2010 - 79 (4)

Paper in Dutch

Paper in Dutch

Biosecurity includes all measures to prevent pathogens from entering a herd and to reduce the spread of infectionswithin the herd in order to keep the animals ‘healthy’. To quantify the biosecurity status of a pig herd, a scoringsystem has been developed. This system quantifies all aspects of both external and internal biosecurity taking intoaccount their relative importance in infectious disease transmission. This makes it possible to follow up herds overtime and it can motivate the farmer to improve the biosecurity status of his herd. This scoring system wasimplemented in a website and can be freely filled in online. From December 2008 to August 2009, 99 pig farmersvoluntarily filled in the questionnaire. The average score for external biosecurity is 65/100 and the average score forinternal biosecurity is 50/100. There are big differences between the scores of different farms. The results also showthat on 92% of the herds the score for external biosecurity is higher than the score for internal biosecurity. Theseresults indicate that there is room for improvement in many of the herds, especially with regard to internal biosecurity.

A 20-year-old horse was evaluated for symptoms of weight loss, anorexia, fever and lethargy. Clinicalexamination revealed tachypnea, poor body condition and increased breath sounds on auscultation.Ultrasound showed multiple consolidations on the lungs. Thoracic radiography revealed a severe nodularpattern. The horse was treated with antibiotics, corticoids and supportive medication. Since no improvementwas observed, the horse was euthanized.At necropsy, numerous coalescing fibrous nodules were present in the lungs. Histology revealed diffuseinterstitial fibrosis and macrophages containing abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and oval eosinophilic toamphophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. Tissue samples tested positive for the presence of equine herpesvirus 5 (EHV 5) on the basis of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. A diagnosis of equine multinodularpulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) was made. This is the first report of EMPF in Belgium. EMPF can be suspectedbased on the ultrasonographic, radiographic and histological changes. EMPF is associated with EHV 5, butthe etiological role of EHV 5 still remains to be proven.

The present report describes the clinical history, radiography, ultrasonography, hematology, bone marrowsample, and histology of a case of estrogen-induced pancytopenia due to neoplastic change of cryptorchidtestes. The anemia gradually improved after castration, several blood transfusions and treatment withnandrolondecanoate.

A 21-month-old Cocker spaniel with a portosystemic shunt, a moderate thrombocytopenia and a historyof pancreatitis, was anesthetized for a cystotomy to remove bladder polyps and stones. The portosystemicshunt had been treated conservatively with lactulose, ampicillin and a special diet. After premedication withmethadone 0.2 mg/kg, by intramuscular (IM) injection, anesthesia was induced with propofol 4 mg/kgintravenously (IV) and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. Additionally, 2 mL lidocaine 2% and 0.1 mg/kgmorphine were injected in the lumbosacral epidural space and 0.1 mg/kg meloxicam was administeredintravenously. Except for a moderate decrease in arterial pressure after the epidural injection and the needfor intermittent positive pressure ventilation during surgery, anesthesia and recovery were uneventful.Postoperative analgesia was provided with methadone (0.2 mg/kg every 4 hours initially, then 0.1 mg/kg every6 hours IM) and oral meloxicam (0.1 mg/kg the first day, 0.05 mg/kg during 4 days).

Tracheal collapse is a progressive degenerative disease that can be symptomatically treated with medicationand/or by surgical intervention. This article reports 5 cases with serious dyspnea, exercise intolerance, syncope orcyanosis caused by tracheal collapse. All dogs showed a poor quality of life despite medical treatment. Enlargementof the tracheal lumen was achieved by the placement of an intraluminal prosthesis to support the collapsing trachea.Observed complications after the placement of an intraluminal stent were attributed to inappropriately sized stents(development of granulation tissue, shortening with undersized diameter and recurrence when the trachea is onlypartly supported). Complications caused by intraluminal stents can be life threatening. One patient died of trachealobstruction by granulation tissue. The life quality of the other 4 patients improved considerably: 2 patients improved(mean follow-up 3.5 months) and 2 patients became asymptomatic (mean follow-up 9 months).

Many articles on anesthesia in llamas have been published. Xylazine, combined with ketamine is the mostfrequently used injectable anesthetic protocol and it warrants an effective and reliable anesthesia to perform shortprocedures. The use of other α2-agonists is far less documented in the literature.A study was carried out to evaluate and compare the anesthetic and cardiorespiratory effects of intramuscularmedetomidine-ketamine and dexmedetomidine-ketamine in llamas. The induction of anesthesia, cardiorespiratoryparameters and the recovery time were similar in both groups. However, during recovery, significantly more ataxiawas observed in the llamas that received medetomidine than in the llamas that received dexmedetomidine.

This review focuses on poisonings in companion animals, including horses, farm animals and wildlife,investigated and recorded during the past ten years at the Laboratory of Toxicology of the Faculty ofVeterinary Medicine (Ghent University) and the National Poison Centre in Belgium. The causative agents ofpoisoning incidents vary among the different species. The Laboratory of Toxicology of the Faculty ofVeterinary Medicine reports that the majority of poisoning incidents in companion animals, and especially indogs and cats, are due to contact with insecticides and pesticides, whereas horses are more frequently poisonedby plant toxins. Farm animals, on the other hand, are mainly intoxicated by heavy metals, toxic plants andagrochemicals. The Belgian Poison Centre reports that intoxications in companion animals are mostly withagrochemicals, household products and drugs, whereas in farm animals intoxications with agrochemicals area common problem. This review gives an overview of the most common causes of intoxication and theirassociation with the different animal species. In addition, some rare or difficult to diagnose intoxications aredescribed, which account for a small number of poisoning cases.

Paper in Dutch