The flagellate Giardia intestinalis has been known to cause diarrhea in both man and dog. Results from epidemiological studies have indicated that transmission of the parasite from dog to man is plausible even though that route of infection has yet to be shown. Several international studies have shown that the parasite frequently occurs in asymptomatic dogs. In Sweden the prevalence of Giardia in healthy dogs is not known though. In this study, faecal samples were collected at two separate occasions from 21 litters and 21 bitches showing no symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract. The samples from each litter were pooled but the samples from the bitches were analyzed individually.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka prevalensen av obstruktiva problem från de övre luftvägarna hos svenska travhästar vid maximal ansträngning. Undersökningen genomförs med hjälp av en ny typ av utrustning där man kan endoskopera hästar under maximalt arbete på en travbana.Tidigare har undersökning med endoskopi på rullmatta varit enda sättet att undersöka hästar under ansträngning, men tack vare ny teknik är det nu möjligt att göra det vid maximalt arbete, under för hästen normala tävlingsförhållanden. I studien ingår 110 varmblodiga travhästar som sökt för missljud från de övre luftvägarna, nedsatt prestation eller båda delarna. Hästarna undersöktes med endoskopi, både i vila och under maximalt arbete. Resultaten i vila och vid arbete har sedan jämförts.Diagnostiska bilder har erhållits från samtliga hästar och därmed kan prevalensen beräknas i den undersökta populationen.

In the beginning of the 1990?s ratite breeding for meat production was introduced in many European countries, including Sweden. The knowledge of ostrich farming and diseases of ratites is increasing internationally but is still often limited among veterinarians. This report consists of a literature study and a summary of pathology findings from ratites submitted for necropsy to the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) in Uppsala, during 1995 to 2001. The purpose is to give a general introduction to ostrich and ratite breeding and to give an overview of the most common diseases. The necropsy data from 1995 to 2001, indicate that many of the diseases are management related rather than caused by infectious agents. Due to cold climate ostrich breeders in Sweden need to supply well designed buildings and good care of the animal.

Background: Osteoarthritis is understood to be a common cause of pain and dysfunction in cats; however there are few validated pain assessment methods for chronic pain in cats. In order to design a proper pain questionnaire, it usability need to be tested in both sound and sick cats. Aim: The aim was to investigate the usability of the pain questionnaire ?Lifestyle changes in cats? by compiling the results from the pain questionnaire reflecting the lifestyle in 30 healthy cats and compare it to the results from a clinical examination, as well as proposing improvements and additions to the questionnaire based on a literature review. Material and method: 30 healthy cats participated in the pilot study; the pet owner filled out a pain questionnaire with 16 questions regarding their cat´s behavioral and eventual changes in behavior and physical function. Thereafter the cat walked over a pressure measurement mat and finally underwent an orthopedic-directed clinical examination. The literature was found on Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Sciencedirect, and Google Scholar and also with the help of my supervisors.

Our companion animals can, with or without symptoms, carry infectious agents which have a potential to induce diseases in man, so called zoonoses. An immune compromised person has an increased risk of becoming infected by various agents, and thus also has an increased risk to become infected by one?s own companion animals. A study was carried out within the veterinary program at SLU, Sweden, based on a questionnaire answered by 31 physicians, 31 veterinarians and interviews of 30 immune compromised persons in Sweden. The study investigated the following questions: Which zoonoses do physicians and veterinarians consider to be the most important to inform immunecompromised persons about? How are immunecompromised persons being informed by their physicians about the risk of catching zoonoses from their companion animals? How are the owners of zoonosis-infected animals being informed by their veterinarians about zoonoses? Does veterinary medicine and human medicine communicate about zoonoses, in order to take the best care of immunecompromised persons in contact with animals? The results of our study imply that: - Physicians and veterinarians differ about which zoonoses immunecompromised persons should be informed about. - Only oral information is passed to immunecompromised persons and animal owners.

The hospitalization of childbirth and maternal care in Sweden is from an international perspective quite unique. It was implemented already in the beginning of the 20th century and fully mainstreamed by the 1960?s. This essay examines the professional discussions of midwives and doctors as depicted in their union?s membership papers, during the hospitalization period.

The objective of this study was to assess validity and reliability for five different owner-completed instruments evaluated to assess chronic musculoskeletal pain in cats. All of the instruments were questionnaires, three asking about behavioral changes, one about the degree of pain and one about quality of life. One of the instruments was written originally in Swedish, the other four instruments were translated into Swedish before use. Data available were records from 57 cats with no signs of pain and 11 cats with different pain-related diagnoses. The diagnoses were ensured by clinical examination including palpation and manipulation of joints, gait testing on a force-plate and X-ray scans. Instrument 1 was completed by 57 pain-free and 11 pain-affected cats.

About 35 years ago the WHO advocated that countries with injecting drug users should introduce the so-called needle exchange programs (NEP) to curb the spread of infection by blood-borne diseases. In Sweden the first NEP started 1985 in Lund, but the program was extremely controversial in a country with such a restrictive drug policy like Sweden.The study you are about to read shall process this controversy, when a NEP opened in Stockholm, by analyzing the articles published in the newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. By using discourse analysis as a processing tool we?ll try to see the difference between the two chosen newspapers. We will identify and analyze the different participant?s, such as doctors, politicians, user associations and media, arguments in the needle exchange issue.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite that was first recognized in dogs in 1984. The parasite is now one of the most commonly diagnosed infectious causes of abortion in cattle word wide. N. caninum is transmitted to cattle in two ways. They may be infected from eating food contaminated with oocysts from a definitive host or they may be infected in utero from an infected mother. The infection is transmitted efficiently from cow to her offspring and this can occur for generations.

The purpose of this study is to examine what motivates people to help others at risk to themselves. The focus is on international aid workers, which in their work put themselves in situations of risk. Earlier research shows that international aid work involves risks such as infectious diseases, violence, death threats, assaults, constant insecurity and risk to be traumatized etc. There is not much research done on what motivates to help others in spite of risks, hence we find this an interesting area. We have interviewed six respondents about the content and character of their motivation and factors that are important for the maintenance and development of this motivation.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

Denna litteraturstudie undersöker vilka immunogena strukturer som har betydelse för utveckling av ett skyddande förvärvat immunsvar mot ekvint infektiöst anemivirus (EIAV). Ekvin infektiös anemi (EIA) är en virussjukdom som drabbar hästdjur. Den kännetecknas av ett förlopp med periodiska viremier Symtomen som ses i samband med viremi orsakas av proinflammatoriska cytokiner från det medfödda immunsvaret. Värden blir vanligtvis asymtomatisk inom ett år efter infektion, därefter fortsätter individen att vara persistent infekterad under resten av livet. EIAV kan överföras via kanyler eller blodsugande vektorer (bromsar och stallflugor) som intar blod från hästar med viremi. Virus från blodet på insektens mundelar förs ut i cirkulationen när den biter en ny häst. Viruset infekterar och replikerar i makrofager, vilket leder till att vävnader som har rikligt med makrofager har höga virustitrar, även om halterna varierar med infektionsfas och virulens hos virusstammen. Ett cellmedierat förvärvat immunsvar förmodas vara en mycket viktig faktor för att begränsa virusreplikationen under den akuta fasen.

SCA is the largest private owned forest owner in Sweden, with an ownership of 2 million hectares of productive forestland. To manage the planning of such large areas and to fit the traditional organization structure of a Swedish forest company, the planning approach is subdivided into three stages; strategic, tactical and operational. The strategic part, based on a statistic sample of stands, returns a harvest level estimate which should then be implemented at actual sites in the tactical part. This procedure can lead to incompatible solutions as the strategic solution is not necessarily possible to translate into actual sites in the tactical plan. The geographic aspect is important in tactical planning due to the large costs for moving equipment and maintenance of a large number of forest roads.

Scrapie is an infectious neurologic disease in sheep caused by prions, corresponding to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in other species. The prion is presumably constituted of PrPSc, the misfolded form of the normal endogenous prion protein, PrPC, which is found in practically all cells in the body. PrPSc can induce a conformational change in PrPC and misfold it as an imprint of itself; this is how prions amplify and spread. The process of conformational change is poorly understood and there might exist intermediate forms between PrPC and PrPSc. Bioassay using mice has traditionally been the golden standard in prion studies but is limited by cost and time.