Science et technologie vétérinaires

A cross-sectional study on bovine cysticercosis was conducted at Zeway municipal abattoir from November 2010 to March 2011 with the main objectives of determining the prevalence of cysticercosis in animals, taeniasis in human and estimates the worth of taeniasis treatment in Zeway/Batu town. Active abattoir and questionnaire survey and inventory of pharmaceutical shops were performed to accomplish the study. Out of the total 400 inspected animals, 12 animals had variable number of Cysticercus bovis giving an overall prevalence of 12 (3%). Anatomical distribution of the cyst showed that the highest proportions of C.bovis cyst were observed in tongue 33 (34.4%) followed by heart 27 (28.1%), triceps 21 (21.9%) and masseter muscle 15(15.6%). A total of 96 C. bovis were collected during the inspection; out of these, 32 (33.3%) were found to be live cysts while 64 (66.7%) were degenerative cysts. Of the total 120 interviewed respondents, 68 (56.7%) had contracted T. saginata infection at least once in their life time. Human taeniasis prevalence showed significant difference (p<0.05) with habit of raw meat consumption, sex and use of latrine. Accordingly frequent raw meat consumers (OR=10.71, 95%CI [1.54-74.42], male individuals (OR=2.15, 95% CI [0.95-4.88] and non latrine users (OR=4.40, 95% CI [1.58-12.45] had higher odds for acquiring taeniasis than occasional meat consumer, female and latrine users, respectively. An inventory of taeniacidal drugs from private pharmacies, rural drug venders, clinics and public health centers indicate that drugs worth of 110,560 Ethiopian birr was sold in the past one year (2009/10). Therefore, attention should be given for awareness creation for people not to consume raw meat and to use latrine to decrease the contamination of grazing areas.

Single Layer Centrifugation (SLC) of spermatozoa through a species-specific colloid has been shown to be effective in selecting the best spermatozoa from stallion semen. The method is easier to use and less time-consuming than density gradient centrifugation (DGC), and has been scaled-up to allow whole ejaculates to be processed in a practical manner. The major applications for SLC-sperm selection are as follows: to improve sperm quality in artificial insemination (AI) doses, particularly for “problem” stallions; to increase the “shelf-life” of normal sperm samples, either by processing the fresh semen before preparing AI doses, or by processing the stored semen dose to extract the best spermatozoa; to circumvent the problem of spermatozoa that do not tolerate cooling to 4-6°C; to improve cryosurvival by removing dead and dying spermatozoa prior to cryopreservation, or selecting the live spermatozoa post-thawing; to select morphologically normal spermatozoa with intact chromatin from sub-fertile stallion semen for ICSI, thus increasing the number of blastocysts; to remove pathogens (viruses, bacteria); to accelerate the process of flow cytometric sex selection by removing the dead and dying sperm before passage through the laser beam; to conserve rare breeds. These applications are discussed and practical examples provided.

Field and laboratory diagnostic investigation was conducted during recent outbreaks of "High Fever Syndrome (HFS)" in numerous large-sized swine farms in Xinjiang of China which obtained pigs from Jiangxi and Hunan Provinces where outbreaks of HFS coincided. The syndrome occurred in these provinces from April 2006 to June 2006 with a peak of index cases in late May 2006. The most common clinical symptoms of HFS in affected pigs were elevating body temperature and rubefaction. Overall morbidity and mortality ranged from 20 to 80%. In sow farms the abortion rate by HFS reached 65% and many weaned piglets had severe dyspnea. The incidence rate of the syndrome in finishing/marketing pigs (10-15 months of age) was up to 50%. In deceased pigs, organ failure was observed in the lungs, liver, spleen, intestines, and lymph nodes. Animals examined had serological evidence of prior exposure to pseudorabies virus (PRV). Furthermore, laboratory testing by a PCR assay on samples from clinically affected animals demonstrated that the majority of index animals were concurrently infected with PRRSV and porcine circovirus type 2, suggesting that epidemic outbreaks of HFS was attributed to infection by multiple viral agents. Many index cases appeared to be related to the application of multiple live virus vaccines in an uncontrolled manner, raising the necessity for implementation of rigid regulation for vaccination programs.