In September 2020, one 18-month-old Japanese Black cattle died at the Nagano Animal Industry Experiment Station in Japan after showing acute respiratory symptoms. During necropsy and histopathological examination, one entire lung was dark red and showed interstitial emphysema and suppurative fibrous pneumonia. Gram-positive coccobacillus was isolated from the lung lesions and identified as Streptococcus suis by biochemical tests. However, the identification was not confirmed by a S. suis-specific PCR test, and its species could not be determined even by a PCR specific test for S. suis-related species. Therefore, we analyzed the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate to reveal that it belongs to the genus Streptococcus but not to any known species. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reported pneumonia cases caused by a bacterium that seems to be the same species as this isolate. Therefore, this is the first case report of bovine pneumonia caused by this unknown novel Streptococcus.

A 24-day-old Japanese Black calf reared at a farm in Iwate Prefecture presented diarrhea and anorexia and was euthanized due to a poor prognosis. A necropsy revealed gray muddy content with a putrid acid odor in the forestomach and abomasum. Histologically, degeneration, necrosis, and parakeratosis of epithelial cells; neutrophils infiltration and hemorrhages were identified on the thickened mucosa of the esophagus and forestomach. Numerous yeast-like fungi and pseudohyphae were observed in the lesions. The fungus was identified as Pichia kudriavzevii based on the results of biochemical tests, molecular biological analysis of isolates, and immunohistochemical staining of the lesions. In addition, decrease in the pH of ruminal contents and increase in lactic acid level were confirmed. This case was diagnosed as mycosis caused by P. kudriavzevii in the alimentary tract of the calf. The involvement of rumen acidosis was suspected as a contributing factor. This is the first report that demonstrates alimentary mycosis caused by P. kudriavzevii in cattle.

In this study, a novel, simple and rapid extraction method was developed for the determination of the total polyphenol content of acorns to diagnose acorn poisoning in domestic animals. The extraction efficiency between the shaking method and the accelerated solvent extraction method with aqueous acetone was comparable. Additionally, the shaking method was highly reproducible, easy and sufficiently applicable for the identification of total polyphenol content. It is found that the total polyphenol levels of immature acorns (Lithocarpus edulis) were significantly higher than ripe acorns.

To evaluate the usefulness of the feline alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (fAGP) test for the diagnosis of effusive feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), serum fAGP levels (μg/ml ) were measured in 112 cats with a virological diagnosis of FIP (FIP group) and 101 cats, which were determined not to be diseased (non-FIP group), with ascites or pleural effusion. The value in the FIP group (2,571±590) was significantly higher than that in the non-FIP group (1,061±836) (P＜0.05), and the c-statistic representing accuracy was as high as 0.917, indicating the usefulness of this test. In the FIP group, the fAGP value in animals aged under a year (2,671±608) was significantly higher than that in animals aged a year or older (2,360±429) (P＜0.05). In addition, the fAGP value tended to be higher as the feline coronavirus antibody titer was lower. From these findings, it is necessary to consider various conditions such as age and antibody titer for the setting of the criterion.

From echocardiography, it was suspected that two large breed dogs with acute cardiac tamponade had right auricle tumors, hemangiosarcoma in particular. Both dogs underwent exploratory thoracotomies after pericardiocentesis. The patients underwent right fourth intercostal space thoracotomies, subtotal pericardiectomies and right auricle excisions. One dog had a remarkably thickened pericardium and a right auricle with a slightly thickened epicardium. A diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis was reached due to the clinical course of the right heart failure and histopathological examination, differing from the preoperative diagnosis. This dog followed an uneventful course without any treatment, and there was no confirmed tumorigenesis or pleural effusion at 1126 days after surgery. The other dog had a discolored and hypertrophic right auricle, and was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, similar to the preoperative diagnosis. Although this dog received adjuvant chemotherapy based on doxorubicin, the patient died 177 days after surgery due to metastasis and hemothorax. Due to the fact that cardiac tamponade can be caused by a variety of diseases, and its treatment and prognosis vary greatly depending on the disease, careful diagnosis and the appropriate selection of the patients that need surgery should be required.

Miniature dachshunds (MD) are a dog breed that commonly exhibits oronasal fistulas, but the pattern of the progress oronasal fistulas is yet unknown. In this retrospective study, targeting at the cases that were identified as a 4 mm periodontal pocket and oronasal fistula in maxillary canine teeth during dental procedures, we compared the dental radiography of MD and other breeds. The comparison of lateral images of canine teeth with the same periodontal pocket depth, MD had less mesial and distal alveolar bone resorption of their canine teeth than other breeds. It suggests that evolution of bone resorption to rostral-caudal direction is less common in MD than other breeds. Palatal alveolar bone resorption is characterized by the disappearance of white lines in dental radiography images. The white lines of MD tended to be clear compared with other breeds. This suggests that the extent of bone resorption to the palatal direction is lower in MD compared with other breeds. In conclusion, a characteristic of periodontal disease affecting the maxillary canine teeth of MD is that progress in the vertical direction on the palatal side is more severe than in the horizontal direction.

In Japan, classical swine fever re-emerged in September 2018, after an absence of 26 years, and spread among wild boar populations. This study was conducted to understand the transmissibility of classical swine fever virus in wild boar populations, limited by the impossibility of a correct case count because of the nature of wildlife. Wildlife PCR test results between September 2018 and February 2019 were collected from the homepages of Gifu, Aichi, and Mie Prefectures. In descriptive epidemiology, the geographical spread in the three prefectures, and temporal patterns of PCR test positivity in Gifu Prefecture were observed. Using the Susceptible (S ) ‐ Exposed (E ) ‐ Infectious (I ) ‐ Recovery (R ) model, assuming the weekly test positivity follows beta distribution, parameters were estimated in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation, and the basic reproduction number (R₀) was calculated. As a result, the mean infectious period was as long as 100 ‐ 145 days, and R₀ was estimated to be 4.2 ‐ 5.1. In this analysis, however, population dynamics considering births and deaths and population density were not considered. In the future, a more detailed study based on wild boar field data is necessary.

A slaughtered broiler chicken, 46 days of age, affected with an esophageal duplication cyst was subjected to pathological investigation. An ellipsoidal cyst, measuring 4 cm in its greatest dimension, was closely attached to the esophageal region connected with the proventriculus, compressing the region. The cyst was unilocular and its cavity was filled with mucus containing purulent exudate. Histologically, the cystic wall consisted of lining epithelia, subepithelial connective tissue including mucous glands, two layers of smooth muscular tissue and fibrous capsule. Lining epithelia were stratified squamous. The results suggest that the cyst is lined with mucosa similar to the esophageal or crop mucosa. The cyst was complicated with purulent inflammation with ulcer. The present case suggests that esophageal duplication cysts should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions closely attached to the esophagus in chickens.