The epidemiology of Herpesvirus sylvilagus infection in wild cottontail rabbits was studied in a defined, natural cottontail population over a period of 13 months. Spread of this virus showed significant correlation with seasonal variation as well as with the sex and age of the host. The highest rate of infection occurred during the winter and spring seasons with males over the age of 4 months sustaining a significantly greater percentage of infections than younger males or females of all age groups.

Large numbers of Notoedres muris were present in thick crusty lesions on both ears, the nose, one forelimb and tail-base of a free-living naked-tailed rat, Melomys cervinipes, on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. The source of infestation was obscure.

Reovirus-like particles were demonstrated by negative stain electron microscopic examination of the feces from antelope fawns with diarrhea. Fluorescent antibody tests on frozen sections of ileum from one dead antelope fawn and immunoelectron microscopy tests on feces from two live fawns provided evidence that the antelope agent was serologically related to the neonatal calf diarrhea reovirus-like agent.

A Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 9 was isolated from pond water; Y. enterocolitica-like bacteria were also isolated from pond water and from three species of snails (Lymnaea palustris elodes, Helisoma sp., Oxyloma retusa) from the Edwin S. George Reserve in southeastern Michigan. There was evidence for biochemical stability among some of the organisms over a period of years. There also was evidence of transmission of these organisms to snails from the water.

Trypanosomes in the subgenera Herpetosoma, Schizotrypanom and Megatry panum were found in 31 small mammals representing nine species of the orders Rodentia, Insectivora and Chiroptera in Iran.

Total protein, albumin and serum protein values were determined on 19 male and 14 female captive, vaccinated, wild coyotes. Male coyotes had significantly higher total protein, alpha 1 and alpha 2 globulin levels than female coyotes. Captive, wild coyotes had lower values for total protein, albumin and beta globulins, and higher values for alpha 2 and gamma globulins than similar values for laboratory dogs.

Albumin values determined by bromcresol green were slightly higher than values derived by electrophoresis. This difference was non-significant.

Sera from seven species of wild animals in Ontario were examined for antibody to Toxoplasma gondii using the Sabin-Feldman dye test. Of 158 sera tested, 53% of the red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 56% of the striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), 78% of the coyotes (Canis latrans), 33% of the black bears (Ursus americanus), 18% of the short tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) and none of the field voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) had antibody.

Antibody to T. gondii was present in sera from wild animals captured throughout southern Ontario. A positive linear correlation between prevalence of toxoplasmosis and age of fox pups was calculated (p < 0.005).

A gastric ulcer was diagnosed in a South American Sea Lion, Otario byronia, captured along the northern coast of Chile. Species of Anisakis and Phocanema were found to be associated with the lesions. A discussion of the histopathologic damage observed is presented, along with probable etiology of the ulcer.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were infected experimentally with two strains of peste des petits ruminants virus. The response varied from fatal consequence to subclinical infection. The clinical signs and gross lesions were similar to those in goats. Virus was recovered from all the infected deer, and survivors developed specific antibodies demonstrated by complement fixation and virus neutralization tests. Survivors also resisted challenge with virulent rinderpest virus that was lethal to a control deer.

Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated from 6 of 13 short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) and 1 of 47 house sparrows (Passer domesticus) trapped in the vicinity of a swine Bordetella rhinitis experimental area. The organism was found in four of 50 foxes (Vulpes fulva), 2 of 36 opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) and 1 of 37 raccoons (Procyon lotor) trapped in the Ames, Iowa area. This bacterium was not culturally isolated from 14 deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), 64 house mice (Mus musculus), 10 masked shrews (Sorex cinereus) and 54 starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Clinical blood values are reported for 14 blood components in the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) and compared with human clinical ranges. Certain values such as cholesterol, globulins and blood urea nitrogen deviate markedly from published human values. The distribution of serum proteins in fur seals, man and northern elephant seals also are given and compared.

The clinical and pathologic effects of the filarioid nematode Dipetalonema spirocauda were studied in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina concolor. Aberrant behavior of both adults and microfilariae resulted in previously unreported pulmonary, vascular and hepatic lesions.

Four-week-old gnotobiotic and conventional ducks were inoculated orally with duck plague virus. Both groups of ducks died on the third and fourth day after inoculation. Gross and microscopic lesions of duck plague were similar in gnotobiotic and conventional ducks, indicating the synergistic action of species of Salmonella and Pasteurella was not essential for development of lesions.

Complement-fixing (CF) antibody to Bacillus piliformis antigen was found in 9 of 14 (64%) serum samples obtained from cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) killed in the wild. CF antibody was not present in the serum of 8 cottontail rabbits trapped as juveniles in the same geographic areas and held in captivity for 4 years. Sero-negative cottontail rabbits died acutely with lesions typical of Tyzzer's disease following the intragastric administration of 10^3.8 ELD₅₀of B. piliformis spores. The possible influence of Tyzzer's disease upon the cyclic population pattern of cottontail rabbits in the wild is discussed. A hypothesis is presented that B. piliformis spores passed in the feces of diseased wild animals could contaminate pastures, hay and grain, and thereby serve as sources of infection to other animals.

Cerebral coenurosis is described in a 2 year-old wild sheep (Ovis ammon). Diagnosis was based on clinical signs and pathology.

Plasma samples collected in micro-hematocrit tubes were shown to have rabies-neutralizing antibody titers comparable to serum samples. Micro-hematocrit tube sampling makes possible the monitoring of antibody levels in very small animals without causing serious injury.

Serum drug levels were measured in channel catfish following bath exposure to kanamycin, gentamicin and chloramphenicol. Kanamycin was absorbed at a rate sufficient to attain therapeutic blood levels in several treatment schedules. Therapeutic blood concentrations could not be attained with gentamicin or chloramphenicol following 24 hrs exposure at 80 and 100 μg/ml water concentrations, respectively.

An accidental poisoning of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) by O,O-Diethyl O-[p-(methylsulfinyl) phenyl] phosphorothioate is reported. Diagnosis was achieved by history, clinical observations, postmortem lesions, diagnostic therapy and pesticide analysis.

One Falco rusticolus and two of 24 Falco peregrinus were positive for Plasmodium relictum. Sixteen percent of the erythrocytes (RBC) of the gyrfalcon were parasitized. Following treatment with chloroquine the parasite burden was dramatically reduced (to less than 0.01%). Infection in peregrine falcons was low (0.01–0.4% RBCs were parasitized). This is the second report of Plasmodium in the gyrfalcon and the first report in the peregrine falcon.

Besnoitiosis was diagnosed in an adult male woodland caribou found dead in northern Saskatchewan. The lesions present were comparable to those of chronic besnoitiosis in cattle, and were much more severe than those previously described in domestic reindeer and barren-ground caribou.

Discovery of two ill horses and three dogs naturally infected with Trypanosoma evansi near an experimental station in the Eastern Plains of Colombia led to a search for reservoir hosts of the parasite. Infection was detected in 8/33 healthy capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), none of the remaining 14 horses, and none of 32 Zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 18 paca (Cuniculus paca) and 20 spiny rats (Proechimys sp.). Contrary to common opinion, the results indicated a carrier state in the capybara. Diagnosis was based on morphology, behaviour in albino rats, and pathogenicity and host range in domestic animals.

An epizootic of a myxobacterial infection in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) was responsible for the death of 50,000 fish, 30% of the population. Cartilage in the nose, mouth and lower jaw was eroded, and yellow sheets of bacterial growth were observed in the mouth, pharynx and pneumatic duct. The severity of the disease increased with increasing water temperature. Pathogenicity trials were inconclusive; only two of 18 experimentally infected fish succumbed to the disease. However, the lesions, and the absence of other known pathogens suggests the myxo-bacterium was responsible.

Some 255 feral hogs were serologically tested for Brucella titers at a location in the lower coastal plain of South Carolina. Eighteen percent were reactors. The organism was cultured from lymph node tissues in one 3 years old boar and identified as Brucella suis biotype 1. Prevalence of sero-positive animals increased with age. There were no important differences between sexes.

An outbreak of erysipelas killed an estimated 5,000 aquatic birds on Great Salt Lake (Utah) in late November, 1975. Although several thousand ducks and gulls were using the lake, at least 99 percent of the victims were eared grebes. A hypothetical explanation for the selective mortality is offered.

A total of 135 birds of 26 species in 13 families was examined for blood parasites; 43 birds (31.9%) of 13 species were infected; species of the Ploceidae were the most heavily infected. Species of Haemoproteus occurred most commonly (29 birds) while Leucocytozoon and Plasmodium species were virtually absent. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of hematozoa in birds from the mature rainforest and those in a savannah-urban setting.