Effective vaccines are available for many protozoal diseases of animals, including vaccines for zoonotic pathogens and for several species of vector-transmitted apicomplexan haemoparasites. In comparison with human diseases, vaccine development for animals has practical advantages such as the ability to perform experiments in the natural host, the option to manufacture some vaccines in vivo, an...

Rumen microbial populations were measured in Brahman-cross steers that were relocated from spear grass (Heteropogon contortus) dominant pastures in northern Queensland to buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliasis) dominant pastures in central Queensland, to assess whether aspects of rumen function may contribute to the sometimes reported depressed growth rates following relocation. Nine genera of ciliate...

Knowledge of the fatty acid profile of microbial lipids is of great nutritional importance to the animals and, subsequently, their products. This study was conducted to examine the fatty acid profiles of mixed rumen bacteria and protozoa. Bacterial and protozoal cells were isolated by differential centrifugation of rumen contents. The main fatty acids were palmitic (16:0) and stearic (18:0) in ...

An improved and simplified apparatus for maintaining the rumen microbial population in continuous culture was constructed. All components were easily obtained from commercial sources or were simple to construct. Mechanical difficulties were minimal, and little attention was needed on the part of the operator. The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content of the cultures (100 to 150 mug/ml) varied lit...

In 1995, one of the largest outbreaks of human toxoplasmosis occurred in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Genetic typing identified a novel Toxoplasma gondii strain linked to the outbreak, in which a wide spectrum of human disease was observed. For this globally-distributed, water-borne zoonosis, strain type is one variable influencing disease, but the inability of strain type to ...

The processes promoting disease in wild animal populations are highly complex, yet identifying these processes is critically important for conservation when disease is limiting a population. By combining field studies with epidemiologic tools, we evaluated the relationship between key factors impeding southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) population growth: disease and resource limitation....

This study aimed to identify chemical composition of Thymus kotschyanus essential oil (TKEO) and to evaluate the effects of different doses of TKEO on in vitro gas production, fermentation parameters, acidosis and protozoal population using a completely randomized design with four replicates. Two diets (D1: 100% forage and D2: 30% forage+70% concentrate) were incubated with buffered rumen fluid...

In January 1998 and 1999, two mass strandings of dolphins occurred in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The strandings were composed of 97 and 53 animals, respectively. Tissues from 35 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) from the 1998 stranding and 52 from the 1999 stranding were examined histologically. In the 1998 stranding, unidentified protozoal tissue cysts were seen in skeletal ...

Unlike acute diarrhea, the role of pathogens in persistent diarrhea in children in Nepal is unclear. Protozoal parasites are suspected to be a major cause. The study was carried out to find the association between protozoal agents and persistent diarrhea in children below age 5 years from western Nepal. Stool samples were collected from 253 children with persistent diarrhea, from 155 children w...