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Litter moisture contents vary greatly between and within practical poultry barns. The current experiment was designed to measure the effects of 8 different dietary characteristics on litter and excreta moisture content. Additionally, free water content and water activity of the excreta and litter were evaluated as additional quality measures. The dietary treatments consisted of nonstarch polysaccharide content (NSP; corn vs. wheat), particle size of insoluble fiber (coarse vs. finely ground oat hulls), viscosity of a nonfermentable fiber (low- and high-viscosity carboxymethyl cellulose), inclusion of a clay mineral (sepiolite), and inclusion of a laxative electrolyte (MgSO4). The 8 treatments were randomly assigned to cages within blocks, resulting in 12 replicates per treatment with 6 birds per replicate. Limited effects of the dietary treatments were noted on excreta and litter water activity, and indications were observed that this measurement is limited in high-moisture samples. Increasing dietary NSP content by feeding a corn-based diet (low NSP) compared with a wheat-based diet (high NSP) increased water intake, excreta moisture and free water, and litter moisture content. Adding insoluble fibers to the wheat-based diet reduced excreta and litter moisture content, as well as litter water activity. Fine grinding of the oat hulls diminished the effect on litter moisture and water activity. However, excreta moisture and free water content were similar when fed finely or coarsely ground oat hulls. The effects of changing viscosity and adding a clay mineral or laxative deviated from results observed in previous studies. Findings of the current experiment indicate a potential for excreta free water measurement as an additional parameter to assess excreta quality besides total moisture. The exact implication of this parameter warrants further investigation., (© 2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.)

Reducing litter moisture is an effective measure to reduce the incidence of footpad dermatitis. Dietary mineral levels affect intestinal conditions with regard to osmolarity and water reabsorption. Magnesium is often used as a laxative, preventing reabsorption of water from the digesta, and as a consequence, more moisture in the excreta. The objective of the current experiment was to evaluate Mg in broiler diets as a model for reduced intestinal water reabsorption. Effects of magnesium source (magnesium sulfate, magnesium oxide, and magnesium chloride), each at 3 levels (0.255, 1.02, and 2.04 g·kg(-1) diet), were studied. Measured effects were digesta moisture levels throughout the gastrointestinal tract and the moisture level of the excreta. The 10 treatments were randomly assigned to cages within 6 blocks, resulting in 6 replicates per treatments with 18 birds per replicate. Adding magnesium to the diet of broilers linearly increased the excreta moisture content, following the pattern MgCl > MgSO(4) = MgO. This rejects the hypothesis that MgO and MgCl are less laxative sources compared with MgSO(4). The magnesium sources most likely changed the water reabsorption in the distal gastrointestinal tract, as confirmed by the increased digesta moisture percentage in the ceca and colon. Increasing dietary MgSO(4) linearly reduced BW gain and feed intake, though absolute differences were minor. The results of this experiment show that Mg addition in the diet may be used as a model to study wet litter caused by reduced intestinal water reabsorption.

The effects of verotoxin (VT) on the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signalling pathways were investigated in bovine adherent peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). VT2 stimulated a transient activation of both p38 MAP kinase and extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) and stimulated an increase in tumour necrosis factor-α release from PBMCs. Bovine PBMCs react with very similar kinetics to human peripheral blood monocytes, despite the gross differences in disease outcome of the two species on infection with verotoxigenic Escherichia coli., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Two studies evaluated effects of metabolizable energy (ME), digestible Lys (dLys), and amino acid (AA) balance on broiler performance. In experiment 1 diets contained 3 levels of ME (3,000, 3,100, and 3,200 kcal/kg) in combination with 4 levels of dLys (1.05, 1.13, 1.21, and 1.29%). A fixed proportion of dLys relative to CP and key indispensable AA was maintained in graded increments of CP from 21.9 to 26.9%. There was no interaction of ME and dLys for 21 d BW gain or adjusted feed conversion ratio, which improved linearly with dietary dLys. Increasing the dLys or ME had no effect on feed intake, and the linear improvement in performance was attributed to a step-wise increase in dLys when diets contained a balance of AA and CP. Experiment 2 evaluated broiler response to 20 d of age when diets contained graded increments in dLys while maintaining a fixed proportion of dLys relative to CP and indispensable AA (balanced CP), or when dLys was increased in diets by supplementing synthetic l-Lys to 1 of 2 basal diets with 22.0% CP (low CP) or 27.0% CP (high CP) without adjusting concentrations of other AA or CP. The BW gain of broilers fed the low CP diet series followed a quadratic response, and the dLys requirement was estimated to be 1.19 +/- 0.03% (1.30% total Lys). By contrast, BW gain on both the high CP and balanced CP diet series increased linearly. The higher BW gain and continued response to dLys above 1.19% when CP and AA concentrations were increased confirmed that the dLys requirement of broilers was dependent on the dietary CP. When a fixed ratio of dLys to CP was applied and indispensable and dispensable AA were not limiting, broiler BW gain and adjusted feed conversion ratio responded positively to incremental dLys up to at least 1.32% (27.2% CP) and was independent of the dietary ME over a range from 3,000 to 3,200 kcal/kg.

Previous studies have suggested that Mycobacterium tuberculosis kasA G312S and G269S gene mutations may represent sequence polymorphisms of the M. tuberculosis East-African-Indian (EAI) and T families, respectively, rather than relating to isoniazid resistance. The present study examined polymorphisms of these two codons in 98 drug-susceptible M. tuberculosis isolates (68 EAI and 30 T isolates). Twenty-eight isolates belonging to a sub-lineage of the EAI family had the kasA G312S mutation, but none of the 30 T isolates had the G269S mutation. The data suggest that the kasA G312S mutation is not related to isoniazid resistance, but represents a sequence polymorphism in a sub-lineage of the EAI family.

We studied the effect of dietary source (organic or inorganic) and level of Se on the Se uptake of chick embryos. After receiving a low-Se diet for 16 wk, 126 Leghorn laying hens were randomly assigned to one of seven dietary treatments. Treatments consisted of feeding a low-Se basal diet alone or with one of three levels of added Se (0.1,0.2, or 0.3 mg/kg Se) supplied by sodium selenite or Se-enriched yeast. Fertile eggs were collected after 33 d of feeding the experimental diets. Eggs were subjected to no incubation or incubation for 5, 10, 15, or 20 d. Non-incubated eggs were separated, and the yolk and albumen were assayed separately for Se. Incubated eggs were separated into the embryo and extra-embryonic portions, which were assayed separately for Se. Se concentrations of the yolk and albumen were significantly different among dietary treatments. Compared with eggs from hens fed sodium selenite, yolk and albumen Se concentrations were higher in eggs from hens fed Se yeast. Embryonic and extra-embryonic Se concentrations were higher in eggs from hens fed Se yeast than eggs from hens fed sodium selenite. The largest increase in embryonic Se concentration was observed during Days 10 to 15 of incubation. It was concluded that Se source and dietary inclusion level influenced the Se concentration of portions of developing embryonated eggs and that embryonic Se concentration changed during incubation.

Background: In March 1999, an outbreak of encephalitis and pneumonia occurred in workers at an abattoir in Singapore. We describe the clinical presentation and the results of investigations in these patients., Methods: Clinical and laboratory data were collected by systemic review of the case records. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were tested for IgM antibodies to Nipah virus with an IgM capture ELISA. Reverse-transcriptase PCR was done on the CSF and tissue samples from one patient who died., Findings: Eleven patients were confirmed to have acute Nipah-virus infection based on raised IgM in serum. Nipah virus was identified by reverse transcriptase PCR in the CSF and tissue of the patient who died. The patients were all men, with a median age of 44 years. The commonest presenting symptoms were fever, headache, and drowsiness. Eight patients presented with signs of encephalitis (decreased level of consciousness or focal neurological signs). Three patients presented with atypical pneumonia, but one later developed hallucinations and had evidence of encephalitis on CSF examination. Abnormal laboratory findings included a low lymphocyte count (nine patients), low platelet count, low serum sodium, and high aspartate aminostransferase concentration (each observed in five patients). The CSF protein was high in eight patients and white-blood-cell count was high in seven. Chest radiography showed mild interstitial shadowing in eight patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed focal areas of increased signal intensity in the cortical white marker in all eight patients who were scanned. The nine patients with encephalitis received empirical treatment with intravenous aciclovir and eight survived., Interpretation: Infection with Nipah virus caused an encephalitis illness with characteristic focal areas of increased intensity seen on MRI. Lung involvement was also common, and the disease may present as an atypical pneumonia.