Iranian Journal of Veterinary Research
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Autumn 2008

The chemical composition, in situ ruminal degradability coefficients of dry matter (DM), and nutrient digestibility in sheep were evaluated for corn silage (CS) treated (fresh weight basis) with different levels of a commercial bacterial inoculant (I) as follows: (1) untreated CS (control); (2) CS + I at half of the recommended level; (3) CS + I at the recommended level (3 ´ 1010 colony forming units per g of fresh forage) and (4) CS + I at two-fold recommended level. The inoculants (Lallemand, France) consisted of Lactobacillus plantarum and Propionibacterium acidipropionici. Whole- plant corn was ensiled for 60 days in plastic polyethylene bags. Also, three laboratory silos (70 g capacity) for each treatment were sampled on days 2, 3, 4 and 60 to study the pH changes. The silages underwent rapid fermentation and were well-preserved. The pH value decreased to 4.0 on day 2 and was the lowest for treatment 2 on day 60 after ensiling compared with other treatments. Treatment 2 had higher (P<0.05) contents of crude protein (CP), residual water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and total acids, but lower (P<0.05) butyric acid than treatment 3, and also higher acetic and lower butyric acid levels than other treatments. No traces of ethanol were detected in any of the silages. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) content of treatments 1 and 4 was lower (P<0.05) than others. Only ether extract (EE) digestibility was affected by these treatments which was higher for treatments 1 and 4 (P<0.05). The DM recovery for treatment 1 was lower than others. Effective DM degradability was slightly higher for treatment 4 and fraction “a” was significantly (P<0.05) lower for treatments 1 and 3 compared with treatment 4. The results indicated that application of this inoculant at half of the recommended level was more effective to enhance the aerobic stability of silages due to higher acetic and propionic acid production which have antimycotyic properties. The decreased cost associated with this level of inoculant might be economical for farmers in warm climates as to encourage its use as an additive for silage making.

There are significant structural differences between the mouth and pharyngeal cavity of birds and mammals. It is usual to refer to a common oropharyngeal cavity of birds because the soft palate, which forms such an obvious delineation between the mouth and pharyngeal cavity, is absent. Six male adult ostriches were used to study the oropharyngeal cavity and its components including the beak, hard palate, pharynx, tongue and the larynx macroscopically. This study revealed that these components in ostrich have different features from other birds. In the ostrich, the beaks are spoon-shaped and the tongue is characterized by a short, broad and semicircular form. The hard palate is concave with a prominent median mucosal fold in its 2/3 rostral area and two oblique choanal slits in its caudal third area. The roof of pharynx presents infundibular slit in midline, a deep concave notch in caudal border and pharyngeal tonsils on its dorsal surface. The larynx protrudes from the floor of pharynx and consists of the unpaired cricoid cartilage and the paired arytenoid cartilages.

Ovarian follicle response and corpus luteum formation following induction of ovulation using gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues and luteinizing hormone (LH) in Bactrian camel were characterized. Bactrian camels with a mature follicle (13-19.6 mm) received: 1) natural porcine LH (25 mg, IV, n = 4), 2) Buserelin (20 µg, IV, n = 4) and 3) Alarelin (25 µg, IM, n = 4). Daily ultrasonography and blood samplings were conducted between day -3 and +15 of the experiment (day 0 = Induction of ovulation). Data were analyzed by univariat analysis with repeated measures analysis included in the model. Following treatment, mature follicle ovulated within 2 days and a new follicle wave emerged after 2-3 days. New mature follicle reached a size of 13.5 ± 0.14 mm by day 12. Corpus luteum was detected on day 6 and reached the maximum size of 19.73 ± 0.81 mm on day 9. Progesterone concentration initiated to increase on day 5, reached maximum concentration on day 9 and decreased significantly on day 11. In conclusion, due to the lack of significant difference among treatment groups (P>0.05), Alarelin may be considered as a drug of choice for inducing ovulation in Bactrian camel because of its effectiveness, simple route of administration (IM vs. IV), lower price, and local availability.

Following experimental inoculation of 3-week-old turkeys with different titres (106, 104, 103, 102 and 101 egg infectious dose (EID50)) of A/ostrich/Italy/984/2000 H7N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), the selected tissues and organs were examined for pathological changes. Tissue samples from different organs that obtained from dead and sacrificed birds were fixed in 10% neutral buffer formaldehyde. Mortality of turkeys which inoculated with different doses of EID50 at different times post inoculation (PI) is as follows: 1) at 48 h PI (HPI): one, two and four turkeys inoculated with 103, 104 and 106 EID50, respectively 2) at 72 HPI: two, two and one turkeys inoculated with 102, 103 and 106 EID50, respectively 3) at 96 HPI: one and two turkeys inoculated with 102 and 104 EID50, respectively and 4) at 120 HPI: just one turkey inoculated with 104 EID50. Birds inoculated with 101 EID50 did not show any mortality. Seven days PI (DPI) the remaining birds were sacrificed. Postmortem examination of birds that died 48 HPI showed very severe hyperaemia and haemorrhage of the lung, slight swelling of kidneys and splenomegaly. Moderate to slight hyperaemia of the lung was observed in the birds sacrificed on day 7. Histopathology showed very severe haemorrhage and vasculitis in the lung, multifocal areas of degeneration and necrosis in the pancreas of birds inoculated with 106 EID50. Hyperaemia, haemorrhage, degeneration and vasculitis were also observed in the lung of birds from the other groups; however the severity of lesions correlated positively with the viral dose. The spleen, caecal tonsils and thymus showed extensive necrosis and lymphoid depletion, even in birds inoculated with 102 and 101 EID50 that were sacrificed 7 DPI, and some repopulation of the spleen was observed 7 DPI. Other organs including the kidneys and adrenal gland showed moderate to slight hyperaemia and necrosis. In conclusion, the lung vascular damage, lymphoid tissue destruction and necrosis were notable even with low viral doses.

In this study, the vertical, transverse and oblique diameters of the spinal cord segments (C1, C6, C12, C18, T1, T4, L1, L4, L6 and L8) and the ratio of gray matter to white matter in chick (l month) and adult (18 months) male ostriches, each group consisted of 3 animals, were measured with standard micrometric method using 6 µm thick sections by light microscope. With advancement of age, the ratio of gray matter to white matter was reduced but the diameters of spinal cord segments were increased. Statistically, there were significant differences in parameters measured between the two age groups (P<0.05).

In a 2 ´ 3 ´ 2 factorial arrangement, 144, fifty–four-week-old laying hens, in 12 treatments with 12 replicates for each treatment, received one of 12 diets based on maize or wheat containing three levels of dried tomato pomace (DTP: 0, 50 and 100 g/kg) as a substitute for wheat bran, and two levels of pigment (0 and 900 mg/kg), for 9 weeks. Weight gain (WG), egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), egg mass output (EM) and feed intake (FI) were determined. Shell weight (ShW), shell thickness (ShT), Haugh unit (HU) and yolk colour score (YCS) were also measured. Maize decreased body weight of the birds and increased HU, ShW/EW ratio, ShT, and YCS of the eggs when compared with wheat diets. DTP had no effect on these parameters, but increased YCS. Pigment reduced ShW/EW ratio and ShT, but increased YCS of the eggs. There were significant interactions between the source of energy (ES) and DTP on ShT and YCS of the eggs. There were also interactions significant between ES and pigment on ShT and YCS. As an alternative for wheat bran, 100 g/kg of DTP produced comparable egg quality and laying performance, and it contributed to a deeper yolk colour.

From the winter 2002 to spring 2006, 126 moribund rainbow trout with clinical signs of external body haemorrhages around and within the oral cavity were sampled from 10 rainbow trout farms situated in the northwest and west of Fars province, Iran and examined for the detection and identification of Yersinia ruckeri, the causative agent of enteric redmouth disease. Fish kidneys were cultured aseptically on brain heart infusion (BHI) agar plates and incubated at 25ºC for 48 h. Using conventional biochemical tests, Y. ruckeri was detected in 7 fish (5.5% of total fish sampled). This was also confirmed using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The 16S rDNA PCR assays produced amplicons of 409 bp when applied to Y. ruckeri isolates as well as a reference strain. Results of antibiogram tests on Y. ruckeri isolates showed a high susceptibility to enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, trimethoprim and oxytetracycline. In pathogenicity tests, dilution of 4 × 108 colony forming unit/ml of Y. ruckeri by immersion route in challenge experiments showed 70 ± 8.2% mortality during 14 days post-infection. Experimentally infected fish showed typical haemorrhages in mouth, blackening of skin, exophthalmia and a wide haemorrhages on the internal organs.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most prevalent causes of gastroenteritis worldwide. Knowing the precise boundary for the growth/no growth interface of S. aureus and also determining the period of time needed for bacterial growth initiation is necessary for food safety risk assessment. This study was designed to examine the combined effects of temperature, acetic acid, inoculum level and NaCl concentration on the growth of S. aureus in brain heart infusion broth. Growth was monitored by visible turbidity over a 20 days period. Statistical analysis of data showed significant effects for selected parameters on growth of S. aureus. Stepwise multiple regression was used to predict the growth initiation (R2 = 0.91, P<0.0001). To obtain a boundary model, logistic regression was used. The models accurately predicted the growth initiation and inhibition of S. aureus.

Ten female lambs of 7-month-old were divided into two equal groups and raised under a helminth-free conditions. Animals in group 1 were immunized two times by whole gut homogenate (WGH) of Haemonchus contortus emulsified in Freund’s adjuvant. In group 2 (control), animals were injected by phosphate buffered saline emulsified in the same adjuvant. Animals were challenged by 10000 third-stage larvae (L3) of Haemonchus contortus on day 33 after the first immunization and then humanely killed on day 42. Animals were tested for serum antibody and eggs per gram of faeces (EPG) throughout the study and nematodes in their abomasom were counted after necropsy. The results indicated that animals immunized with WGH showed a higher level of serum antibodies. A significant difference was observed in mean optical density of sera in ELISA between the two groups (P<0.05) and a 77 and 78% reduction in EPG and nematode counts at necropsy, respectively (P<0.05).

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of foodborne pathogens, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter spp. on slaughtered cattle in Isfahan, Iran. A total of 203 cattle carcasses were sampled by surface section of neck meat taken immediately after slaughter and analyzed using microbiological examinations. Suspected colonies to E. coli O157:H7 were confirmed by a specific polymerase chain reaction method (PCR). The results showed that the contamination rate of samples to E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 were 42.4 and 6.4%, respectively. Seasonal distribution showed that the highest prevalence of E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 occurred in summer samples. Six carcasses carried L. monocytogenes whereas Campylobacter spp. were not detected on any carcasses. The results indicated that prevalence of E. coli and E. coli O157:H7 was high on bovine carcasses in Isfahan. This condition should be considered as a probable hazard for human health.

The aim of this study is to investigate the context by which veterinary services may affect technical efficiency (TE) of Iranian dairy farms. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to a random sample of 840 dairy farms from six provinces across Iran to estimate regional frontier and metafrontier production functions and also to calculate corresponding TE of these farms. The relationship between the levels of veterinary services and TE scores were then examined using correlation analysis, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that mean technical efficiency estimated based on the regional frontier production function for selected provinces varies between 0.720 and 0.867 while ranges between 0.445 and 0.595 when evaluated based on the metafrontier production function. Also, our findings showed that veterinary services have a positive effect on TE scores. This implies that TE can be improved by utilizing higher levels of veterinary services. Furthermore, access to more suitable veterinary services was recognized to be a major determinant of technical operation as was the case in Tehran.

This study represents an unusual case of mucormycosis localized in nasal cavity of a German shepherd dog. The patient was a 1-year-old male guard dog with unilateral nasal epistaxis, mucopurulent nasal discharge, sneezing and nose pawing. The dog had a history of head trauma about 2 months before admission, which was associated with mild self-limited epistaxis. Initial nasal rhinoscopy showed severe turbinate destruction. The samples of nasal discharge were collected by nasal flush technique and submitted to the Central Laboratory of School of Veterinary Medicine in Tehran for routine cytological, mycological and bacteriological examinations. Direct microscopic examination with 10% KOH/DMSO wet mount revealed the fragments of non-septate hyphae. The fungus was recovered in culture and identified as Rhizopus oryzae. This case showed that the veterinary practitioners should be aware of the possibility of localized nasal mucormycosis when examining dogs with chronic nasal discharge.

Bacterial infection of the brain is relatively rare in dogs and cats. A cat at approximately three months of age was admitted to the clinic with a history of dog bite seven days before admission. On clinical presentation, the cat was unconscious and in lateral recumbency. One hour after admission, the cat developed severe apnoea and asystole. Cardiorespiratory resuscitation was unsuccessful and the animal died. Necropsy and histopathological examination revealed a purulent meningitis. A sample of purulent exudates was submitted for microbiological examination. Pasteurella multocida was isolated from bacterial culture. Due to the history of dog biting, direct inoculation of P. multocida into the subdural space following penetrating dog-bite wounds was suggested to be the cause of meningitis and death of the kitten. This report highlights the importance of antibiotic therapy in bite wounds to reduce such fatal complications.

Pasteurella species are commensal bacteria of the respiratory airways and oronasal cavity of animals. In this study, we report an unusual case of Pasteurella dagmatis isolation from dog urine with uroliths. An 11-year-old female dog was admitted to the Veterinary Hospital of Ahvaz University complaining of abdominal pain, hematuria, dysuria and stranguria. In clinical and radiological examinations, it was found that abdomen was distended due to urinary bladder obstruction with uroliths. Pasteurella dagmatis was isolated from urine specimen collected by cystocentesis. Finally, uroliths were removed by surgery. Appropriate antibiotic treatment with cephalexin caused improvement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P.dagmatis presence in dog urine.

Linguatula serrata is a tongue-shaped parasite that infects carnivores or insectivorous reptile as final host and herbivores as intermediate ones. During necropsy of a 1.5-year-old female stray cat, a few white and fine nodules were observed on the diaphragmatic lobes of the lung. In histopathological examination, the nodules contained a turned spinosum parasite with cuticular spines and in parasitological examination of digested suspension, nymph of L. serrata with characteristic features was seen. This is the first confirmed infestation in a cat with nymph of L. serrata in Iran.