[Comparative studies of protein A from staphylococci isolated from sheep]. / Sravnitelni izsledvaniia na protein A pri stafilokoki, izolirani ot ovtse.

The passive hemagglutination test was employed to establish the presence of protein A in a total of 133 strains of coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from sheep with mastitis. Defined were also the antigen structure, phage behaviour, and some biologic properties of these staphylococci. It was found that 91 per cent out of 110 strains of Staphylococcus aureus studied produced protein A. At the same time not one of the 23 strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis showed the presence of this surface antigen. This data showed the necessity of introducing the hemagglutination test in routine microbiologic work for the demonstration of protein A in staphylococci isolated in the cases of pathologic processes in animals.

[Qualitative indices of the meat of calves fed a diet containing heat-treated manure litter]. / Prouchvane na niakoi kachestveni pokazateli na meso ot teleta, khraneni s dazhba, sudurzhashta termichno obrabotena torova postelia.

Experiments were carried out with a total of 48 male calves intended for fattening, divided into four groups that were equated in terms of breed, weight, and age. The basic ration of the first three (control) groups of calves was enriched with 30 per cent heat-treated manure litter. It was found that the supplement of such litter containing poultry feces had no unfavourable effect on the organoleptic indices of the meat obtained from the test calves. It was also established that the use of bird feces as a supplement to the ration of calves did not change the sanitary and hygiene condition of the veal obtained, neither had it any effect in changing the chemical composition and the technologic properties of meat.

[Effect of heavy metals and pesticides on the antigenic behavior of mastitis staphylococci isolated from cows and sheep]. / Vliianie na niakoi tezhki metali i pestitsidi vurkhu antigennite otnasianiia na nastitnite stafilokoki, izolirani ot kravi i ovtse.

Evaluated was the effect produced by some heavy metals and pesticides on the antigenic behaviour of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from cows and sheep with mastitis. The experiments were carried out with 9 strains, their antigenic structure being determined with the use of 16 factor sera prior to and after being gradually acted upon with lead acetate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, cadmium, and herbazin-50. It was found that under the effect of these chemical factors the capsule-resembling layer grew. In connection with this the staphylococci grew within the nutrient media, forming mucoid colonies. The serologic analysis revealed lower agglutinin ability due to the release of deeply set antigens. The growth of the capsular layer was associated with the increase in the virulence of staphylococci, which was established in the conditions of the practice on a dairy farm adjacent to a Copper producing Works.

[The effect of subclinical bovine mastitis on the lipolytic changes in milk]. / Vliianie na subklinichnite mastiti pri kravite vurkhu lipolitichnite promeni na mliakoto.

Studied was the extent to which lipolytic changes took place in milk in dependence on the subclinical diseases and the secretory alterations of the mammary gland in cows. A copper saponifying method was employed to determine the amount of the free fatty acids in the milk from the affected and normal quarters of a total of 60 cows. It was found that there was a definite correlation between subclinical mastitis and the extent up to which lipolytic changes took place in milk fats. The average content of the free fatty acids in the milk obtained from the diseased quarters of the under was 7.28 mg%, while the milk from the normal quarters contained them in an average amount of 3.96 mg%. In cows having secretory disturbances of the mammary gland there was certain rise of the free fatty acids as against the cows with normal quarters, however, the higher values were mathematically insignificant (P=0.1). It is believed that the lipolysis of milk fats is effected within the mammary gland as the result of the action of serum factors, and not of the effect of cellular lipase.

[Comparative studies on the biochemical properties, phage relationships and antigenic structure of S. aureus strains isolated from sheep]. / Sravnitelni prouchvaniia vurkhu biokhimichnite svoistva, fagovite otnasianiia i antigennata struktura na shtamove S. aureus, izolirani ot ovtse.

Defined were the biochemical, phage, and antigenic properties of a total of 104 strains of S. aureus of the udder. It was found that by their biochemical behaviour 85 of the strains corresponded to var. ovis. Phage typing showed that the strains were lyzed in a highest percent by phages of groups IV and M. Dominating were the 42D/78/107/119 and 78 phages. Studies revealed that the strains were antigenically homogenic. Antigens h2 and k1k2 were characteristic of S. aureus var. ovis.

[Counterimmunoelectrophoresis in the diagnosis of infectious epididymitis in rams]. / Nasreshtnata imunoelektroforeza pri diagnostikata na zarazniia epididimit po kochovete.

Both the 'counter' immunoelectrophoresis method and the complement-fixation test were employed to study a total of 767 samples of blood sera taken from rams. Five-hundred and seventeen of these were taken from ram flocks in which the infection was recorded by the clinical and the bacteriological method and the remaining 517 samples were taken from rams of intact flocks. A comparative evaluation was made of the two methods for the diagnosis of the disease when the animals were alive. Results made it clear that the 'counter' immunoelectrophoresis method was advantageous and could be used as a perspective adjunct in diagnosing the disease.

[Antigenic structural studies of S. aureus strains in mastitis in cows]. / prouchvaniia vurkhu antigennata struktura na shtamove S. aureus pri mastit po kravite.

Studied were the antigenic behaviours of S. aureus strains isolated from mastitis-affected cows on ten dairy farms, using factorial immune sera obtained against human S. aureus strains of a known antigenic structure. One hundred fifty (57 per cent) out of 263 strains proved typable, while 113 (43 per cent) did not produce positive agglutination reaction with any of the factorial sera. Considerable variation was established within the antigenic structure of S aureus. The k1, k2, b1, c1, n, and m antigens were most frequently encountered.

[Cell count of the milk from sheep in machine milking]. / Prouchvaniia vurkhu kletuchnoto sudurzhanie na mliako ot ovtse pri mashinno doene.

A number of microbiological and parallel direct and indirect cytological studies were carried out on sheep milk, obtained by machine-milking. It was established that the sheep milk containing up to 183,000 somatic cells per cm3 showed a negative reaction if Bernburg's mastite test was applied. Samples of cellular elements from 200,000 up to 400,000 per cm3 showed a weak positive reaction of the test, and above 420,000 per cm3 proved to be strongly positive. Polynuclear heterophils and a high percentage of infected samples were found in a quantity of cells above 500,000 per cm3. The data obtained showed good correlation between the bacterial find and the cell contents and are a reliable prerequisite for the application of Bernburg's test in studying sheep milk.

[Distribution and forms of latent mastitis in cows]. / Vurkhu razprostranenieto i formite na skritite mastiti po kravite.

A study on the distribution of symptomless mastitis in cows on its forms and onthe percentage involvement of the individual microorganisms isolated in the positively reacting cases was carried out including clinical, cytological and microbiological investigations. The study covered 8 cow farms with a total number of 2377 cows. It was established that 68.42% of the cows suffer from symptomless mastitis and 24.09% of the udder quarters. In 32.39% of the latter cases non-specific mastitis or the so called secretory disturbance was observed, while in 67.61%--bacterial mastitis, which in 50.75% had a subclinical course, while in 17.36--as latent infection. In the samples with pathogenic microorganisms 72.35% had staphylococci, 14.32%--micrococci, 8.39%--streptococci and the remaining 4.94%--other kinds of bacteria. The appearance and distribution of symptomless mastitis in cows is the result of bad management of cow rearing and use.

[Subclinical mastitis in sheep milked mechanically]. / Prouchvaniia vurkhu subklinichnite mastiti pri ovtse, doeni po mashinen nachin.

Studied were the occurrence and the etiologic structure of subclinical mastitis of ewes with which mechanical milking was practiced. It was found that as many as 21,9 per cent of the animals responded positively after the Bernburg test. Eight per cent out of the 875 ewes studied were affected with subclinical mastitis. Etiologically, Staphylococcus aureus and Staph. epidermidis were found to take part in the incidence of the disease. Predisposing factors contributing to the outbreak of this type of mastitis were the traumatic injuries of the udder due to the so-called blind milking and the individual deviations in the morphology of the mammary gland. Secretory troubles were found in 11.7 per cent of the sheep.

[Epizootic of S. heidelberg in poultry breeding flocks raised commercially]. / Epizootiia ot S. heidelberg v razvudni ptichi stada, otglezhdani pri promishleni usloviia.

It was noted that under the conditions of industrial raising of adult birds the epizootic of Salmonella heidelberg could assumme an acute course with a clinical manifestation. After its short-term acute manifestation the infection acquired a protracted course. Mortality correlated directly with the age of the birds. Isolated and identified were a total of 117 Salmonella heidelberg strains from carcasses, cloacal samples, eggs, and litter. Regardless of the short-term Salmonella harbouring the deep litter was shown to predispose to reinfections. The isolation of eight strains of S. heidelberg from the egg shell and the yolk of freshly laid eggs as well as the negative microbial findings in one- and two-fold fumigated eggs corroborate the idea of the additional entering of Salmonella organisms through the shell. These also point to the fact that fumigation carried out up to the third hour following laying may contribute to the raising of disease-free broilers. Treatment with furazolidon and chloramphenicol in combination or the application of salmocid at the rate of 250 milligram microgram of feed in the course of ten days suppresses the acute manifestation of the disease and restores the productivity of birds, having no effect on the harbouring of the infection in the flock.

[B. cereus count in meat and dairy food products]. / Vurkhu kolichestvoto na B. cereus v niakoi mesni i mlechni khranitelni produkti.

Studies were carried out to establish the contamination of some meat and dairy food products with B. cereus. A total of 48 heat-treated sausages (32 perishable and 16 durable) and 64 batches of pasteurized milk were sampled. It was found that 25 per cent of investigated sausage samples contained B. cereus. Perishables proved to a considerable extent more frequently contaminated (33.3 per cent). The count of B. cereus in such products ranged from 10(1) to 10(3) per g. However, pasteurized milk was shown to be still more frequently and to a higher degree contaminated. A suggestion is made to introduce norms concerning the maximum admissible amounts of B. cereus as well as to specify methods for its determination.

[Introduction of an additional H-agglutinating test antigen for the differentiation of specific positive reactions in pullorum disease-fowl typhoid in poultry experimentally infected with Salmonella gallinarum-pullorum and Salmonella enteritidis]. / Vuvezhdane na dopulnitelen H-aglutinirasht test-antigen za diferentsirane na spetsifichnite polozhitelni reaktsii za tifo-puloroza pri ptitsi, eksperimentalno zarazeni sus Salmonella gallinarum-pullurom i Salmonella enteritidis.

Explored were the possibilities to differentiate the specific positive reactions in case of pullorum disease in experimentally infected (Salmonella gallinarum-pullorum and Salmonella enteritidis) birds with the use of a typhoid test antigen and two H test antigens, obtained by the routinely employed method with formalin from Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella adeoyo. It was demonstrated that the H-agglutinating antibodies persisted in the peripheral blood of the experimentally infected birds for at least 30 days (as long as the test lasted). The H test antigen of S. enteritidis proved unsuitable to detect the H-agglutinating antibodies only as it retained to a large extent the O antigens. By means of the S. adeoyo H test antigen only the H-agglutinating antibodies in the peripheral blood of S. enteritidis-infected birds could be quickly and precisely demonstrated. A combined serologic examination of serum with the thyphoid test antigen and the S. adeoyo test antigen could be carried out to differentiate the specific positive reactions for establishing pullorum disease from the concomitant agglutination reactions observed in cases of experimental salmonellosis in birds caused by S. enteritidis.

[Some physicochemical changes in poultry meat caused by Pseudomonas ssp. II]. / Vurkhu niakoi fizikokhimichni promeni v ptitche meso, prichineni ot Pseudomonas ssp. II

Studies showed that the reproductive capacity and the biochemical activity of the experimental Pseudomonas ssp. II are manifested to a various extent in the white and red poultry meat. No changes in the meat set in until the microbial count reach 10(8)-10(9) per gram of meat. This critical value is reached on the fifth day for the red meat, and the 7th day for the white meat. Later on the changes in PH, the aminoammonia nitrogen, the volatile fatty acids, the ammonia gas reaction, and the CuSO4 reaction show such values that give grounds to discard the meat. The reaction for the demonstration of H2S is consistently negative, which is referred to as an individual feature of the monoculture used.

[Possibilities of differentiation of the specific positive reactions for pullorum disease]. / V'rkhu v'zmozhnostta za diferentsirane na spetsifichnite polozhitelni reaktsii za tifus-pulorozata

Studied were sera obtained from three groups of birds experimentally infected with Salmonella gallinarum-pullorum. Salmonella enteritidis, and Salmonella heidelberg, resp., using the whole serum agglutination reaction, the slow test-tube reaction (at 37 degrees and 50 degrees C), and the agar gel precipitation reaction as modified by Aoki as well as the spot-test of Williams. It was found that with the use of a typhus antigen it is not possible to differentiate the positive coagglutination reactions between Salmonella gallinarum-pullorum and the Salmonella bacteria of the B and D serologic groups. Differentiation of the coagglutination reactions between Salmonella gallinarum-pullorum and the bacteria of B serologic Salmonella group was effected through exhaustion of the sera with Salmonella-gallinarum pullorum after Castellani, followed by the study with an O-test antigen of Salmonella heidelberg.

[Characteristics of staphylococci isolated from slaughtered birds]. / Kharakteristika na stafilokoki, izolirani ot zaklani ptitsi

Studied were some biologic properties of 76 strains of staphylococci isolated from slaughtered chickens. It was established that coagulase-positive staphylococci posses the basic properties of Staphylococcus aureus--they ferment mannite and glucose, can produce phosphatase, desoxyribonuclease, and hemolysines. By some of their properties -- type of hemolysines, coagulation of sheep and bovine plasta, production of fibrolysines, type of colonies as established by means of the crystal-violet test -- staphylococcus cultures isolated from slaughtered poultry differ from isolated from human beings, cattle and sheep. Besides, the studied strains of Staphylococcus aureus are lysed to a very low percent by the phages of the bovine set and the phages for typing the staphylococci, isolated from humans. It may be assumed that the staphylococci occasionally found in birds can form a special group that require further studies.