An investigation of the immunologic responsiveness of Tursiops truncatus to Erysipelothrix insidiosa and Clostridium perfringens Type D antigens was reported. Serum protein changes were recorded by electrophoresis, and the induction time, degree and duration of the immune response were determined by immunofluorescence. Passive protection studies were conducted in mice using porpoise serum dilutions and an LD₅₀ of E. insidiosa and a TD₅₀ of the epsilon toxin of Cl. perfringens Type D. Statistically significant quantitative changes in beta-2 globulins were observed in T. truncatus following inoculation with either E. insidiosa bacterin or Cl. perfringens Type D bacterin-toxoid. Newly captured T. truncatus possessed circulating antibodies to E. insidiosa and Cl. perfringens Type D; these antibodies were demonstrated using indirect immunofluorescence. Serum from T. truncatus having a 1:1024 titer to E. insidiosa prevented the development of clinical signs of disease and bacteremia produced by an LD₅₀ of E. insidiosa in mice.

Tissues and serum from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the southeastern United States were taken during an outbreak of hemorrhagic disease. These were subjected to virus isolation attempts in tissue culture and several serological tests (plaque neutralization, complement fixation, agar gel precipitation). Both epizootic hemorrhagic disease of deer virus (EHDV) and bluetongue virus (BTV) were isolated and evidence of their presence demonstrated serologically. All of the evidence supported previous suggestions that these two agents are antigenically distinguishable.

Rabies was found in 0.5-3.7% of mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus) trapped in Grenada between 1968 and 1972. The difference in the proportions of rabid mongooses during this period was significant and suggested a fluctuation in the incidence of the disease. Serum neutralizing antibodies were found in 18.9% of animals examined, indicating a high transmission rate between mongooses. In addition the behaviour of rabid mongooses is described, and the virus titers in organs from some of these animals are recorded. Human, domestic animal, and livestock involvement in the basic mongoose rabies cycle is discussed.

The location and progress of rabies virus isolated from a coyote (Canis latrans) was studied in experimentally infected mice. Fluorescent antibody (FA) techniques were used, and nerve tissues from infected mice, selected at timed intervals post-infection, were passaged further in mice.

Rabies virus from inoculation in the left hind foot pad was detected by FA as fine particles in the sciatic nerve at 6 hours, but not until 5 days were fluorescent particles present in moderate concentrations. Virus particles were detected by FA in the spinal nerve at 72 hours, and in the brain at 8 days. Isolations of virus by mouse inoculation indicated that infectious doses were present in the sciatic nerve by 6 hours, the spinal cord at 24 hours, and in the brain by 72 hours.

A mouse brain suspension of rabies virus inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of rats was acted upon by leukocytes which cleared the cavity of FA-detectable rabies virus within 4 hours. Virus particles were seen in the spleen by FA at 2 hours indicating that a certain amount of virus can be carried through the body by other than neural pathways.

Listeria monocytogenes survived over 8 weeks in pond water, with no evidence of multiplication. Listeria multiplied in sterilized soil during the late winter and early spring. The growth rate in soil was correlated (p<0.005) to the ambient air temperature. The evidence was interpreted to suggest that soil is the reservoir of Listeria on the George Reserve.

A female ferret (Mustelo furo L.) was killed because of a neoplasm that involved the oral cavity interfering with prehension and mastication of food. Histopathological examination of the neoplasm revealed a squamous cell carcinoma.

Hemorrhagic disease (HD) caused by bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses occurred in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of seven southeastern states during the late summer and early fall, 1971. The disease first appeared in South Carolina and then erupted almost simultaneously in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Peracute, acute, and chronic forms of HD were distinguished. Few gross lesions were observed in peracute HD but hemorrhage and edema commonly were seen in acute HD. Stomatitis and laminitis characterized the chronic disease. Mortality rate appeared to be related to the number of deer on the area.

Of 49 deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) sampled from several California herds, from 0 to 57 percent of animals per herd were infected with cysts of Echinococcus granulosus. The highest prevalence rates were in deer from areas in which livestock are absent and coincided in one instance with an area in which approximately 20 percent of coyotes had been found infected with the adult parasite. It is probable that transmission of E. granulosus between coyotes and deer takes place, at least locally, in California.

Immunization of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) against bluetongue virus was attempted by inoculation of live virus vaccine with a syringe and needle, by experimentally contaminated Culicoides gnats, the natural biological vectors, by bites of exposed Stomyxis calcitrans, which were considered to be natural mechanical vectors, and by incorporation of lyophilized vaccine in ground dry feed. Only the methods using the syringe and needle and the natural biological vector were effective.

Thirteen coyotes (Canis latrans) collected from Nueces County, Texas, harbored the following helminths: Filaroides osleri, Dirofilaria immitis, Physalaptera sp., Alaria americana, Ancylostoma caninum and Taenia sp. Aortic aneurysms were present in nine of ten adult coyotes (90%) while Spirocerca lupi was found on or in the wall of the thoracic esophagus of only three adult coyotes (30%). Oocysts of Isospora rivolta were found in the feces from one of two coyotes examined.

Sixty-four birds of 32 species from Madagascar were examined for haematozoa; 14 birds of eight species harboured species of Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma and Lankesterella. The haematozoa involved occur commonly elsewhere in the world. No evidence of haemoproteid infection was found.

When visceral granulomata from wombats were fed to ascarid-free Tasmanian devils the latter became infested with Baylisascaris tasmaniensis.

The pathological effects of the blood fluke, Sanguinicola klamathensis Wales 1958, was studied in the cutthroat trout host (Salmo clarki). Cutthroat trout fingerlings of a non-infected group and a group experimentally infected by exposure to 6,000 Fluminicola fusca snails, with a 6% prevalence of infection with S. klamathensis, were maintained for 7 months. The experimental group had 80% mortality after 3 months exposure to the blood flukes. Histopathology revealed a progressive infection with fluke eggs and miracidia within the gills, kidney, and heart as evidenced by necrosis and calcification of heart and kidney tissue, and hyperplasia of the gills.

Renal coccidiosis was diagnosed in 3 of 45 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and 2 of 7 pintails (Anas acuta) collected in Saskatchewan. Oocysts recovered from two of these birds were similar to, but larger than, those of Eimeria truncata. Pathologic changes associated with the coccidial infection as well as that seen in association with other renal parasites are described.

Of 128 seasnails (Liparis atlanticus) collected from tide pools along the New Hampshire coast, over 90% were infected with the cestode Spathebothrium simplex and with one or both of the trematodes Podocotyle reflexa and Podocotyle atomon. Additional helminths found included Echinorhynchus gadi, Prosorhynchus crucibulum, and larval Thynnascaris sp. in 21, 12, and 9 percent of the hosts, respectively. All fish were infected with a species of Eimeria, and almost 30% had Trichodina sp. on their gills. The microscopic lesions associated with these infections are described, and the possible effects of these parasites on populations of L. atlanticus are discussed.

Feral pigeons were sampled over a 16-month period to determine whether their normal yeast flora varied according to season. Candida albicans and Saccharomyces telluris occurred during the entire sampling period, with C. albicans reaching its highest levels between August and January and S. telluris peaking from March through May. Candida krusei was present for 10 months but exhibited no predictable variation in density. Candida tropicalis, C. guilliermondii and Geotrichum were isolated on several occasions while C. lusitaniae, C. pseudotropicalis and Torulopsis glabrata were each isolated once. The high levels of infection and frequency of occurrence of some yeast species make the feral pigeon highly suspect as a carrier and disseminator of potentially pathogenic yeast.

A telemetry pill was used to monitor core body temperature of penned sea lions. The pill emitted radio frequency (88-108 MHz) pulses at a rate proportional to body temperature. The emitted pulses were received as clicks on a common transistor radio. The pill, which was 1.1 cm diameter and 2.5 cm long, was inserted in a fish which was fed to the sea lion. Range exceeded 5 meters when the sea lion was in the air or in small fresh water pools, whereas immersion in sea water blocked transmission. The 2.5 cm long pills stayed in the animals for several days to weeks. Increasing pill length to 5 cm reduced the time to approximately 2 days. Mean core temperature (4 animals, 97 observations) was 38.1 C, with a standard deviation of 0.4 C. The pill has detected febrile response to disease, and has been used to assist in monitoring postsurgical recovery.

Evidence that marble spleen disease of pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) has a viral etiology was obtained from field cases using the following criteria: Intranuclear inclusion bodies in cells of the spleen, lungs, liver, and bone marrow; the presence of antigen in spleens of infected pheasants as detected by the agar gel precipitin test; demonstration of virus particles in the splenic intranuclear inclusions by the electron microscope; and the presence of specific fluorescence in spleen cells as shown by direct fluorescent antibody staining. Every case of marble spleen disease examined had all of these findings. Attempts to isolate a virus in cell culture using chicken and pheasant embryo fibroblasts and chick kidney cells were unsuccessful.

During the 5-year period 1966–1970, a total of 7497 wild mammals of at least 101 different species were collected from 36 locations in Nigeria, Dahomey, and Togo and sampled for virus. The collections were made in five ecologically distinct vegetative zones: high forest, Guinea, Sudan, and Sahel woodland, and the Jos Plateau. Sixteen different virus types, represented by 83 isolates, were recovered, as follows: Arumowot (6 isolates), Bhanja (2), bluetongue type 7 (1), Chandipura (1), Congo (2), Dakar bat (3), Dugbe (1), IbAn 17143 (1), IbAn 33709 (1), Lebombo (1), Mokola (4), poxvirus IbAn 34325 (1), Semliki Forest (1), SudAn 754/61 (53), Uganda S (3), and West Nile (2). Viruses were isolated from Nigeria, the principal area of mammal collecting, and Dahomey, but not from Togo. The possible relationship of these viruses to diseases of man and domestic animals is discussed.