Identifying the presence of bovine tuberculosis (TB; Mycobacterium bovis) in wildlife is crucial in guiding management aimed at eradicating the disease from New Zealand. Unfortunately, surveys of the principal wildlife host, the introduced brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), require large samples (Ͼ95% of the population) before they can provide reasonable confidence that the disease is absent. In this study, we tested the feasibility of using a more wideranging species, feral pig (Sus scrofa), as an alternative sentinel capable of indicating TB presence. In January 2000, 17 pigs in four groups were released into a forested area with a low density of possums in which TB was known to be present. The pigs were radiotracked at 2 wk intervals from February to October 2000, and some of them were killed and necropsied at various intervals after release. Of the 15 pigs successfully recovered and necropsied, one killed 2 mo after release had no gross lesions typical of TB, and the only other pig killed at that time had greatly enlarged mandibular lymph nodes. The remainder were killed at longer intervals after release and all had gross lesions typical of TB. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from all 15 pigs by mycobacterial culture. Home range sizes of pigs varied widely and increased with the length of time the pigs were in the forest, with minimum convex polygon range-size estimates averaging 10.7 km 2 (range 4.7-20.3 km 2 ) for the pigs killed after 6 mo. A 6 km radius around the kill site of each pig would have encompassed 95% of all of their previous locations at which they could have become infected. However, one pig shifted 35 km, highlighting the main limitation of using unmarked feral pigs as sentinels. This trial indicates use of resident and/or released free-ranging pigs is a feasible alternative to direct prevalence surveys of possums for detecting TB presence.
Over the next few years much will be made of the hundred-year anniversary of the breakdown of the European peace into a thirty-one-year civil war that did not fully cease until 1945. In 2012 the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the fact that there has been no war within its borders for the past sixty years, and today the Union stands as a model for regional peace. But the consequences of the “Great War” and the disastrously unsuccessful “peace” of 1918 are still with us. Like Andrew Carnegie, Alfred Nobel recognized that it is essential that political decision-makers and a wider public act with an awakened sense of the everyday significance of world events.
Mastic gum extracts are widely used as herbal remedies and are being tested for several clinical indications. Nevertheless, information on their safety is limited. RPh201 is an extract of the mastic gum, formulated and stabilized in a proprietary method, which is being developed as a novel drug candidate for neurological indications. The aim of this study was to assess the systemic toxic potential of RPh201, administered twice weekly by subcutaneous injections to minipigs, after 39 weeks of administration followed by a recovery period of 6 weeks. No clinical or dose-related signs were observed, but treatment-related findings were seen at the injection sites of the high-dose animals, composed of abscesses, chronic inflammation, and subcutaneous fibrosis. Abscesses >30 mm in size, graded as marked severity, were confined to the high-dose group and were considered as adverse. Minimal-slight subcutaneous and lymph nodes abscesses seen in control, low, and intermediate doses, related to the vehicle (cottonseed oil), were not considered as adverse. Additionally, minimal-to-slight cystic spaces or vacuolation related to the vehicle were observed in the skin, lymph nodes, kidney, and lungs. These findings were considered not to be adverse. The no-observed-adverse-effect level was considered to be 12.5 mg/kg/occasion.
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