Panagiotis D Katsoulos

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | AUTH · Farm Animal Clinic

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of lameness and energy status on the involution of the uterus and the resumption of ovarian cyclicity in dairy cows. Lame (lameness score of four and the presence of hoof lesions, n = 22) and sound (normal gait and the absence of hoof lesions, n = 25) multiparous cows with healthy puerperium were enrol...

Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is one of the major nutritional disorders in the dairy and beef industries, leading to significant financial losses. Diagnosing SARA is challenging due to the need to evaluate multiple parameters, such as milk fat/protein ratio, ruminal lactate, and hemogram, instead of relying on a single definitive symptom or diag...

Subclinical mastitis-related intramammary infections (IMI) throughout the dry period (DP) is a major udder health challenge for dairy sheep, accompanied by broad use of antimicrobials in blanket dry-ewe therapy protocols. This study aimed to evaluate ewes’ udder health, with no clinical symptoms, during (DP) and isolate the pathogens responsible fo...

Simple Summary: Lameness is a prevailing problem in dairy herds that has a negative effect on welfare, reproduction, and economic viability. The aim of this study was to investigate if the negative impact of lameness on ovarian activity at the end of puerperium is related to the energy status of dairy cows and to measure the responsiveness of lame...

(1) Background: Rabbit hepatic coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria stiedae, is a devastating disease with high morbidity and mortality rates. The disease is well described in rabbits, but little is known about E. stiedae infection in wild rabbits. In this study, we investigated the presence of E. stiedae infection in wild rabbits from the island of Lemn...

The occurrence of co-infected hosts and questing ticks with more than one tick-borne pathogen—as in the case of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato—is expected in endemic regions. Their synergy—in terms of pathogenesis and disease severity—has been suggested previously in humans. Limited data exist on the clinicopathologic...

Despite being important, there are no equations for prediction of ionized calcium (iCa) in sheep and cattle. The objectives of this study were i) to create equations for the calculation of serum iCa concentration based on the serum concentrations of total calcium (tCa), albumin (Alb) and total proteins (TP) and ii) to investigate whether predicted...

Teat morphology is a major defence mechanism against intramammary infections. In this study biometry features of Chios dairy ewes’ teats were evaluated throughout the dry period (DP). Twelve purebred Chios dairy ewes were used during their 2nd or 3rd lactation (210 days in milk and 155 days in dry period). Fifteen examinations of both right and lef...

Ruminal pH in dairy cows follows a diurnal fluctuation; low values are indicative of subacute ruminal acidosis and are associated with alterations of rumen fatty acids concentrations. The objective of the present study was to prospectively study the associations between ruminal pH and the rumen fluid concentrations of short, medium, and long chain...

The redox status shortly after the vaccination of pregnant ewes is rather unexploited. Thus, the present study was designed to evaluate the fluctuation of redox status after the administration of the annual booster dose of a polyvalent clostridial vaccine in pregnant ewes, 3 to 4 weeks before lambing, with or without a simultaneous injection of Vit...

Background: Urine dipstick and Heller's reaction are easy first-line screening tests for the detection of proteinuria; however, the performance of these methods in alkaline ovine urine is largely unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of Heller's reaction alone or in combination with dipstick for the...

Diagnosis of anaplasmosis is challenging considering the great variation in clinical signs and the limitations of the available diagnostic assays, while the detection of carrier animals that play a significant role in disease epidemiology as reservoirs is of great significance. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a newly develope...

Haematological indicators may resent physiological variation by age. Vitamin B12 promotes haematopoiesis. The aims of this study were: 1) to compare the values of the haematological variables and the concentration of vitamin B12 in pre- or post-weaned veal calves and 2) to identify the possible association between the values of the haematological v...

A 3-year-old non-lactating pet goat was referred to our clinic due to advanced ocular lesions and blindness of the left eye (Figure 1). According to the case history, two weeks ago, a grass awn penetrated and injured the eye. The awn was removed by the owner immediately. The following day, the goat had serous ocular discharge and photophobia and wa...

The urine protein:creatinine (UPC) ratio is considered the reference method to assess proteinuria. Its diagnostic value in ovine medicine needs further elucidation. In population monitoring and/or for research purposes, it is convenient to collect many samples simultaneously and store them for later analysis. However, analyte stability data are req...

Background: Aural hematomas are not uncommon in ruminants' clinical practice; however, there is a lack of information regarding their management in newborn ruminants, especially for complicated cases with rupture of the hematoma and secondary ear pinna necrosis. Case description: A 3-day-old orphan goat kid was admitted due to swelling on the le...

Exposure of sheep to Borreliaburgdorferi sensulato (s.I.) complex, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), has been reported in tick-abundant areas worldwide, while no data have been reported in Greece. The aim of the study was to identify the hematological alterations in sheep with seropositivity against Borrelia burgdorferi (s.I.). Blood sa...

Bluetongue is a vector-borne disease with epidemic potential. Recently, outbreaks of Bluetongue were reported across Greece, caused by the Bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 4. Regarding its pathogenesis, BTV infection involves various target organs with limited data referring to the kidneys. The objective of this study was to identify the possible im...

The objectives of the present study were to compare the serum calcium (Ca) concentrations in cattle and sheep measured by the flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and those obtained with a colorimetric method (CM) and to generate equations that allow their prediction. Serum Ca concentration was determined in 50 dairy cattle and 50 dairy...

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the causative agent of a disease known as tick borne fever in sheep, although fever is not always present. Due to inconclusive clinical signs, diagnosis is based on the cytological or molecular detection of the microorganism in blood and/or the determination of antibodies against A. phagocytophilum. The aim of the study...

Background Manual evaluation of blood cell counts on stained blood films is a common procedure in resource‐limited laboratories of farm animal clinics. Moreover, settings for sheep blood cell counts are not provided on most veterinary hematology analyzers. Objectives We aimed to (a) compare the results of white blood cell (WBC) counts evaluated mi...

A beef cattle farm was visited due to blindness in a group of 28 calves aged 10-12 months. According to farmer, the first blind calves were observed about 20 days before and no sign of lacrimation or corneal opacity was observed. He first noticed that 3 calves were disoriented, hitting on the pen walls and preferred to stand near the feed and water...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether milk consumption (MC) could be used as a simple farmer-friendly indicator for providing advanced treatment to limited fed diarrhoeic neonatal calves. Complementarily, it was evaluated whether the standard indications for veterinary care (severe dehydration and/or acidosis-septicaemia) are associa...

Background: Urinalysis is not routinely used in bovine medicine, and there is no evidence as to whether urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPC) could be used for the diagnosis of renal diseases in cattle. Objective: The goal of the study was to determine alterations in UPCs observed with different subclinical renal diseases in clinically healthy...

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the renal dimensions in adult cows and to investigate whether they are affected by the breed, the age of the animals and the presence of subclinical renal histopathological lesions. Materials and methods: The kidneys of 57 adult female dairy (44 Holstein) and beef (13 Limousine-Cross) ca...

The aim of this study was to determine the reference range of Schirmer tear test (STT) values in sheep using Greek indigenous and mixed breeds and to investigate the potential effect of breed and season on these values. Ninety (30 Chios, 30 Florina and 30 Lacaune mixed breed) ewes aged 2 years or more were used for the study. The aqueous portion of...

The electrophoretic profile of clinically healthy newborn calves and calves with neonatal diarrhea was compared. Blood samples were collected at 3 and 10 days of age from 11 calves that remained clinically healthy throughout the study period and 14 calves with diarrhea. A significant reduction in the gamma globulins was observed in the diarrheic ca...

An original article (Abutarbush and Tuppurainen 2018) has recently been published online in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. At the introduction section of this paper the authors attempted to present the current knowledge about the prevalence of adverse reactions after vaccination against Lumpy skin Disease (LSD) with the Neethling strain of th...

The objective of the present study was to access the titers and duration of maternally‐derived neutralizing antibodies against lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) in calves born to immunized dairy cows. The study was conducted in a Greek farm of 200 Holstein cows which were immunized with a homologous Neethling strain‐based attenuated vaccine. Composit...

The objective of this study was to record the measurements of the metapodial bones of the “Karagouniko” sheep breed and the Hellenic goat. The limbs of 30 ewes and 30 goats were used. Also, the indexes d/GL, SD/GL and the metapodial index DEM/Dd were calculated. In sheep the average metacarpal index was significantly higher than the metatarsal one....

Background: Urine pH is an integral part of a complete urinalysis, and is commonly measured in veterinary practice using semiquantitative reagent strips. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the urine pH of dogs and sheep, using visual interpretation of dipstick reactions, and using a pH-meter as the reference method. Agreement betwee...

We investigated the usefulness of the concentration of total proteins, albumin, creatinine, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in aqueous humor in estimating the ante mortem levels of the same biochemical analytes in sheep blood. A blood sample was taken ante morte...

Background: As Galanin (GAL) is secreted by the human placenta, it might be involved in fetal growth; in addition, its action on glucose homeostasis suggests an association with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).Objectives: To examine whether maternal, fetal or amniotic fluid GAL concentrations i) are associated with birthweight and ii) differ be...

Aim of this study was to investigate presence of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in indigenous and imported cattle in Greece. A total of 450 bovine blood sera samples from 15 dairy herds of Northern Greece were tested using a commercially available kit to detect specific anti-B. besnoiti antibodies. Ninety-eight cows were found to be seropositive to B...

This paper describes the nitrate - nitrite poisoning of ruminants. This disease is caused by the ingestion of large amount of nitrate salts, which are reduced in the rumen to nitrite ions. Nitrites, after their absorption, cause the formation of methemoglobin and, in turn, respiratory and circulatory distress. The aim of the treatment is to reduce...

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a transboundary viral disease of cattle with severe economic impact. Immunization of cattle with homologous live attenuated vaccines poses a number of diagnostic problems, as it has been associated with adverse reactions resembling disease symptoms. The latter hampers clinical diagnosis and poses challenges in virus iden...

Background: Determination of serum total protein concentration is commonly performed by the biuret method. Refractometric measurement is a faster and less expensive alternative but its accuracy has not been determined in ruminants. Objective: The purpose of the study was to compare the serum total protein concentrations in cattle, sheep, and goa...

The objective of this study was to evaluate under field conditions, whether daily administration of oregano essential oil is effective in preventing and/or diminishing the severity of neonatal diarrhea syndrome in calves aged less than 15 days. Ninety-one newborn calves from three dairy farms were assigned into two groups; “Eco” group (n = 46) calv...

Background: Clinoptilolite is a natural zeolite with high adsorption capacity for polar mycotoxins such as aflatoxins. The efficacy of clinoptilolite in ameliorating the toxic effects of aflatoxicosis has been proven in monogastric animals, but there is no such evidence for ruminants. The aim of this study was to evaluate, under field conditions,...

Purpose: The objective was to evaluate the clinical impact of the field vaccination against lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle, and to investigate the duration of viremia and excretion of the vaccine LSDV strain with saliva, nasal swabs and bulk-tank milk (BTM).

Left abomasal displacement was detected in an 8 month old calf during clinical examination for bronchopneumonia. Abomasal relocation was attempted twice with the rolling procedure but the displacement relapsed. Two and a half months later the calf was re-evaluated and the occurrence of chronic left abomasal displacement was confirmed. The calf had...

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of measuring body temperature in sheep using a noncontact infrared thermometer on the inguinal area and the eye cornea in comparison with a rectal digital thermometer. The trial for the first comparison was conducted in the milking parlor in 52 ewes in full lactation and 15 dry ewes and for the secon...

Selenium (Se), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) play important antioxidant role during the transition period of dairy cattle. However, there is limited information about their blood fluctuations during the entire transition period, especially in heifers. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the use of clinoptilolite, a natural zeolite, affects the ava...

During 2014, an outbreak of Bluetongue virus (BTV) infections attributed to serotype 4 occurred in Greece and spread to south-eastern Europe. In the present article, the clinical and epidemiological data of 15 sheep flocks and 5 dairy cattle herds affected in Greece are described. In sheep, the most frequent clinical signs observed were fever, hypo...

Introduction: Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide reported zoonotic infection caused by the protozoon Toxoplasma gondii. Pigs may become infected by ingesting feed or water contaminated with cat faeces, by cannibalism, and/or by eating infected rodents. T. gondii infected edible tissues of pigs are a source of infection for humans. This study was underta...

This study investigates the seroprevalence of Greek adult cattle against West Nile virus, Anaplasma ovis and Lehismania infantum. In total, 156 serum samples were examined, drawn from cattle between 2-4 years old. All the examined cattle originated from slaughterhouses of 4 prefectures in Northern Greece (Thessaloniki, Pella, Chalkidiki, Kilkis), i...

Elevated levels of nitrates in feed and water can pose a significant risk for dairy cattle, due to their cumulative action. The effect of prolonged consumption of water naturally contaminated with nitrates on some metabolic parameters in dairy cows was investigated at the present study. Concurrently, whether in-feed inclusion of clinoptilolite, a n...

The objective of this study was to compare the metapodial lengths of sheep and goats measured with a caliper with those measured using a 2-dimensional digital method. Complementarily, the lengths of medial and lateral metapodials in these species were compared. The limbs of 30 ewes and 30 goats were used. After preparation, the lateral and medial l...

Aim of this study was to investigate presence of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in indigenous and imported cattle in Greece. A total of 450 bovine blood sera samples from 15 dairy herds of Northern Greece were tested using a commercially avail-able kit to detect specific anti-B. besnoiti antibodies. Ninety-eight cows were found to be seropositive to...

Nowadays, there is an increasing concern for the public health about the consequences from the long and increased use of antibiotics in livestock production. The use of antibiotics in animal feed as growth promoters has been completely banned by the European Union since 2006, based on their possible negative effects on human and animal health. The...

Clinoptilolite is a natural clay mineral that is part of the zeolite group. Zeolites are crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicates of alkali and alkaline earth cations that have infinite structures which are three-dimensional. These materials have unique properties and are characterized by their ability to lose and gain water reversibly, to absorb mol...

Displaced abomasum (DA), either to the left (LDA) or to the right (RDA) side of the abdomen, is one of the most important diseases that are commonly observed in dairy cattle. It is encountered worldwide and represents the most common reason for abdominal surgery in dairy cattle, especially in cows of high-producing dairy breeds, such as Holstein. T...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term dietary inclusion of clinoptilolite on the energy status, reproductive parameters and milk yield of dairy heifers. Eighty Holstein pregnant heifers were equally divided to two groups: treatment group heifers were fed the ration supplemented with 200 g clinoptilolite per day; con...

This study investigated effects of administration of two levels of clinoptilolite via colostrum and milk to dairy calves on blood serum antibody levels against Escherichia coli, and on the incidence of diarrhea. Eighty-four clinically healthy Holstein calves were divided into three groups according to body weight (BW), sex and the parity of their d...

The administration of a natural zeolite, clinoptilolite, in newborn calves via colostrum and milk has been proven to be beneficial in enhancing the intestinal absorption of immunoglobulins and in reducing the incidence and the severity of diarrhoea syndrome. Th e aim of this study was to investigate whether a 2-month-long supplementation at 2 level...

Katsoulos PD, Dedousi A., Successful treatment of subacute enterotoxemia type D in a lamb, Online J Vet Res., 15(6): 511-513, 2011. A case of subacute enterotoxemia type D treated successfully in a lamb is described. A 45 days old unvaccinated Chios lamb was admitted to our private practice because of neurological signs that had started 2 hours ago...

The experiment investigated the effects of the dietary inclusion of 200 g of the natural zeolite, clinoptilolite on the blood serum concentrations of aluminium (Al) and inorganic phosphorus (P) as well as on the ruminal pH and the ruminal concentrations of Al and P and of certain volatile fatty acids. Sixteen Holstein cows with a rumen fistula were...

In farm animal practice, determination of blood glucose concentration under field conditions is often necessary. As there is no portable glucose meter device developed for use in farm animals, the analytical accuracy of a portable glucometer designed for people was evaluated for its use in cattle and sheep. Blood samples from 90 cattle and 101 shee...

The main objective of this study was to investigate whether cholelithiasis in sheep is related to parasitism or other commonly observed disorders such as liver abscesses. Additionally, the features of the observed biliary calculi are described. The livers of 254 randomly selected clinically healthy adult dairy sheep were used. All visible concretio...

Katsoulos, P.D., Christodoulopoulos, G., Minas, A., Pourliotis, K. and Theodoropoulos, G. 2009. Use of liver enzyme activities for the diagnosis of fasciolosis in cattle. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 36: 275–277. A diagnostic protocol for fasciolosis in cattle developed by Clinic of Farm Animal Medicine in Veterinary School of Karditsa, based on the combin...

The objective was to investigate the changes occurring in the activities of the enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in sheep and goat milk as a result of subclinical intramammary infections (IMI) and to evaluate the use of these enzymes for the diagnosis of subclinical IMI in dairy sh...

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of lameness as well as the prevalence of claw–horn disruptions, abnormal claw shape and dermatitis in lame cows in Greek dairy farms and to evaluate their risk factors. Forty dairy farms were visited twice, during winter and during summer, and the lameness of milking cows was scored using a 5-point...

To determine the effect of dietary supplementation with clinoptilolite on health and production as well as serum concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins, macroelements and trace elements, and activities of hepatic enzymes in dairy goats. 72 Saanen-cross dairy goats. Goats were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. The clinoptilolite group (n = 36) rec...

Bronchoalveolar lavage has proven helpful for the diagnosis of certain ovine diseases of the lungs. There is insufficient data concerning the leukocyte profile of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from MaediVisna infected sheep. The objective of this study was to assess the differential leukocyte profile of BALF associated with Maedi virus infect...

A case of severe fasciolosis in a suckler beef cattle is described. A four year old cow was admitted into clinics because of depression and reduced appetite for 10 days. The main clinical findings were fever, jaundice and reduced reticulorumen contractions. A final diagnosis of fasciolosis was based on biochemical, haematological, and faecal parasi...

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was validated for the serodiagnosis of Brucella melitensis infection in small ruminants using 2108 positive and 2154 negative reference sera from sheep and goats. The optimum cut-off values, offering the highest diagnostic sensitivity (DSn) and diagnostic specificity (DSp), determined by rece...

We examined the heat stability, somatic cell count (SCC), pH, fat, protein and lactose content of milk from goats during the oestrous period, in order to investigate evidence of possible oestrus effects on milk physical and chemical properties. Goats free from mammary infections were ranked on average SCC from three tests so that they could be stra...

The objective of the present study was to report the first confirmed case of digital dermatitis in Greece, emphasizing to the clinical appearance of the disease and to discuss some potential mechanisms concerning the entrance and the contagiousness of the disease in a new herd. The outbreak occurred in a new dairy farm of 60 primiparous Holstein co...

Fifty-two clinically healthy Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of three groups according to their age and parity. The first group (A) consisted of 17 cows that were fed a concentrate ration supplemented with 1.25 per cent clinoptilolite, the second group (B) consisted of 17 cows fed a ration supplemented with 2.5 per cent clinoptilolite,...

The aim of the present study was to determine the normal ranges of the most commonly used serum biochemical parameters of sheep reared under Greek breeding conditions, as well as to test for the effects of the age and reproductive status of the animals on the normal values of these parameters. In total, 200 clinically healthy Chios sheep from 10 fa...

To determine whether dietary supplementation with clinoptilolite affects the incidence of parturient paresis and serum concentrations of total calcium (tCa), inorganic phosphorus (PO(4) (2)), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), and sodium (Na+) in dairy cattle. 52 dairy cows. Procedure-Cows were placed into 3 groups. The first 2 groups (group A [n =...

There is insufficient evidence in the literature concerning the fluctuations and correlations of serum fat-soluble vitamin concentrations during lactation in dairy cows and the potential effect of age of the animals on these values. The objectives of this study were to determine fluctuations in mean serum concentrations of the fat-soluble vitamins...

The effect of the dietary inclusion of clinoptilolite on the haematological parameters of dairy cows has not been studied yet; however in mice, prolonged zeolite administration causes disturbances in the adaptation of erythropoiesis in periods of increased demands. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the long term supplementatio...

The present review comments on the role of the use of zeolites as feed additives on the prevention and/or the treatment of certain farm animal diseases. Both natural and synthetic zeolites have been used in animal nutrition mainly to improve performance traits and, based on their fundamental physicochemical properties, they were also tested and fou...

The objective of the experiment was to investigate the effect of clinoptilolite (a natural zeolite) supplementation in the ration of dairy cows on serum beta-carotene, vitamins A and E concentrations. Fifty-two clinically healthy Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of three groups according to their age and parity. The first group (group A,...

The objective of the experiment was to investigate the effect of clinoptilolite (a natural zeolite) supplementation in the ration of dairy cows on serum copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) concentrations. Fifty-two clinically healthy Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of three groups according to their age and parity. The first group (gr...

This paper describes the nitrate - nitrite poisoning of ruminants. This disease is caused by the ingestion of large amount of nitrate salts, which are reduced in the rumen to nitrite ions. Nitrites, after their absorption, cause the formation of methemoglobin and, in turn, respiratory and circulatory distress. The aim of the treatment is to reduce...