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Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is an infectious disease of livestock and wildlife species that is caused by pathogenic members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex such as Mycobacterium bovis . Due to the introduction of M. bovis -infected bison in the 1920s, BTB is now endemic in wood bison ( Bison bison athabascae ) population within the Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) in northern Canada. This disease poses a grave threat to the long-term survival of this ecologically and culturally important species and has the potential to cause zoonotic TB and spill over to BTB-free livestock and other bison herds that live in the surrounding areas. Thus, effective BTB control strategies in WBNP bison are urgently needed. To this end, we aerosol challenged young bison with different doses of virulent M. bovis and observed disease-associated delayed-type hypersensitivity, gross lung and lymph node pathology and histopathology, as well as M. bovis burden in target organs, thus confirming the establishment of BTB in challenged animals. We then assessed the safety and efficacy of oral live BCG versus oral heat-inactivated M. bovis (HIMB) given in a homologous prime-boost regimen in bison. While both BCG and HIMB offered protection against BTB, BCG-treated bison thrived more, presented with fewer lung lesions at necropsy and lower burden of virulent M. bovis than HIMB-treated animals. Strikingly, oral HIMB induced almost no delayed-type hypersensitivity to intradermal tuberculin while oral live BCG induced very low sensitivity to tuberculin in bison, indicating their potential as DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals) vaccines for use in this important wildlife species.

The present research work was carried out to study the patho-epidemiological aspects of Genotype-XIII Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection in commercial layer in and around Anand, Gujarat. As the outbreaks have reported in vaccinated flocks, it was felt necessary to study the disease with respect to its changing pathogenicity and relevant aspects. The study comprised of patho-epidemiology of Newcastle disease (ND) by information collected from different layer farms suffering from the disease in relation to incidence pattern and mortality, duration of mortality, susceptible age, and loss due to production performance. Clinical signs were recorded based on observations. During post-mortem, gross lesions were also recorded. For histopathological examination visceral organs according to lesions were collected in 10% formalin and processed slide stained by hematoxylin and eosin for microscopic examination. Cultivation of virus was done in embryonated specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs of 9-11 days and isolation of virus was done for haemagglutination (HA) and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and to identify pathotype of virus by intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) test to determine the virulence of virus. The Genotype-XIII NDV was confirmed by F gene sequence and whole genome sequence. During the study mortality due to ND was recorded in 13 layer flocks in spite of routine vaccination, which usually contain Genotype-II strain of virus. The mortality was observed as high as above 50% with an average of 21.21%. The susceptible age for disease was found to be 6-14 weeks. The duration of mortality observed was 23 days. The disease resulted in a significant reduction in body weight, feed intake and drop in egg production. Majority of the outbreaks appeared during extremely hot months of April to June. Greenish diarrhoea was frequently seen in birds that survived early in infection. Mortality continued for 2-3 weeks and reduced with appearance of torticollis. Gross lesions were characterized by multifocal to diffuse hemorrhages around proventricular glands, necrotic (diphtheritic) haemorrhagic ulcers throughout the intestine, disseminated multiple foci of necrosis and pin-point hemorrhages in the spleen parenchyma. The microscopic lesions include focal to diffuse hemorrhages, diffuse infiltration of mononuclear cells, necrosis, and degeneration in visceral organs. All the 13 farm samples (n=13) resulted in death of all the embryos following incubation up to 72 h post-inoculation. All the 13 allantois fluids from field samples along with F and R2B vaccine sample were found positive for HA activity, which was further confirmed by HI using known NDV serum. The values of ICPI were 2.0 which were indicative of velogenic nature of the field NDV strain. The study indicated that presently available live and attenuated vaccines which include Genotype-II NDV have failed in protecting the flocks against Genotype-XIII and resulted in outbreaks with mortality above 50%. ICPI score of 2.0 confirmed that the present outbreaks were due to Genotype-XIII NDV, which is velogenic in nature.

There is a critical need to ensure that all cattle undergoing surgical husbandry procedures are provided effective pain relief. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are most commonly used, and typically are administered by intramuscular (IM) injection. However, administration of NSAIDs via this route to large numbers of cattle which are handled only once or twice a year, typical of many rangeland beef production systems, presents significant occupational health and safety and mis-administration risks. To address this, a novel transdermal (TD) formulation of ketoprofen was developed, and its efficacy assessed in a study of 36 Holstein–Friesian calves which were assigned to a placebo (n = 10), a TD ketoprofen (n = 10), an IM ketoprofen (n = 10) and sham dehorned group (n = 6). TD ketoprofen significantly reduced plasma cortisol concentrations between 1 to 4 h after dehorning compared to placebo treated calves, with concentrations at 2 and 4 h being very similar to those for sham dehorned calves. The expected log count of positively associated pain variables (ear flick, tail wag, ruminating, head shake, lying down, grooming and neck extending) in the TD group was reduced by 42%, compared to placebo calves, with an overall significant (p < 0.05) treatment effect. The IM group exhibited similar responses and both TD and IM cattle had a higher BW gain at 2 and 5 (p < 0.05) weeks post-dehorning, compared to placebo. This study has shown that TD administered ketoprofen was at least as effective as IM to control pain associated with dehorning and facilitates the administration of analgesic drugs prior to the surgical husbandry procedures being performed.

Aim: A toxico-pathological study was undertaken to assess the effects of Methotrexate administration in Wistar rats by performing the hematology, serum biochemical analysis and associated histopathological changes in visceral organs. Materials and Methods: Rats in 4 treatment groups with 6 male and 6 female rats each were administered methotrexate (Group II to IV) at the dose rate of 0.062, 0.125 and 0.250 mg/kg body weight respectively and distilled water (Group I) as vehicle control for 28 days. Hematological parameters viz., total erythrocyte count, haemoglobin, packed cell volume, MCV, MCH and MCHC, total leukocyte count and differential leukocyte count and serum biochemical parameters viz., aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, globulin (Calculated) were estimated after 28 days. Necropsy examination was performed in all sacrificed animals and gross lesions were recorded. Tissue samples (lung, liver, kidney, intestine, testes and heart) were collected in 10% formalin solution forhisto-pathological examination. Results: The dose dependent reduction in body weight, feed consumption, RBCs count, packed cell volume, haemoglobin, total leucocyte count, neutrophil count, total protein and albumin was observed in animals of group II, III and IV along with significant increase in lymphocyte count, AST, ALT, AKP, creatinine and BUN in animals of methotrexate treated group IV followed by group III. No significant change in monocyte, eosinophil and basophil counts were observed in any treatment groups. All the rats exposed to methotrexate at three different dose levels revealed dose dependent pathological changes characterized by degeneration, necrosis, congestion, haemorrhage and vascular changes. The main target organs affected were liver, kidney, lungs and testes. Conclusion: It can be concluded from this study that sub-acute exposure to methotrexate produced no appreciable changes at recommended 0.062 mg/kg body weight dose level. The findings observed at 0.250 mg/kg body weight methotrexate dose level are of public health significance and regulatory importance due to its hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic character. Keywords: biochemical parameters, histopathology, methotrexate, Wistar rats.

Speculating on bad debt dates back to the 1790's when investors purchased claims against the original thirteen colonies. While claims trading has become more streamlined, complex bankruptcies have elevated the financial risk of engaging in the process. Nonetheless, claims trading is undoubtedly a lucrative market, especially for those who are willing to master the art and take on the risk. The bankruptcy trustee's avoiding powers have a tremendous impact on the claims trading market. In many of these cases the claim would have been disallowed in the hands in the hands of the original claimant, pursuant to the Trustee's power to avoid preferential transfers and fraudulent conveyances. However, courts have been unclear whether claims that would have been disallowed in the hands of the transferor should also be disallowed in the hands of the subsequent transferee. A claim transferee's worst nightmare is investing money in purchasing a claim and then finding the claim to be disallowed, leaving them with zero payment on their investment. KB Toys and Enron have created both clarity and confusion for claim traders.