During a study on the salmonella infection rate in slaughter pigs, bacteriological results were collected from faecal samples and intestinal lymphnodes, and serological results were acquired from meat-juice-ELISA. Serological findings and resulting serological parameters were analysed for their capacity to provide an indication of the salmonella burden in a given lot of slaughter pigs or in the farm of origin. The arithmetic mean antibody concentration of a lot of slaughter pigs or a piggery, or the number of animals reacting above 30% according to the Danish standard, or the number of animals reacting above 40% according to the Danish standard are all three equally suited to differentiate between a low and a high level of infection. The mean antibody concentration was found to be the best parameter for epidemiological studies that compare the serological status between herds or investigate the development of antibodies within a given piggery.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Combination of competitive exclusion and immunization with an attenuated live Salmonella vaccine strain in chickens.

To use the advantages of both the competitive exclusion (CE) technique and immunization with a live Salmonella vaccine, the combination of these methods was studied. Specific-pathogen-free chickens were pretreated by combined or single administration of a CE culture and a commercial live Salmonella typhimurium vaccine on days 1 and 2 of life and challenged with Salmonella typhimurium on day 3 to study the exclusion effect by both the CE preparation and the Salmonella vaccine. The exclusion effect by the CE culture combined with the immunologic effect by the live vaccine was studied after challenge of the birds on day 43 of age. The number of challenge organisms in ceca was used to evaluate the efficacy of the pretreatment. The protective exclusion effect of the CE culture was substantial in very young chicks and still detectable in 6-wk-old birds. The attenuated Salmonella typhimurium vaccine produced only an initially occurring exclusion effect. Because the exclusion effect of the CE culture was considerably stronger than the exclusion effect of the attenuated Salmonella typhimurium vaccine, the combination of both did not result in an additive protective effect. In order to exploit the exclusion potential between Salmonella strains and to attain an additive exclusion effect by a CE culture and a vaccine strain, live Salmonella vaccines are needed that are sufficiently attenuated without affecting genes essential for colonization exclusion of other Salmonella organisms. In 6-wk-old birds, the exclusion effect by the CE culture combined with the immunologic effect by the live Salmonella vaccine resulted in a degree of protection considerably beyond that generated by the exclusive use of the two methods. The administration of the live Salmonella vaccine strain prior to or simultaneously with the CE culture revealed the best protective effect because such combinations ensure an adequate persistence of the vaccine strain as prerequisite for the expression of an exclusion effect in very young chicks and the development of a strong immune response affording protection in older birds.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Investigation of the efficacy of a genetically-stabile live Salmonella typhimurium vaccine for use in swine.

Hybrid swine (Landrace x Pietrain) aged 3-4 weeks were immunized twice at an interval of 3 weeks solely by the oral route and by the oral/parenteral route to evaluate the efficacy of a live S. Typhimurium vaccine. In each experiment a control group was run without vaccination. The animals were challenged at the age of 8-10 weeks by oral test infection with a labelled S. Typhimurium DT 104 strain. An ELISA was used to establish the presence of antibodies to S. Typhimurium in serum samples, coupled with clinical investigation. The presence of the challenge strain in the ileal and caecal mucosa and in the ileocolic lymph nodes was investigated quantitatively using the Koch plating method to determine the degree of colonization of those organs at the time of slaughter. The clinical course of disease was used to assess the success of vaccination. However, it was not possible to trigger, in a reproducible manner, clinical signs of disease in unvaccinated animals through infection. The vaccinated animals had a significantly lower (p < 0.05) colonization of the ileal and caecal mucosa than the unvaccinated animals. This was also seen to a lesser degree for the ileocolic lymph nodes.

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PubMedDate not supplied

[Concept of freedom of infection of animal flocks].

Totally negative results of epidemiological investigation of random samples do not prove the absence of the infection as the pathogen may be restricted to only a few animals in the herd for a long time. The statement "absence of infection" is critical for such situations. The question is raised, whether the statement "absence of infection" should be generally avoided. Classification of herds and flocks according to the prevalence of the pathogen would be more valid for the implementation of control measures.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Review of respiratory mechanics in animals. 3. Methodical and physiologic aspects of the use of the impulse oscilloresistometry system (OIS)].

The impulse oscillometry system (IOS) which was originally developed for human medicine was found to be suitable for analysing respiratory mechanics in spontaneously breathing animals. This technique is non-invasive. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS: In order to use the IOS-technique in animals, a tightly fitting face mask is necessary. Furthermore, a flexible tube needs to be inserted into the measuring system. While the tube does not influence the measured results significantly, the face mask may affect the measurements. Therefore, its influence on the measured respiratory impedance must be taken into account. To prevent methodological errors, the head and body position of the animal should be standardised during the IOS-measurement. Since the methodological variability of the system is very small, the measuring results are highly reproducible. PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS: In growing subjects, all parameters of respiratory mechanics depend on body weight. Since respiratory physiology is influenced by circadian rhythms, measurements of different days are only comparable when they have been done each day at the same hour. Comparing the respiratory impedance of different animals of similar age and body weight, a considerable inter-individual variability was observed. Due to the low level of physiological intra-individual variability, the method seems to be especially useful for studying influences on the respiratory system (i.e. pharmaceutics, therapeutics) in long-term studies using the same group of subjects.

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