Assessment of Acute-Phase Protein Response Associated with the Different Pathological Forms of Bovine Paratuberculosis.

In this study, the concentrations of two acute-phase proteins (APPs), haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA), were quantitatively assessed in serum samples from cattle naturally infected with paratuberculosis (PTB). APP profiles were compared across 190 animals classified according to the different pathological forms associated with infection: uninfected ( = 59), with focal lesions ( = 73), multifocal lesions ( = 19), and diffuse paucibacillary ( = 11) and diffuse multibacillary lesions ( = 28). Our results showed a significant increase in both APPs in infected animals compared to the control group, with differences depending on the type of lesion.

Impact of maedi-visna in intensively managed dairy sheep.

Maedi-visna (MV) is a slow lentiviral disease of sheep that has a significant economic impact in many sheep-producing regions although there remains a paucity of data relating to actual production losses resulting from this disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate direct losses, through death or culling, from two dairy sheep flocks with high seroprevalences of infection over a 2 year period. Maedi-visna was found, either alone or in combination with other diseases, to be the most common disease diagnosed in these sheep, and the major cause of direct animal losses in the two flocks.

Oak leaf (Quercus pyrenaica) poisoning in cattle.

Three experiments were conducted to study the clinical and pathological findings associated with poisoning in cattle due to ingestion of young oak leaves (OL) and the main factors responsible for toxicosis. In Experiment 1, six 1.4 year-old bulls were fed up to 5 kg of young OL per animal per day and showed no signs of toxicity, apart from a slight proteinuria.

Expression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) in different types of granulomatous lesions in bovine and ovine paratuberculosis.

Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), is manifested by a broad spectrum of clinical and lesional presentations. We have evaluated the expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), a cytokine known to have immunosuppressor effects, by immunohistochemistry, in different paratuberculosis lesions in the intestine and lymph nodes from 20 sheep and 25 cattle.

Unilateral orchitis and epididymitis caused by Salmonella enterica subspecies diarizonae infection in a ram.

A case of unilateral suppurative epididymo-orchitis associated with Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae serovar 61:k:1,5,(7) infection is described in a 2-year-old ram. Gross lesions were characterized by severe enlargement of the scrotal contents, fibrous adhesions between testicular layers, coexistence of epididymal abscesses and foci of fibrinous exudate, and testicular atrophy.

Diagnosis of clinical cases of the nervous form of Maedi-Visna in 4- and 6-month-old lambs.

The nervous form of Maedi-Visna (MV) infection was diagnosed in four lambs aged 4 and 6 months, belonging to three different Assaf flocks that were managed intensively for milk and meat production. The animals presented with hindleg ataxia that rapidly progressed to complete recumbency. Lesions consisted of a moderate to severe non-purulent encephalitis affecting mainly the cerebellar peduncles.

Effects of fixative type and fixation time on the detection of Maedi Visna virus by PCR and immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded ovine lung samples.

In doubtful cases, the histopathological diagnosis of lesions induced by Maedi Visna virus (MVV), a chronic multisystemic lentiviral disease of sheep, needs to be confirmed by the demonstration of MVV in the tissues. The influence of fixatives and the duration of fixation on the detection of MVV by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and PCR in paraffin-embedded tissues was assessed in lung samples with lesions in different degree, from five sheep serologically positive. Samples were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF), Bouin's solution (BS) and a zinc salts-based fixative (ZSF), for different periods of time between 24 h and 30 days.