Evaluation of the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) Curriculum at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania: Mapping to OIE Veterinary Graduate 'Day 1 Competencies'.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) provides the requirements needed for graduating veterinary professionals to be competent in the delivery of animal health services. However, significant differences in veterinary curricula across countries-attributable to differing animal health priorities and predominant types of veterinary practice-provide a challenge for veterinary schools to address these competencies adequately. As part of the OIE's veterinary education establishment Twinning Project activities, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania undertook a curriculum mapping and gap analysis to assess the extent to which the veterinary curriculum addresses OIE's 'Day 1 Competencies' for graduating veterinarians.

Role of the stress-associated chemicals norepinephrine, epinephrine and substance P in dispersal of Mannheimia haemolytica from biofilms.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a major problem for the cattle industry that is triggered by various environmental stressors, pathogens and host responses. Mannheimia hemolytica, an important bacterial component of BRD, are present within the nasopharayngeal region of normal calves as commensal biofilm communities. However, following stress there are changes in the nasopharyngeal microenvironment that triggers the transition of the commensal M.

Characterization of Mannheimia haemolytica in beef calves via nasopharyngeal culture and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Mannheimia haemolytica is a major bacterial component of bovine respiratory disease (BRD); unfortunately, very little is known about M. haemolytica transmission dynamics among cattle. Identifying potential variation in M.

Comparison of anamnestic responses to rabies vaccination in dogs and cats with current and out-of-date vaccination status.

Objective: To compare anamnestic antibody responses of dogs and cats with current versus out-of-date vaccination status.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Animals: 74 dogs and 33 cats.

Review of BRD pathogenesis: the old and the new.

The pathogenesis of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is determined by a complex interaction of environmental, infectious, and host factors. Environment trends could impact feedlot cattle by increasing their level of stress. The polymicrobial nature of BRD produces synergies between infectious agents that can alter pathogenesis.

Associations of various physical and blood analysis variables with experimentally induced Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia in calves.

Objective: To determine associations of blood analysis variables and orbit and nasal planum surface temperatures with the onset and severity of Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia in calves. Animals-28 healthy calves.

Procedures: Calves were challenged with M bovis (n = 24) on day 0 or not challenged (4).

Effect of transportation during periods of high ambient temperature on physiologic and behavioral indices of beef heifers.

Objective: To determine the effect of transportation during periods of high ambient temperature on physiologic and behavioral indices of beef heifers.

Animals: 20 heifers (mean body weight, 217.8 kg).

Precision and accuracy of clinical illness scores, compared with pulmonary consolidation scores, in Holstein calves with experimentally induced Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia.

Objective: To determine the precision of a clinical illness score (CIS) system for identification of clinical signs in calves with experimentally induced Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia and to evaluate the accuracy of CISs in relation to pulmonary consolidation scores assigned at necropsy.

Animals: 178 Holstein bull calves that were 52 to 91 days of age at the time of pneumonia induction.

Procedures: 5 trials involved calves challenged with M bovis and scheduled for euthanasia and necropsy 12 to 24 days afterward.

Clinical, behavioral, and pulmonary changes in calves following inoculation with Mycoplasma bovis.

Objective: To characterize clinical and behavioral changes in calves following inoculation with Mycoplasma bovis and evaluate relationships between those changes and pulmonary disease.

Animals: 22 healthy Holstein steers.

Procedures: 20 calves were inoculated intranasally with < 10(8) CFU or > 10(9) CFU of M bovis.

2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus causes disease and upregulation of genes related to inflammatory and immune responses, cell death, and lipid metabolism in pigs.

There exists limited information about whether adaptation is needed for cross-species transmission of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus (pH1N1). Here, we compare the pathogenesis of two pH1N1 viruses, one derived from a human patient (A/CA/04/09 [CA09]) and the other from swine (A/swine/Alberta/25/2009 [Alb09]), with that of the 1918-like classical swine influenza virus (A/swine/Iowa/1930 [IA30]) in the pig model. Both pH1N1 isolates induced clinical symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, decreased activity, fever, and labored breathing in challenged pigs, but IA30 virus did not cause any clinical symptoms except fever.

Pathogenicity of swine influenza viruses possessing an avian or swine-origin PB2 polymerase gene evaluated in mouse and pig models.

PB2 627K is a determinant of influenza host range and contributes to the pathogenicity of human-, avian-, and mouse-adapted influenza viruses in the mouse model. Here we used mouse and pig models to analyze the contribution of a swine-origin and avian-origin PB2 carrying either 627K or 627E in the background of the classical swine H1N1 (A/Swine/Iowa/15/30; 1930) virus. The results showed PB2 627K is crucial for virulence in the mouse model, independent of whether PB2 is derived from an avian or swine influenza virus (SIV).

Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 retention on solid surfaces and peroxide resistance is enhanced by dual-strain biofilm formation.

In a previous study we showed that an Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain that was unable to form biofilm was retained in large numbers in dual-strain biofilms formed with an E. coli O-:H4 companion strain. In this study we tested additional companion strains for their ability to retain E.

Serial evaluation of physiologic, pathological, and behavioral changes related to disease progression of experimentally induced Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia in postweaned calves.

Objective: To determine the usefulness of physiologic, behavioral, and pathological changes as objective indicators of early respiratory disease in calves with Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia.

Animals: 14 crossbred beef steers.

Procedures: Disease was experimentally induced in healthy calves through endoscopic pulmonary inoculation of M haemolytica.

The CsgA and Lpp proteins of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain affect HEp-2 cell invasion, motility, and biofilm formation.

In Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain ATCC 43895, a guanine-to-thymine transversion in the csgD promoter created strain 43895OR. Strain 43895OR produces an abundant extracellular matrix rich in curli fibers, forms biofilms on solid surfaces, invades cultured epithelial cells, and is more virulent in mice than strain 43895. In this study we compared the formic acid-soluble proteins expressed by strains 43895OR and 43895 using one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis and identified two differentially expressed proteins.

Assessment of necropsy findings in sled dogs that died during Iditarod Trail sled dog races: 23 cases (1994-2006).

Objective: To describe the character and frequency of causes of death and associated lesions in long-distance racing sled dogs.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 23 dogs.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the femoral head of normal dogs and dogs with avascular necrosis.

The purpose of this study was to describe the appearance of the femoral head of normal, young, small breed dogs, and dogs with avascular necrosis using low-field (0.3 T) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Images of the femoral heads were obtained in the dorsal plane, and included T1-weighted spin-echo, T2-weighted fast spin-echo, fast spin echo-inversion recovery, and fluid attenuated inversion recovery pulse sequences.

Differentiation of C2D macrophage cells after adoptive transfer.

C2D macrophage cells protect immunocompromised mice from experimentally induced pneumonias after intraperitoneal (i.p.) adoptive transfer.

Use of computed tomography to evaluate pathologic changes in the lungs of calves with experimentally induced respiratory tract disease.

Objective: To optimize methods for the use of computed tomography (CT) to assess pathologic changes in the lungs of calves and to determine the effect of treatment on lung consolidation.

Animals: 10 male Holstein calves.

Procedures: Calves were anesthetized to facilitate CT imaging of the thorax.

Innate immunity and inflammation--New frontiers in comparative cardiovascular pathology.

Innate immunity and inflammation play key roles in a wide range of pathology - including heart disease and vasculopathies. Current thinking suggests "damage" rather than "foreignness" as the actual trigger of the immune system, which has caused a dramatic change in how we tend to view the etiopathology of most types of heart disease. The future potential of certain anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategies in addressing heart disease is intriguing.

Bovine alveolar macrophage neurokinin-1 and response to substance P.

In this study bovine alveolar macrophage neurokinin-1 (NK-1) and the in vitro response to substance P (SP) exposure were investigated. Bovine alveolar macrophage membrane extracts separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotted using anti-NK-1 antiserum demonstrated the presence of an approximately 60kDa band. Phagocytosis of fluorescent bioparticles by SP-exposed macrophages was 39% greater than that of non-exposed macrophages (P=0.

Correlation of results of pulmonary computed tomography and pathologic findings in mice with Pasteurella-induced pneumonia.

Objective: To determine correlation between results of computed tomography (CT) versus pathologic examination for determining the volume percentage of affected lung in mice experimentally infected with Pasteurella pneumotropica.

Animals: 30 adult mice.

Procedure: After helical CT scans on day 0, mice were inoculated intranasally with P.

Toll-like receptor 4-positive macrophages protect mice from Pasteurella pneumotropica-induced pneumonia.

This study investigates Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-positive macrophages in early recognition and clearance of pulmonary bacteria. TLR4 is a trans-membrane receptor that is the primary recognition molecule for lipopolysaccharide of gram-negative bacteria. The TLR4(Lps-del) mouse strains C57BL10/ScN (B10) and STOCK Abb(tm1) TLR4(Lps-del) Slc11a1(s)(B10 x C2D) are susceptible to pulmonary infections and develop pneumonia when naturally or experimentally infected by the opportunistic bacterium Pasteurella pneumotropica.

Immunogenicity of chi4127 phoP- Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in dogs.

Salmonellae are commonly isolated from dogs. The number of dogs infected with Salmonella spp. is surprisingly high and greater than the incidence of clinical disease would suggest.