Effects of dietary ABATE on reproductive success, duckling survival, behavior, and clinical pathology in game-farm mallards.
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Administration, Oral↗
Biomedical subjects
J C Franson
Publications and source records attributed to J C Franson.
Effects of dietary cadmium on mallard ducklings.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) ducklings were fed cadmium in the diet at 0, 5, 10, or 20 ppm from 1 day of age until 12 weeks of age. At 4-week intervals six males and six females from each dietary group were randomly selected, bled by jugular venipuncture, and necropsied. Significant decreases in packed cell volume (PCV) and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and a significant increase in serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) were found at 8 weeks of age in ducklings fed 20 ppm cadmium. Mild to severe kidney lesions were evident in ducklings fed 20 ppm cadmium for 12 weeks. No other blood chemistry measurement, hematological parameter, or tissue histopathological measurement indicated a reaction to cadmium ingestion. Body weight, liver weight, and the ratio of the femur weight to length were not affected by dietary cadmium. Femur cadmium concentration in all ducklings 12 weeks of age declined from the values detected at 4 and 8 weeks of age. Liver cadmium concentrations were significantly higher in relation to the increased dietary levels and in relation to the length of time the ducklings were fed the cadmium diets. At 12 weeks of age the cadmium concentration in liver tissue was twice that in the diet.
Age Factors↗
Effects of chronic dietary lead in American kestrels (Falco sparverius).
American kestrels were fed a diet containing 0, 10, or 50 ppm lead (Pb) powder for at least 5 mo. Blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity in birds receiving 50 ppm Pb was as low as 20% of controls but no significant effects were noted in packed cell volume (PCV) or hemoglobin concentration (Hb). Mean liver Pb residues in birds fed 50 ppm Pb were 1.3 and 2.4 ppm (dry wt) for males and females, respectively. Liver Pb residues in birds fed 10 ppm Pb were not significantly greater than controls. There was no significant correlation between blood ALAD activity and blood Pb concentration, no consistent histopathological lesions were noted, and body and organ weights were not affected.
Animals↗
Hemorrhagic enteritis in captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius).
Hemorrhagic enteritis and hepatitis of suspected adenovirus etiology were the apparent cause of death of nine captive American kestrels. Cloacal hemorrhage was the only prominent gross lesion: disseminated hepatocellular necrosis, and intranuclear inclusion bodies were evident microscopically. Electron microscopy revealed numerous adenovirus-like particles associated with the hepatic lesions. Attempts to serologically identify the agent were unsuccessful.
Animals↗
Short-term effects of oil ingestion on American kestrels (Falco sparverius).
The Mexican Ixtoc oil well blowout resulted in extensive oil contamination along the Texas Gulf coast. This oil posed a potential hazard to migrating birds including the endangered peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Laboratory tests with the American kestrel (Falco sparverius) indicated that the oil: water mixture gathered at the surface of the blowout site posed little acute hazard to falcons.
Animal Feed↗
Enzyme activities in plasma, liver and kidney of black ducks and mallards.
Activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured in plasma, liver, and kidney, and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) was measured in liver and kidney of black ducks (Anas rubripes). Activities of ALT, AST, GGT, and ornithine carbamyl transferase (OCT) were assayed in plasma, liver, and kidney of game-farm mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Appreciable OCT and AST activity occurred in both liver and kidney. Activities of ALT, CPK, ALP and GGT were higher in kidney, while LDH was higher in liver, GGT was detected in plasma from one of four mallards.
Alanine Transaminase↗
Toxicity of dietary lead in young cockerels.
Day-old cockerels received 1850 ppm dietary lead for 4 wks. Blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity was reduced to 1.6% of control activity by the end of the study. Hemoglobin concentration (Hb) in lead-exposed cockerels was significantly less than that of controls at 7, 14, and 28 days, and packed cell volume (PCV) was significantly reduced at 14 days. Blood lead residues reached 832 micrograms/dl in exposed cockerels; kidney residues were about three times liver residues. At the termination of the study mean body weight of lead-exposed birds was 47% of controls.
Animals↗
Iatrogenic salt poisoning in captive sandhill cranes.
Salt poisoning developed in captive sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) when sea salt was added to normal drinking water to produce a sodium chloride concentration of 1%. Two of 18 cranes died and 2 were euthanatized when moribund. Muscle weakness, paresis, dyspnea, and depression were observed. Brain and serum sodium, serum uric acid, and plasma osmolality values were abnormally high. Lesions were those of visceral gout, renal tubular necrosis, nephrosis, and skeletal muscle necrosis.
Animals↗
Renal coccidiosis in oldsquaws (Clangula hyemalis) from Alaska.
Renal coccidiosis was found in 4 of 12 oldsquaw ducks (Clangula hyemalis) collected from the north slope of Alaska and Prince William Sound. Numerous 1 to 2 mm white foci were observed on the kidney surface of one bird. Microscopically, there was distention of renal tubules with oocysts, flattening of tubular epithelium, and interstitial accumulation of mononuclear cells. Kidneys from several other species of sea ducks from Prince William Sound were not infected.
Alaska↗
Gastrointestinal parasitism of Iowa coyotes in relation to age.
Taenia sp., Physaloptera sp., Ancylostoma caninum, Toxascaris leonina, and/or Trichuris vulpis were recovered from gastrointestinal tracts of 141 and 144 (97.9%) coyotes ranging from 1/2 to 8 1/2 years of age. Ancylostoma caninum exhibited a significant decline in both prevalence and mean number per coyote with increasing age of the host. Taenia sp. appeared with consistently high prevalence in all age classes. Physaloptera sp. and T. leonina showed general reductions in prevalence in all age classes. Physaloptera sp. and T. leonina showed general reductions in prevalence and mean nubmer with increasing host age, although the data were not statistically significant. Coccidia were found in 15 of 58 (25.9%) fecal flotations.
Age Factors↗
Dirofilariasis in Iowa coyotes.
(Dirofilaria immitis) were found in eight of 220 (3.6%) coyotes (Canis latrans) collected from fur buyers in Adams, Carroll, Cass, and Warren counties in southwestern Iowa. Infections ranged from one to 23 worms per coyote.
Animals↗
Chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide residues in adipose, liver, and brain samples from Iowa mink.
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Adipose Tissue↗
Use of serum biochemistry to evaluate nutritional status and health of incubating common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in Finland.
During 1997-1999, we collected serum samples from 156 common eider (Somateria mollissima) females incubating eggs in the Finnish archipelago of the Baltic Sea. We used serum chemistry profiles to evaluate metabolic changes in eiders during incubation and to compare the health and nutritional status of birds nesting at a breeding area where the eider population has declined by over 50% during the past decade, with birds nesting at two areas with stable populations. Several changes in serum chemistries were observed during incubation, including (1) decreases in serum glucose, total protein, albumin, beta-globulin, and gamma-globulin concentrations and (2) increases in serum uric acid, creatine kinase, and beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. However, these changes were not consistent throughout the 3-yr period, suggesting differences among years in the rate of carbohydrate, lipid, and protein utilization during incubation. The mean serum concentrations of free fatty acids, glycerol, and albumin were lowest and the serum alpha- and gamma-globulin levels were highest in the area where the eider population has declined, suggesting a role for nutrition and diseases in the population dynamics of Baltic eiders.
3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
Transmission of Histomonas meleagridis to domestic fowl by means of earthworms recovered from pheasant yard soil.
Four cockerels and two poults were fed ground earthworms recovered from soil where ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) were raised. All 4 cockerels showed mild signs of histomoniasis, and numerous Heterakis were recovered at necropsy. One of the 2 poults died, with typical gross and microscopic lesions of histomoniasis. Heterakis eggs recovered from the 4 cockerels were used to infect an additional 12 cockerels and 11 poults.
Animals↗
Diagnostic findings in the 1992 epornitic of neurotropic velogenic Newcastle disease in double-crested cormorants from the upper midwestern United States.
Neurotropic velogenic Newcastle disease (NVND) occurred in juvenile double-crested cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus, simultaneously in nesting colonies in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska and in Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Ontario during the summer of 1992. Mortality as high as 80%-90% was estimated in some of the nesting colonies. Clinical signs observed in 4- to 6-wk-old cormorants included torticollis, tremors, ataxia, curled toes, and paresis or weakness of legs, wings or both, which was sometimes unilateral. No significant mortality or unusual clinical signs were seen in adult cormorants. Necropsy of 88 cormorants yielded no consistent gross observations. Microscopic lesions in the brain and spinal cord were consistently present in all cormorants from which Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was isolated. Characteristic brain lesions provided rapid identification of new suspect sites of NVND. Lesions were also present in the heart, kidney, proventriculus, spleen, and pancreas but were less consistent or nonspecific. NDV was isolated at the National Wildlife Health Center from 27 of 93 cormorants tested. Virus was most frequently isolated from intestine or brain tissue of cormorants submitted within the first 4 wk of the epornitic. Sera collected from cormorants with neurologic signs were consistently positive for NDV antibody. The NDV isolate from cormorants was characterized as NVND virus at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, Iowa. The NVND virus was also identified as the cause of neurologic disease in a North Dakota turkey flock during the summer of 1992. Although no virus was isolated from cormorants tested after the first month of submission, brain and spinal cord lesions characteristic of NVND were observed in cormorants from affected sites for 2 mo, at which time nesting colonies dispersed and no more submissions were received. Risk to susceptible populations of both wild avian species and domestic poultry makes early recognition and confirmation of NVND in wild birds a priority.
Animals↗