In this study, a simple immunoperoxidase method using hair follicles (HF-IPO) was established for the detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in persistently infected (PI) animals. A positive result was observed for samples of hair follicles obtained from 41 cattle PI with BVDV but not for those obtained from 60 uninfected animals. These results highly agreed with those obtained by virus isolation (VI) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on blood samples. However, two transiently infected calves with viremia showed a negative result by HF-IPO and a positive result by RT-PCR. Positive results were also confirmed by HF-IPO in VI-negative PI neonatal calves due to possible interference of maternal antibodies. Furthermore, BVDV antigen was detectable for a long period in hair samples stored at −20℃. These results indicate that HF-IPO can quickly and inexpensively detect PI animals with equal sensitivity to VI and RT-PCR. This method was considered suitable for individual tests in calves with maternal antibodies and suspected PI. Therefore, it could improve the diagnostic efficacy of BVDV infection by adding to the conventional diagnostic procedure.

To treat posterior malocclusion in rabbits, some individuals require repeated use of anesthesia for removal of coronal spikes on the cheek teeth. There have been concerns about the possible effects of frequent use of anesthesia. This study aimed to analyze the effects of frequency of use of anesthesia and age on the recovery time of 11 rabbits repeatedly exposed to anesthesia, 39‐103 times per individual, for dental procedures in our clinic (frequent use of anesthesia group). For comparison, these effects were examined during the initial application of anesthesia in 67 rabbits undergoing similar dental procedures that were not included in the frequent use of anesthesia group (control group). In the frequent use of anesthesia group, there was little correlation between frequency of use of anesthesia and recovery time, and the latter was significantly prolonged with age. The control group also showed a significant increase in recovery time as age increased. The comparison of the two groups in each age category revealed no significant difference. These results suggested that aging might have a greater impact on recovery time in comparison to the frequent use of anesthesia in less invasive, short use of anesthesia for dental procedures.

To investigate the state of invasive Streptococcus suis strains at higher risk of causing disease, S. suis strains isolated from bacterial endocarditis (119 strains from 33 farms) and tonsils (78 strains from 27 farms) of pigs carried into slaughterhouses in Nagoya City were profiled by serotyping (cps ), putative multilocus sequence typing (pST typing) and PCR sequencing of virulence-related genes. From endocarditis, the pST1c and pST27c strains of cps2J +, which estimated to be high risk strains, had a high rate of detection at 85.7% (102 strains from 30 farms). The pST type of cps2J + strains tended to be biased toward pST1c or pST27c for each farm. In addition, there was no difference in the number of farms from which pST1c or pST27c strains were isolated, suggesting that both pST types were equally invasive. Because the genetic profile of the cps2J + isolates have been largely detected in pST1c/epf +/sly +/mrp + and pST27c/epf -/sly -/mrp +, which were also detected in human patients, it seemed important to share with people who handle pigs.