In Uganda, small scale pig production plays a major role for households to earn a living and to secure their access to meat. Piglet mortality due to diar-rhoea-related dieseases is high. In an attempt to understand the underlying causes for this high mortality this study aims to investigate the role of trans-missible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) and is a part of a larger project con-ducted at Makerere university in Uganda. A complicating factor in this investigation is the porcine respiratory corona-virus (PRCV), a stabile mutant form of the TGE virus. The occurrence of this virus had shown to alter the impact of TGEV in e.g. Europe and North Amer-ica.

The veterinary handling of wildlife, both in zoos and in the wild, commonly requires that the patients need to be captured and immobilized for examination or treatment. This emphasises the need for quick, on-site, laboratory equipment, in order to minimize the analysis time and thus the stress for the animal and also in order to increase the possibility of starting relevant treatment early on. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether Serum Amyloid A (SAA) could be a measured in blood samples from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and South American tapirs (Tapirus terrestris). SAA rises to its maximum about 24 hours after the introduction of an inflammatory agent in companion animals. This also correlates with the estimated time it takes for animals at Kolmården Wildlife Park to be examined and having blood samples collected after being observed as sick. The study also evaluated whether the Eurolyser SOLO, using a turbidometric immunoassay (TIA) developed for human diagnostics, could be used for such analysis. This pilot study was a retrospective analysis of SAA in convenience sampled frozen serum, collected from dolphins, elephants and tapirs.

The environmental monitoring in Sweden has been developed by several different parties and is now being coordinated and made more effective in order to meet the current demands on high quality information regarding the state of the environment. Sweden has been divided into five different water districts based on watershed areas because of requirements in the Water Directive of the EU. In Sweden there are two common types of environmental monitoring programs used to gather information on changes in time and in space. Currently both these two types are used for lakes in the water district of the western sea but only one is used for watersheds. The purpose of this report is to supply basic information regarding the possible need for a second environmental monitoring program for watersheds in order to better describe the spatial variation within the district as well as to determine the number of samples necessary in order to describe the district over time and space.

This study had two different aims. The main aim was to investigate the dynamics and impact of African swine fever (ASF) on a farm in Uganda during a recent outbreak through a case study. The second aim was to estimate the presence of two important differential diagnoses of ASF: Classical swine fever (CSF) and Porcine Reproduction and Respiratory syndrome (PRRS).The field and laboratory based case study of the farm level dynamics of ASF virus during a recent outbreak (October-December 2010) on a farm in the district of Mityana, Uganda, was conducted, using interviews, ELISA and RT-PCR. The financial impact on the farm was also estimated. The impact of the outbreak was profound.

A number of studies in human medicine has documented positive effects of whole body vibration treatment in humans. The Vitafloor system, witch is based on treatment of horses with vibration, has the purpose to be used in training of healthy horses and as rehabilitation for horses with injuries in their musculosceletal system. The purpose of this study was to analyse what happens with a clinically healthy horse during treatment with Vitafloor. The methods used is mainly thermography before and after treatment, but also blood samples, measurement of rectal temperature, heart rate, clinical examination and observation of psychic reactions has been done. Statistic significant changes in skin temperature in hoofs and fetlocks of front legs has been observed after treatment with Vitafloor. Analyzing of the blood samples showed a tendency for decrease in Kalium, and two of the horses had changes in CK. No negative effect has been observed with the treatment of horses with Vitafloor, and the horses seems to like the treatment. .

Texture is an important soil property and accurate particle size analysis of soil texture is therefore crucial. There are a number of well-established and newly developed methods available for determining soil texture. In order to compare the results of these methods, the differences between them must be determined. The difficulties, problems and differences regarding texture class determination were examined through a study performed on forest soil samples. The study compared different methods (pipette, hydrometer and field methods) and two types of dispersing agents (sodium pyrophosphate and sodium hexametaphosphate (calgon)) commonly used for particle size analysis.

The aim of this study was to investigate if the botanical composition of haylage affects pH, dry matter content and microbial composition of the faeces in horse and pig and ileal environment in pigs. Two separate studies were conducted where pigs and horses were fed two diets containing haylages with different botanical composition. The first haylage was from a tilled land dominated by timothy and meadow fescue and the other haylage came from a meadowland with a large inclusion of dandelion, 25 % and common couch. The dry matter content (70.8 % and 73.0 % respectively) and the pH-value (5.7) were similar in both feeds. The first study was made as a three-periods switch-back study with 7 Standardbred horses. In the first and the third period, 7 and 9 days long respectively, the diet consisted of the haylage from the tilled land, oats, sugar beet pulp, soy bean oil meal, lucerne pellets and brewers yeast.

Mastitis, inflammation in the udder tissue, caused by S. aureus is a big problem in dairy cattle production. It causes suffering for the cow and curing or replacing the infected cow is costly for the farmer. It is known that beef cattle also suffer from mastitis caused by S. aureus.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a common virus present in most parts of the world. PCV2 has been pointed out as the major causative agent to post weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) that affects pigs after weaning. The clinical symptoms of PMWS are impaired growth, diarrhoea, respiratory problems and increased mortality. At autopsy enlarged lymph nodes with depletion of lymphocytes are commonly found. Since 1991 PMWS has spread all over the world and was first described among Swedish pigs in 2003. Although PCV2 is widespread, only some pigs develop PCV2-related diseases. Why this is and what other factors that are required in order for the disease to develop is yet unknown. The main theories involve other infections, for example PRRS, and management issues but also genetic differences between pigs and/or virus strains have been suggested.

This study presents a survey of the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora spp. in equids in three municipalities in Pará, a Brazilian state with the Amazonian rainforest and the Amazon River as dominating features. Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora spp. are two closely related parasitic protozoans not separated as different genera until 1988. Neospora spp.

AbstractAt Saltvikens copperindustry, which is located in the municipality of Oskarshamn, copper was refined from sulphiteore some hundred years ago. The ore underwent several steps in the process before the final product was received. These steps all had an influence on the environment through discharge of heavy metals. The area where the copper industry was located is today considered to be of specific national interest due to its valuable nature and cultural values, as well as its value for recreational outdoor activities. Therefore, it is important to determine the present level of contamination and if any transport of contaminants have occurred, and to identify the risks that are associated with the site both at present and in a longer time perspective.Thirtynine soil samples and 16 sediment samples have been analyzed.

Uganda has the largest pig population in east Africa, and most of the animals are owned by smallholders. Infectious diseases among pigs have a devastating impact on the livelihood of these farmers, which are dependent on the proceeds from pig rearing. In a metagenomics study of the wild pig species bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus), the porcine viruses Torque teno sus virus (TTSuV) 1and 2 and Porcine parvovirus 4 (PPV4) were detected. TTSuV1 and 2 are ubiquitous in the world?s swine population, and PPV4 has been found in USA and China, but neither of them has been studied in Africa previously.

This report describes the development of a sample loader for my diploma work at Q-linea AB in Uppsala. The sample loader will replace the process of loading fluid samples into Q-linea?s instrument for biomolecule analysis. The earlier process was done by hand and was a time consuming and inefficient task.The work was initiated with a design phase where an overview of the system was created. The sample loader will be receiving text commands from a PC that coordinates all the subsystems like pumps and lasers on the analysis instrument.

The Clinical Pathology Laboratory at SLU in Uppsala has analysed several blood samples from Dachshunds with severe anemia. As there are no previous studies on this topic, a study was performed to evaluate if Dachshunds are more prone to severe anemia compared with other breeds. In addition, a retrospective case study on Dachshunds with severe anemia was done to search for common risk factors or diseases. Hemoglobin values in samples from 1272 Dachshunds and 2269 German Shepherds analyzed from September 1994 to October 2007 were used to compare the frequency of severe anemia in Dachshund and German shepherd. The samples were identified by laboratory information system.

Sweden's drinking water quality is considered to be high partly due to a high quality of the raw water and a well developed sewage infrastructure. Despite this, there is water contamination that could be prevented by installation of a sophisticated early warning system. Some of the major players in the production of drinking water have already invested in different types of early warning systems to ensure drinking water of high quality. There are various forms of early warning systems where automatic monitoring of E. Coli is an interesting alternative.