The idea behind this project came from a feed study executed two years during the lambing season. Both years wool loss was experienced. Low temperature in combination with shearing was believed to cause the wool loss the first year, while protein deficiency was believed to be the cause the second year. In the literature many causes of wool loss are described; mechanical wear, telogen effluvium, bacterial dermatitis, external parasites, wool break, scrapie, genetic causes and nutritional deficiencies are some examples. The aim of this thesis was to study causes for wool loss and how common wool loss is in Swedish sheep herds.

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in chicken and chicken products, and to investigate farmer awareness of antibiotic resistance development. The study was conducted in the Can Tho province in Vietnam during six weeks in October to November 2008. Ninety-six samples from raw chickens were collected from twelve market places and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. A total of 96 cloacal swabs from 20 farms were obtained and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. Farmers were asked to answer eight questions concerning the housing of the chickens, modes of handling sick animals as well as use and knowledge of antibiotics and resistance development to antibiotics.

Objective: To determine the frequency of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from healthy Swedish dogs and whether they are carriers of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Material: Samples from skin from the perineal region and from faeces collected in the anus with cottonswab (Copan) from 299 healthy Swedish dogs. Samples were collected at dog exhibitions. Method: Specimens were submitted for bacterial culture where bacteria (Escherichia coli, enterococci and staphylococci) were isolated and identified by current methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed with a microdilution method where MIC-values were determined. Staphylococci with high degree of resistance were tested for presence of mecA-gene by PCR.

In this study potential health risks for employees in connection with handling of bottom ash and bottom ash water at a Municipal Waste Incineration (MWI) plant have been investigated. Air surrounding the bottom ash and the bottom ash water has been examined. MWI is one of the primary ways to manage solid household waste, and bottom ash is the main solid residue produced by the incineration process. Bottom ash constitutes about 15-20% of the original waste. The bottom ash is extinguished in a water bath (bottom ash water).The study was carried out in a MWI plant in Karlstad, Sweden.

Worldwide consumption of cheese has increased over the years. The average Swede consumes somewhere around 20 kilograms of cheese per year, which is an increase of a 100 % over the past 50 years. One of the most popular kinds of cheese during the past decades is mozzarella, due to its? use as pizza cheese. Flavor and consistency differ between the traditional kind, made out of buffalo?s milk, and the industrially made kind, made out of cow?s milk.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a root crop that plays an important role in many households in Africa. It is sometimes called ?Africa´s food insurance?. The advantages with the crop are that cassava is drought-resistant and it can grow in a semi-dry land. It is a perennial crop and does not require much labor.

The search for antibiotic compounds from the natural environment has been going on for seven decades, ever since penicillin entered the market and antibiotic treatments became routine. The evolutionary pressure put on the pathogenic microorganisms induced a rapid spreading of naturally occurring resistance genes, leaving only the option of finding new antibiotics to treat the resistant pathogens. Microorganisms have been extensively mined for their biosynthetic abilities to produce biologically active compounds. To date, more than 23 000 microbial natural products have been discovered. The Actinomycetales are ubiquitous bacteria that have been used for antibiotic discovery for more than half a century, and over 10 000 natural products have been identified from the order.

Identification of fungi is based on macroscopic observations of morphology and microscopic characteristics. These conventional methods are time-consuming and requires expert knowledge. For the past years Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry has been used for routine bacterial identification in clinical laboratories but not yet in the same extension for fungi. In this study three preanalytic preparation methods for fungi were evaluated in order to shorten the processing time in routine laboratory performance.Clinically relevant strains (n=18) of molds and dermatophytes were cultivated on agar plates and prepared according to the different preparation methods for protein extraction. Each strain was analyzed in quadruplicate by the MALDI Biotyper and the database Filamentous Fungi Library 1.0.The results showed that the genus and species identification rates of the least time-consuming direct extraction method were 33% and 11% respectively.

The mountainous Central Asian and former Soviet country Tajikistan is the least advantaged country economically among the former Soviet Union states. Approximately 6.5 % of the land is arable in a country where roughly 80 % of the households typically own small numbers of sheep and goats. Management practices and animal husbandry in the villages such as uncontrolled breeding, mixing of animals on pastures favor transmission of infectious diseases. Brucellosis is a zoonotic bacterial disease caused by Brucella spp. The disease is endemic in Tajikistan. B.

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

etta arbete belyser det för hästnäringen stora problemet ekvina placentiter från en veterinärmedicinsk synvinkel. Ekvin placentit betyder moderkaksinflammation hos häst. De vanligaste orsakande virusen, EHV-1 och EVA, samt ett mykotiskt agens, Histoplasma, tas upp. Bakteriella placentiter är dock mycket oftare förekommande. Därför diskuteras inte bara de tre agens som är vanligast; Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Escherichia coli och Pseudomonas aeruginosa, utan även två bakteriella agens på snabb frammarsch; Leptospira spp.

etta arbete belyser det för hästnäringen stora problemet ekvina placentiter från en veterinärmedicinsk synvinkel. Ekvin placentit betyder moderkaksinflammation hos häst. De vanligaste orsakande virusen, EHV-1 och EVA, samt ett mykotiskt agens, Histoplasma, tas upp. Bakteriella placentiter är dock mycket oftare förekommande. Därför diskuteras inte bara de tre agens som är vanligast; Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Escherichia coli och Pseudomonas aeruginosa, utan även två bakteriella agens på snabb frammarsch; Leptospira spp.

Disinfection methods for drinking-water produced at the two water works of Stockholm Water Co are compared in this study. Three different nethods are compared; disinfection with chlorine gas, disinfection with sodium hypochlorite and disinfection with UV-light and monochloramine. The method used is Life cycle assessment, LCA. LCA is defined as the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impact of a product system shroughout its life cycle. The environmental burden is compared for the three different disinfection methods.

The estate of Rämningstorp in the region of Västergötland in southern Sweden is administered by the holding trust company Skogssällskapet i Skövde. In 1999 measures were taken by Skogssällskapet to drain the stream Fredstorpsbäcken as a means to increase the forest productivity of the surrounding lands, which are situated on the estate of Rämningstorp. Almost immediately after the drainage, the streamwater turned turbid and a landowner downstream reported the issue to the county administrative board of the region. The aim of this thesis was firstly to analyse the suspended matter that appeared during summer/autumn and secondly to explain why it came to be. Initial hypotheses for the explanation to the greyish turbid water were that it was either 1) a chemical/biochemical precipitate, or 2) an bacterial/algal blooming.