Corticosterone in feathers: Inter- and intraindividual variation in pullets and the importance of the feather type.

Measuring corticosterone concentrations in feathers of poultry may be suitable to determine birds' exposure to stress. It is thinkable, that in laying hens such information could be helpful as an animal welfare indicator to evaluate adverse husbandry conditions and to predict the risk of developing behavioral disorders, such as feather pecking and cannibalism. Yet, there are some fundamental issues which remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of the current pilot study was to examine the inter- and intraindividual variation of pullets at the end of the rearing period, when most of the feathers are fully grown and animals are reaching sexual maturity. Flight feathers from both wings (n = 4), the tail (n = 2 - 3), and body feathers (n = 1 pool of 3 - 5 feathers) were taken from pullets (n = 10), genetics Lohmann Brown, at an age of 19 weeks who were reared in the same flock (N = 728). Corticosterone analysis was performed applying a validated protocol for laying hens. Results indicate not only high intraindividual, but also high interindividual variation. Mean over all samples was 75.2 pg/mg (± 38.58 pg/mg, n = 76), showing higher intraindividual variation (between feather types; SD: 23.75 pg/mg - 49.38 pg/mg; n = 10 pullets) than interindividual variation (within feather types; SD: 11.91 pg/mg - 49.55 pg/mg; n = 6 feather types). The variation between different feather types within one bird was higher than the variation within one feather type between different birds, indicating that birds a) may respond differently when exposed to stressors and b) corticosterone measurements should be done with the same feather type.

Walking on Tiptoes: Digital Pads Deserve Increased Attention When Scoring Footpad Dermatitis as an Animal Welfare Indicator in Turkeys.

Animal welfare is one of the most challenging issues in modern farm animal husbandry. Animal welfare indicators can be used to monitor welfare on farms or at slaughterhouses, with footpad dermatitis (FPD) being one of the most important indicators used in turkeys. Up to now, the severity of FPD has been measured by evaluating the size of altered lesions on the metatarsal pad of birds. However, such lesions are not only found on the metatarsal pads, but alterations can also occur on the digital pads of the animals, the latter is not included in the European standard scoring systems for turkeys so far. The aim of the present study was to give a detailed outline of alterations on the digital pads of turkeys and associate their occurrence to a standardly used five-point scoring system, which is based on alterations of the metatarsal pad only. Therefore, pictures of 500 feet of turkeys from 16 flocks at the end of the fattening phase were taken, using an automatic camera system. Based on these pictures, alterations on the digits were scored according to different parameters (lesions, swellings, and number of affected digits). Furthermore, detailed measurements were conducted using an imaging software. Results were compared with a standardly used five-point scoring system (standard FPD scoring system), based on the metatarsal pad as reference. Results provide no equivalence in occurrence and severity of alterations on the metatarsal pads compared to those found on the digits. Pathologic alterations on the digits were already present at standard FPD scoring level 0; no differentiation became obvious between the higher scoring levels 2-4. Strong correlations were found when comparing percentage of alterations of the standard FPD scoring system to those of a system including alterations on the digits and the metatarsal pad, using the total foot as a reference (rp = 0.9, p < 0.001). This was the first study conducting a detailed analysis of alterations on the digits of turkeys. In conclusion, results of this study show that including the evaluation of alterations on digits could refine the present FPD scoring system, especially when using FPD as an animal welfare indicator.

Expanded cocirculation of stable subtypes, emerging lineages, and new sporadic reassortants of porcine influenza viruses in swine populations in Northwest Germany.

The emergence of the human 2009 pandemic H1N1 (H1N1pdm) virus from swine populations refocused public and scientific attention on swine as an important source of influenza A viruses bearing zoonotic potential. Widespread and year-round circulation of at least four stable lineages of porcine influenza viruses between 2009 and 2012 in a region of Germany with a high-density swine population is documented here. European avian influenza virus-derived H1N1 (H1N1av) viruses dominated the epidemiology, followed by human-derived subtypes H1N2 and H3N2. H1N1pdm viruses and, in particular, recently emerging reassortants between H1N1pdm and porcine HxN2 viruses (H1pdmN2) were detected in about 8% of cases. Further reassortants between these main lineages were diagnosed sporadically. Ongoing diversification both at the phylogenetic and at the antigenic level was evident for the H1N1av lineage and for some of its reassortants. The H1avN2 reassortant R1931/11 displayed conspicuously distinct genetic and antigenic features and was easily transmitted from pig to pig in an experimental infection. Continuing diverging evolution was also observed in the H1pdmN2 lineage. These viruses carry seven genome segments of the H1N1pdm virus, including a hemagglutinin gene that encodes a markedly antigenically altered protein. The zoonotic potential of this lineage remains to be determined. The results highlight the relevance of surveillance and control of porcine influenza virus infections. This is important for the health status of swine herds. In addition, a more exhaustive tracing of the formation, transmission, and spread of new reassortant influenza A viruses with unknown zoonotic potential is urgently required.

Reassortants of pandemic influenza A virus H1N1/2009 and endemic porcine HxN2 viruses emerge in swine populations in Germany.

The incursion of the human pandemic influenza A virus H1N1 (2009) (H1N1 pdm) into pig populations and its ongoing co-circulation with endemic swine influenza viruses (SIVs) has yielded distinct human-porcine reassortant virus lineages. The haemagglutinin (HA) gene of H1N1 pdm was detected in 41 influenza virus-positive samples from seven swine herds in north-west Germany in 2011. Eight of these samples yielded virus that carried SIV-derived neuraminidase N2 of three different porcine lineages in an H1N1 pdm backbone. The HA sequences of these viruses clustered in two distinct groups and were distinguishable from human and other porcine H1 pdm by a unique set of eight non-synonymous mutations. In contrast to the human population, where H1N1 pdm replaced seasonal H1N1, this virus seems to co-circulate and interact more intensely with endemic SIV lineages, giving rise to reassortants with as-yet-unknown biological properties and undetermined risks for public health.

Human cornea construct HCC-an alternative for in vitro permeation studies? A comparison with human donor corneas.

Transcorneal in vitro permeation studies of ophthalmic drugs are normally performed with either excised animal corneas or latterly corneal cell culture models. A good correlation between these models and excised animal corneas regarding permeation behaviour of drugs has already been shown. However, comparisons between corneal in vitro models containing human cells and excised human corneas do not exist yet. Therefore in the present study the transcorneal permeation of six different model drugs (pilocarpine hydrochloride, befunolol hydrochloride, hydrocortisone, diclofenac sodium, clindamycin hydrochloride and timolol maleate) across our previously described three-dimensional organotypic human cornea construct (HCC) was tested using Franz diffusion cells and compared with permeation data obtained from human donor corneas. The HCC showed a similar permeation behaviour compared with human donor cornea for all substances. The permeabilities (permeation coefficients P) of the human cornea equivalent versus the human donor cornea were the same in the case of diclofenac, clindamycin, timolol, but marginally decreased for hydrocortisone and slightly increased for pilocarpine and befunolol. These small differences of permeation coefficients were expressed as factors and only varied from 0.8 to 1.4. The results indicate that the HCC may be an alternative for in vitro permeation studies and appropriate for predicting drug absorption into the human eye.