Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide in the treatment of sheep experimentally infected with Ehrlichia ruminantium

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical response of sheep experimentally infected with Ehrlichia ruminantium to treatment with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). ANIMALS 32 Merino crossbred sheep. PROCEDURES 16 sheep were infected with E ruminantium; 8 of these were treated twice daily with a 10% solution of DMSO (1 g/kg, i.v.) in polyionic fluid for 3 consecutive days. Treatment was initiated 2 days after the onset of clinical disease. Eight uninfected control sheep were similarly treated with DMSO. Placebo treatments (polyionic fluid administrations) were given to 8 infected and 8 uninfected sheep. Arterial and venous blood samples for blood gas and total plasma protein concentration measurements were collected daily (data from 5 days before until 6 days after onset of clinical disease were analyzed); physiologic variables and food consumption were also monitored. Gross pathologic findings and cytologic confirmation of the disease were recorded for the 16 infected sheep. RESULTS Infected sheep treated with DMSO were able to maintain pulmonary gas exchange and had reduced pleural effusion and plasma protein loss, compared with infected untreated sheep that became hypoxic. Infected treated sheep developed an uncompensated metabolic acidosis. Uninfected treated sheep had reduced appetite, whereas uninfected untreated sheep maintained normal food intake. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results of DMSO treatment in sheep with experimentally induced heartwater disease indicated that administration of this agent, in combination with specific antimicrobial treatment, may be of some benefit in treatment of naturally occurring disease

More than a century of biological control against invasive alien plants in South Africa: a synoptic view of what has been accomplished

Invasive alien plant species negatively affect agricultural production, degrade conservation areas, reduce water supplies, and increase the intensity of wild fires. Since 1913, biological control agents ie plant-feeding insects, mites, and fungal pathogens, have been deployed in South Africa to supplement other management practices (herbicides and mechanical controls) used against these invasive plant species. We do not describe the biological control agent species