New Zealand Veterinary Journal Volume 58 Issue 1

For all practitioners, including those in non-clinical practice, the issue of work-related musculoskeletal discomfort is examined in a study by Andrew Scuffham and colleagues from Massey University. The views of 828 practitioners were evaluated. The tasks considered most likely to cause musculoskeletal discomfort were lifting, surgery, animal handling and rectal palpation of cows. A variety of solutions were suggested, most of which involved a change in design of the work environment or training. This is useful information for all practitioners.

 

For companion animal practitioners, Dawn Kingsbury and colleagues from Massey University and the University of California, Davis, report on initial findings of Tritrichomonas foetus in pedigree show cats. Of faecal samples collected from cats attending cat shows in New Zealand, 18/22 were positive for T. foetus usingPCR and the organism was cultured from three of these. T. foetus is a potential cause of diarrhoea in cats and may be highly prevalent in pedigree show cats.

 

For cattle practitioners, the effect of a new dry-cow therapy (DCT) on intramammary infections and clinical mastitis is examined and compared with a reference treatment in a study by Scott McDougall from the Animal Health Centre, Morrinsville. The treatments were similarly effective in curing existing infections and preventing new intramammary infections over the dry period and useful data is presented on herd factors affecting the incidence and prevention of mastitis using DCT.

 

The effects of feeding monopropylene glycol (MPG) to dairy cows before the planned start of mating is examined in a study by Lucia Chagas and colleagues from DairyNZ and Massey University. There was no effect of treatment on resumption of oestrous cycles but cows receiving MPG produced more milk protein during the period of treatment than control cows.

 

Also in cattle, Sarah Berry and colleagues from ViaLactia Biosciences, Massey University and LIC, report the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for the concentration of β-lactoglobulin in milk. Selection of animals for the β-lactoglobulin B-allele may enable the production of milk naturally enriched for casein, thus allowing a potential increase in the yield of cheese. There may be additional future value in production of bovine milk more like human milk, where decreasing the concentration of β-lactoglobulin is desirable.

 

Finally, John Munday and colleagues from Massey University and Auckland City Hospital, describe a case of disseminated infection with Mortierella wolfii causing bilateralhypopyon in a neonatal calf. Although the dam of the calf showed no clinical signs, it is suggested that in utero infection was the cause of the disease in this calf.

 

For sheep practitioners, Julie Furlong and colleagues from Lincoln University report homocysteine concentration in plasma was of little value as an indicator of response to vitamin B₁₂ supplementation in lambs compared with the plasma concentration of vitamin B₁₂ itself or methyl-malonic acid (MMA). The authors concluded that the propionate-succinate pathway appears to be the first rate-limiting pathway in vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, and the product of disruption of this pathway, increased MMA, was the most reliable indicator of metabolic abnormality in predicting responsiveness to supplementation.

 

Also in sheep, and in relation to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, Neil Wedlock and colleagues from AgResearch report initial findings on the development of a vaccine against methanogens. Using sub-cellular fractions of one of the methanogens found in the rumen a vaccine was developed that induced a strong antibody response in 10 month-old lambs. Antisera from these lambs was shown to decrease growth of methanogens and production of methane in vitro. This study provides a basis for further animal-based research.

 

For those interested in wildlife, the use of enteroviruses as vectors for biological control agents for the control of possums has been proposed by a number of research groups. Tao Zheng and colleagues from AgResearch report a limited distribution of enteroviruses in possums in New Zealand. These findings indicate that release of a recombinant enterovirus, carrying a biocontrol agent against possums, would encounter little interference from field strains in the majority of the country.

 

Lincoln Tubbs from the University of Guelph, and colleagues from Massey University and Tasmania, present a report of nodular gill disease in farmed salmon in New Zealand. This disease is caused by amoebae, resulting in chronic, low level mortality, associated with proliferative branchitis. Differentiation from bacterial gill disease is important due to different treatment methods.