Veterinary Areas Research Articles

Accelerating vaccine development and deployment: report of a Royal Society satellite meeting.

The Royal Society convened a meeting on the 17th and 18th November 2010 to review the current ways in which vaccines are developed and deployed, and to make recommendations as to how each of these processes might be accelerated. The meeting brought together academics, industry representatives, research sponsors, regulators, government advisors and representatives of international public health agencies from a broad geographical background. Discussions were held under Chatham House rules. High-throughput screening of new vaccine antigens and candidates was seen as a driving force for vaccine discovery. Multi-stakeholder, small-scale manufacturing facilities capable of rapid production of clinical grade vaccines are currently too few and need to be expanded. In both the human and veterinary areas, there is a need for tiered regulatory standards, differentially tailored for experimental and commercial vaccines, to allow accelerated vaccine efficacy testing. Improved cross-fertilization of knowledge between industry and academia, and between human and veterinary vaccine developers, could lead to more rapid application of promising approaches and technologies to new product development. Identification of best-practices and development of checklists for product development plans and implementation programmes were seen as low-cost opportunities to shorten the timeline for vaccine progression from the laboratory bench to the people who need it.

Species Diversity of Carp, Cyprinus Carpio (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae), Parasites in Some Cultivation Regions

Species Diversity of Carp, Cyprinus Carpio (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae), Parasites in Some Cultivation Regions Zoogeographical comparison for species diversity of carp parasites in different cultivation regions including aquatic ecosystems of Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Vietnam was carried out. Totally, 160 parasitic species were recorded in carp within these regions. Parasitic species with direct and complex life cycles important in epizootic, veterinary, and health areas were registered.

Brucellosis in dialysis patients. Does it exist?

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease transmittable to humans. It is diagnosed either by isolation of Brucella organism in culture of blood or other sample types (e.g., bone marrow or liver biopsy specimens), or by a combination of serological tests and clinical findings. Dialysis patients constitute a special population group with an impaired autoimmune system and a propensity to develop infections, such as brucellosis. This paper presents the high incidence of brucellosis in our dialysis patients during last year, while there was not any zoonotic infection recorded in the previous at least 5 year period. This is a retrospective study including 8 dialysis patients, undergoing renal replacement therapies (5 patients were on hemodialysis (HD) and 3 on peritoneal dialysis (PD)), who out of a total of 124 patients developed brucellosis, during the last year. Four patients were male and four female and their mean age was 67 +/- 9 years. Clinical presentation of Brucellosis infection was mild with low-grade fever and symptoms of influenza. All patients were living in places where animal brucellosis was prevalent. Infection was diagnosed on the basis of clinical symptoms and signs and with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of peripheral blood. The affected patients had consumed fresh unpasteurized milk and cheese and were treated with oral doxycycline and oral rifampicin for 6 weeks. All patients are in follow up for at least 1 year, during which there were no relapses. Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that can occur in dialysis patients who are susceptible to infection under certain conditions. Our brucellosis patients lived in agricultural and veterinary areas and had consumed unpasteurized milk and cheese and insufficiently cooked meat derived from infected animals.

Der Weg zum „Veterinärraum“ Schweiz A.D. 941 – 1886

The earliest recorded animal disease notification on the territory of contemporary Switzerland is found in the chronicles of the monastery of St. Gall and dates back to A.D. 941. Disease control in Switzerland began in medieval towns, with the regulation of livestock and the meat trade. Later, there were attempts to keep entire small areas such as valleys free of animal epidemics. Because livestock tended to be transported in one direction only - away from rural areas for sale in towns and for export - disease in animal-raising areas usually did not spread very far. Albrecht von Haller's epidemiological research from 1773 established the fundamentals of effective disease control. The cantons introduced extensive measures for protecting their territories on the basis of animal transport controls. With the development of the railways and the international livestock trade around 1850, the risk of animal epidemics increased considerably, leading to the need for measures on national and international levels. The first federal law on animal disease control was introduced in Switzerland in 1872, thus creating a nation-wide "veterinary area". In 1886 the law was amended to include mandatory controls of imported livestock and meat by a newly-created border veterinary service.

NUCEL (Cell and Molecular Therapy Center): A Multidisciplinary Center for Translational Research in Brazil

Social and economical development is closely associated with technological innovation and a well-developed biotechnological industry. In the last few years, Brazil's scientific production has been steadily increasing; however, the number of patents is lagging behind, with technological and translational research requiring governmental incentive and reinforcement. The Cell and Molecular Therapy Center (NUCEL) was created to develop activities in the translational research field, addressing concrete problems found in biomedical and veterinary areas and actively searching for solutions by employing a genetic engineering approach to generate cell lines over-expressing recombinant proteins to be transferred to local biotech companies, aiming at furthering the development of a national competence for local production of biopharmaceuticals of widespread use and of life-saving importance. To this end, mammalian cell engineering technologies were used to generate cell lines over-expressing several different recombinant proteins of biomedical and biotechnological interest, namely, recombinant human Amylin/IAPP for diabetes treatment, human FVIII and FIX clotting factors for hemophilia, human and bovine FSH for fertility and reproduction, and human bone repair proteins (BMPs). Expression of some of these proteins is also being sought with the baculovirus/insect cell system (BEVS) which, in many cases, is able to deliver high-yield production of recombinant proteins with biological activity comparable to that of mammalian systems, but in a much more cost-effective manner. Transfer of some of these recombinant products to local Biotech companies has been pursued by taking advantage of the São Paulo State Foundation (FAPESP) and Federal Government (FINEP, CNPq) incentives for joint Research Development and Innovation partnership projects.

Genomics and systems biology – how relevant are the developments to veterinary pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutics?

This review discusses some of the recent developments in genomics and its current and future relevance for veterinary pharmacology and toxicology. With the rapid progress made in this field several new approaches in pharmacological and toxicological research have developed and drug discovery and drug development strategies have changed dramatically. In this review, the term genomics is used to encompass the three sub-disciplines transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics (or metabonomics) to describe the formation and fate of mRNA, proteins and metabolites, respectively. The current status and methods of the technology and some applications are briefly described. Although the DNA sequencing programmes are receiving considerable attention, the real value of genomics for pharmacology and toxicology is brought by the parallel developments in bio-informatics, bio-statistics and the integration of biology with mathematics and information technology. The ultimate level of integration is now mostly called systems biology, where mRNA, proteins and metabolites are being analysed in parallel, using a complete arsenal of analytical techniques (DNA-array, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, NMR, etc.). The information thus collected is analysed, integrated, linked to database information and translated to pathways and systems. This approach offers an enormous potential to study disease mechanisms and find new drug targets. Thus far, genomics and systems biology have not been introduced significantly in typical veterinary pharmacological and toxicological research programmes. The high costs and complexity connected to these large projects often form major obstacles for research groups with limited budgets. In other veterinary areas and disciplines, including infectious diseases, animal production and food-safety more examples of application are available. Genomics and bio-informatics provide outstanding opportunities to study pharmacology and toxicology in a more holistic way, taking into account the complexity of biological systems and based on the basic principles of physiology and the concept of homeostasis. Knowledge of biology, in vivo and in vitro models, and comparative pharmacology/toxicology is essential here, creating excellent opportunities for the veterinary trained scientist.

Genotoxicity evaluation of metronidazole using the piscine micronucleus test by acridine orange fluorescent staining

In this study, genotoxic potential of metronidazole, an antibiotic-antiparasitic agent widely used both clinical and veterinary areas, was evaluated using the piscine micronucleus test. Specimens of Oreochromis niloticus (Pisces: Cichlidae) were exposed to different concentrations (5, 10, 15 mg/L) of metronidazole and 4 mg/L cyclophosphamide (as positive control) for 24, 48 and 72 h. A fluorescent staining technique with acridine orange (AO) was performed to improve the sensitivity of erythrocyte micronucleus assay with fish. AO selectively stains newly formed immature erythrocytes (PCEs) therefore allows to obtain more sensitive results by detection of the micronucleated PCEs differed than mature erythrocytes (NCEs) by their RNA-containing cytoplasm. The ratio of PCE/NCE in peripheral blood was also evaluated to assess cytotoxicity. As a result, it was observed that the frequencies of micronucleated PCEs increased both dose and time dependently while PCE/NCE ratios decreased. Our results revealed that metronidazole has cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on fish. The use of acridine orange staining technique also seems useful in assessment of short-term genotoxic effects of chemicals, when fish are used as experimental animal.

Study of Ligmed-A, an antidiarrheal drug based on lignin, on rat small intestine enzyme activity and morphometry.

This study aimed to determine the potential toxic effect of 4-day oral treatment with a lignin-based formulation on the enzymatic activity and morphology of the small intestine of rat. Ligmed-A is collected from sugarcane and is used to treat diarrhea in weaning pigs. The compound is about 90% lignin, an insoluble polyphenolic constituent of plants and a component of dietary fiber. The duodenal, jejunal and ileal mucosa of control rats and those receiving 2 g/kg Ligmed-A showed similar protein contents of about 100 mg/g. The sucrase and alkaline phosphatase activities of the three intestinal segments were unaltered after administration of the compound. Nonhistological alterations were observed after treatment. Our results, together with those of previous studies which found no toxicological effects, indicate that Ligmed-A could provide a potent antidiarrheal treatment in the veterinary area. However, further studies are required to examine its use in humans.

Persistence in bovine mastitis of Staphylococcus aureus clones as assessed by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis, ribotyping and biotyping

Staphylococcus aureus isolates (N = 40) from bovine mastitis were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR), ribotyping and biotyping. The isolates were collected in the veterinary surveillance area of the Ambulatory Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki from 20 quarters during the acute phase of infection and from the same quarters 3 weeks after cessation of therapy. The aim of the study was to compare the S. aureus isolates taken from the same quarter at different times to verify persistence of virulent strains in infected quarters and to compare the discriminatory power of the diagnostic methods. Using all methods (except for a commercial diagnostic test), the paired isolates of S. aureus were identical. Results suggest that the chronic nature of S. aureus infections was due to the persistence of the original infective strain. More laborious ribotyping and the more convenient RAPD-PCR method produced identical results. The molecular methods differentiated the 40 isolates into 6 distinct genotypes. Biotyping produced partially identical results to RAPD and ribotyping. A commercial diagnostic test system identified only 3 S. aureus biotypes.

Veterinary practice internal controls.

This chapter explores the responsive management requirements critical for effective internal controls. Internal control techniques offered include the application of segregation of function, goal-orientation, performance planning, and training objectives in five veterinary practice areas. These areas are client controls, cash controls, inventory controls, purchase controls, and stock controls. Because only trusted staff members are given access to practice assets, the veterinary leadership must have a responsive management plan to protect the life of the practice while building the practice team. Methods are shared for controlling opportunities that can lead to employee fraud while concurrently building a team approach to internal controls.

Bovine clinical mastitis due to coagulase-negative staphylococci and their susceptibility to antimicrobials.

A total of 168 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) strains were isolated from milk samples taken from cows with clinical mastitis. The samples were collected between January 1990 and August 1992 from cows in the veterinary surveillance area of the Ambulatory Clinic, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hautjärvi, Finland. In 100 cases the effect of antibiotic treatment was evaluated 3-4 weeks after initial sampling. Clinical symptoms of the animals were recorded, and the inflammatory status of their udders was evaluated using the CMT test and assessing milk NAGase activity. CNS mastitis was most common in young cows during early lactation. Staphylococcus hyicus, S. simulans and S. epidermidis were the most frequently isolated CNS. Clinical symptoms were most severe with S. hyicus. Cure rates for CNS induced mastitis were high.

Library Facilities and Practices in Colleges of Veterinary Medicine

LITTLE LITERATURE exists that can be u~~~ in a comparative study of library facilities for the study of veterinary medicine. In order to develop a plan for such facilities at Kansas State University a survey was made of current practices in colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States. To obtain this information a questionnaire was sent to colleges of veterinary medicine. One page in length, the questionnaire was brief enough so that a high percentage of returns could be expected. Sixteen of eighteen had been returned by the time of this writing. The date of the questionnaire covered the year 1962-63 with one exception for 1963-64. A short supplemental questionnaire was sent later, with fifteen returns. The American Veterinary Medical Association states that, adequate library facilities are essential to a sound program of veterinary medical education and research. The library should be established as a part of the veterinary medical school· it should be well housed, convenient!; located, and available for the use of students and faculty at all reasonable hours. It should be administered by a professionally trained or experienced librarian and should be adequately sustained both for operation and for the purchase of current periodical and other accessories of veterinary medical importance.1 According to the survey made by Verner L. Johnson and Ernest C. Stove in 1959 ' on some of the college campuses the veterinary area is situated physically