus used in goats appeared to provide the characteristics needed for an effective vaccine, including good scab production and protection from wild-type infection. This vaccine may potentially provide better protection for goats from contagious ecthyma than currently available vaccines labeled for sheep.

Hydrogen sulfide is a significant occupational health hazard. Education, personal protective equipment, and early treatment are important in improving outcomes.

Using serology and bacterial culture, we determined the prevalence of Brucella spp. and the antibody to Brucella spp. in a feral swine (Sus scrofa) population in proximity to a cattle herd that was culture positive for Brucella abortus and Brucella suis in north-central Texas, USA. During a prospective cross-sectional quantitative study in April 2005, we collected blood and tissue samples from 40 feral swine within a 30-km radius of the infected herd. Serum samples were tested by the Rose Bengal test, particle concentration fluorescence immunoassay, and fluorescence polarization assay. In addition, tissue samples were cultured, and the Brucella species and biovar determined. Four feral swine were Brucella positive by serology, and two were culture positive for B. suis biovar 1. Of the culture-positive swine, one was concurrently antibody and culture positive, and one was culture positive only. The presumptive source of the B. suis infection in the index cattle herd was likely the surrounding feral swine population. Because B. abortus was not cultured from the feral swine, it is unlikely that the source of the B. abortus infection in the index herd originated from the feral swine. Endemic diseases in feral swine populations can pose a disease threat to livestock and a zoonotic risk to humans.

No abstract

Vaccination did not result in cross protection for the 2 strains of orf virus. This may have been attributable to antigenic differences and may be a factor in outbreaks of contagious ecthyma in vaccinated goats.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is caused by an RNA virus of the genus Aphthovirus; 7 immunologically distinct serotypes of the virus have been identified. Susceptible species are mainly domestic and wild even-toed ungulates, such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, bison, and deer. All body fluids of infected animals can contain the virus and are considered infective. The primary mode of transmission is animal-to-animal transmission through inhalation or ingestion of aerosols containing the virus. The virus can also be spread mechanically by contaminated organic debris and fomites and can survive for 48 hours on human oral and nasal mucosa and be spread to uninfected animals in this manner. There is a rapid progression of clinical signs after an animal becomes infected, and the virus spreads rapidly throughout a herd. Clinical signs include excessive salivation; fever; vesicles and erosions of the oral and nasal mucosa, coronary band, interdigital area, and teats; lameness; sloughing of claws; reluctance to move; anorexia; mastitis; decreased milk production; and abortion or weak newborns. In mature animals, FMD has high morbidity and low mortality rates. Infected animals can become inapparent carriers of the virus.

Parrot bornavirus 4 is an etiological agent of proventricular dilatation disease, a fatal neurologic and gastrointestinal disease of psittacines and other birds. We tested the ability of ribavirin, an antiviral nucleoside analog with antiviral activity against a range of RNA and DNA viruses, to inhibit parrot bornavirus 4 replication in duck embryonic fibroblast cells. Two analytical methods that evaluate different products of viral replication, indirect immunocytochemistry for viral specific nucleoprotein and qRT-PCR for viral specific phosphoprotein gene mRNA, were used. Ribavirin at concentrations between 2.5 and 25 μg/mL inhibited parrot bornavirus 4 replication, decreasing viral mRNA and viral protein load, in infected duck embryonic fibroblast cells. The addition of guanosine diminished the antiviral activity of ribavirin suggesting that one possible mechanism of action against parrot bornavirus 4 may likely be through inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase inhibition. This study demonstrates parrot bornavirus 4 susceptibility to ribavirin in cell culture.

Halothane causes pulmonary dysfunction and death when given i.v. in liquid form. Six swine received a halothane lipid emulsion i.v. to evaluate the anesthetic and physiologic effects. No pulmonary toxicity or deaths were associated with the halothane lipid emulsion. The anesthetic profile was similar to delivery of halothane via a vaporizer.