Indirect detection of respiratory viruses responsible for respiratory disease in sheep

Respiratory disease in sheep is an important disease in sheep flocks, in which viruses are categorized as primary etiological agents. It is responsible for elevated economic losses in sheep production and new data about its occurrence and the etiological agents are necessary to understand its situation in Brazilian flocks.  This research aimed to detect antibodies against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus, Bovine Herpesvirus type 1, Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) and Bovine Parainfluenza type 3 (bPI-3) virus in healthy and pneumonic sheep in relation to clinical signs of respiratory disease. Ninety-nine male and female sheep from the states of São Paulo (SP) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) were enrolled in this study. They were classified as healthy and pneumonic using physical examination. Serum samples were obtained, and they were used to determine the presence of antibodies against respiratory viruses using serum neutralization test. The association between the microorganisms, clinical status, and clinical signs of respiratory disease in sheep was evaluated. Antibodies against Bovine Parainfluenza type 3 virus were mainly detected (52.5%), followed by Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (48.5%). Data analysis did not reveal any association between the presence of antibodies and clinical signs of respiratory disease in sheep. Respiratory disease is an important issue in sheep production in which different bacterial and viral etiologic agents may be involved in its development. BRSV and bPI-3 are circulating in sheep flocks from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

Quantitative analysis of minor and trace elements in blood serum of dairy cattle (Bos taurus) by WDXRF

Assessment of heavy metal content in biological fluids is essential to determine human and animal health as a result of exposure to contaminated environments, food, and water. WDXRF is a non-destructive method that involves no chemical treatments. It is possible to perform fast chemical analysis without producing hazardous waste and uses a small sample volume (± 50 mL), which is useful to veterinary usage. Therefore, the aim of this work was to implement an alternative method for minor and trace elements in blood serum samples of dairy cattle (Bos taurus) using WDXRF. It was implemented for the determination of Al, Cr, Co, Fe, Cu, As, and Hg, and the method was evaluated by comparing WDXRF and ICP-OES results of a set of 14 blood serum samples of dairy cattle using principal component analysis (PCA). Results of WDXRF and ICP-OES were statistically equivalent to all analyzed elements, except for Fe and Al, which were still comparable. WDXRF proved to be a suitable alternative methodology for heavy metal detection in animal blood serum samples due to the low sample volume. The results of this study enable a new and fast method for veterinary internal medicine, which requires a technique that quickly detects animals with a high concentration of toxic elements to assure the correct protocols to prevent the animal's death

Evaluation of bovine Parainfluenza type-3 virus and Influenza virus D participation in bovine respiratory disease of calves from Brazilian family farming

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is responsible for great economic losses in bovine production with major impact on family farming. Among all possible causes of bovine respiratory disease, viruses are commonly categorized as primary etiological agents. The present study aimed to identify the presence of bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus and Influenza virus D (IVD) in tracheobronchial fluid samples of healthy calves and calves showing clinical signs of bovine respiratory disease.  Samples were collected from 42 family farming farms in São Paulo State, Brazil. A total of 141 tracheobronchial fluid samples from healthy calves (n=100) and calves showing clinical signs of bovine respiratory disease (n=41) were enrolled in this study.  No sample was positive for both viruses after Real-Time PCR. Serum neutralization for bovine Parainfluenza type 3 virus (bPI-3v) was performed using 88 randomly selected serum samples and antibodies were detected in 45.45% (40/88) samples. Serum reactive samples were detected in both healthy (46.8%; 22/47) and BRD calves (43.9%; 18/41). Regarding antibody titer, numerical differences were detected between healthy (3%) and BRD calves (9%) for titers 128-512 (P > 0.05). The present research was the first that aimed to study the presence of bPI-3V and IVD in family farming herds from São Paulo State, Brazil. This research revealed that bPI-3v is circulating in the region studied and is possibly involved in some BRD cases. On the other hand, IVD was not detected