Biomedical subjects
J Haagsma
Publications and source records attributed to J Haagsma.
Pathogenic anaerobic bacteria and the environment.
The distribution of pathogenic anaerobes in the environment and the relationship with diseases in animals are discussed. A distinction between the spore-bearing anaerobes (clostridia) and the Gram-negative non-spore-forming anaerobes is necessary. The main habitat of clostridia is the soil but they are also found in dust, sewage, rivers, lakes, sea water, milk, vegetables, fresh meat, fish, insects and the intestinal tract. The Gram-negative non-spore-forming anaerobic bacteria are also widely distributed among animals, principally on mucous membranes of the alimentary tract. After a general introduction and a section on the isolation of anaerobes, the various diseases caused by clostridia (botulism, tetanus, blackleg, malignant oedema, infectious necrotic hepatitis, enterotoxaemia and gas gangrene) and Gram-negative anaerobes (infections due to Fusobacterium and Bacteroides spp., such as diphtheria, footrot, etc.) are discussed. In particular, information concerning the reservoir of the causative agent and the mode of transmission is presented.
An outbreak of botulism type B in horses.
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Testing strains of Clostridium perfringens type A isolated from diarrhoeic piglets for the presence of the enterotoxin gene.
A diarrhoeic syndrome in piglets has been linked to Clostridium perfringens type A because this organism has been isolated in large numbers from all cases. The strains isolated from these cases and strains isolated from healthy piglets were screened for the enterotoxin gene of C perfringens by DNA-hybridisation. Using two different synthetic DNA-probes, none of the strains isolated from diseased pigs was positive in this reaction, indicating that the enterotoxin of C perfringens is not involved in the syndrome.
Use of delayed-type hypersensitivity test to diagnose brucellosis in calves born to infected dams.
Calves (n = 2) born to dams with experimentally induced brucellosis, and calves (n = 4) born to dams with naturally occurring infection were examined by the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) test for possible B. abortus infection. The results were compared with the serum agglutination test, complement fixation test, and Coombs test. Five calves were nursed by their dams for 8-10 weeks after birth. One calf was separated from its dam and fed artificial milk. Three to five months after birth, four calves tested seropositive in the serologic tests. Antibodies were detected in one calf as early as 1 week after birth. The calf fed on artificial milk was seronegative 4-5 weeks after birth. All calves reacted to the DTH test antigen from week 12 until the end of the experiment, even though serologic tests were negative. We conclude that the DTH test is a valuable technique for diagnosing Brucella in calves born to infected dams.
[Rabies and bats: how should it be managed?].
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[Diagnosis and control of tuberculosis in cattle].
The current knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in cattle is reviewed as part of a series bearing the title 'Papers in the Past and Present'. A retrospective view is taken of the discovery of tuberculin by Robert Koch in 1890 and of three papers by Professor M.H.J.P. Thomassen, which appeared shortly after: 'Koch's Discovery and its Diagnostic Value to Veterinary Medicine'. A review of developments in the use of the tuberculin test and the methods used in the control of tuberculosis as well as reference to some bacteriological data is followed by a more detailed discussion of the pathogenesis and immunology of tuberculosis. The current epidemiological situation and disease control are then discussed. Attention is drawn to the importance of using high-grade standardized forms of tuberculin. The complicated nature of the chemical formula and immunological characteristics of tuberculin, including modern forms of PPD tuberculin, are commented upon, and the paper is concluded with a look into the future regarding modern diagnostic prospects such as the development of synthetically manufactured tuberculin, the use of specific monoclonal antibodies and specific DNA probes.
Avian tuberculosis in wild birds in the Netherlands.
Mycobacterium avium was isolated from 82 of 11,664 birds submitted for necropsy in The Netherlands. All isolated M. avium strains belonged to serotype 1, 2 or 3. The greatest number M. avium were from buzzards and falcons. The prevalence of tuberculosis in gulls is extremely low.
[Type-C botulism in dogs].
Twelve dogs died from an outbreak of type-C botulism. The origin of the outbreak was found to consist in feeding the dogs broiler carcasses contaminated with Clostridium botulinum type-C. High concentrations of toxin type-C could be detected in the stomach contents. Botulism in dogs was only fatal when large amounts of toxin had been produced.
The efficacy of mesenteric lymph node biopsy in the eradication of paratuberculosis from an infected dairy farm.
Lymph node biopsy was performed on animals older than nine months on a dairy farm which carried 223 animals and was severely affected by paratuberculosis. Biopsies were examined histologically and bacteriologically for the presence of M. paratuberculosis infection. In this way paratuberculosis infection was diagnosed in 29 animals, in which other diagnostic methods (serum complement fixation test, intradermal johnin test and microscopic examination of the faeces) produced negative results. The value of lymph node biopsy is the early detection of infected animals. In the two years after the biopsies, no further cases of clinical paratuberculosis were detected on the affected farm, although infection with M. paratuberculosis persisted.
Potency testing of bovine tuberculins.
The diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis is based on the intradermal tuberculin test. Therefore in eradication campaigns HCSM or PPD tuberculins with high potency and maximal specificity per cattle dose are needed. In quality control and standardization assays the PPD tuberculins have the advantage that the protein content can serve as a basis for calculating the degree of dilution to be used for batches of the concentrated tuberculin, but this chemical estimation does not measure the biological activity of the tuberculo-proteins. Potency control of tuberculins necessitates a bio-assay method, which according to WHO report 384 should be performed under the conditions and in the animal species in which the tuberculin will be used in practice. This potency testing is performed in M. bovis sensitized cattle and guinea pigs, but the bio-assays in both species encounter several problems which must be overcome in order to obtain reliable and consistent results. At the C.V.I. numerous bio-assays have been carried out with various tuberculins and it is the aim of this report to demonstrate that so far the best correlation was obtained between tuberculous cattle and guinea pigs infected with a minimal dose of live M. bovis bacilli, whilst the results with heat killed M. bovis or BCG sensitized guinea pigs were evidently less reliable.
The potency of bovine PPD tuberculins in guinea-pigs and in tuberculous cattle.
Potency differences between bovine purified protein derivative tuberculin preparations produced in two different centres and also between preparations produced within these centres, were detected in tuberculous cattle and correlated with potency differences in guinea-pigs. Although assays in groups of guinea-pigs sensitized with either killed Mycobacterium bovis or live BCG identified the weak batches and listed the tuberculins in the same order of potency as the cattle assays, there were nevertheless significant differences between potency estimates according to the mode of sensitization and the preparations compared. The implications for the standardization of tuberculin preparation in general are discussed.
Diarrhea in one to three week-old piglets associated with Clostridium perfringens type A.
Investigation on the aetiology of diarrhoea in piglets of one to three weeks of age revealed high numbers of Clostridium perfringens type A in intestinal contents of severely affected animals. Experimental infections with hysterectomy derived, colostrum deprived piglets performed in an isolator resulted in a clinical picture indistinguishable from the clinical signs observed under field conditions i.e. creamy diarrhoea, emaciation, abundant gas in the gut but usually low mortality rate. The predominant post-mortem findings were the presence of gas in the intestinal lumen and in the mucosa, superficial necrosis and villus atrophy.
A comparison of the relative potencies of various bovine PPD tuberculins in naturally infected tuberculous cattle.
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Studies on bovine leukosis. VIII. The serologic response on leucotic cattle to injections with Aujeszky's disease and Bordetella vaccines, tetanus toxoid and porcine erythrocytes. The cutaneous reaction following administration of Mycobacterium microti and the effect of pokeweed and phytohaemagglutinin stimulation on leucotic lymphocytes.
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[First case of type D botulism in cattle in the Netherlands (author's transl)].
Report on an outbreak of botulism in six cows, in which Cl. botulinum toxin type D was found to be the cause for the first time in the Netherlands. Epidemiological studies showed that this outbreak of type D botulism was due to the fact that the litter used in the cubicles of the cows had been taken from a poultry farm in which cadavers of chicken were present, which contained up to 2 x 10(5) LD100 of Cl botulinum toxin type D per gram.
[Aleutian disease control in mink].
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