The black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens) is considered a potential sustainable insect alternative source of protein for animal feed. The quality of a BSF meal is greatly influenced by the killing method and the purpose of this article is to compare the influences of different killing methods. BSFs at the 18-day-old prepupae stage were separated into six different killing methods with three replicates: 1. blending, 2. freezing, 3. CO₂ treatment, 4. vacuum, 5. blanching and 6. CO₂ plus blanching. After killing, BSF larvae meals were obtained by hot air oven drying and grinding. The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility calculated from sediments were not affected by the killing method, except that blending provided the worst BSF quality for all measured parameters (p < 0.05). The highest quality of BSF was obtained from the heat treatment procedures (blanching and the CO₂ plus blanching methods), as they produced lower acidity after killing, total viable counts, browning reaction (enzymatic and non-enzymatic), darkness, moisture, fat acidity, protein and lipid oxidation during storage compared with other killing procedures (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the highest free amino acids in the supernatant after in vitro digestibility of BSF samples was observed with the CO₂ plus blanching killing method (p < 0.05), whereas other parameters were similar to those obtained with blanching. The CO₂ plus blanching method did not produce clearly different outcomes to blanching; therefore, the selection of one of these techniques over the other should depend on the regulations in each country.

Chronic rhinitis is a quite common upper respiratory tract (URT) disease in cats. As a result of unclear etiology, frequently, multidrug-resistant bacteria are identified. This study investigated bacterial isolations and an antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) in chronic rhinitis in cats. The medical records of 395 cats with chronic URT signs were reviewed at the Kasetsart University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (KUVTH) between 2016 and 2021 to survey the underlying causes of URT. Then, apart from rhinitis, other causes were excluded to identify the bacterial species and antimicrobial susceptibility. The results indicated that the most frequent finding was neoplasia, followed by rhinitis and anatomical defects. Furthermore, the only significant association was between the age range and disease group, with gender, FIV, or FeLV infection not being significant. Rhinitis was 4.7 times more likely to occur than neoplasia in younger and young adult cats in the age range < 1–3 years compared to the group > 10 years. The main bacterial species was the Pseudomonas species. Antimicrobials with a susceptibility rate of more than 90% were amikacin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, marbofloxacin, imipenem, and meropenem. In conclusion, rhinitis was the second most common chronic URT disease in cats and was more common in younger and young adult cats. The predominant bacteria with AST in this study reflect the antimicrobial resistance situation. Thus, antimicrobial usage should follow antimicrobial use guidelines first.

BACKGROUNDBlack soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens) is considered as a potential sustainable insect alternative source of protein for animal feed; however, the quality of BSF meal is greatly influenced by the killing method. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to compare the quality of BSF obtained by different killing methods.RESULTSBSF at the 18-day-old prepupae stage were separated into six different killing methods (n = 3): 1. blending, 2. freezing, 3. CO₂ treatment, 4. vacuum, 5. Blanching and 6. humane method. After killing, were obtained by hot air oven drying and grinding. The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility calculated from sediment was not affected by the killing method, except that blending provided the worst BSF quality for all measured parameters (P < 0.05). The highest quality of BSF was obtained from the heat treatment procedures (blanching and the humane method), as they produced lower acidity after killing, total viable counts, browning reaction (enzymatic and non-enzymatic), darkness, moisture, fat acidity, protein and lipid oxidation during storage compared with other killing procedures (P < 0.05). Interestingly, the highest of free amino acids in the supernatant after in vitro digestibility of BSF samples was observed with the humane killing method (P < 0.05), whereas other parameters were similar to those obtained with blanching.CONCLIUSIONBlanching and humane method produce BSF with the nutritional quality, safety and stability. humane method did not produce clearly different outcomes to blanching; therefore, the selection of one of these techniques over the other should depend on the regulations in each country.

As multidrug-resistant methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) is becoming more prevalent in canine pyoderma, the discovery of new therapeutic options is required. This study aimed to test the antimicrobial activity of crude Piper betle leaf extract and some topical antimicrobial agents against canine Staphylococcus clinical strains by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The results showed that the mean MICs of chlorhexidine, miconazole, crude P. betle leaf extract, azelaic acid, and benzoyl peroxide against Staphylococcus strains were 1.41, 1.62, 252.78, 963.49, and 1342.70 mg/L, respectively. Therefore, betel leaf extract demonstrated a superior efficacy to azelaic acid and benzoyl peroxide. Furthermore, the ratio of MBC/MIC of betel leaf extract was 1.75, indicating its bactericidal action. When applied to methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) and methicillin-susceptible S. pseudintermedius (MSSP), betel leaf extract was equally efficient towards both groups. S. pseudintermedius strains were more susceptible to betel leaf extract than S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans. In gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis, eugenol and hydroxychavicol appeared to be the major components of betel leaf extract. Given its efficacy, dogs with pyoderma could benefit from the use of betel leaf extract as a topical antimicrobial alternative.

The presence and characteristics were investigated of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in pigs in Thailand. A total of 179 rectal swabs were collected aseptically from suckling pigs, fattening pigs and breeding sows on four commercial farms located in Central Thailand. VRE with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 8 μg/mL to 16 μg/mL were detected in 43 of 179 pigs (an overall prevalence rate of 24%). VRE carriers were identified in 12 of 61 (19.7%) suckling pigs, 15 of 60 (25%) fattening pigs and 16 of 58 (27.6%) breeding sows, respectively. Enterococcus gallinarum was the most prevalent species for VRE in all age groups, followed by the detection of E. casseliflavus. All of the isolates were susceptible to teicoplanin. A large proportion of VRE isolates showed resistance to tetracycline (86.5%), erythromycin (61.5%), ampicillin (53.8%), chloramphenicol (34.6%) and ciprofloxacin (32.7%). Resistance to ampicillin was more prevalent in E. gallinarum isolates than in E. casseliflavus isolates. The results of this study indicate that VRE isolates of pigs are of the VanC phenotype and commonly exhibit multiple drug resistance. Different antimicrobial susceptibility is present between VanC species, while E. gallinarum is less susceptible than E. casseliflavus.