Anterior uveitis in a kitten infected with toxoplasma gondii [Tehran strain]

Ocular lesions are a common manifestation of toxoplasmosis in cats. In this survey, 10 healthy Syrian mice were infected through intraperitoneal inoculation of bradyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii [Tehran strain]. Mice were killed 30 days after inoculation and the suspension of their brains was prepared, after confirmation of the infection. Seven kittens were fed with the infected mice brain suspension. The kittens were 2.5-3 months old and had body weights of 650-900 g. All kittens shed oocyst 7-8 days after infection, and had antibody titers as high as 1/320-1/1280 30 days after the challenge. Serum chemistry and complete blood count were determined in all of the kittens. Examination of eyes was done with ophthalmoscope twice during one week. Only one kitten showed unilateral anterior uveitis on day 16 after the infection was diagnosed based on serology, oocyst shedding and other clinical signs

[Assessment of different methods to remove organic inhibitors in order to create a sensitive method for direct surveillance of enteroviral infectious diseases in sewage specimens]

Enteroviruses in sewage are considered among the most sensitive indicators for virus circulation in society. These are mainly detected by sensitive cell cultures, however, since it is time consuming, molecular direct methods have also been considered as sensitive techniques. This study accomplished to assess different methods of removing organic inhibitors of sewage in order to detect Enteroviruses with RT-PCR. For this cross sectional study, 63 sewage specimens of Tehran were prepared with Grab sample method and concentrated with Pellet and Two-Phase methods and cultured in RD and Hep-2 cells. Then, with 12 different methods, removing organic inhibitors in sewage with RT-PCR method was assessed. Of investigated methods, we succeeded to isolate all of expected viruses only with the use of ICC-RT-PCR method. With respect to 0.01 TCID50 sensitivity of ICC-RT-PCR method, further studies are strongly recommended in order to confirm the utility of this method as one of the most sensitive methods of detecting Enteroviruses

Seroprevalence and bacteriological study of canine leptospirosis in Tehran and its suburban areas

To determine the seroprevalence of canine leptospirosis in Tehran and its suburban areas, 300 blood samples were collected from dogs referred to the Small Animal Teaching Hospital of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at University of Tehran, Iran, between October 1998 and October 2000. Following separation of sera, they were kept at -30 °C until the time of laboratory examinations at Razi Institute. All referral cases were selected from the non-vaccinated dogs against leptospirosis. They were 3 months to 11 years old. All of the sera were examined by microscopic agglutination test [MAT] and indirect fluorescent antibody [IFA] techniques in serial two-fold serum dilutions from 1:50 to 1:1600. A titer of 1:100 or more was considered positive. All sera were examined against 16 serogroups of live leptospiral antigens as recommended by world health organization [WHO]. Seroepidemiological analysis in this study indicated that 93 out of 300 [31.0%] serum samples were positive against one, two or three leptospiral serogroups of canicola [9.0%], icterohaemorrhagiae [5.7%], grippotyphosa [3.7%], canicola+grippotyphosa [3.3%], canicola+icterohaemorrhagiae [3.0%], grippotyphosa+icterohaemorrhagiae [0.7%] and canicola+icterohaemorrhagiae+grippotyphosa [5.7%] using MAT at a titer of 1:100 or more. No leptospiral organism was isolated from 93 urine samples of reacted dogs in this study. Seventeen out of 93 [18.3%] reacted dogs showed clinical symptoms of leptospirosis. The rate of positive reaction was 36.9% [31 out of 84] in farmer dogs and 31.0% [67 out of 216] in urban dogs. The rate of positive reaction was 42.3% [60 out of 142] in male and 34.4% [54 out of 158] in female dogs. The statistical analysis using McNemar test, however showed no significant difference between urban and farmer as well as between male and female dogs in this study [p=0.076]. The prevalence rate of reacted dogs examined by IFA technique at 1:100 dilution of serum samples was 34.3% [103 out of 300]. The same rate using MAT was 31.0% [93 out of 300]. The proportion of reacted dogs examined by IFA technique was the same as that examined by MAT at a titer of 1:400 or more. If MAT is considered as the gold standard test for diagnosis of leptospirosis, then the IFA at a titer of 1:100 or more would have a sensitivity of 95%, a specificity of 92%, a false positive rate of 8% and a false negative rate of 5%. In conclusion, with the given sensitivity and specificity of IFA technique, we suggest it as a supportive diagnostic procedure to be used for detection of canine leptospirosis in the field. To prevent and control of canine leptospirosis as a potential zoonotic disease in Iran, use of potent vaccines against the three major serogroups of canicola, icterohaemorrhagiae and grippotyphosa in all urban [pet] and farmer [shepherd] dogs older than 3 months is highly recommended

[ effect of a mastitis control program onsome udder health and milk quality indices in a large dairy herd in Tehran province]

Objective: to evaluate the effect of a mastitis control program [based on the mastitis prevention, elimination and monitoring] on a herd udder health and milk quality status

Design: field trial

Animals: a large Holstein dairy herd of 1150 dairy cows

Procedure: 1] Evaluating the herd udder health status [by CMT and milk sampling born 19.34% of the milking cows for bacteriologic culture, 2] Canying out a control program [Consisted of: blitz treatment of Shep. ag., Post milking teat dipping by a 2.5% povidone Iodine solution with 5% glycerin, dry cow combination therapy, systemic antibiotic therapy of late pregnant heifers, bedding management, early detection, and good record keeping of clinical cases as well as continuous monitoring of udder health and milk quality by using bulk tank milk analysis], 3] Reevaluating the herd udder health status [by CMT and milk sampling from 13.2% of the milking cows for culture]. Statistical analysis: Chi-square test, Analysis of variance,Correlation coefficient, Fisher's exact test

Results: 1] Significant decrease in point prevalence, and incidence rates of clinical mastitis, relative 6equency of CMT-positive quarters, relative frequency of samples from which Strep. ag., Staph. Aureus and Coliforrns yielded and distribution of Strep. ag. and Staph. aureus in clinical cases, 2] Significant increase in relative frequency of samples from which C. bovis yielded, relative frequency of samples yielding no microorganism and dishibution of environmental Streptococci, C. bovis and no growth in clinical cases, 3] Significant decrease followed by an increase in BTSCC [with an average of 225080 cells/ml], significant decrease in staph. count [with an average of 2726 cfu/ml] being noticed at the beginning of monitoring only, and absence of significant differences in TBC, Coli. Count and Strep. count [with averages of 56996,17131 and 9948 cfu/ml, respectively]. In addition, in 76% of weekly bulk tank milk samples, Strep. ag. and Staph. aureus were not detected, 4] No correlation between the concentrations of major contagious pathogens and herd BTSCC and a significant positive correlation between staph. count and BTSCC were observed

Clinical implications: seemingly, the achievement of further improvement in mastitis status of the studied herd [i.e., eradication of Strep. ag. and effective control of Staph. aureus] would be subjected to: Continuous supervising of post milking teat disinfection and shifting from teat spraying to dipping, monthly measurement of individual cow SCC, washing and disinfecting teat cup liners between cows during milking and using more effective dry period intramarnrnary preparations as well. In addition to improve quality of herd milk, good udder preparation prior to milking is advised