Congenital malformations with multiple anomalies have been described infrequently in the veterinary literature. A stillborn male crossbred lamb with diprosopus, craniorachischisis, and arthrogryposis was examined macroscopically and histopathologically in this study. The left head was smaller than the right head. Micrencephaly, agnathia, and a rudimentary tongue, which was adherent to the palate, were present in the left head. Micrencephaly, brachygnathia superior, and cleft palate were present in the right head. Cerebellar agenesis and spinal cord hypoplasia were observed. The cerebrums and the spinal cord were covered with a tapering membranous structure. Neural and dermal tissues were noted to intervene upon microscopic examination of this structure. Disorganization of neurons was observed in both cerebrums, though it was more severe in the left one. This case demonstrates many congenital defects occurring together in a lamb.
Animals ; Congenital Abnormalities/pathology/*veterinary ; Male ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/*congenital/pathology ; Stillbirth

Sheep and goats are frequently presented with different forms of hernias to veterinary clinics. The aim of this study is to investigate the outcome of the surgical treatment of abdominal, umbilical, inguinal and scrotal hernias in sheep and goats. Fifty-eight clinical cases (sheep = 44, goat = 14) were presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia from September, 2003 to September, 2006. These animals had abdominal (sheep = 30, goat = 10), umbilical (sheep = 6, goat = 4), inguinal (sheep = 7) and scrotal (sheep = 1) hernias. All the cases of hernias in sheep and goats were subjected to full study including the history of the case, classification of hernias, the size of the hernial ring, surgical repair of the hernias, adhesions between the hernial sacs in each case, the postoperative care and follow up of the cases. The results revealed that gender had an effect on the incidence of hernia. The incidence of abdominal hernias was higher in females and the incidence of inguinal hernia was higher in males. There was a positive correlation between the history of hernia and the degree of adhesion. For the sheep, 26 out of 30 cases of abdominal hernia had good outcomes and the healing was excellent. There were postoperative complications in 4 ewes. For the goats, there were slight swellings at the site of operation in 2 out of 10 cases of abdominal hernia, while the remaining 8 cases had good outcomes. There was one case of umbilical hernia with an umbilical abscess that had broken down with sepsis formation at the surgical site. In conclusion, the success rates of surgical treatment for all types of hernias were very high and there were no significant differences in the success rates among the different types of hernias in both sheep and goats. The types of suture materials and the types of hernias had no significant effect on the outcome of the surgical treatment.
Animals ; Female ; Goat Diseases/pathology/*surgery ; Goats ; Hernia/pathology/surgery/*veterinary ; Male ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/pathology/*surgery

Though the aetiology of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) remains uncertain, proteinase resistant prion protein (PrP-Sc), a converted form of the normal cellular prion protein (PrP-C), accumulates in the lysosome of cells of the nervous systems of animals with TSEs. In this study, clinical and epidemiological examinations of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) were conducted in Korea. During the investigated period, none of the cattle exhibited typical clinical signs of BSE, such as behavioral disturbances, high sensitivity, and abnormal locomotion. Immunohistochemical analysis and western immunoblotting were established to detect PrP-Sc in the brain tissue using monoclonal antibody (MAb) F89/160.1.5, produced by immunizing mice with a synthetic peptide which corresponds to bovine PrP residues 146-159, NH2-SRPLIHFGSDYEDRC-COOH. Although some BSE-like spongiform changes were observed in bovine brains randomly collected from Korean slaughterhouses from 1996 to 1999, no PrP-Sc was detected in those brains with the established immunohistochemistry and western immunoblotting assay. Also, no positive reaction was observed in bovine brains infected with rabies. These immunohistochemical and western immunoblotting methods using MAbs, specifically reactive with conserved epitopes on ruminant PrP, can be used for postmortem diagnosis of BSE. Further, the method can be applied to antemortem and the preclinical diagnosis of ovine scrapie by detecting PrP-Sc in lymphoid tissues, such as the tonsils, third eyelid or peripheral lymph nodes.
Abattoirs ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain/*pathology ; Brain Stem/pathology ; Cattle ; Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform/*epidemiology/pathology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Korea/epidemiology ; PrPSc Proteins/*analysis ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/*epidemiology/pathology

A fibroadenoma was diagnosed in the left udder of a 3-month-old female Chios lamb. No recurrence was observed after surgery. Grossly, the tumor had a whitishgray lobular appearance, and the lobules were interlaced with thin septa. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of proliferating fibroepithelial tissue, including differentiated ducts lined by whorls and interlacing bundles of abundant loose fibrovascular stroma. Immunohistochemistry revealed the ductal epithelium to be positive for pancytokeratin (AE1/AE3) and loose fibrovascular stroma was positive for vimentin and basal cells covering the ductal epithelium of alpha-smooth-muscle actin. Immunostaining for the estrogen and progesterone receptors was negative. A diagnosis of mammary fibroadenoma was made based on the histological and immunohistochemical findings.
Animals ; Female ; Fibroadenoma/pathology/*veterinary ; Keratins/metabolism ; Mammary Glands, Animal/*pathology ; Mammary Neoplasms, Animal/*pathology ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/*pathology ; Vimentin/metabolism

A 4-year-old female Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) was found dead in the Gwangju Uchi Park Zoo. The animal had previously exhibited weakness and lethargy, but no signs of diarrhea. The carcass was emaciated upon presentation. The main gross lesion was characterized by severe serous atrophy of the fat tissues of the coronary and left ventricular grooves, resulting in the transformation of the fat to a gelatinous material. The rumen was fully distended with food, while the abomasum evidenced mucosal corrugation with slight congestion. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of Balantidium coli trophozoites within the lymphatic ducts of the gastric lymph node and the abdominal submucosa. On rare occasions, these organisms may invade extra-intestinal organs, in this case the gastric lymph nodes and abomasum.
Abomasum/parasitology ; Animals ; Atrophy/pathology/veterinary ; Balantidiasis/diagnosis/*veterinary ; Balantidium/*isolation&purification ; Female ; Heart Diseases/pathology/veterinary ; Lymph Nodes/*parasitology ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/diagnosis/*parasitology ; Stomach/*immunology/parasitology

Campylobacter (C.) fetus (epsilonproteobacteria) is an important veterinary pathogen. This species is currently divided into C. fetus subspecies (subsp.) fetus (Cff) and C. fetus subsp. venerealis (Cfv). Cfv is the causative agent of bovine genital Campylobacteriosis, an infectious disease that leads to severe reproductive problems in cattle worldwide. Cff is a more general pathogen that causes reproductive problems mainly in sheep although cattle can also be affected. Here we describe a multiplex PCR method to detect C. fetus and differentiate between subspecies in a single step. The assay was standardized using cultured strains and successfully used to analyze the abomasal liquid of aborted bovine fetuses without any pre-enrichment step. Results of our assay were completely consistent with those of traditional bacteriological diagnostic methods. Furthermore, the multiplex PCR technique we developed may be easily adopted by any molecular diagnostic laboratory as a complementary tool for detecting C. fetus subspecies and obtaining epidemiological information about abortion events in cattle.
Animals ; Campylobacter ; Campylobacter fetus ; Cattle ; Communicable Diseases ; Fetus ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pathology, Molecular ; Sheep

OBJECTIVETo present six cases of Brucella infection in children, analyze the characteristics of the disease, diagnostic and therapeutic process.

METHODThe clinical manifestations, laboratory test results and diagnostic process of 6 confirmed cases of brucellosis seen between 2011-2012 were retrospectively analyzed and domestic and foreign literature was reviewed.

RESULTAll the 6 children had a history of either exposure to, travelling to endemic area, or consuming infected lamb/beef. After the relevant examinations for these children, either positive etiologic or serologic evidence of brucellosis infection was obtained. The main clinical manifestation was fever in all cases, the peak body temperature was 37.5-38.0 °C in 3 cases, 38.1-39.0 °C in 2 cases, 39.1-41 °C in 1 case. Except for 1 case whose fever type was undulant fever, all the rest had irregular fever.Joint pain existed in 3 cases, orchitis in 1 case, cervical lymphadenopathy in 3 cases, hepatosplenomegaly in 2 cases, and impaired liver function in 4 cases. The Brucella agglutination test was positive in 5 cases. The blood culture was positive for all cases. In 4 cases the sulfamethoxazle and rifampicin were used for treatment, 1 case was treated with rifampicin and erythromycin, parents of 1 case refused to use the drug. The "brucellosis in children" was used to search literature at Wanfang database, Pubmed database for literature of recent 10 years, and a total of 13 articles including 15 cases were retrieved. All the patients had fever, 6 cases had joint swelling and pain, 10 cases had hepatosplenomegaly, 6 cases had cervical lymphadenopathy, 4 cases were complicated with central nervous system infection. Brucella agglutination test was positive in 9 cases and blood culture was positive for Brucella infection in all cases.

CONCLUSIONChildhood Brucella infections are usually presented with various clinical manifestations, and are often accompanied by symptoms of systemic infection. For fever of unknown origin, one should include tests associated with brucellosis and pay special attention to differential diagnosis against other diseases.

Animals ; Brucella ; Brucellosis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Cattle ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fever ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; pathology ; Meat ; Retrospective Studies ; Sheep ; Splenomegaly ; pathology

This study describes the expression of heat shock protein70 (HSP70) and alpha-basic-crystallin (alpha-BC) and their association with apoptosis and some related adaptor proteins in the pathogenesis of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV)-induced myocarditis in lambs. HSP70 was generally overexpressed in the myocardial tissues and inflammatory cells of FMDV-induced myocarditis with differential accumulation and localization in same hearts when compared to non-foot-and-mouth disease control hearts. alpha-BC immunolabeling showed coarse aggregations in the Z line of the cardiomyocytes in FMDV-infected hearts in contrast to control hearts. Overall, the results of this study show that the anti-apoptotic proteins, HSP70 and alpha-BC, were overexpressed with increased apoptosis in FMDV-infected heart tissues. Both proteins failed to protect the cardiomyocytes from apoptosis as defense mechanisms to the FMDV during the infection, suggesting that the virus is able to increase apoptosis via both downregulation and/or upregulation of these anti-apoptotic proteins.
Animals ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/metabolism ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease/*complications/*virology ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/*classification ; Gene Expression ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/*metabolism ; Myocarditis/complications/pathology/*veterinary/virology ; Myocardium/pathology ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/*virology ; Turkey ; alpha-Crystallin B Chain/*metabolism

BACKGROUNDThe usual transbronchial coagulation techniques include microwave, argon plasma coagulation (APC), electrocautery and cryotherapy. However, there are serious clinical problems in the safety of each. By analyzing the experimental data and clinical observations, we observed the variable effects of different coagulation techniques via bronchofibroscopy, to look for an optimal interventional management of luminal bronchus diseases, and evaluate the safety and the equivalent point.

METHODSFour kinds of coagulation techniques under bronchoscopy were performed on the fresh bronchus of healthy sheep, and the pathologic changes in all groups were observed under the microscope. The different treatment parameters were as follows: microwave 60 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds and 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; APC 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; electrocautery 40 W×1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds; cryotherapy 100 Ω×60 seconds, 120 seconds.

RESULTSAfter treatment, ovine bronchial mucosa in all groups showed pathologic changes such as local necrosis and amotio of the mucosa lining epithelium, local submucosa coagulative necrosis or tissue defects, while inflammation in the surrounding tissue was not obvious. Under the same output power and action time, different methods had different outcomes. The damage by APC was the most superficial, microwave was the second, and electrocautery caused the worst damage. The study also found that effects of electrocautery at 40 W×3 seconds, microwave at 40 W×5 seconds or 60 W×3 seconds, APC at 40 W×5 seconds and cryotherapy at 100 Ω×120 seconds were the equivalent point conditions. The appearance included mucosa absence, partial submucosa absence, and collagen fiber coagulation in treatment areas.

CONCLUSIONSEach coagulation technique has its own characteristic. It is very important to choose the appropriate power and action time of the suitable method according to the therapy requirement.

Animals ; Argon Plasma Coagulation ; adverse effects ; Bronchial Diseases ; pathology ; therapy ; Bronchoscopy ; Cryotherapy ; adverse effects ; Electrocoagulation ; adverse effects ; Microwaves ; adverse effects ; Sheep