Pathological and histological findings associated with the feline lungworm Troglostrongylus brevior.

Troglostrongylus brevior is a neglected feline lungworm species, which has been increasingly reported in the Mediterranean area, although scant data are available on the respiratory alterations it causes in cats. Therefore, we describe the gross and histological lesions of a 20-week old kitten that succumbed due to the onset of a fulminant respiratory failure. At necropsy, a catarrhal exudate was observed in the airways, along with nematodes in the trachea and bronchi. The lungs were processed for histological examination and serial pulmonary sections were performed. A total of 14 nematodes were collected, being all morphologically and molecularly identified as T. brevior. Lungworms were histologically localized within the bronchial lumen, surrounded by an eosinophilic infiltrate. The presence of T. brevior in the airways has been histologically documented for the first time and its life-threatening potential is discussed.

Parasitic bronchitis causes problems in cattle.

Parasitic bronchitis (lungworm, husk) in cattle Lead poisoning in cattle associated with bonfire ash Deaths of ewes associated with faulty administration of boluses Streptococcus suis associated with respiratory and nervous disease in pigs Blackhead and mycoplasmosis causing losses in turkeys These are among matters discussed in the Veterinary Laboratories Agency's (VLA's) disease surveillance report for October.

[Algorithm of preoperative preparation in surgical treatment of lung echinococcus complicated by a rupture into the bronchus].

The clinical material includes 10 years of observations of 289 patients with lung echinococcosis complicated by a rupture into the bronchus. Different operative interventions were performed in 278 cases. The indications for operation, their volume and preoperative preparation were based on clinico-rentgenological signs and divided into 4 groups: 1 - patients with a rentgenological sign of the folded chitin membrane, or a ring-shaped shadow; 2 - patients with non-homogeneous complicated cysts; 3 - patients with "floating chitin membrane"; 4 patients with a rupture of the cyst into the bronchus and pleural cavity simultaneously. The third group patients needed more intensive preoperative preparation while the fourth group patients had an indication to urgent drainage of the pleural cavity or urgent operations in the absence of the purulent discharge from the drains. So, the proposed algorithm of the preoperative preparation of lung echinococcosis patients complicated by a rupture into the bronchus facilitates the improvement of the management of this category of patients.

Spontaneous Crenosoma vulpis infection in 10 dogs: laboratory, radiographic and endoscopic findings.

Crenosoma (C.) vulpis infection was diagnosed in 10 dogs aged between 0.5 and 12 years (median 4 years) during a 4-year period. The predominant clinical sign in all dogs was coughing which lasted from 1 day to > 4 months. Hematological abnormalities included eosinophilia in 5/9 dogs, basophilia in 3/9 dogs, and mild monocytosis in 6/9 dogs. Thoracic radiographs (n = 9) were normal in 1 dog, showed a mild bronchial or interstitial pattern in 4 dogs, and moderate to marked changes (bronchial-interstitial to alveolar) in 4 dogs. Endoscopic findings (n = 9) varied from mild erythematous bronchitis (n = 3) to marked bronchitis with accumulation of large amounts of mucus (n = 2), irregular nodular mucosal surface (n = 2), accumulation of pus (n = 1), and bronchial hemorrhage (n = 1). Adult worms were observed in 2 dogs. Bronchial lavage cytology revealed inflammation with predominance of eosinophils in 7/10 dogs, eosinophils and neutrophils in 2/10 dogs, and neutrophils in 1/10 dogs. C. vulpis larvae were identified in the BAL of 5/10 dogs. Fecal examinations with the Baermann technique was the most sensitive method and positive in all 10 dogs. C. vulpis infection has to be considered in the differential diagnosis in dogs of all ages presenting with acute or chronic cough.

Vaccine development and diagnostics of Dictyocaulus viviparus.

Parasitic bronchitis is a serious disease of cattle and is caused by the nematode, Dictyocaulus viviparus. For over 30 years, a radiation-attenuated larval vaccine has been used for prevention of this disease. This vaccine has been used with considerable success in the UK and parts of Western Europe, however, it has several disadvantages. It has a short shelf-life and the vaccine has to be produced annually necessitating the use of donor calves. Following vaccination, calves must receive further boosting from natural challenge to maintain protective immunity. Sales of the irradiated larval vaccine have decreased dramatically since the 1970s. This is thought to be due to increased reliance of farmers on anthelmintic programmes to control lungworm infection. It is possible that, under certain circumstances, these programmes do not allow sufficient parasite exposure to stimulate protective immunity to further Dictyocaulus challenge. This is borne out by the recent documented increase in the number of outbreaks of parasitic bronchitis in the UK. A stable vaccine against D. viviparus that is capable of stimulating a more prolonged immunity would be beneficial. Recent research has been directed at identification and isolation of components thought to be involved in parasite survival in the host and examination of their potential as vaccine candidates. One of these components is acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme secreted by adult worms. This review describes the development of the secreted AChE as a vaccine candidate, as well as documenting recent developments in the immunodiagnosis of D. viviparus.

Oslerus osleri tracheobronchitis: treatment with ivermectin in 4 dogs.

Oslerus osleri tracheobronchitis was diagnosed in 4 young dogs following endoscopic visualization of tracheal nodules and identification of larvae in airway cytologic samples. All dogs improved when ivermectin was administered (200-400 micrograms/kg body weight); however, most (3/4) required serial treatments in order to achieve long-term resolution of clinical signs.

An evaluation of abamectin given at turnout and six weeks after turnout for the control of nematode infections in calves.

Two groups of 16 set-stocked calves were used to evaluate a new strategy for the prevention of parasitic bronchitis and parasitic gastroenteritis. One group was left untreated while the calves in the other were treated with abamectin at 0.2 mg/kg at turnout and again six weeks later. The treatment prevented the output of nematode eggs and lungworm larvae in faeces for at least 70 days. The number of infective larvae subsequently appearing on the pasture was reduced by 90.2 per cent and the infectivity of the pasture (as monitored by tracer calves) by 96.0 to 99.8 per cent in the case of Dictyocaulus viviparus, 88.2 to 99.2 per cent for Ostertagia ostertagi and 69.3 to 98.1 per cent for Cooperia oncophora. Parasitic bronchitis occurred in the control calves and both bronchitis and gastroenteritis in the tracer calves grazing the paddock grazed by the control calves, but no disease occurred either in any of the calves treated with abamectin or in the tracer calves grazing the paddock grazed by these calves.

Verminous bronchitis and bronchiolitis in potoroid marsupials associated with a new Capillaria sp.

We describe verminous bronchitis and bronchiolitis in potoroid marsupials associated with a new species of Capillaria resident in the epithelial lining of bronchi and bronchioles. The parasites was associated with alveolar oedema and emphysema, and a mixed inflammatory cell exudate within and surrounding the airways.

Observations on parasitic gastroenteritis and parasitic bronchitis in calves over two grazing seasons.

Two outbreaks of parasitic gastroenteritis were observed in a group of 10 first-season grazing calves, one in mid-July and one in mid-September. In both cases emergency anthelmintic treatment was needed to prevent further damage. Severe clinical signs were observed together with high faecal egg counts and high serum pepsinogen and gastrin concentrations. Low total protein and albumin concentrations were also observed, especially during the second outbreak. The ostertagia antibody levels followed a similar pattern to the serum pepsinogen and gastrin concentrations. At the end of the housing period a mild type II ostertagiasis was observed. In the second grazing season the heifers did not show any signs of parasitic gastroenteritis, but there was a serious outbreak of husk which required treatment.

Netobimin in drinking water for treatment of bovine parasitic bronchitis: a field experiment.

Lungworm-infected seeder calves were used on four 1.41 ha paddocks to ensure that groups of 11 calves would be exposed to a heavy challenge with Dictyocaulus viviparus. By the 39th day after turnout there was a serious episode of respiratory disease and a diagnosis of parasitic bronchitis was confirmed by post mortem and faecal examination. One group of trial calves was treated with netobimin administered in the drinking water at 2.8 mg/kg/day for seven consecutive days; another group received the same treatment supplemented with flunixin meglumine at 2.2 mg/kg/day for three days; a third group was given a single oral dose of 7.5 mg netobimin/kg; only emergency treatments were given to calves in the control group. The clinical response to the drinking water treatments was highly satisfactory and better than the response to the single oral treatment.

Control of naturally acquired bovine parasitic bronchitis and gastroenteritis with an oxfendazole pulse release device.

Four groups, each of six male Friesian calves, were set-stocked on separate 0.66 ha paddocks from May 7 until October 23 1986. Each of the animals in groups 1 and 4 was dosed with an oxfendazole pulse release bolus at turn out whereas the animals in groups 2 and 3 were left untreated. Parasite-free naive tracer calves were introduced into each paddock for a limited period 12 days after turn out and again at the end of the trial. No adverse reactions or clinical signs were observed in either of the groups of calves which received boluses. The development of clinical parasitic gastroenteritis in both the untreated groups necessitated the humane slaughter of two animals and emergency anthelmintic treatment of the remainder. The lower plasma pepsinogen concentrations, and lower faecal egg and larval counts and worm burdens post mortem, together with the absence of clinical signs of parasitic gastroenteritis and bronchitis in the treated calves, confirmed the high efficacy of the bolus treatment.

Interactions between chemoprophylaxis and immunity to bovine parasitic gastroenteritis and bronchitis: pilot studies using an oxfendazole pulse release bolus.

In separate experiments, the immune status of six matched pairs of yearling heifers from a field trial in which both parasitic gastroenteritis and husk had occurred in control animals, was tested with a single massive challenge of either Dictyocaulus viviparus or Ostertagia ostertagi. The clinical responses of untreated controls and animals that had carried an oxfendazole pulse release intraruminal device (OPRB) were in all cases similar (with the exception of one lung-worm-challenged control that succumbed to a fulminating pulmonary hypersensitivity reaction), indicating that both groups possessed comparable degrees of protection. Faecal larval/egg-output data and serum gastrin levels, however, suggested that larger worm populations had established in the OPRB cattle.

Naturally occurring parasitic bronchitis in red deer: effect of vaccination using live bovine lungworm vaccine.

Fifteen red deer calves were put to pasture in two groups, at the same set stocking rates, one group of 10 and one of five, in separate but adjoining enclosures likely to be carrying infective stage larvae of dictyocaulus naturally parasitising the red deer of Scotland. The group of 10 had been vaccinated with a live, bovine lungworm oral vaccine; the group of five had not. Results did not indicate any advantage to the vaccinated deer in weight gain or general health but they excreted fewer dictyocaulus larvae. The findings, although based on only a few animals, support the conclusion that vaccination of red deer would not give them increased protection against the establishment of naturally occurring dictyocaulus infection although it would enhance the suppression of larval production.

Parasitic bronchitis and pneumonia.

Parasitic bronchitis and pneumonia is often a serious problem on individual farms, despite the fact that the disease is easy to diagnose, easy to treat, and easy to prevent by anthelminthic control programs or by vaccination. This article presents the various phases of the primary infection as well as the reinfection syndrome.