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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Animal Science is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bacterial contamination of gelatin extracts from production plants are examined under harsh conditions. In total 73 gelatin batches are examined which originated from six different production plants.

Inactivation of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in beef roasts cooked under selected cooking conditions was evaluated. Eye of round roasts were each inoculated at five sites in the central plane with a five-strain cocktail of E. coli Oi57:H7 at ca. 6.3 log CFU per site and cooked to center temperatures of 56 to 71 °C in a convection oven set at 120, 140, 180, or 200°C, in a conventional oven set at 120 or 2 10°C, and in a slow cooker set on high or low. Prime rib roasts were each inoculated at 1 0 sites throughout the roast with the same E. coli 0157:H7 cocktail at ca. 6.6 log CFU per site and cooked in the conventional oven set at 140 or 180°C to center temperatures of 58 to 71°C. The number of sites yielding E. coli 0157:H7 after cooking decreased with increasing roast center temperature for the eye of round roasts cooked in the convection oven or in the slow cooker at a given setting, but this trend was not apparent for roasts of either type cooked in the conventional oven. Reductions of E. coli 0157 in both types of roasts were generally less at the center than at other locations, particularly locations closer to the surface of the meat. When eye of round roasts were cooked to the same center temperature in the convection oven, the reduction of E. coli 0157:H7 increased with increasing oven temperature up to 180°C and decreased after that. The reduction of E. coli 0157:H7 in replicate roasts cooked under conditions in which the organism was not eliminated during cooking mostly differed by >1 log CFU per site. However, E. coli 0157:H7 was not recovered from any of the inoculation sites when eye of round roasts were cooked to 65, 60, 60, or 63°C in the convection oven set at 120, 140, 180, and 200°C, respectively; cooked to 63 or 71°C in the conventional oven set at 120 and 210°C, respectively; or cooked to 63°C in the slow cooker set at high or low. For prime rib roasts, E. coli 0157:H7 was not recovered from any of the inoculation sites in roasts cooked to 71 or 58°C in the conventional oven set at 140 and 180°C, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef steaks (2 cm thick) were each inoculated at three sites in the central plane with Escherichia coli O157:H7 at 5.9 ± 0.3 log CFU per site. Temperatures at steak centers were monitored during cooking on a hot plate or the grill of a gas barbeque. Steaks were cooked in groups of five using the same procedures and cooking each steak to the same temperature, and surviving E. coli O157:H7 at each site was enumerated. When steaks cooked on the hot plate were turned over every 2 or 4 min during cooking to between 56 and 62°C, no E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from steaks cooked to ≥58 or 62°C, respectively. When steaks were cooked to ≤71°C and turned over once during cooking, E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from steaks in groups turned over after ≤8 min but not from steaks turned over after 10 or 12 min. E. coli O157:H7 was recovered in similar numbers from steaks that were not held or were held for 3 min after cooking when steaks were turned over once after 4 or 6 min during cooking. When steaks were cooked on the grill with the barbeque lid open and turned over every 2 or 4 min during cooking to 63 or 56°C, E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from only those steaks turned over at 4-min intervals and cooked to 56°C. E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from some steaks turned over once during cooking on the grill and held or not held after cooking to 63°C. E. coli O157:H7 was not recovered from steaks turned over after 4 min during cooking to 60°C on the grill with the barbeque lid closed or when the lid was closed after 6 min. Apparently, the microbiological safety of mechanically tenderized steaks can be assured by turning steaks over at intervals of about 2 min during cooking to ≥60°C in an open skillet or on a barbecue grill. When steaks are turned over only once during cooking to ≥60°C, microbiological safety may be assured by covering the skillet or grill with a lid during at least the final minutes of cooking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research which examined natural infections in lambs grazing on a pasture contaminated by the rumen fluke Calicophoron daubneyi. Topics covered include the softening of the faeces of lambs, the hematological changes noted in red blood cell and lymphocyte counts and the results of the histological examination. Also mentioned are the phases observed during the course of infection such as an early eosinophilic non-specific reaction.

To assess the epidemiology of Babesia divergens in a veterinary practice based in the mid-east of France (“Monts du Lyonnais”), blood was collected from 254 cattle belonging to 24 herds. To assess the dynamics of the carrier state, six carriers were identified, treated with flumethrin and sampled once every 3 weeks during 6 months. Two different DNA extraction methods were compared. Each sample was tested for the presence of parasites using a PCR–RFLP test based on the 18S rRNA gene. The sensitivity of the test was equivalent to a parasitaemia as low as 10-5% (in “Filter Paper” samples) and 10-6% in 1ml blood (extracted using “Matrix”). With the latter method, the rate of detection diminishes in the low parasitaemia range but could probably be improved. This test proved to be very useful in the detection of B. divergens carriers. Serology using IFAT showed 7% of the cattle seropositive, which is suggestive of a disease situation with a low clinical risk level. Analysis of the PCR results suggests a 20% prevalence rate of carriers in the cattle population. The use of the mean parasitaemia is proposed to serve as a babesiosis clinical risk indicator. This approach could also be used in other babesia infections provided the lowest detectable parasitaemia level (threshold level) could be resolved for each parasite species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An analysis of the literature showed a high prevalence of HCV in the European dialysis population in the nineties. The prevalence was similar in most countries in northern Europe, but infection was more common in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece (1) and in Eastern European countries (2). The reported prevalence of anti-HCV-positive patients in the EDTA registry was 21% in 1992 and 18% in 1993 (3) ranging from 1% in Finland to 42% in Egypt (4). The incidence of HCV, in new patients starting renal replacement therapy, ranged from 3% to 7% (5,6) and reported seroconversion rates during dialysis treatment varied between 1% (7) and 16% (8) per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total photoneutron cross section ofPb was measured between 8 and 13 MeV using the bremsstrahlung photon facility from a 35 MeV linac. Considerable resonance structure was observed in the cross section, of which the peak around 9 MeV, as well as the structure around 10.8 MeV may be due to E2 excitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the serum cross-reactive response to a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus following the administration of seasonal influenza vaccine. A total of 5,469 confirmed human cases of influenza A (H1N1) virus was documented in the U.S., and 4,774 outside the country in May 2009. The study, which was conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, utilized stored serum specimens that were assessed in previous vaccine research. It found that vaccination of adults with seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines (TIV) led to seroconversion to the seasonal influenza A (H1N1) vaccine strain, while no seroconversions to A/California/04/2009 virus were found in children.