Shelter animal management and trends in Taiwan.

Trends in the number of dogs entering and departing Taiwan public shelters are analyzed in this article. There were 40 public shelters surveyed from 2000 to 2005 for dog entries and departures. The results indicate that (a) adoption rates and relinquished animal numbers increased, and euthanasia rates decreased at the beginning of the study, but they are showing signs of reversal; (b) shelters in cities have higher adoption rates than those in rural areas; (c) euthanasia remains the main means of controlling dog numbers in most shelters; and (d) potential adopters in Taiwan prioritize animal health and body size when selecting dogs for adoption. There is a need for increased and persistent public education to ensure continued progress is made in encouraging people to treat companion animals responsibly. In addition to educational efforts, creating new, specialized shelters for housing highly adoptable animals can alleviate the space constraint problems in existing kennels and improve the welfare of stray dogs.

Differential diagnosis of five avian Eimeria species by polymerase chain reaction using primers derived from the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) sequence.

Chicken coccidia are protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria. They cause economical losses in the poultry industry globally. The various species can be distinguished on the basis of the morphology of the oocysts and parasitic site in intestine, but these criteria sometimes are unreliable. Therefore, a species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed. Based on variable sequence regions, specific primers were constructed for the differentiation of five Eimeria species (Eimeria acervulina, E. brunette, E. maxima, E. necatrix, and E. tenella). PCR products were amplified from coccidian vaccine (coccivac-D and coccivac-B) and E. tenella and were subsequently sequenced. Similarities of the five species sequences between the vaccines and Genbank were 94-100%. Analysis of the E. tenella internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) partial sequence from Taiwan and from Genbank indicated that the similarity was 99.6%. The PCR sensitivity test of E. tenella in Taiwan is 50 oocysts. The five sets of primers will not amplify any non-specific bands of the chicken genome or its intestinal contents. Therefore, the five sets of specifically designed primers are guaranteed to be useful for differential diagnosis of avian coccidiosis caused by Eimeria spp.

Specific polymerase chain reaction for differential diagnosis of Dirofilaria immitis and Dipetalonema reconditum using primers derived from internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2).

Both Dirofilaria immiti and Dipetalonema reconditum may be found in blood of infected dogs but it is not easy to distinguish D. immitis from D. reconditum in morphology. We cloned and sequenced the contiguous internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, of these two different parasites and published on GenBank as AF217800 for D. immiti and AF217801 for D. reconditum in this study. We designed two pairs of specific primers derived from ITS2 being used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The amplicons of ITS2 from D. immiti and D. reconditum are 302 and 348bp, respectively. Moreover, the limitation for amplifying ITS2 gene using this PCR demonstrated that 1 x 10(-2) microfilaria of each species of parasite smashed or even with mixed samples could be detected and the PCR products were predicted as the same as that described above. Thus, D. immiti and D. reconditum could be differentially diagnosed by this specific PCR. Seventeen clinical cases were evaluated and all of them were correctly identified. In this study, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 of D. immiti or D. reconditum were the first time sequenced and analyzed. No significant similarity of ITS1 and ITS2 between D. immiti and D. reconditum could be observed.