The different ovine production and breeding systems share the cornerstone of keeping a good body condition to ensure adequate productivity. Several infectious and parasitic disorders have detrimental effects on weight gains and may lead to emaciation. Flock health management procedures are aimed to prevent such conditions. Nutritional management is equally important to guarantee adequate body condition. Persistent bouts of low ruminal pH due to excess concentrate in the diet may lead to subacute ruminal acidosis. Pre-stomach motility disorders may also lead to ill-thrift and emaciation. An adequate mineral supplementation is key to prevent the effects of copper, selenium, and other micronutrients deprivation, which may include, among others, loss of condition. This review elaborates on the clinico-pathologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of some of these conditions, and highlights the necessity of considering them as contributors to states of wasting in sheep flocks.

The immune mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of severe pneumonia associated with the A/H1N1 virus are not well known. The objective of this study was to determine whether severe A/H1N1-associated pneumonia can be explained by the emergence of particular T-cell subsets and the cytokines/chemokines they produced, as well as distinct responses to infection. T-cell subset distribution and cytokine/chemokine levels in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were determined in patients with severe A/H1N1 infection, asymptomatic household contacts, and healthy controls. Cytokine and chemokine production was also evaluated after in vitro infection with seasonal H1N1 and pandemic A/H1N1 strains. We found an increase in the frequency of peripheral Th2 and Tc2 cells in A/H1N1 patients. A trend toward increased Tc1 cells was observed in household contacts. Elevated serum levels of IL-6, CXCL8, and CCL2 were found in patients and a similar cytokine/chemokine profile was observed in BAL, in which CCL5 was also increased. Infection assays revealed that both strains induce the production of several cytokines/chemokines at 24 and 72 h, however, IL-6, CCL3, and CXCL8 were strongly up-regulated in 72-h cultures in presence of the A/H1N1 virus. Several inflammatory mediators are up-regulated in peripheral and lung samples from A/H1N1-infected patients who developed severe pneumonia. In addition, the A/H1N1 strain induces higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines than the seasonal H1N1 strain. These findings suggest that it is possible to identify biomarkers of severe pneumonia and also suggest the therapeutic use of immunomodulatory drugs in patients with severe pneumonia associated with A/H1N1 infection.

Cartilaginous tumors of the larynx and trachea are uncommon in the dog. The authors describe 10 cases diagnosed between 1995 and 2014 and review 16 cases in the literature. Seven of our cases were tracheal and 3 were laryngeal. Two of the laryngeal tumors were chondromas, which have not been previously reported in this site. The third laryngeal tumor was a myxochondroma. Of the 7 tracheal tumors, 6 arose from the ventral tracheal wall, including 2 that were extraluminal. Tracheal tumor types included chondrosarcoma (n = 3), chondroma (n = 2), and osteochondroma (n = 2). All of the laryngeal tumors and 5 of 7 of the tracheal tumors occurred in adult dogs (aged 5–11 years). The 2 tracheal osteochondromas were in young dogs (3–4 months) and were intrathoracic, while the remaining tracheal tumors were cervical. Surgical excision had a good outcome in most cases. Combining our 10 cases with the 16 previously reported cases showed that 6 (27%) of the affected dogs were Arctic breeds (Alaskan Malamute or Siberian Husky) suggesting a predisposition in this type of dog.