Pig receiving chemotherapy for lymphoma successfully recoveringplayful as a puppy even at 730 pounds Nemo a rescued black-and-white Hampshire pig became a porcine pioneer after lymphoma struck.
Nemo is believed to be the first pig to be treated for lymphoma. The pig's medical treatment began
when his owner George Goldner saw his friend fall ill. I want to do everything humanly possible for my animals said Goldner.
and laid down in the snow Goldner drove Nemo nearly four hours to Cornell's hospital where the pig was diagnosed with presumptive B-cell lymphoma a blood cancer.
In the first such procedure ever done to treat a sick pig surgeon Jim Flanders who had performed similar procedures in smaller animals joined large-animal surgeon Susan Fubini to surgically implant a vascular access port.
Although lymphoma has been documented in swine there aren't any documented cases of pigs being treated for it said Cornell hospital oncologist Cheryl Balkman.
Though little is known about the prognosis for pigs with cancer Nemo has the notable distinction of establishing a precedent giving veterinarians valuable information for helping large animals.
The study suggests that Neolithic farmers used the dung from their herds of cattle sheep goats and pigs as a slow release fertiliser for crops.
researchers to test 3d printed bioresorbable airway splints in porcine or pig animal models with severe life-threatening tracheobronchomalacia.
For more than 40 years pigs have served as medical research models because their physiology is very similar to humans.
In addition to tracheobronchomalacia pigs have been biomedical models for muscular dystrophy diabetes and other diseases. The team chose to use two-month-old pigs for this study
because their tracheas have similar biomechanical and anatomical properties to a growing human trachea. Essentially all our breakthroughs in human clinical medicine have been tested initially
First Wheeler sent a CT scan of a pig's trachea to Scott Hollister a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan.
After the splint was placed the pigs'tracheobronchomalacia symptoms disappeared All of our work is inspired physician Wheeler said.
and point out that H7 influenza has a tendency to become established in bird horse and swine populations and may spillover repeatedly into humans.
The authors point out that many H7 viruses have adapted to infect mammals including horses and pigs
The possibility that H7n9 might infect pigs is particularly troubling as swine are considered a mixing vessel for viruses--a breeding ground for novel viral reassortants like the 2009 H1n1 pandemic influenza strain commonly known as swine flu.
#Saturated fats do not yield better bacona recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Science suggests producers may want to adjust pig diets
Some producers believe that feeding pigs saturated fats will undo the fat-softening effects of DDGS.
The researchers formulated six corn-soybean meal diets to test the effects of saturated fat additives on carcass fat quality in pigs.
According to the researchers pork produced from pigs fed DDGS have reduced shelf life and increased susceptibility to oxidative damage.
The researchers compared the performance of pigs fed each of these diets to the performance of pigs fed a diet containing DDGS with no saturated fats added
The researchers found that pigs fed the control diet containing no DDGS had greater belly flop distances than the pigs fed the other diets.
There was no difference among the pigs fed the five diets containing DDGS. This led researchers to conclude that adding saturated fats to diets containing DDGS has no effect on the fat quality of pigs.
Stein suggested that producers feeding high levels of DDGS reduce the amount fed in the last 3 to 4 weeks before harvest to avoid the softening of fat.
#Ferrets, pigs susceptible to H7n9 avian influenza viruschinese and U s. scientists have used virus isolated from a person who died from H7n9 avian influenza infection to determine
The researchers also infected pigs with the human-derived H7n9 virus. In natural settings pigs can act as a virtual mixing bowl to combine avian-and mammalian-specific influenza strains potentially allowing avian strains to better adapt to humans.
and spark a pandemic so information about swine susceptibility to H7n9 could help scientists gauge the pandemic potential of the avian virus. Unlike the ferrets infected pigs in this small study did not transmit virus to uninfected pigs
All the infected ferrets and pigs showed mild signs of illness such as sneezing nasal discharge and lethargy but none of the infected animals became seriously ill.
Influenza viruses circulating in pigs, birds could pose risk to humansin the summer of 1968 a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong kong.
and pigs that are genetically similar to the 1968 strain and have the potential to generate a pandemic
Influenza evolutionin the past 100 years influenza viruses that emerged from pigs or birds have caused several notable flu pandemics.
When one of these avian or swine viruses gains the ability to infect humans it can often evade the immune system which is primed to recognize only strains that commonly infect humans.
However H3n2 strains are also circulating in pigs and birds. Sasisekharan and his colleagues wanted to determine the risk of H3n2 strains reemerging in humans
because we observe that there seems to be a lot more mixing of H3 between humans and swine.
and about 1100 H3 strains now circulating in pigs and birds focusing on the gene that codes for the viral hemagglutinin (HA) protein.
Of these 549 came from birds and 32 from pigs. The researchers then exposed some of these strains to antibodies provoked by the current H3 seasonal-flu vaccines.
Of the 581 HA sequences six swine strains already contain the standard HA mutations necessary for human adaptation
There could be viral genes that mix among pigs or between birds and pigs. Sasisekharan and colleagues are now doing a similar genetic study of H5 influenza strains.
#Sushi for peccaries? It turns out the white-lipped peccary--a piglike animal from Central and South america--will settle for fish
when fruits (its main food) are no longer on the menu according to the Wildlife Conservation Society
and partners revealing the first-ever photos of fish-eating peccaries. The images of fish consumption by white-lipped peccaries were taken by Douglas Fernandes in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands one morning back in 2011.
A short description of the observations along with the digital photographs taken will appear in the latest edition of Suiform Soundings (IUCN Peccary Specialist Group Newsletter.
As far as we know these are the first images of fish consumption by white-lipped peccaries said Dr. Alexine Keuroghlian of the Wildlife Conservation Society and an expert on peccaries.
This finding expands our knowledge of how this ecologically important species survives in highly seasonal habitats.
While there was one reported account by Dr. Joe Fragoso of the white-lipped peccary dining on fish in the Amazon the behavior has been seen rarely
On that day Fernandes a researcher for the Instituto Arara Azul a partner organization observed a group of approximately 30 white-lipped peccaries at Caiman Lodge near the town of Miranda in the Pantanal one of the world's largest tropical wetlands.
Most of the peccaries fled as he approached but five remained as they fed on aquatic plants in shallow ponds created by the receding flood waters typical of the Pantanal's dry season.
It was then that Fernandes noticed three of the peccaries eating traira or wolf fish from the oxygen-starved ponds.
We know that peccaries are primarily fruit-eaters but will consume aquatic plants tubers grasses and small invertebrates such as insect larvae worms and snails when fruits are said scarce Dr. Keuroghlian.
The white-lipped peccary is sized a medium animal that occurs in both humid tropical forests as well as open savanna and wetland habitats throughout Central and South america.
As a major fruit-eater the white-lipped peccary plays an important ecological role in rainforests and other habitats as a seed predator and disperser and it is a favorite prey of jaguars and pumas.
Additionally white-lipped peccaries are considered an environmental indicator of a well-preserved forest. The white-lipped peccary is listed as Near Threatenedon the IUCN's Red List
but its status is currently under review as Vulnerable. The two main threats faced by white-lipped peccaries are habitat loss and direct hunting.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wildlife Conservation Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
The researchers know that pieces of bones from cattle pigs and sheep can be found at the site.'
which month accidents involving boar and roe deer are most likely to take place. Car accidents involving animals are a serious and growing problem in Europe.
Wild boar are the cause of 63%of traffic accidents involving wild ungulates and roe deer come second in 37%of the accidents.
On the other hand accidents involving wild boar tend to take place between October and January. Nights are longer during these months
The frequency of accidents during the day is linked to the activity of the species. Wild boar are nocturnal
and swine raising and processing Vanwey said. In the long run there isn't much money in just growing things
and wild boar raising the possibility that a reservoir of the disease could develop outside the control of farmers
#Feeding corn germ to pigs does not affect growth performanceinclusion of corn germ in swine diets can reduce diet costs depending on the local cost of corn germ and other ingredients.
Recent research conducted at the University of Illinois indicates that corn germ can be included at up to 30 percent in diets fed to growing pigs.
In previous research we had seen that pigs do very well on diets containing 10 percent corn germ
The results of this work demonstrate that pig growth rate will not be changed by the inclusion of up to 30 percent corn germ in the diets
As a result the bellies of pigs fed diets with no DDGS were softer as corn germ levels increased.
There was no effect on belly firmness in pigs fed diets containing DDGS. Stein said that research on
The study Up to 30 percent corn germ may be included in diets fed to growing-finishing pigs without affecting pig growth performance carcass composition
Swine which are susceptible to both bird and human flu could serve as a mixing vessel for reassortment between the two viruses.
and swine populations overlapped to predict hotspots where reassortment is more likely using a $1. 3 million grant from the Fogarty International Center at the National institutes of health.
#Pig brain models provide insights into human cognitive developmenta mutual curiosity about patterns of growth
and development in pig brains has brought two University of Illinois research groups together. Animal scientists Rod Johnson and Ryan Dilger have developed a model of the pig brain that they plan to use to answer important questions about human brain development.
It is important to characterize the normal brain growth trajectory from the neonatal period to sexual maturity said Johnson.
In cooperation with the Beckman Institute they performed MRI scans on the brains of 16 piglets starting at the age of 2 weeks then at 4 weeks and then at 4-week intervals up to 24 weeks.
The software put the information together into a three-dimensional image of the pig brain. This is used to determine the volume of the different structures.
When the piglets were at Beckman for their imaging sessions Dilger performed other tests including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
what they call the deformable pig brain atlas. We are taking 16 pigs and averaging them
so it's more representative of all pigs said Dilger. You can then apply it to any individual pig to see how it's different.
It's called a deformable brain atlas because the software takes information from an individual
and deforms it until it fits the template and then you know how much it had to be deformed to fit Johnson explained.
Johnson and Dilger said that the goal is to develop a tool for pigs that is equivalent to
One research direction being pursued in Johnson's lab is to induce viral pneumonia in piglets at the point in the postnatal period
and human and we're developing a pig model to study the direct effects choline deficiency has on brain structure
#Goats milk with antimicrobial lysozyme speeds recovery from diarrheamilk from goats that were modified genetically to produce higher levels of a human antimicrobial protein has proved effective in treating diarrhea in young pigs demonstrating the potential for food products from transgenic animals to one
In this study Murray and colleagues fed young pigs milk from goats that were modified genetically to produce in their milk higher levels of lysozyme a protein that naturally occurs in the tears saliva and milk of all mammals.
Pigs were chosen for this study as a research model because their gastrointestinal physiology is quite similar to humans
and because pigs already produce a moderate amount of lysozyme in their milk. Half of the pigs in the study were fed pasteurized milk that came from the transgenic goats
and carried greater amounts of lysozyme--68 percent of the level found in human breast milk.
The other half of the pigs were fed pasteurized milk that came from nontransgenic goats and thus contained very little lysozyme.
although both groups of pigs recovered from the infection and resulting diarrhea the young pigs fed the lysozyme-rich milk recovered much more quickly than did the young pigs that received goats'milk without enhanced levels of lysozyme.
Overall the pigs fed the lysozyme milk were dehydrated less had less intestinal inflammation suffered less damage to the inner intestines
and regained their energy more quickly than did the pigs in the control group. And the researchers detected no adverse affects associated with the lysozyme-rich milk.
#Exercise during gestation might affect future fertilitya short walk around the barn might improve the future fertility of Yorkshire pigs.
According to research presented by Samantha Kaminski a graduate student at North dakota State university swine fetuses showed significant ovarian development after their mothers exercised.
The team selected 15 female pigs and bred them to a boar. They then exercised the pregnant sows between days 40 and 105 of gestation.
For exercise the sows were walked for 30 minutes a day three times a week. The researchers used this exercise regimen with two generations of pigs.
With the first generation Kaminski and fellow researchers studied ovaries from neonate piglets adolescent piglets and gilts at six months of age.
They looked at ovarian weight cell proliferation and types of developing cells to compare how exercise might affect ovarian development.
They found that the effects of exercise seemed to decrease as the female pigs grew.
In an analysis of heavier weight neonates Kaminski saw more cell proliferation in the group from the exercised sows.
The adolescent pigs showed no differences in ovarian weight or overall cell proliferation. Kaminski did find a difference in the types of cells in the ovaries between treatment groups.
The pigs from exercised sows had a greater proliferation of cells in the antral healthy follicles.
The proliferation of antral healthy follicles has been used in previous studies as an indicator of healthy ooyctes and follicles.
With the second generation the researchers studied the ovaries from developing fetuses on day 94 of gestation.
Though she found no difference in fetal ovarian weight Kaminiski did see more cell proliferation in the ovaries of fetuses from the exercised sows.
Kaminski acknowledged that it would be impractical to walk individual sows in a production setting.
what a group house setting would be like for sows said Kaminski. Kaminski recommended future studies to determine
She would also like to know why there were not significant differences in ovarian weight or cell proliferation in neonatal and adolescent pigs.
Kaminski's abstract was titled Impact of maternal exercise on ovarian development in the pig. The presentation was part of the Graduate student Competition at the 2013 American Dairy Science Association Midwest Branch/American Society of Animal Science Midwest Section Meeting.
The new line of pigs is called the Cassie line and it is known for passing genes on more reliably.
Phosphorus is crucial for healthy growth in pigs. Unfortunately 50 to 70 percent of the phosphorus in grain is in the form of phytic acid a compound indigestible by pigs.
Because of this many farmers have to supplement pig diets with an enzyme called phytase. Phytase breaks down phytic acid and helps pigs digest more of the nutrient.
The phytase enzyme has a hefty price tag for farmers and the enzyme can be damaged accidentally
or destroyed when farmers mix feed. The Enviropig was created to solve this problem. The transgenic pig synthesizes phytase in its salivary glands eliminating the need for additional supplements or enzymes in the feed.
By digesting more phosphorus the Enviropig also produces less phosphorus in its waste. The enzyme is secreted in the saliva
When transgenic food animals are accepted by consumers the Enviropig perhaps would be one of the first innovations to be introduced into swine production said Forsberg.
Furthermore the pigs are healthy. Research on the Cassie line stopped in June 2012 but researchers collected semen from the pigs and they have the option to breed new Enviropigs.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society of Animal Science. Note:
but since time immemorial they have played a role in keeping these ecosystems functioning optimally keeping the domination of some species over others in check said Momadou Sow of the Environmental sciences Institute of the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar Senegal.
#Bacterial supplement could help young pigs at weaning age fight diseasea common type of bacteria may help pigs stay healthy during weaning.
In a study of 36 weanling-age pigs researchers found that a dose of lipid-producing Rhodococcus opacus bacteria increased circulating triglycerides.
By providing an alternative energy source the pigs are most likely going to be able to fight off infections more efficiently.
but a pig can use the triglycerides too. Jeff Carroll research leader for the USDA Agricultural research service Livestock Issues Research Unit in Lubbock Texas said R. opacus could be used sort of like an energy producing probiotic.
He said weanling pigs are more susceptible to pathogens and stress because they have to adjust to a new diet and a new environment.
when a pig's immune system is immature. The stress of weaning can lead to reduced feed intake less available energy and an increased risk of infection.
With an oral supplement of live R. opacus weanling pigs would have an alternative source of energy.
Even if pigs ate less feed they would still have access to the triglycerides produced by these bacteria.
Donaldson said they saw no negative side effects in the pigs given R. opacus. Because of this success Donaldson said pig producers might someday use R. opacus on their own farms.
She said the bacteria could be provided to pigs through existing watering systems. The next step in the experiment is to test how pigs given R. opacus react to an immune challenge such as Salmonella.
Carroll said he is also curious to see if R opacus can help calves stay healthy during transport.
This could potentially be carried over to human health as well Donaldson said. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society of Animal Science.
and are reachable for the rest of animals that seek this fruit during the autumn days (wild boar deer and mice among others).
and pigs may fall victim to nagana the animal version of sleeping sickness which when translated from Zulu means depressed in spirit.
#Using lysine estimates to detect heat damage in distillers dried grains with solublesdistillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are a good source of energy and protein in swine diets.
pigs cannot digest it. Lysine that is not bound is referred to as reactive lysine; pigs can use it for protein synthesis. Some sources of DDGS are heat damaged.
And therefore the digestibility of the lysine in particular is said poor animal sciences professor Hans Stein.
After making the predictions they determined ileal lysine digestibility in the 21 samples using cannulated pigs
#New increase in antimicrobial use in animals in Denmarkantimicrobial usage in animals in Denmark continued to increase in 2013--mainly due to an increased use in pigs.
However antimicrobial use in pigs is still 12%lower than in 2009. In general livestock received very little of the critically important antimicrobials
The increased consumption is attributed mainly to a 6%increase in the consumption of antimicrobials in pig production
Distributed by species pigs account for around 78%of antimicrobial use in 2013 cattle 10%aquaculture 3%poultry 1%fur animals 4
and other companion animals the remaining 3%.Increased use in pigs and poultryantimicrobial consumption in pigs measured in doses has increased in all three age groups:
sows/piglets (9%)weaners (5%)and finishers (5%).This is primarily due to an increased consumption of pleuromutilins and tetracyclines
which are used for group medication. However the consumption in pigs is still 12%lower than in 2009
when the highest consumption was recorded since Danish farmers stopped using antimicrobial growth promoters. It is crucial that we reverse the increase in consumption
For a second consecutive year the use of fluoroquinolones in pigs was very low in 2013 at less than 1 per mille of the total consumption in pigs.
The use of 3 kilos of cephalosporins in pig production is also low. However it does represent a significant increase compared to the year before
It remains important that Danish pigs and cattle are treated with critically important antimicrobials only when absolutely necessary to help ensure these agents continue to be effective
which is common in pig and poultry diets. Furthermore salmon today is fed with fishmeal from wild caught fish
which was thought to be caused by feral pigs in the growing area. Such opportunistic contamination is hard to guard against as most growing takes place in open outdoor spaces with little opportunity for control.
or pigs to find them. But the distinctive smell of truffles is not only of interest to gourmets.
Dogs and pigs are able to find truffles underground thanks to the slightly sulphuric smell.
Food-producing animals such as cows pigs goats chickens and other poultry species now consume 70 to 90 percent of all genetically engineered crops according to the new UC Davis review.
#Iberian pig genome remains unchanged after five centuriesa team of Spanish researchers have obtained the first partial genome sequence of an ancient pig.
Extracted from a sixteenth century pig found at the site of the Montsoriu Castle in Girona the data obtained indicates that this ancient pig is closely related to today's Iberian pig.
Researchers also discard the hypothesis that Asian pigs were crossed with modern Iberian pigs. The study published in Heredity sheds new light on evolutionary aspects of pig species
and particularly on that of the Iberian breed considered to be representative of original European Mediterranean populations.
and is previous to the introduction of Asian pigs in Europe which were crossed later with local European breeds
which are the origin of today's international pig species. The sample pig is contemporary to the beginning of America's colonisation.
First of all we know it is not a white pig because it is missing a duplicated KIT gene
We were also able to establish that it is very closely related to today's Iberian pig species and specifically to the'Lampiã o del Guadiana'strain.
We could say that the Iberian pig is very similar to the pigs which existed in the sixteenth century
The study indicates that the pig was a domestic pig given that the sequence presents a series of markers typical of domestic pigs and
which are very rare or absent in wild boars (the precursor animals to the domestic pig);
which clearly indicates that pig breeding was an important castle activity. Nevertheless there is also evidence of occasional crossbreeding between wild boars
and ancient pigs as has happened between wild boars and Iberian pigs. This close relation between the Iberian pig the European boar and the ancient pig confirms as stated in previous studies that crossbreeding between the Asian pig
and modern Iberian pigs did not exist or was insignificant Miguel PÃ rez-Enciso points out.
The study also compared the ancient pig sample with the genome of modern pigs of different breeds including'Creole'pigs
which are presumably the descendents of the animals Spanish colonizers brought to America. Researchers demonstrate that this hypothesis is incorrect
and that there is very little remaining of those first Spanish animals in today's creole pigs
which were crossbred mainly with international pig breeds. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Universitat Autã noma de Barcelona.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference n
#Cape cod saltmarsh recovery looks good, falls shortafter decades of decline grasses have returned to some once-denuded patches of Cape cod's saltmarshes.
#Piglet health: A better understanding of the immune response to intestinal parasitesparasitologists from the University of Veterinary medicine of Vienna are closer to understanding the disease process behind porcine neonatal coccidiosis.
The disease affects piglets during the first days of their life and can cause heavy diarrhea in the animals.
The parasite Cystoisospora suis damages the intestinal mucosa to such a degree that it threatens the growth and survival of the pigs.
Porcine neonatal coccidiosis is a serious parasitic infection of young piglets that severely damages the intestinal mucosa leading to diarrhea and reduced nutritional intake.
and because secondary infections can result in increased mortality the disease is responsible for substantial economic losses at affected pig farms.
The developing immune system of neonatal piglets is not yet mature enough to deal with the parasites.
By comparison Cystoisospora suisis absolutely harmless for adult pigs and their mature immune systems explains first author Simone Gabner.
Immune cells grow more quickly in the intestines of infected piglets than in healthy onesscientists from the Institute of Parasitology at the Vetmeduni Vienna investigated how the developing immune system of piglets responds to an infection with Cystoisospora suis.
and activates the immune system were found in infected piglets as early as four days after infection.
Both types of T cells were detected significantly earlier in infected piglets than in non-infected animals.
In healthy piglets the T cells begin to settle in the intestine from about the third week of life.
Innate immune system activatedgabner and her colleagues also researched various receptors of the innate immune system in the piglets as well as signalling substances
Mother's milk a source of protectionprevious studies by the research group showed that protective antibodies against porcine neonatal coccidiosis are transferred to the piglets through the sow's milk directly after birth.
Sows that had been exposed to the pathogen produced the respective antibodies from which the piglets could then benefit.
In a follow-up study the researchers went one step further. They deliberately infected sows with the parasites during gestation in order to increase the antibody levels in the maternal animals.
The aim was to supply the piglets with as many antibodies from the mother's milk during their first days of life as possible.
This milk vaccination was a success. The piglets of infected sows exhibited a less severe development of the disease than piglets of non-infected sows.
The more antibodies a sow transferred to its piglets the weaker the symptoms exhibited by the piglets.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Veterinã¤rmedizinische Universitã¤t Wien. Note:
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