Quantitative and qualitative traits of carcass and meat of goats fed diets with cactus meal replacing corn.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the carcass and meat of goats fed diets containing cactus meal (pectin source) replacing corn (starch source). Twenty-eight goats with an average initial weight of 16 ± 2.02 kg were confined in a completely randomized design with four treatments (the replacement levels of 0, 330, 660, and 1000 g kg-1 of dry matter) and seven replicates. The productive performance of the animals was not affected by the replacement of corn by cactus meal. The carcass commercial yield and the dressing percentage decreased with the addition of cactus meal levels in the diets. The commercial cuts, however, especially prime cuts like hind limbs and loin, were not changed by the use of cactus meal. Muscle:bone and fat:bone ratios and muscularity index of hind limbs were influenced by the substitution. The protein and ash contents of the longissimus lumborum muscle decreased while cholesterol levels increased with the presence of cactus meal. Sensory traits of goats' meat fed cactus meal in the diets were not affected. The substitution of corn for cactus meal reduced carcass yield but did not change the yield of commercial cuts or the qualitative characteristics of the meat.

Short communication: Correlation between within-herd antibody-prevalence and bulk tank milk antibody levels to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis using 2 commercial immunoassays.

The objective of this study was to determine the correlation between the results obtained with the ELISA technique for antibodies to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in serum and bulk tank milk at the herd level. For this purpose, 203 samples of bulk tank milk were analyzed with 2 commercial ELISA from dairy herds with a prevalence of seropositive animals that was also determined. In regard to the reference test (results in blood serum), the sensitivity of the bulk tank milk test to detect high-positive herds (≥10% seroprevalence) ranged from 85.7 to 71.4%. The specificity to detect herds with no seropositive animals ranged from 70.5 to 53%. In a quantitative approach, Pearson correlation coefficients, reported as a measure of the linear association between herd seroprevalences and transformed optical density values recorded in bulk tank milk, were 0.39 and 0.54 for the studied ELISA. Although the test results were relatively fairly correlated with the within-herd prevalence, the practical utility of bulk tank milk testing for Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis seems limited, especially regarding specificity.

Effects of cottonseed hull levels in the diet and ageing time on visual and sensory meat acceptability from young bulls finished in feedlot.

Cottonseed hulls are co-product of agribusiness that can be used in beef cattle rations, decreasing the cost of feed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different cottonseed hull levels, display and ageing times on visual and sensorial meat acceptability. Longissimus thoracis muscle from 30 crossbred young bulls finished on three high-grain diets (210, 270 or 330 g/kg of cottonseed hulls on dry matter, respectively) were visually evaluated during 10 days of display by 37 appraisers. Tenderness, flavour and overall acceptability from the three diets and three ageing times (1, 7 and 14 days) were evaluated by 120 consumers. On the visual study, time of display (P⩽0.001) was a more significant factor than diet. Cottonseed hull level had no effect on sensorial analyses, with tenderness acceptability improving with ageing time (P⩽0.001). Results indicate the possibility of using the three studied levels of cottonseed without damaging consumer meat acceptability.

Genetic diversity of bovine viral diarrhea viruses from the Galicia region of Spain.

This study examined the frequency and diversity of bovine viral diarrhoea viruses (BVDVs) infecting cattle in Galicia (northwestern Spain). A total of 86 BVDV strains were typed in samples of serum from 79 persistently infected animals and 3 viraemic animals and of abomasal fluid from 4 fetuses. Samples came from 73 farms participating in a voluntary BVDV control programme. Typing was based on a 288-bp sequence from the 5' untranslated region amplified using primers 324 and 326. Of the 86 strains, 85 (98.8 per cent) belonged to species BVDV-1 and 1 (1.2 per cent) belonged to BVDV-2; 73 strains (84.9 per cent) were typed as BVDV-1b, 2 as BVDV-1e and 6 as BVDV-1d. One strain each was typed as belonging to 1a, 1h, 1k and 1l. The sole BVDV-2 strain was classified as 2a. These results identify BVDV-1b as the predominant species, and they indicate the presence of viral types not previously described anywhere in Spain. This is also the first report of BVDV-2 in Galicia and only the second report of BVDV-2 in Spain.

Monitoring the bulk milk antibody response to bovine viral diarrhea in dairy herds vaccinated with inactivated vaccines.

This study was designed to determine long-term responses in dairy herds after vaccination with 1 of 3 inactivated bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) vaccines with regard to antibodies against p80 protein in bulk tank milk samples, as detected by ELISA. In the present study, 29 dairy herds were vaccinated with Bovilis BVD (MSD Animal Health, Milton Keynes, UK), 11 with Hiprabovis Balance (Laboratorios Hipra, Amer, Spain), and 9 with Pregsure BVD (Zoetis, Florham Park, NJ). In these herds, bulk tank milk samples were collected and examined at the time of the first vaccination and every 6 mo during a 3-yr period. Samples were analyzed with a commercial ELISA test for the p80 protein of BVDV. The results demonstrated that vaccination affected the level of antibodies against p80. Hence, vaccination status should be taken into consideration when interpreting bulk tank milk antibody tests.

Contribution of the cashew gum (Anacardium occidentale L.) for development of layer-by-layer films with potential application in nanobiomedical devices.

The search for bioactive molecules to be employed as recognition elements in biosensors has stimulated researchers to pore over the rich Brazilian biodiversity. In this sense, we introduce the use of natural cashew gum (Anacardium occidentale L.) as an active biomaterial to be used in the form of layer-by-layer films, in conjunction with phthalocyanines, which were tested as electrochemical sensors for dopamine detection. We investigated the effects of chemical composition of cashew gum from two different regions of Brazil (Piauí and Ceará states) on the physico-chemical characteristics of these nanostructures. The morphology of the nanostructures containing cashew gum was studied by atomic force microscopy which indicates that smooth films punctuated by globular features were formed that showed low roughness values. The results indicate that, independent of the origin, cashew gum stands out as an excellent film forming material with potential application in nanobiomedical devices as electrochemical sensors.

Neospora caninum seroprevalence in dairy and beef cattle from the northwest region of Spain, Galicia.

Herd and individual animal seroprevalence for Neospora caninum (N. caninum) in dairy, beef and mixed cattle were obtained in all populations within the Galician Farmer Sanitary Defence Associations (ADSG) in 2004. All animals ≥1 year of age were examined serologically by indirect ELISA. 1147 dairy herds (37,090 animals), 1464 beef herds (20,206 animals) and 141 mixed herds (2292 animals) were surveyed. True herd seroprevalence was estimated to be 80.6% (87.7% dairy, 76.7% beef and 78.4% mixed herds), true animal seroprevalence was estimated to be 23.2% (21.9% dairy, 25.1% beef and 24.9% animal to mixed herds), and within-herd seroprevalence was estimated to be 25.4% (23.6% dairy, 28.3% beef and 28.6% to mixed herds). Seropositivity was significantly associated with herd type (higher in dairies), herd size (increased when herd size increases), animal type (higher in beef) and age (lineal increase with the age). Results obtained in this study will be used for the development of a N. caninum control programme in the ADSG in Galicia.