[Botulism in cattle, a review].

Botulism in cattle is reviewed in the present paper. General information concerning the aetiology and symptomatology of the disease is followed by a discussion of the epidemiological situation in the Netherlands. Since 1975 several outbreaks of botulism type C or D have occurred.

[Tuberculosis in alpacas; a zoonosis as an imported disease].

In the Netherlands, in 1988, a micro-epidemic of tuberculosis in alpacas recently imported from Peru prompted health authorities to initiate investigation of human and animal contacts. Although the animal trainer and his assistant suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, they turned out to be infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, while the animals later proved to be infected by M. bovis.

[Tuberculosis in imported alpacas--a zoonosis--now what?].

An outbreak of tuberculosis caused by M. bovis in imported Alpaca's in the Netherlands is reported. A review of the outbreak of the disease is followed by a more detailed discussion of the symptoms, diagnostic testing with the tuberculin skin test and the ELISA test, the gross lesions, the bacteriological examinations, the control measures and the legal aspects.

Use of delayed-type hypersensitivity test to diagnose brucellosis in calves born to infected dams.

Calves (n = 2) born to dams with experimentally induced brucellosis, and calves (n = 4) born to dams with naturally occurring infection were examined by the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) test for possible B. abortus infection. The results were compared with the serum agglutination test, complement fixation test, and Coombs test.

Testing strains of Clostridium perfringens type A isolated from diarrhoeic piglets for the presence of the enterotoxin gene.

A diarrhoeic syndrome in piglets has been linked to Clostridium perfringens type A because this organism has been isolated in large numbers from all cases. The strains isolated from these cases and strains isolated from healthy piglets were screened for the enterotoxin gene of C perfringens by DNA-hybridisation. Using two different synthetic DNA-probes, none of the strains isolated from diseased pigs was positive in this reaction, indicating that the enterotoxin of C perfringens is not involved in the syndrome.

Avian tuberculosis in wild birds in the Netherlands.

Mycobacterium avium was isolated from 82 of 11,664 birds submitted for necropsy in The Netherlands. All isolated M. avium strains belonged to serotype 1, 2 or 3.

[Diagnosis and control of tuberculosis in cattle].

The current knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in cattle is reviewed as part of a series bearing the title 'Papers in the Past and Present'. A retrospective view is taken of the discovery of tuberculin by Robert Koch in 1890 and of three papers by Professor M.H.

[Type-C botulism in dogs].

Twelve dogs died from an outbreak of type-C botulism. The origin of the outbreak was found to consist in feeding the dogs broiler carcasses contaminated with Clostridium botulinum type-C. High concentrations of toxin type-C could be detected in the stomach contents.

The efficacy of mesenteric lymph node biopsy in the eradication of paratuberculosis from an infected dairy farm.

Lymph node biopsy was performed on animals older than nine months on a dairy farm which carried 223 animals and was severely affected by paratuberculosis. Biopsies were examined histologically and bacteriologically for the presence of M. paratuberculosis infection.

Potency testing of bovine tuberculins.

The diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis is based on the intradermal tuberculin test. Therefore in eradication campaigns HCSM or PPD tuberculins with high potency and maximal specificity per cattle dose are needed. In quality control and standardization assays the PPD tuberculins have the advantage that the protein content can serve as a basis for calculating the degree of dilution to be used for batches of the concentrated tuberculin, but this chemical estimation does not measure the biological activity of the tuberculo-proteins.

The potency of bovine PPD tuberculins in guinea-pigs and in tuberculous cattle.

Potency differences between bovine purified protein derivative tuberculin preparations produced in two different centres and also between preparations produced within these centres, were detected in tuberculous cattle and correlated with potency differences in guinea-pigs. Although assays in groups of guinea-pigs sensitized with either killed Mycobacterium bovis or live BCG identified the weak batches and listed the tuberculins in the same order of potency as the cattle assays, there were nevertheless significant differences between potency estimates according to the mode of sensitization and the preparations compared. The implications for the standardization of tuberculin preparation in general are discussed.

Diarrhea in one to three week-old piglets associated with Clostridium perfringens type A.

Investigation on the aetiology of diarrhoea in piglets of one to three weeks of age revealed high numbers of Clostridium perfringens type A in intestinal contents of severely affected animals. Experimental infections with hysterectomy derived, colostrum deprived piglets performed in an isolator resulted in a clinical picture indistinguishable from the clinical signs observed under field conditions i.e.

[First case of type D botulism in cattle in the Netherlands (author's transl)].

Report on an outbreak of botulism in six cows, in which Cl. botulinum toxin type D was found to be the cause for the first time in the Netherlands. Epidemiological studies showed that this outbreak of type D botulism was due to the fact that the litter used in the cubicles of the cows had been taken from a poultry farm in which cadavers of chicken were present, which contained up to 2 x 10(5) LD100 of Cl botulinum toxin type D per gram.

[Type B botulism in cattle, caused by feeding grass silage. Report of a case (author's transl)].

An outbreak of type B botulism in cattle, caused by feeding grass silage, is reported. The clinical features were completely identical with those in cases of type B botulism, which occurred when abnormal brewers' grains were fed. 36.