Oral and Poster Abstracts

Objectives: To evaluate two different paratuberculosis ELISA test kits
for serum and milk in 3 German dairy herds with special emphasis on
the dependence on the herd and the intensity of faecal shedding of
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map).
Material and Methods: During a field study of 3 years faecal samples
as well as blood and milk samples were collected in 3 dairy herds with
different basic conditions. Samplings were conducted every 5 to 7
month for 5 times in every herd. Herds A and B had a history of
paratuberculosis with different prevalence of faecal shedders (30 % vs.
20 %). Herd C was unsuspicious for paratuberculosis. Faecal samples
were investigated culturally. 30 animals of herd B which underwent
necropsy were additionally tested by organ culture. The faecal culture
results of infected animals were divided into three groups depending on
the level of shedding. Blood and milk samples were analyzed with 2
commercial paratuberculosis ELISA test kits. ELISA results of animals
of herd A and B with at least one Map positive culture result were used
for the estimation of the diagnostic sensitivities. Diagnostic
specificities were assessed using the test results of the unsuspicious
herd C. The impact of the factors herd, level of shedding and repeated
sampling on test performance was investigated.
Results: For both ELISA tests sensitivities for blood and milk were
less than 20%. For all tests a higher sensitivity was shown in herd A.
Correlation of the actual faecal culture result and the serological test
result was established. ELISA sensitivities increased significantly
when animals were heavily shedding Map. A sensitivity of 36.5 % was
found for blood with ELISA I and milk with ELISA II. In herd A, for
ELISA I in blood, a sensitivity of 40.2 % was calculated for heavy
faecal shedders. Specificities between 99% and 100% were reached for
ELISA II. The specificity of ELISA I was dependent on the inclusion of
doubtful test results. Specificities between 78.9 % and 94.3 % were
established when different definitions for true negatives were applied.
Sensitivity of antibody detection could be increased by repeated
sampling, whereas specificity was not modified.
Conclusions: Our results underline that the sensitivity of serological
tests for sub-clinical paratuberculosis is very limited. Sensitivity and
specificity estimations for paratuberculosis ELISA are highly
dependent on the composition of the analysed animal population.
Key words: antibody detection, specificity, sensitivity, Map
1120 Types of Bovine Uroliths in Turkey, U.S.A., and Canada
A. Onmaz 1 , H. Albasan 2 , C. Osborne 2 , J. Lulich 2 , L. Ulrich 2 ,
L. Koehler 2 , V. Gunes 1 , R. Yilmazer 1
1
University of Erciyes, Faculty of Veterinary, Internal Medicine,
Kayseri, Turkey
2
University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine, Urolith
Center, Minnesota, United States
There are few reports of quantitative analysis of bovine uroliths in the
world's veterinary literature. Furthermore, descriptions of uroliths
appear to be confined to gross observations and chemical spot tests.
The aims of the study were; 1) to report the quantitative mineral
composition of 20 uroliths found in the urinary tracts of 1840 Turkish
cows examined at the abattoir in Kayseri province; 2) to compare these
results with quantitative analysis of 174 uroliths submitted to the
Minnesota Urolith Center by veterinarians residing in the USA and
Canada; and 3) to request that veterinarians who have access to bovine
uroliths to send them to Dr. Vehbi Gunes along with demographic
epidemiologic information. The quantitative analysis of each urolith
from Turkish cows by polarizing light microscopy and infrared
spectroscopy were carried out in this study. The analyses of the 20
uroliths revealed that 11 uroliths were composed of magnesium
calcium phosphate carbonate (55%), 2 uroliths magnesium calcium
phosphate (% 10), 2 uroliths silica (10%), 1 urolith magnesium
ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (struvite) (5%), 1 urolith calcium
carbonate (5%), 1 urolith calcium phosphate (5%), 2 uroliths were also
classified as compound (10%). One compound urolith was composed
of a central portion of calcium carbonate surrounded by a shell of silica.
1 compound urolith was composed of a center of 90% calcium
phosphate carbonate and 10% struvite, surrounded by a shell of 85
magnesium calcium phosphate carbonate and 15% struvite. Samples
(n=174) collected from cows in the USA and Canada were composed
of the following minerals. Struvite (n = 62, 35.7%), silica (n=34,
19.5%), magnesium calcium phosphate (n = 19, 10.9%), calcium
phosphate (n = 16, 9.1%), compound (n = 15, 8.6%), (mixed = 12,
6.9%), calcium carbonate (n = 7, 4.1%), calcium oxalate (n = 4, 2.4%),
salts of uric acid (n = 2, 1.1%), drug metabolite (n = 1, 0.6%), and other
172 XXV. Jubilee World Buiatrics Congress 2008
(n = 2, 1.1%). Types of bovine uroliths are different between Turkey
and North America. It may be related to the type of feed and mineral
additives. Further controlled studies including feeding and
management are needed.
Key words: Bovine, urolithiasis, quantitative, analysis
1121 Relationship between Periparturient Serum Concentrations
of Non-Esterified Fatty Acids (NEFA), Beta-Hydroxybutyrat
(BHBA), Bilirubin and Urea and the Prevalence of
Postpartum Bovine Endometritis
T. Kaufmann, M. Drillich, B. Tenhagen, W. Heuwieser
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Clinic of
Reproduction, Berlin, Germany
In the transition period cows undergo substantial metabolic changes.
Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), as main uterine defence
mechanism, are impaired in activity by negative energy balance.
Deficiencies of PMN function may be responsible for portpartum
endometritis. Blood serum samples of a total of 130 Holstein-Friesian
cows were collected 1-7 d ante partum (-7), 1-7 d post partum (+7) and at
post partum examination (day 28-34) including vaginoscopy. Vaginal
discharge was regarded as sign for clinical endometritis. If no vaginal
discharge was found a cytological sample was obtained from the
endometrium with the Cytobrush technique. The proportion of PMN
determined the presence of subclinical endometritis. Serum samples were
analyzed for beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), nonesterified fatty acids
(NEFA), urea, and bilirubin. Cows with subclinical and clinical
endometritis in the 5th week after calving had significantly higher NEFA
concentrations at -7 than healthy cows. Separate analyses for parity
classes, i.e. primiparous and multiparous cows, revealed that multiparous
cows with subclinical and clinical endometritis had significantly higher
concentration of bilirubin at -7 than healthy cows. Furthermore,
multiparous cows with subclinical endometritis had significantly higher
concentrations of BHBA +7 than healthy cows and cows affected with
clinical endometritis. Multiparous cows with clinical endometritis had
significantly lower concentrations of urea at post partum examination than
healthy cows. In conclusion, concentrations of NEFA and bilirubin ante
partum are eligible predictors for the occurrence of clinical and subclinical
endometritis in multiparous cows.
Key words: NEFA, endometritis
1122 Serological, Virological and Haematological Examination of
Rotavirus Infection in Calves with Diarrhea and Their Dams
S. Yavru 1 , O. Bulut 1 , S. Sahindurmaz 2 , M. Kale 3 , O. Yapece 4 ,
O. Avce 4 , MK. Albay 2 , F. Pehlivanoglu 2
1 University of Selcuk, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Virology,
Konya, Turkey
2 University of Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Faculty of Vet. Med., Department
of Internal Medicine, Burdur, Turkey
3 University of Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Faculty of Vet. Med., Virology,
Burdur, Turkey
4 University of Selcuk, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Virology,
Konya, Turkey
In this study, following clinical examination of 3500 cattle and their
calves from 25 dairy farms 184 cows 2-6 years age and 190 calves
(three of them are twins) 1-6 months of age with diarrhea were sampled
for rotavirus presence by ELISA (investigated for antigen in faecal
samples and antibody in blood serum samples of calves and only
antibody presence in blood samples of their dams). Additionally, all
blood samples were examined by hematological methods.
One hundred sixty seven cows and 144 calves were found seropositive for
coronavirus. While the high level of antibodies for coronaviruses were
detected as 32.33% in dams 6years and older ages, the lower level of
antibodies were detected as 10.18% in ages between 2-3 and 5-6. In the
calves, Ab to coronavirus were found at the highest level (26.56%) in the
female calves 5-6 months age but the lowest level (7.81%) antibody was
found in the male calves 2-4 months of ages. Coronavirus (Ag) was
detected in only fecal samples of six calves. When the haematological
parameters were compared between Ab (+) and Ab (-) dams, only White
Blood Cell (WBC) values were found statistically significant (p