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Virol Res J 2017 Volume 1 Issue 3
International Virology Conference
October 30-31, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
Feeding kelp meal improved kidney function of mink challenged with the Aleutian Mink disease virus
A H Farid
1
and
N J Smith
2
1
Dalhousie University, Canada
2
Perennia Food and Agriculture, Canada
A
leutianmink disease virus (AMDV) is endemic inNova Scotia
(NS), Canada, and causes considerable economic losses
to the industry. Failure of virus eradication from many farms
in NS after more than 30 years of test-and-removal strategy
forced many farmers in this province to select their herds for
tolerance to AMDV. Mink herds which are under selection for
tolerance show high mortality and reduced performance for
several years, and any feed additive or pharmaceutical that can
ease the negative effects of infection are of particular interest
to mink farmers. The objective of this study was to investigate
the effects of feeding the brown algae Ascophylum nodosum
(kelp meal) on serum parameters of mink infected with AMDV.
A total of 75 AMDV-free female black mink were inoculated
intranasally with a spleen homogenate containing a local strain
of the virus. Mink were fed a commercial pellet with the kelp
meal added at the rates of 0% (control), 0.75% and 1.5% of the
feed. Animals were killed after 451 days of feeding kelp, and
serum samples were collected. Serum total proteins, albumin,
alkaline phosphatase (ALKP), urea nitrogen, creatine, globulins
and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) were measured using
the Vet-Test Chemistry Analyzer (IDEXX International). Data
deviated from normality and treatment effects were compared
by the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. In cases where
this test was significant at α<0.05, pairwise comparison of
treatment means was performed by the Mann-Whitney U test
and Bonferroni correction. Feeding kelp had a significant effect
only on urea nitrogen and creatine, which were significantly
higher in the control group than in the 1.5% kelp. Urea nitrogen
and creatine were intermediate in mink that were fed 0.75%
kelp and was not different from the other groups. The results
suggested that feeding 1.5% kelp significantly improved the
kidney function. Improved animal health through improved
kidney function, independent of changes in serum proteins, is
of considerable importance when selecting for tolerance.
Speaker Biography
A H Farid is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture
at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture. He received his PhD degree in Animal
Breeding and Genetics from the University of Alberta in 1986. He joined Dalhousie
University in 1990 and retired in 2017. His research has been focused on the application
of molecular techniques to animal improvement, including genotyping of Canadian
purebred sheep for resistance to scrapie, and genetic selection of mink for resistance
to the Aleutian mink disease virus. He has written one book chapter, published 77
papers in refereed scientific journals and more than 250 abstracts, technical papers
and presentations to the livestock industries.
e:
AH.Farid@Dal.Ca