Studies in bovine vibriosis

McKee, Ailsa Scott (1973) Studies in bovine vibriosis. MSc(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Vibrio fetus causes infertility and abortion in cattle, the carrier bull being the main agent of transmission. The work done in this thesis studied different methods of detecting V.fetus and where possible compared their results. In the first section V.fetus was added to preputial washings from vibrio-free bulls. After treatment in the laboratory the following procedures were carried out: 1. The material was cultured on to a solid medium containing antibioties. 2. The material was passed through a Millipore filter of 0.65 micron diameter porosity and the filtrate cultured. 3. The material was placed on a slide and treated with a fluorescein conjugated anti-V.fetus serum to detect the presence of V.Fetus cells. The fluorescent antibody technique (FAT) was found to be specific and of comparable sensitivity to the culture method following millipore filtration. The later method was found to be more successful than direct culture on to a medium containing antibioties. The second section dealth with the insemination of heifers with preputial washings (PPW) containing known numbers of V.fetus cells and the subsequent reisolation of V.fetus from vaginal mucus taken from these animals. It was found that when approximately 104 viable vibrios were inseminated, 4 out of 12 helfers gave at least one vaginal mucus sample from which V.fetus was isolated. When approximately 108 vibrios were inseminated, 6 out of 8 heifers gave isolates of V.fetus. The third section was a bull survey in which 89 bulls were examined, 54 using the FAT only and 35 using the FAT and culture following millipore filtration. The results showed that 8 out of the 54 bulls and 10 out of the 35 bulls were vibrio carriers. Only 4 out of the 10 FAT positive bulls gave successful isolation using the millipore filtration culture method. Because of its speed and accuracy the FAT was considered to be a good screening method but isolation was considered essential if further identification of the isolates were required.

• Item Type: Thesis (MSc(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: Alastair Wardlaw
• Keywords: Animal diseases
• Date of Award: 1973
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1973-73282
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Jun 2019 08:56
• Last Modified: 14 Jun 2019 08:56
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/73282