Chitosan (CS) was prepared from Artemia urmiana cyst shells using the same chemical process as described for the other crustacean species, with minor adjustments in the treatment conditions. The influence of modifications of the CS production process on the physiochemical and functional properties of the CS obtained was examined. The study results indicate that Artemia urmiana cyst shells are a rich source of chitin as 29.3-34.5% of the shell’s dry weight consisted of this material. Compared to crab CS (selected as an example of CS from a different crustacean source) Artemia CS exhibited a medium molecular weight (4.5-5.7 ×105 Da), lower degree of deacetylation (67-74%) and lower viscosity (29-91 centiposes). The physicochemical characteristics (e.g., ash, nitrogen and molecular weight) and functional properties (e.g., water binding capacity and antibacterial activity) of the prepared Artemia CSs were enhanced, compared to control and commercial samples, by varying the processing step sequence.

In February 2012, 100% mortality was reported in a herd with 79 local sheep that were kept around of Abhar, Northwest of Iran. The ration for adult sheep was daily mixed (40 kg straw, 25 kg wheat and 2 kg Vit-C premix) and accidentally 1 500 g of salinomycin (Salinomycin 12% Premix; Aras Bazar Laboratories, Iran) had been added to the ration (22388 mg/kg = 22388 ppm) and overnight was fed to herd. At the morning, 78 sheep were founded dead and one of them showed convulsive seizures. Postmortem examination revealed pulmonary congestion and edema, hemorrhages in abomasum, large pale kidney and white streak lines in myocardium. Main histopathologic lesions were extensive subepicardial and intercardiomyofibers hemorrhages, extensive cardiomyolysis and myocarditis in heart, severe hyperemia and extensive acute tubular necrosis (ATN) in kidneys and focal necrosis and retention of bile cholangitis in the liver. In this study, on the basis of the history, observation of the ionophore remnant in the ration, clinical signs, gross and histopathological findings, acute salinomycin intoxication is definitely diagnosed.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and bovine herpes virus-1 (BHV-1) remain as the major pathogens with heavy economic consequences in Iran. The prevalence of antibodies against BVDV and BHV-1, the rate of BVDV persistently infected (PI) animals, and associated risk factors were evaluated in a cross-sectional study carried out in Zanjan Province, Northwest Iran, in December 2011. A total number of 562 cattle in 10 herds and five cities were randomly selected, and their serum samples were tested to detect antibodies to these viruses and also BVDV antigen-positive (PI) animals. The data were analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient, chi-square, and logistic regression test. In total, nine and eight of the selected herds were seropositive to BVDV and BHV-1, respectively. The overall seroprevalence of these infections were estimated at 28.6 and 10.7% for BVDV and BHV-1, respectively, and 0.53% of the samples were detected as persistently infected. Statistical analysis revealed that sex, age, and farming system are risk factors for both infections (P < 0.05), while breed was determined as a strong risk factor only for BVDV (P < 0.001). In addition, the present study certainly identifies that infection with BVDV is associated with infection to BHV-1 (OR = 4.52, 95% CI: 2.60-7.80; P ˂ 0.001). The results add our knowledge about the prevalence and associated risk factors of BVDV and BHV-1 in Iran and imply that the prophylactic and surveillance strategies need to be implemented to reduce the risk of spread of these viruses.