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Biomedical subjects

M P Cranwell

Publications and source records attributed to M P Cranwell.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Prevalence of faecal excretion of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli O157 in cattle in England and Wales.

During the decade to 1999, the incidence of human infections with the zoonotic pathogen verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (VTEC O157) increased in England and Wales. This paper describes the results of a survey of 75 farms to determine the prevalence of faecal excretion of VTEC O157 by cattle, its primary reservoir host, in England and Wales. Faecal samples were collected from 4663 cattle between June and December 1999. The prevalence of excretion by individual cattle was 4.2 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval [CI] 2.0 to 6.4) and 10.3 per cent (95 per cent CI 5.8 to 14.8) among animals in infected herds. The within-herd prevalence on positive farms ranged from 1.1 to 51.4 per cent. At least one positive animal was identified on 29 (38.7 per cent; 95 per cent CI 28.1 to 50.4) of the farms, including dairy, suckler and fattening herds. The prevalence of excretion was least in the calves under two months of age, peaked in the calves aged between two and six months and declined thereafter. The phage types identified most widely were 4, 34 and 2, which were each found on six of the 29 positive farms.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Prevalence of antibodies to bovine virus diarrhoea virus and other viruses in bulk tank milk in England and Wales.

Bulk tank milk samples from 1070 dairy herds in England and Wales were tested by ELISA for antibodies to bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV). A subset of 341 herds was tested by ELISA for antibodies to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and bovine coronavirus (BCV). None of the herds had less than 40 dairy cows and none had been vaccinated against BVDV. The prevalence of BVDV antibody-positive herds in the national population was estimated at 95 per cent and approximately 65 per cent of the herds had a high level of bulk tank antibody suggestive of recent infection with BVDV. Dairy herds in East Anglia and the south-east of England had a significantly lower risk of being BVDV antibody-positive than herds in the rest of England and Wales. However, these regional differences tended to diminish with increasing herd size. Around 69 per cent of the herds were BHV-1 antibody-positive and all the herds were antibody positive to BRSV and BCV. Comparison with earlier serological surveys revealed that there had been little change in the prevalence and distribution of BVDV antibody-positive herds in England and Wales over the last 20 years, but that there had been an increase in the prevalence of BHV-1 antibody-positive herds.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

An inherited congenital goitre in pigs.

A diagnosis of congenital goitre was confirmed histologically in piglets which were born hairless and swollen, and with significantly enlarged thyroid glands. The iodine content of the thyroid glands and the serum total thyroxine concentrations were very low. No evidence was found of iodine deficiency or significant goitrogenic activity in the diet fed to the sows. An investigation of the parentage of six affected litters revealed that they all had one or other of two boars as the sire, grandsire or great grandsire. The suspicion of an inherited disorder was confirmed when a test mating of a suspect carrier boar and sow resulted in the birth of two affected piglets. The ratio of the numbers of affected and unaffected piglets was statistically consistent with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Efficacy of long-acting oxytetracycline for the prevention of tick-borne fever in calves.

Twenty-six calves which had not previously grazed tick-infested pasture were divided into two equal groups. On May 26, 1988 (day 0) they were turned out into a field of rough grazing where cases of redwater fever had occurred the previous spring. Seven, 14, 21 and 28 days after the start of the trial the animals in one group each received an intramuscular injection of 20 mg/kg bodyweight of long-acting oxytetracycline. During the 60 days of the trial the animals received a severe tick-borne fever challenge, in some cases combined with a redwater fever challenge. An unforeseen complicating factor was the presence of animals persistently infected with bovine viral diarrhoea virus, present in almost equal numbers in both groups. At the end of the trial the treated group weighed on average 16 kg more than the control group, a difference which was attributed to the suppression of tick-borne fever by oxytetracycline.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy: epidemiological studies.

This study, initiated in June 1987, describes the epidemiology of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a recently described novel neurological disease of domestic cattle first identified in Great Britain in November 1986. Records suggested that the earliest suspected cases occurred in April 1985. There was variability in the presenting signs and the disease course, but the majority of cases developed behavioural disorders, gait ataxia, paresis and loss of bodyweight; pruritus was not a predominant sign. The form of the epidemic was typical of an extended common source in which all affected animals were index cases. The use of therapeutic or agricultural chemicals on affected farms presented no common factors. Specific genetic analyses eliminated BSE from being exclusively determined by simple mendelian inheritance. Neither was there any evidence that it was introduced into Great Britain by imported cattle or semen. The study supports previous evidence of aetiological similarities between BSE and scrapie of sheep. The findings were consistent with exposure of cattle to a scrapie-like agent, via cattle feedstuffs containing ruminant-derived protein. It is suggested that exposure began in 1981/82 and that the majority of affected animals became infected in calfhood.

Animals↗