Review(s)

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leucosis virus (FeLV) are two pathogens in catsthat may have severe consequences on the general health of the infected animal, especially in the longterm. The stray cat population is a reservoir for maintaining the infection in this group but is also responsiblefor spreading the infection to housecats.For many years, the City of Ghent has been pursuing a stray cat control policy according to thetrap-neuter-return principle that entails euthanasia of stray cats affected by FIV or FeLV. To study theinfluence of the eradication plan on the prevalence of FIV and FeLV in the stray cat population, dataobtained in 2009 were compared to data of 2017. A significant drop in the infection rate was observedfor FeLV (from 9.9% to 0.7%). For FIV, the prevalence remained similar (from 9.1% to 10.3%). A shiftin the number of stray cats caught as well as in the percentage of positive cases was observed fromdowntown to the boundaries of the Ghent area. Various factors may have influenced these preliminaryfindings. Further research should elucidate factors responsible for the evolution of the FIV and FeLVprevalence in stray cats in the Ghent area.

Urinary incontinence, an uncontrolled urine leakage during the storage phase of micturition,is a common condition in female dogs. In intact bitches, the reported prevalence is only 0.2-0.3%,but in spayed bitches it varies between 3.1-20.1%. Most commonly, dogs with acquired urinaryincontinence suffer from urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence. This condition seems tobe multifactorial, and although the exact pathophysiology remains unclear, potential risk factorsinclude gender, gonadectomy, breed, body weight, urethral length and bladder neck position. Indaily practice, the diagnosis of urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence is usually made aftereliminating other potential causes of urinary incontinence. Incontinent bitches are primarilytreated with medications, such as alpha-adrenergic drugs, e.g. phenylpropanolamine and oestrogens.Surgery is recommended when patients become refractory to medical treatment.

The European Union requests an urgent decrease in antimicrobial use (AMU) in food producinganimalsto reduce antimicrobial resistance in animals and humans and safeguard the efficacy ofantimicrobials for future generations. The identification of risk factors (RFs) for AMU is essentialto obtain a rapid reduction. The aim of this review was to summarize the current knowledge ofRFs for AMU in veal calves, pigs and poultry. Thirty-three observational studies were included.Well-identified RFs for an increased AMU are frequent purchase of animals, herd size (largeor small depending on the animal species), and a lack of selected biosecurity measures. Also inbeef breed calves, more antimicrobials are used than in Holstein calves. AMU is influenced bythe farmer, the veterinarian and by the integration. In general, socio-economic RFs are largelyunexplored. The causal factors for AMU are multiple and complex, with possible confoundingfactors and unidentified interactions. Additional knowledge of socio-economic drivers appearsparticularly urgent to create tailor-made guidelines and awareness campaigns for each sector.

The increase in bacterial drug resistance causes major difficulties in the clinical treatmentof a growing number of bacterial infections worldwide. Consequently, there is an urgent needto develop novel anti-bacterial agents to control these resistant pathogens and to complementthe currently used antibiotics. Mastitis is the most prevalent disease impacting dairy cattle, andtherefore one of the costliest diseases in the global dairy industry. The excessive use of curative aswell as preventive antibiotics in this sector entails a real risk for the emergence of antimicrobialresistance. Moreover, these traditional antimicrobial agents are often ineffective and lead toresidues in the milk, which can affect dairy product consumers. As an alternative therapeuticapproach, bacteriophages and phage-encoded endolysins have been proposed and are currently(re)investigated as potential antibacterial agents against mastitis.

Paratuberculosis is a chronic intestinal disease affecting goats and other ruminants worldwide.The objective of this review was to summarize current knowledge on the prevalence, diagnosticpossibilities and possible prevention and control measures for paratuberculosis in dairy and pygmygoats in Europe. The herd level prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis(MAP) in dairy goat farms is very high, namely 71%, 63% and 86% in Germany, France andthe Netherlands, respectively. The prevalence in pygmy goats is undocumented. Antibody ELISA,fecal culture and PCR testing are readily available for diagnosis. A highly suggestive finding forparatuberculosis is the presence of enlarged intestinal lymph nodes on abdominal ultrasonography.To control the disease a combination of ‘test and cull’ and environmental hygienic measures arerecommended. In contrast to cattle, vaccination is available and might be an additional tool in thecontrol program for goats. Vaccine antibodies are no longer detectable after one year, and thereforeserological monitoring can be continued on vaccinating herds. The worrisome prevalence data fromneighboring countries indicate the need for a prevalence study on dairy goat farms in Belgium.

Ascending placentitis in the mare, which affects 3 to 7% of pregnancies, is a common cause ofabortion, premature birth and delivery of compromised foals (Troedsson, 2003; LeBlanc, 2010).Since the infection ascends from the caudal genital tract, the first and most distinct lesions areseen near the caudal pole area of the allantochorion adjacent to the cervix.The symptoms are not always obvious or will be exhibited only at a later stage of the diseaseprocess, which renders timely adequate treatment difficult. Moreover, experimental models ofplacentitis in the mare are difficult to maintain and double-blind, controlled studies are scarce,making it hard to formulate clear science-based advice. In this paper, the diagnosis is discussedon the basis of the symptoms, the ultrasound examinations and the endocrinological parameters,and the therapeutic and prognostic considerations are evaluated.

Dourine is a contagious disease caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum that is transmitteddirectly from animal to animal during coitus. Dourine is known as an important disease in manycountries, and it threatens equidae worldwide. It is reported to be widespread in South America,Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, Namibia and Ethiopia. The disease can be carried to variousparts of the world through the transportation of infected animals and semen. Since knowledgeof the prepatent infectiousness of a recently infected animal is lacking, introduction of thedisease is in principle an ever-present threat. Definitive diagnosis depends on the identificationof the parasite by means of direct microscopy. This is rarely possible in practice and therefore,diagnosis in the field is based on the observation of typical clinical signs, together with serologicaltests. This paper is an endeavour to review briefly and compile information on the appearanceand importance of Dourine in terms of its epidemiological and clinical features, as well as on itsdiagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

As in other animals, distress and impaired welfare have a deleterious effect on the mental,physical and behavioral health of snakes in the wild and in captivity. Besides anthropogenicdisturbance, the availability of food and shelter, the presence of predators, and environmentalfactors, such as seasonality and climatological changes, are important factors that affect thestress level and subsequent welfare in wild snake populations. In captive snakes, inappropriatemanagement is the most prominent cause of chronic stress and impaired welfare. Chronicstress can be assumed by looking at the snake’s behavior, but there is need for a standardizedquantification method to pin-point more accurately (chronic) stress levels. The biomarkersuitable in this framework is the level of corticosterone in plasma, feces and shed skin.

A general overview of tricuspid valve dysplasia in dogs is presented in this review. This congenitaldisease has been described in numerous large dog breeds but especially the Labradorretriever is predisposed. The condition is relatively uncommon, with a prevalence of approximatelyseven percent of all congenital heart diseases in dogs. The asymptomatic phase may lastfor several years and depends on the severity of the valve malformation. In the clinical phase,exercise intolerance, fatigue, anorexia, cardiac cachexia, dyspnea and signs of right-sided congestiveheart failure can be present. Echocardiography including Doppler imaging is warranted toconfirm the diagnosis. Curative treatment involves surgical valve replacement but is technicallychallenging and still in its experimental phase in dogs. As such, treatment in dogs involves theadministration of supportive medication once the dogs develop symptoms of congestive heartfailure and consists of diuretics, ace-inhibitors and positive inotropic drugs.

Equine dental pathology and its diagnosis have been described in part 1 and 2 (published in 2015and 2016 respectively) of this series of articles on equine dentistry. In this third and last part, differenttreatment options are discussed and the cases, in which they can be applied, are highlighted. Alongwith the growing interest in equine dentistry and the increasing knowledge about it, the treatment optionsand the available instrumentation have strongly evolved over the years. This enables both thefield veterinarian and the more specialized veterinary surgeon to perform efficient treatment of a widevariety of dental pathologies.