Sera from 523 wild rodents were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using either an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) (rats and mice, with titer 80 considered positive) or a latex agglutination test (LAT) (voles, squirrels, and pocket mice, with titer ≥32 considered positive). Seventee...

We evaluated the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of an IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and IgG indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for detection of Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies in sera from 2 cat populations using a Bayesian approach. Accounting for test covariance...

Bluetongue is a vector-borne viral disease that affects domestic and wild ruminants. The epidemiology of this disease has recently changed, with occurrence in new geographic areas. Various real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time qRT-PCR) assays are used to d...

Cows from 2 California dairies were tested for paratuberculosis at the end of lactation by using faecal culture and a commercially available serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit. Individual cow characteristics and production variables were evaluated along with ELISA testing resul...

Eight female Peromyscus californicus were infected with 102 or 104 Toxoplasma gondii culture-derived tachyzoites (Type II or X) isolated from southern sea otters. All but 2 mice survived infection and developed antibodies to T. gondii. The 2 fatally infected mice were inoculated with 104 tachyzoites...

Herd size is frequently studied as a risk factor for swine diseases, yet the biological rationale for a reported association with herd size (whether positive or negative) is rarely adequately discussed in published epidemiological studies. Biologically plausible reasons for a positive association be...

Progeny from six different spawns of white sturgeon broodstock were monitored for 20 months (January 1997 to August 1998) in a commercial white sturgeon hatchery in North Carolina, USA for occurrence of outbreaks of white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV) and white sturgeon herpesvirus-2 (WSHV-2). Five WSI...

Objective - To assess concurrently the effects of moderate ligamentous suspensory apparatus injury (MLSAI), racing-speed exercise, and horseshoe characteristics on risk of catastrophic suspensory apparatus failure (SAF) or metacarpal condylar fracture (CDY) in forelimbs of racehorses. Sample populat...

Objective - To assess the use of CSF testing with an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for diagnosis of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) caused by Sarcocystis neurona. Sample Population - Test results of 428 serum and 355 CSF samples from 182 naturally exposed, experimentally infecte...

A prospective cohort study was conducted to determine management, fish, and environmental risk factors for increased mortality and an increased proportion of runts for white sturgeon exposed to white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV) and white sturgeon herpesvirus-2 (WSHV-2). The study was conducted betwee...

Diagnostic methods were used to identify and quantify Myxobolus cerebralis, a myxozoan parasite of salmonid fish. In this study, 7-week-old, pathogen-free rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were experimentally infected with M. cerebralis and at 7 months postinfection were evaluated with 5 diagnosti...

Objective: To create a stochastic model to quantify the risk that shipments of cattle from regions within the United States would contain animals seropositive for bluetongue virus and to determine shipment-level accuracy of serologic testing by use of a competitive ELISA (c-ELISA). Sample Population...

Objective - To estimate risk of exposure and age at first exposure to Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora hughesi and time to maternal antibody decay in foals. Animals - 484 Thoroughbred and Warmblood foals from 4 farms in California. Procedure - Serum was collected before and after colostrum ingestion...

A serological survey was conducted to compare the seroprevalence of antibodies against equine arteritis virus (EAV) in horses residing in the United States (California; n=364) with that of imported horses (from various countries; n=226). Serum samples were collected from each imported horse and from...

The national risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has not been assessed by many countries, and many countries are conducting little or no BSE surveillance. National measures implemented, including import restrictions, surveillance systems, and sanitary controls, should be based on actual B...

Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves provide a cutoff-independent method for the evaluation of continuous or ordinal tests used in clinical pathology laboratories. The area under the curve is a useful overall measure of test accuracy and can be used to compare different tests (or different...

Objective - To describe forelimb horseshoe characteristics of horses racing on dirt surfaces and determine whether these characteristics vary with region of California, season, horse characteristics, and race-related factors. Animals - 5,730 Thoroughbred racehorses. Procedure - From June 17, 2000, t...

This study was conducted to evaluate a Markov-chain model for the development of forelimb injuries in Thoroughbreds and to use the model in determining the effects of reducing sprint distance on incidence of metacarpal condylar fracture (CDY) and severe suspensory apparatus injury (SSAI). Weekly exe...

Two strains of 27-wk-old commercial laying chickens (strain A, brown-egg-laying type and strain B, white-egg-laying type) were inoculated either orally (PO) or intravenously (IV) with a field isolate of Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4. Chickens were sequentially necropsied at regular intervals t...

Screening methods are needed for immediate field assessment of affected seabirds during oil spills. We compared the accuracies of 4 handheld blood glucose monitors - Accu-Chek Advantage, Glucometer Elite, Precision QID, and Sure Step - with that of Chemstrip bG for blood glucose determination in sea...

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed for detection of white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV). The synthetic oligonucleotides WS 229F and WS 245R generate a 519 bp DNA amplicon from the WSIV genome that encodes the putative major capsid protein (MCP) gene. The WSIV PCR detected as little a...

Jamestown Canyon (JC) and Saint Louis encephalitis (SLE) viruses are mosquito-transmitted viruses that have long been present in California. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of these two viruses in horses prior to the introduction of West Nile (WN) virus. Approximately...