Exotic Animal Practice in Africa.

This article explores the evolution, unique aspects, and challenges facing exotic animal practice in South Africa. This article delves into the slow emergence of dedicated exotic practices and the challenges faced by veterinarians in a vast and diverse landscape. The unique nature of the veterinary landscape is highlighted, emphasizing the impact of varied climates on species inhabiting different regions. The challenges are multifaceted, ranging from limited education infrastructure to dietary issues, unregulated feeds, and the complexities of herbal medicine use. The narrative explores client education challenges due to the scarcity of dedicated practices, underlining the importance of communication channels.

Measurement of the S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) content in a range of commercial veterinary SAMe supplements.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the percentage of the stated amount of S-adenosyl methionine present in a range of commercially available S-adenosyl methionine supplements for veterinary use. METHOD: Sixty-four samples of products containing S-adenosyl methionine marketed to support liver function were obtained from five manufacturers via three commercial wholesalers. The amount of S-adenosyl methionine in each product was measured using high-pressure liquid chromatography. RESULTS: There were greater than threefold variation in the percentage of measured S-adenosyl methionine compared to the stated amount on the packaging which was significantly (P < 0 · 001) related to the product group being measured. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Differences in received dose of S-adenosyl methionine between different products were marked and this could have a profound influence on studies that evaluate any variation in absorption of S-adenosyl methionine between different product formulations, the effectiveness of S-adenosyl methionine-based products in clinical cases or when translating the results of studies that have used a specific S-adenosyl methionine product to those produced by a different manufacturer.

Comparison of requirements in the European Union and United States of America for pre-clinical viral safety testing of veterinary vaccines.

Of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of live and inactivated veterinary vaccines is demonstration of freedom from extraneous agents in biological starting materials used in their production. Both the European Union (EU) and United States of America (US) provide regulations and guidelines on extraneous agent testing of veterinary vaccines including guidance from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP), the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) and the USDA Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9 (9CFR). There are distinct requirements prescribed in EU and US regulations and guidelines. The differences in EU and US requirements for extraneous agent testing of starting materials are such that there may be occasions when no one test may satisfy both sets of regulations for a given scenario. For compliance with both, for global licensing purposes it may therefore be necessary to perform additional tests and/or to justify methods chosen from one set of regulations over another, based on a variety of factors.

Adjuvants designed for veterinary and human vaccines.

Adjuvants play an important role in the efficacy of vaccines as the antigens become more and more purified. Indeed recombinant proteins or synthetic peptides are safer than crude inactivated micro-organism, but less immunogenic. This can be balanced by specific adjuvants. But there is no universal adjuvants and their action is not yet clear and rely on different mechanisms. Then, they must be adapted according to several criteria, like the target species, the antigens, the type of immune response, the route of inoculation, or the duration of immunity. For this purpose different type of emulsions have been developed. Water in oil (W/O) emulsions induce a strong and long term immune response. Those based on mineral oils are known to be very efficient but can sometimes induce local reactions with reactive antigens. Non mineral oils are well tolerated but less efficient with poor immunogens. Multiphasic (W/O/W) emulsions can induce short and long term immune responses with various antigens and oil in water (O/W) emulsions are well tolerated and induce a short term immune response. New generation of adjuvants are based on a new concept called 'immunosol' and stem from the association of nanoparticles with a new immunostimulant. They can be used when emulsions are not suitable to obtain a good balance between safety and immunogenicity.