Pathological description and immunohistochemical demonstration of ovine abortion associated with Toxoplasma gondii in Iran / 대한수의학회지

The obligatory intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a major world wide cause of infectious ovine abortion. In some different diagnostic techniques that are being used to detect this pathogen in ovine fetuses, immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a very sensitive and expensive one. Histopathology is not truly a specific and sensitive test for Toxoplasma infection but it can be helpful to choose some suspected tissues for IHC. In this study 9.5% of 200 samples (aborted ovine fetuses internal organs such as brain, liver, heart, lung, kidney, spleen) (4.6~14.4% with 95% CI) were positive in IHC with a very good logical agreement among different diagnostic techniques (kappa = 0.73, 0.8) and with no significant difference among different fetal age groups (p > 0.05).

Detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus using a nested RT-PCR assay in bulk milk samples of dairy cattle herds in suburb of Mashhad-Iran

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus [BVDV] is an important pathogen of dairy cattle. In this study, bulk milk samples representing a total of 4105 milking cows, from 18 dairy cattle herds in the suburb of Mashhad- Iran, were tested for presence of BVDV by the use of a nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [Nested RT- PCR] assay. Non of the cows in the herds had been vaccinated against BVDV. RNA was extracted from somatic cell pellets of bulk milk tank samples. Oligonucleotide primers were selected based on the 5' untranslated region of the BVD virus genome. BVD virus was detected in 2 [11.1%] out of 18 samples, representing 742 lactating cows. These results indicate that nested RT-PCR analysis of bulk milk samples may provide a rapid and sensitive screening method for the detection of BVDV infections in non-vaccinated dairy cattle herds