Severe death loss was observed in captive coyotes, Canis latrans. Of 48 coyotes in one kennel, 22 (46%) died within a 7 day period. Cause of death was determined to be acute fibrinopurulent (bacterial) broncho-pneumonia and pleuritis. Streptococcus equisimilis was isolated from the lungs of two coyotes examined.

A total of 53 clinical specimens from both healthy and diseased Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) were examined for Chlamydia. An agent consistently lethal for chicken embryos was recovered from a nasal swab taken from a normal ewe. This agent, designated BHS-15, possesses antigens which fix complement in the presence of anti-chlamydial serum, is susceptible to chlortetracycline, and is resistant to sodium sulfadiazine and streptomycin. Attempts to culture the isolate in quality control media, including blood agar, thioglycolate broth, and PPLO broth and agar were unsuccessful. A recommendation is made for classification of agent BHS-15 as a member of the species Chlamydia psittaci. The possible relationship of the isolate to the pneumonia complex in bighorn sheep is discussed.

From 1975 to 1978, 37 isolates of Pasteurella multocida, 1 of Salmonella enteriditis, and 5 of Francisella tularensis were recovered from 42 mammalian specimens and 1 flea pool submitted for examination for evidence of infection with Yersinia pestis. Most of the specimens were collected during investigations of either a human plague infection or a reported epizootic among rodent populations. All specimens were of species regularly or occasionally involved in plague or tularemia cycles in nature and most were collected in areas of known plague or tularemia activity.

Rectal swabs were collected from 90 Northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) and 50 California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) pups on San Miguel Island for Salmonella screening. Three serotypes (newport, heidelberg, and oranienburg) were recovered from 33% of the fur seals and 40% of the sea lions.

Serum samples from 15 species of rodents and 33 species of birds were tested for agglutinins against Coxiella burnetii by the microagglutination test. Of 759 rodents tested, 21 (3%) were seropositive. Antibody positive rodents included muskrats, Ondatra zebethica, (11%), Rattus spp. (10%), Beechey ground squirrels, Otospermophilus beecheyi, (6%), wood rats, Neotoma fuscipes, (5%), and Peromyscus spp. (2%). Of 583 birds tested, 118 (20%) were seropositive. This included white crowned sparrows, Zonotrichia leucophrys, gold crowned sparrows, Z. atricapilla, and English sparrows, Passer domesticus, (68% in the composite); coots, Fulica americana, (29%); blackbirds, Euphagus cyanocephalus, (33%); crows, Corvus brachyrhyncos, (29%); robins, Turdus migratorius, (16%); pigeons, Columba fasciata, (10%); and mallard ducks, Anas platyrhynchos, (7%). There was a tendency for the seropositive animals to have been collected in the vicinity of endemically infected livestock.

Organisms typical of those seen in Tyzzer's disease of muskrats (Ondatra zibethica) were found in tissue sections from two muskrats found dead in Iowa in 1947 by Paul Errington. These findings support further the hypothesis that Errington's and Tyzzer's diseases of muskrats are a single entity.

Yersinia enterocolitica was isolated from 10 of 121 soil samples from an area inhabited by infected wapiti (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) in northwest California. Significantly (p<0.05) more soil samples from a forest habitat were infected, compared to soil samples from prairie habitats. Soil was found infected with yersiniae only on dates for which rainfall in excess of 17 mm had occurred during the previous 7 days.

An outbreak of staphylococcal mastitis in nursing female ranch mink (Mustela vison) is described. Lesions were acute necrotizing mastitis, fatty infiltration of the liver and renal tubules, and adrenal cortical hyperplasia. The presence of Aleutian disease in the herd suggests a role of immunosuppression in the outbreak.

A modified syringe capable of automatic injection and suitable for use with a blow-gun is described. The syringe has been used successfully with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) under confined conditions. Desirable characteristics for blow-gun syringes are discussed.

Oocysts and sporocysts of Eimeria funduli sp. n. are described from the Gulf killifish, Fundulus grandis, on the basis of light microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and location in the liver of infected hosts. The spherical sporu!ated oocysts of E. funduli isolated from liver tissue measure 20–31(25) ıtm across with ovoid sporocysts 9–11 × 5–7 (10 × 6) ıtm. A micropyle, polar granule, and oocyst residuum are absent, but sporocysts have Stieda and substieda bodies, a few residual granules, and 10–25 (15) unique projecting structures with expanded distal portions that we term “sporopodia”. Sporopodia 1–3 (2) ı high support a transparent membrane that completely surrounds the sporocyst. Sporozoites have one large posterior refracti!e body. U!trastructural!y, the oocyst wall consists of two thin layers of granular material: an electron-dense outer layer with a rough external surface and an electron-lucent inner one of approximately equal thickness. One or two unit membranes line the inner surface of the inner layer. Each layer is 40–60(55) nm thick. The sporocyst wall, 78–130 (110) nm thick, consists of an e!ectron-lucent material with the outer surface being more electron dense and giving rise to osmiophilic sporopodia; closely associated with these and the outer surface are one or two unit membranes. A thin osmiophi!ic layer of fine granular material lines the inner surface.

Six cases of bot fly (Cuterebra spp.) myiasis in pikas (Ochotona princeps) are reported from Oregon and Montana. These are the first known cases of Cuterebra parasitism of pikas.

A total of 181 coyotes (Canis latrans) was examined for helminth parasites Filaroides osleri, Capillari aerophila, and Spirocerca lupi. Coyote carcasses were obtained from Kansas, western Oklahoma-northern Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and southern California. Cysts of F. osleri were present in the trachea or bronchial division in 39 (22%) coyotes. C. aerophila were present in only 7 (4%) coyotes. S. lupi lesions were present in the aorta of 59 (33%) coyotes. Esophageal infections of S. lupi were found in only 4 of 142 (3%) coyotes. F. osleri, C. aerophila and S. lupi infections were more prevalent in western Oklahoma-northern Texas, low in southern Arizona-California, and absent in northern Arizona

Transplacental transmission of Protostrongylus sp. was documented for the first time in California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) by recovery of third stage larvae from two fetuses.

Three of seven Arctic fox kits, Alopex lagopus, trapped on St. Paul Island, Alaska, had evidence of rickets and hyperparathyroidism. Radiographic, morphologic and histologic examination confirmed the diagnosis. The disease was presumed to be a juvenile-onset disease due to calcium-deficient intake following weaning. The possibility of insufficient exposure to sunlight could not be determined. No other abnormalities (e.g., genitourinary) were found. Skeletal involvement was quite varied. All growth plates exhibited columnar hyperplasia compatible with rickets, while the metaphyses showed decreased trabeculation and cortical thinning compatible with osteodystrophia fibrosa. One fox had bilateral metaphyseal fractures through this osteodystrophic bone.

Three harp seal pups, Phoca groenlandica, were captured on the ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and subjected to 3 h of transportation and handling stress. The activities of creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT), aldolase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, and leucine aminopeptidase were determined in serial blood samples collected for 4 d following the stress episode. Marked elevation of plasma CK activity was observed 3 h after capture. Values returned to normal in 12 h in two seals, and by 24 h in the third. Slight elevations in AspAT were also noted; the remaining enzymes were unaffected. Plasma CK is recommended as a sensitive indicator of handling stress in seals.

The fatty acid content of depot fat samples from 15 northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Callorhinus ursinus has a high proportion of short chain saturated acids; C10, C11, C12, C13, C15. Unsaturated longer chain acids C16:1, and C16:2, and C18:1 also were found. Results obtained are compared to a previously reported milk lipid analysis of the northern fur seal.

Intravaginal inoculation of a wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) with a wildebeest strain of the infectious bovine rhinotracheitis/infectious pustular vulvovaginitis herpesvirus induced only mild vulvovaginitis. The same virus did not produce any disease in another wildebeest exposed intranasally. A wildebeest bull which was inoculated by preputial instillation developed mild posthitis. The virus was reisolated only from the sites of inoculation. A carrier state was initiated in a wildebeest inoculated only once, intravaginally. The presence of this virus in the various secretions is a potential source for venereal transmission.

Powassan virus was recovered from a pool of 3 nymphal and 1 adult female Ixodes cookei removed from a striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) trapped in Massachusetts during 1967 and from a pool of 9 nymphal I. cookei from a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) captured in Connecticut during 1978. Virus was detected in the blood of both mammals. Hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) antibody to Powassan virus was demonstrated in 16.0% of the skunks sampled in Connecticut, and neutralizing antibody was detected in 83.3% of the skunks tested from Massachusetts. HI antibody was found in 1 of 6 long-tailed weasels from Connecticut and 1 of 6 short-tailed weasels (Mustela erminea) from Maine.

Skin lesions known as “tattoos”, were observed in several captive Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) maintained at the Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, California. Biopsy of typical lesions and subsequent ultrastructural examination revealed intracytoplasmic particles with poxvirus morphology.

An outbreak of avian pox was detected among captive peacocks (Pavo cristatus) at Baghdad Zoological Park during spring, 1978. A total of 45 of the 60 birds in the aviary developed pox lesions around the beaks and eyes. Morbidity was 75% and mortality was 13%. A virus isolated from the skin lesions produced large plaques on the chorioallantoic membrane of developing chicken embryos and induced cytopathic effect characteristic for pox viruses in chicken embryo cell cultures. The virus neither haemagglutinated nor haemadsorbed to chicken erythrocytes. It was ether resistant and chloroform sensitive. Chickens inoculated with the virus by scarification developed localized pox-like lesions, while turkeys had only transient swelling of feather follicles at the site of inoculation. Virus partially purified with Genetron 113 was precipitated by antisera to fowlpox and pigeon pox viruses.

Between July, 1977 and January, 1978, serum from 645 feral rodents and 31 other small mammals was examined for presence of rabies serum neutralizing antibody. Results suggest that feral rodents are not involved in the epizootiology of rabies in Thailand.