[History of control measures against bovine tuberculosis--contributions from the Institute of Microbiology and Contagious Diseases of the Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover]. / Zur Geschichte der Bekämpfung der Rindertuberkulose--Beiträge aus dem Institut für Mikrobiologie und Tierseuchen der Tierärztlichen Hochschule Hannover.

A review of history and development of research and control of bovine tuberculosis is given on the occasion of Kurt Wagener's 100th birthday with special reference to his and his co-workers contributions to this subject. The topics as well concern the critical discussion of Ostertag's control measures and their replacement by Bang's methods as the importance of bovine tuberclebacilli as origin of human infections.

[Microbiological risks in animal carcass removal and utilization for human and animal health]. / Mikrobiologische Risiken der Tierkörperbeseitigung und-verwertung für die Gesundheit von Mensch und Tier.

Hygienic requirements must be correlated to the practical conditions to remove infectious bacteria. In practice no health risk for men and animals is obvious.

[Detection of Chlamydia psittaci in vaginal discharge of cows: a necessary enlargement of bacteriologic diagnosis for the etiologic clarification of fertility disorders in the female cow]. / Nachweis von Chlamydia psittaci in Vaginalausfluss von Rindern: Eine notwendige Erweiterung der bakteriologischen Diagnostik zur ätiologischen Klärung von Fruchtbarkeitsstörungen beim weiblichen Rind.

Vaginal discharge from 119 dairy cows from 59 herds was examined bacteriologically, including application of the IDEIA Chlamydia test, to detect genus-specific chlamydial LPS-antigen. A putrid quality of specimens was closely correlated with isolation of Actinomyces pyogenes (p < 0.001). The IDEIA was positive for 39 of 65 (60.0%) non-putrid specimens and for 16 of 54 (29.6%) putrid specimens; a non-putrid quality of specimens was closely correlated with the detection of chlamydial antigen (p < 0.01). IDEIA-positive results were confirmed by a blocking-antibody assay and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a set of primers based on the 16S rRNA sequences of Chlamydia psittaci. Chlamydia-positive non-putrid specimens generally yielded no other bacterial pathogens. The clinical history of repeat breeding and endometritis, as well as failure to isolate other bacterial pathogens on routinely used non-living media, were strongly suggestive of primary chlamydial involvement in these cases.

[The effect of herd and animal factors on the detection of complement-binding antibodies against Coxiella burnetii in cattle]. / Einfluss von Bestands- und Tierfaktoren auf den Nachweis komplementbindender Antikörper gegen Coxiella burnetii beim Rind.

To determine the prevalence of bovine Coxiella (C.) burnetii infections in Northern Lower Saxony, blood serum obtained from a total of 2160 cattle was examined for antibodies against C. burnetii using the complement fixation test (CFT). From 500 randomly sampled cattle, 38 (7.6%) were seropositive. In 383 cows out of 33 dairy herds with the history of reproductive problems a significantly higher prevalence of C. burnetii specific antibodies was found than in 665 cows out of 39 herds without reproductive problems (19.3% vs. 9.6%). In both groups, mean CFT titer increased significantly with the degree of the within herd prevalence. Furthermore, in dairy herds with fertility problems the within herd prevalence was significantly higher than in dairy herds not experiencing infertility (24.3% vs. 11.2%). A relationship between serological evidence of C. burnetii infection and incidence of reproductive disorders observed in lowered fertility herds was not found. Statistical analysis of CFT results of 668 cows allocated in groups according to month of gestation, month prior insemination, and month postpartum revealed that the percentage of seropositives as well as CFT titers rise significantly in the 1st month of gestation and after a sharp decline in the 4th month increase a second time in the 7th month of gestation. Sera from 612 bulls aged six months to ten years yielded 5.2% seropositives. The most positives (87.5%) were found in bulls aged up to two and a half year. After a six month period, 428 bulls were retested. Specific antibodies were found in eight (27.6%) of 29 formerly seropositives. Seroconversion was not detected in any of 399 formerly seronegative bulls.

Endometritis in cattle experimentally induced by Chlamydia psittaci.

On the day of estrus, eight virgin heifers received intrauterine inoculations of yolk sac propagated Chlamydia psittaci strain BovEnd 11/88 isolated from the uterus of a slaughter cow. All heifers developed purulent vaginal discharge which persisted for 3 to 7 weeks. Chlamydiae or chlamydial antigen were detected in vaginal and uterine discharges of infected animals by culture or Capture ELISA, while other bacterial pathogens were not found. In sera of the chlamydia-infected heifers marked increases in antibody titres against the chlamydial genus-specific LPS-antigen were found by ELISA and complement fixation test. Six heifers were artificially inseminated in 5 successive cycles beginning at the first estrus following intrauterine inoculation. In two of the infected heifers spontaneous healing of endometritis occurred after 5 estrus cycles. Only these animals conceived after the 5th breeding, whereas in the remaining four animals a chlamydia-associated chronic endometritis was recognized as the cause of infertility in the 19th and 26th week p.i. at slaughter. Two control heifers which remained clinically normal after intrauterine exposure to sterile yolk sac-suspensions conceived at the 1st and 2nd service, respectively.

[Salmonella in animal feed]. / Salmonellen in Futtermitteln.

A review on the occurrence of salmonella in feed of animal origin is presented. As a main result, the predominating serovars in recent epidemic situation, S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis, are rarely found in animal feed. Concerning human salmonellosis, this is a fact of particular epidemiological importance.

[Intestinal Chlamydia psittaci infection of cattle: frequency and technical aspects of the cultural detection of the agent]. / Die intestinale Chlamydia psittaci-Infektion des Rindes: Häufigkeit sowie technische Aspekte des kulturellen Erregernachweises.

With the purpose to evaluate the prevalence of latent chlamydial infections in cattle, 190 animals were examined for fecal shedding of chlamydiae. From the feces of 42 animals (22.1%) Chlamydia (C.) psittaci was grown either in the yolk sac of chicken embryos and/or in coverslip cultures of BGM-cells. The cell culture proved to be of lower susceptibility to chlamydial infections. In comparison with the chicken egg technique a sixfold quantity of chlamydial particles was required to initiate detectable intracellular growth. With the chicken embryo technique as a standard cell culture with a sensitivity range of 31.6% was not satisfactory for isolating chlamydiae from bovine feces. Attempts to recover chlamydiae from feces of two experimentally infected heifers in embryonated chicken eggs provided evidence that at least four randomly subsequent isolation trials are required to detect asymptomatic chlamydial infections of the bovine gut with a 95% confident level. Based on this fact, the positivity rate of 22.1% obtained by single fecal specimen examination indicates a wide spread occurrence of chlamydial infections in cattle.

[Public control of contagious animal diseases--effect over changing times]. / Die staatliche Tierseuchenbekämpfung--Erfolg im Wandel der Zeiten.

A survey of the development of public control of animal diseases in Germany is made. The control of contagious diseases on the basis of confederation law has a history of more than hundred years. The knowledge and experience collected during this time are described.

Suscetibilidade "in vitro" de Campylobacter isolado de bezerros contra 22 antimicrobianos / In vitro drug susceptibilities of Campylobacter isolated from calves against 22 antimicrobial agents

Foram realizados testes de sucetibilidade em 60 estirpes de Campylobacter isoladas de conteúdo intestinal (reto, íleo e colo) de bezerros com e sem diarréia. As estirpes classificadas como Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter jejuni/coli, Campylobacter coli, NARTC-grupo e Campylobacter fetus subsp. Venenerealis apresentaram sensibilidade entre 90% a 97% à gentamicina, nitrofurantoina, neomina, aparamicina e canamicina. Apresentaram resistência entre 88% a 100% contra o sulfametoxazol-trimetoprim, à bacitracina, vancomicina e penícilina e contra as 13 drogas restantes testadas a resistência das estirpes situou-se entre 75% a 13%. A variaçäo na suscetibilidade das estirpes de Campylobacter frente as drogas antimicrobianas sugere a utilizaçäo de testes de sensibilidade para eleiçäo de drogas a serem utilizadas no tratamento da Campylobacter-infeccäo

Studies on the efficiency of absorbed bovine PPD in tuberculin and serological tests.

The passive haemagglutination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and indirect fluorescent antibody tests were applied to study the non-specific reactions in experimentally infected guinea pigs and tuberculin positive bovines. These cross-reactions were greatly decreased after absorption of either sera with avian PPD or bovine PPD antigen with anti-avian PPD serum. The use of both absorbed sera and antigen raised the specificity of PHA and ELISA to 100%. The use of absorbed sera rendered the IFA specific in 95%. The absorption has reduced the sensitivity of ELISA, IFA and PHA by 14, 27 and 29%, respectively.