Eighteen Holstein-Friesian and 17 Japanease Black cows and heifers in anestrus with a palpable corpus luteum were injected intramuscularly with 25 mg of prostaglandin F_2α (Tromethamine dinoprost). The luteolytic effect of the treatment was monitored by estimating progesterone levels in serum or skim milk before (day 0) and 3 days after the treatment.
Progesterone level (PL) showed four patterns of response. Type I: PL decreased from a base line of 1.0 ng/ml or higher to a value below 1.0 ng/ml 3 days after injection (17 cows). Type II: PL decreased from a base line of 2.0 ng/ml or higher to a value below 2.0 ng/ml, but not below 1.0 ng/ml (4 cows). Type III: PL did not decrease significantly, but remained at 1.0 ng/ml or higher (8 cows). Type IV: PL remained at a level below 1.0 ng/ml (6 cows). Cows which came into estrus within 6 days after the treatment and conception rate at induced estrus were 94%(l6/17) and 73%(8/11), respectively, in the Type I group, 100%(4/4) and 100%(4/4) in the Type II group, 50%(4/8) and 33%(1/3) in the Type III group, and 67%(4/6) and 33%(1/3) in the Type IV group.
Thus, PL was closely related to the appearance of estrus after the treatment and conception rate.

View full abstract

Clinical, electroencephalographic and pathological examinations were performed on a Japanese Black steer of 11 months old showed characteristic symptomatic epilepsia. Clinically, it suddenly displayed such neurological syndromes as tetany, clonic spasm, nystagmus, and sidappearance of pupillary and corneal reflex. Symptomatic epilepsia continuing for 11 to 18 hours was recognized seven times at intervals of 15 hours to 6 days during the observation period of 28 days. After these syndromes disappeared, the steer got up and recovered normal vigor and appetite, but was gradually emaciated thereafter and fell into sopor.
Electroencephalographically, a spectrum resembling the deep sleep wave was obtained in spite of the activated state of the brain. That is, β-wave was extremely rare and δ-wave overwhelming in the spectrum. No stimulations by flash or sound changed the patterns of the spectrum. Histopathologically, the lesions were confined to the cerebellum and cerebrum. The cerebellar lesions were characterized by the degeneration, eosinophilic atrophy and lysis, and loss of Purkinje cells. In the cerebrum, however, edema of the perivascular space and edematous parenchyma were recognized. These findings suggest the presence of the close relationship between neurological syndromes and histopathological findings.

View full abstract

An experimental production of pyometra was successful in 33 (86.8%) of 38 mongrel bitches inoculated with Escherichia coli into the uterus with the cervix ligated. The incidence of pyometra was seen in 100% in diestrus and anestrus, 83.3% in proestrus-estrus, and 72.7% in the postpartum stage. These results suggest that uterine infection may readily be induced at any stage of the estrous cycle, if the cervix was ligated.

View full abstract

For fleas and ticks, 180 dogs were examined in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in August, 1986. Ctenocephalides canis was detected from 74 dogs (41.1%), C. felis from 23 dogs (12.8%), and Haemaphysalis flava from 5 dogs (2.8%).
Twenty dogs infested by more than 100 fleas and/or by ticks were treated with 1% dust of a carbamate insecticide, propoxur (“Bolfo^®1% dust”, Bayer Japan Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Fleas and ticks were eliminated so well that none of them were detected on the next day of treatment. On the 7th day after treatment, however, C. canis was detected from 6 of the 20 dogs. From these results, it was concluded that 1% dust of propoxur was very efficacious against fleas and ticks on dogs even when infested by a large number of fleas, although no great residual efficacy was expected.

View full abstract

Degenerated eggs are always passed by all mature female heartworms, Dirofilaria immitis, together with microfilariae, and the rate of the eggs increases with the age of mother worms. This study was made to clarify the effect of degenerated eggs on host animals. A suspension of degenerated eggs was injected intravenously into uninfected dogs once to 72 times with doses ranging from 10⁶ to 2×10⁷ eggs. Clinical signs, such as vomiting and dullness, were observed in some dogs 8 to 9 days after the start of injection or at the time when the dose was increased. All those signs were transient. No thing abnormal was found in hematological findings. Histopathological findings of the lung were hardly detected in dogs injected once with 10⁶ to 2×10⁷ eggs. In the lungs of dogs injected for a long period were observed such histopathological findings as emboli with eggs in peripheral blood vessels, infiltration with macrophages, eosinophils and plasma cells, small granulomatous foci and proliferation of connective tissue. These histopathological findings were the same as observed in naturally infected dogs.

View full abstract

Diagnostic value of DAPI staining was discussed infections withTheileria sergentiand other protozoa. DAPI, capable of binding to double-stranded DNA, stained the nucleus of T. sergenti giving a strong fluorescence which figureed out the characteristic morphologica 1 profile of the nucleus of T. sergenti. This unique positive staining pattern made it easy to detect the parasite in the blood of infected animals.
While the conventional Histopathological method, Giemsa staining, gave a high false negative and a false positive rate, a statistical study showed that this DAPI staining gave high reliability in the diagnosis of T.sergenti, resulting in 12.2% improvement.

View full abstract

The attenuated HT-/SK strain had been developed for the production of a porcine parvovirus (PPV) live vaccine. A field trial on this strain was carried out to prevent viral stillbirth in swine. In it, 180 gilts were divided into two groups, V and N. Group V of 121 gilts was vaccinated and group N of 59 gilts not vaccinated to serve as a control. All the gilts were inseminated within about 2 months before and after the time of vaccination.
The gilts raised on 15 farms were involved in an epizootic of PPV infection during the experimental period (the involved group). The other gilts raised on 10 farms were free from this infection during the same period (the clean group). On the basis of clinical findings, changes in PPV hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) antibody titer, and the results of parturition, the live vaccine tentatively prepared was analyzed for safety and efficacy.
In 25 gilts of group V in the clean group, the positive rate of HI antibody (positive when a titer was 1: 10 or higher) was 88.0% one month after inoculation (a.i.) and 90.9% after parturition (a.p.). The mean HI antibody titer (GM) was 1: 32.9 one month a.i. and 1: 56.6 a.p.
In 96 gilts of group V in the involved group, the positive rate of HI antibody was 87.4% one month a.i. and 95.1% a.p. GM was 1.93.9 one month a.i. and 1: 137.2 a.p. Antibody titer changed little even after the epizootic was over. In the gilts of group N, there was a remarkable increase in antibody titer after the epizootic. The positive rate of HI antibody was 78.0% a.p. on account of spontaneous infection, when GM was 1: 513.9.
In the clean group, gilts inoculated with vaccine during pregnancy presented a normal parturition, giving birth to young which were all normal. Therefore, it was possible to confirm the safety of the HT^-/SK strain for pregnant swine. In the involved group, the mean number of normal young of the same litter was 1.5-1.9 larger in the gilts of group V than in those of group N, while the mean number of abnormal young of the same littler was 0.9-1.0 smaller in the former than in the latter. Moreover, the rate of occurrence of abnormalities was 20.6-22.9% lower in the dams of group V than in those of group N. It was also 10.2-11.7% lower in the young born in group V than in those born in group N. In brief, group V gave distinctly better results of parturition than group N. Thus, the HT-/SK strain was confirmed to have an effect of preventing stillbirth in swine.

View full abstract

In Hokkaido, an abattoir survey was made onCorynebacterium pseudotuberulosis(Cp)infection sheep. Of 248 sheep slaughtered during a period of October 1985 to July 1986, 13 sheep (5.2%) had caseous abscesses caused by the organisms in the lymph nodes, liver and/or lung.
Two goats were infected experimentally with Cp to compare serum antibody titer among different serological methods.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and immune hemolysis(IHL)test were more specific and sensitive than indirect hemagglutination and immunodiffusion tests.
A serological survey on Cp infection was performed with sheep sera collected from the abattoir. When the IHL test was used, 9 of 13 sera(69.2%)from sheep affected with the organisms positive and 222 of 235 sera from unafected sheep negative.
In ELISA with untreated sera, a false positive reaction was observed in sera from unaffected sheep at a ratio of 29.8%. After absorption of the test sera with bacterial cells of Rhodococcusequi Presoctt type, a positive reaction was seen in sera from all the 13 affected sheep and a negative reaction in 233 of the 235 sera from unaffected sheep.
These results indicate that ELISA is a precise method for the serodiagnosis of Cp infection sheep.

View full abstract

A two-month-old miniature duchshund died of dyspnea. Histologically, basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies were found in bronchiolar and alveolar epithlial cells and alveolar macrophages. Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were observed in the cytoplasm of the bronchiolar epithelium. Electron microscopically, adenovirus particles were found in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Nucleocapsids of canine distemper virus were observed in the cytoplasm of the bronchiolar epithelium.

View full abstract

A 4-year-old female cat was admitled to a veterinary clinic on May 10, 1986 in a state of acute respiratory distress. It showed anorexia, dyspnea, anemia, hemoglobinuria and systolic regurgitant murmur.
Microfilariae were seen in peripheral blood. The diagnosis of the venae cavae syndrome by Dirofilaria immitis was made. Surgically, 7 adult worms were removed from the jugular veins. Therefore, the cat recovered without complication. It had a few circulating microfilariae even 239 days after the surgery.

View full abstract