Neotropical bats were collected from different life zones in Guatemala in 1983 and 1984 to determine the presence and distribution of antibody against 10 viruses. Bats were collected with mist nets at 13 sites in eight departments and 332 serum specimens were obtained for testing for neutralizing (N) antibody by the plaque-reduction neutralization test. Eighty-seven (26%) of the 332 bats from 16 (38%) of 42 bat species sampled were serologically positive for five of six arboviruses and for two other viruses tested. Antibodies against Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) variant I-A/B, eastern equine encephalitis, western equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, vesicular stomatitis, Tacaribe, and Rio Bravo viruses were detected in resident species of bats. However, N antibodies against the enzootic strain of VEE (Mena II, variant I-E) or Nepuyo viruses were not detected.

From January 1990 through March 1991, 189 armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) were collected from Brevard and Glades Counties in southern Florida (USA). The sera were analyzed for hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) antibodies against St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) and eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) viruses. None of the armadillos had detectable HAI antibody to EEE virus, but 59 (31%) had antibodies against SLE virus. Sera from 31 of the HAI-positive armadillos contained significant levels of neutralizing (NT) antibody to SLE virus. Armadillos captured during the 1990 SLE human epidemic in south Florida had a greater prevalence of HAI and NT antibody to SLE virus than did animals captured before the start of the epidemic. This is evidence that armadillos were fed on by mosquitoes infected with SLE virus. We propose that armadillos may be involved in the SLE amplification and transmission cycles in Florida.

Sera from 273 wild mammals from Missouri and Kansas (USA), collected between December 1974 and December 1987, were tested for the presence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii using the Sabin-Feldman dye test. Sixty-five (24%) had antibodies at titers of ≥ 1:8, including 38 (66%) of 58 carnivores, 14 (15%) of 94 omnivores, 13 (11%) of 117 herbivores, and none of four insectivores. The prevalence of antibodies in mice (Mus musculus and Peromyscus spp.) and rats (Rattus norvegicus and Sigmodon hispidus) was low (3%), while medium sized herbivores such as squirrels (Sciurus spp.), rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) had prevalences of about 18%. Red foxes (Vulpes fulva) and mink (Mustela vison) had the highest prevalence of antibodies with frequencies of 90 and 66%, respectively. In 32 attempts to isolate Toxoplasma gondii from wild mammals with positive (≥1:4) titers, only six (19%) were successful: a gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), a beaver (Castor canadensis), an opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), a red fox and two mink. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the probability of infection with Toxoplasma gondii, and therefore prevalence of antibodies in wildlife, is greatest in carnivores.

Isolates of Pasteurella testudinis recovered from clinically healthy desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and tortoises with upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) were characterized in an attempt to identify strains associated with disease. Eighty-nine isolates, 52 from ill and 37 from healthy tortoises collected from Nevada (USA), June 1990 to September 1991, were genomically fingerprinted and grouped based on ribotype similarity. Twelve isolates (six from ill and six from healthy tortoises) were further characterized with regard to whole-cell protein (WCP) and outer membrane protein (OMP) composition and their ability to survive in normal tortoise plasma. The 89 isolates were initially distributed into 33 distinct ribotype groups using the restriction enzyme EcoRI; five ribotypes contained over 50% of the isolates. Only one EcoRl ribotype was comprised of multiple isolates (n = 4) exclusively recovered from tortoises with URTD. When the ten EcoRI ribotypes that contained more than one isolate per ribotype were further studied using a second restriction enzyme, EcoRV, one EcoRI/EcoRV ribotype contained five isolates recovered from URTD tortoises and none from healthy animals. The EcoRI ribotype comprised of four isolates, all from tortoises with URTD, was further separated into three distinct groups with EcoRV. All 12 isolates studied grew equally well in normal tortoise plasma, and when broth-grown WCP and OMP profiles were evaluated, no proteins were unique to isolates from URTD tortoises. Iron-regulated OMP's were produced in three isolates examined, but these OMP's apparently were not virulence-related.

An epizootic occurred among white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from July through October 1988 in Missouri (USA). From late July through September, nine necropsied deer had lesions of the peracute or acute forms of hemorrhagic disease (HD) or no apparent lesions, whereas two deer necropsied in October had lesions of the chronic form of HD. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus was isolated from two necropsied deer. Based on changes in population indices, there is evidence that deer populations declined in seven of Missouri's 57 deer management units from 1987 to 1990. Based on a deterministic model designed to simulate deer populations in management units, it appeared that summer and fall 1988 mortality ranging from 6% to 16% accounted for the population decreases in deer management units with population declines. Heavily hunted areas where high deer mortality was not reported in the summer and fall of 1988 did not have population declines. Based on these results, we believe that HD mortality was high and resulted in deer population declines in parts of Missouri when combined with hunting harvest.

Between 1986 and 1991, 155 wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) (33 adult females, 92 adult males, twelve 6 mo-old calves, eighteen 1 to 2 mo-old calves) in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, Northwest Territories, Canada, and adjacent area were captured by dart immobilization. Initial trials with carfentanil, xylazine and R51163 as immobilizing agents were conducted. Subsequently, carfentanil alone, or in combination with xylazine, was used. Small doses of xylazine were used when required to control head and hind limb movement of recumbent bison. The mean dose of carfentanil used was 7.0 µg/kg- Narcotic antagonists used were naltrexone, naloxone and M5050. Narcotic recycling was seen in animals treated with naloxone and low doses of naltrexone. Furthermore recycling was suspected in the deaths of several animals treated with these antagonist regimes. No recycling was seen when doses of naltrexone in excess of 90:1 naltrexone : carfentanil were used. We recommend using a naltrexone: carfentanil dose in excess of 125:1 to ensure uneventful recovery.

We immobilized 10 ocelots (Felis pardalis), and 21 bobcats (F. rufus) in south Texas (USA) during March to November 1991 with a mixture of ketamine hydrochloride (KH) and xylazine hydrochloride (XH); two ocelots were immobilized twice. Species were immobilized with (mean ± SE) 14.7 ± 1.6 mg KH/kg body mass for ocelots, 13.3 ± 1.8 mg KH/kg for bobcats, and 1.1 ± 0.1 mg XH/kg and 1.2 ± 0.1 mg XH/kg for ocelots and bobcats, respectively. Immobilization times in bobcats were longer (P = 0.08) than in ocelots. Adult female ocelots (18.5 ± 2.6 mg/kg) needed larger (P < 0.05) doses of KH than adult males (12.0 ± 1.7 mg/kg). Bobcats were immobilized during summer with lower initial (8.6 ± 0.9 mg/kg, P < 0.001) and total (10.1 ±1.3 mg/kg, P = 0.02) doses of KH than bobcats immobilized in winter (14.5 ± 1.0 mg/kg, and 18.5 ± 3.8 mg/kg, respectively); summer immobilization times (44.3 ± 3.8 min) were also shorter (P = 0.03) than during winter (59.1 ± 5.2 min). Bobcats immobilized during summer had lower (P < 0.01) initial rectal temperatures (39.4 ± 0.2 C) than bobcats trapped in winter (41.1 ± 0.4 C). Overall, we observed no effects of KH-XH dose on body temperature.

Concentrations of heavy metals (zinc, copper, cadmium, and iron) were measured in several tissues (brain, gizzard, leg-muscle, heart, breast-muscle, intestine, liver and kidney) of moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus), and coots (Fulica atra) collected between autumn 1985 and spring 1989 in northern Italy. Cadmium concentrations in the liver and kidney of water-rails (Rallus aquaticus) and in five species of Anatidae collected also were measured. High mean (±SD) copper levels were detected in aerobic muscles such as heart (38 ± 5 μg/g dry weight (DW)) and pectoral muscles (35 ± 7 μg/g DW). Compared to other tissues, the iron content of brain was rather low and constant, with a mean value of 160 ± 17 μg/g DW in moorhens, 157 ± 60 μg/g DW in black-headed gulls, and 157 ± 25 μg/g DW in coots. Iron concentrations in tissues of moorhens from the Reno River were significantly higher than those from the Sile River. Cadmium was detectable only in the liver and kidney; there was a linear relationship between cadmium levels in these two organs. The highest mean (±SD) cadmium concentrations were present in the kidney of black-headed gull (30 ± 20 μg/g DW).

The Conibear 330™ failed to render irreversibly unconscious in ≤3 min one lynx (Felis lynx) struck in the shoulders and two of eight lynx struck in the neck region, in simulated natural environments. A Conibear 330™ with two clamping bars rendered unconscious in ≤3 min eight lynx struck in the neck and one struck in the shoulders. The mean (±SE) times to loss of consciousness and heartbeat were 67.2 (±4.0) sec and 196.0 (±10.4) sec, respectively. This modified Conibear 330™ can be expected to render ≥70% of captured lynx irreversibly unconscious in ≤3 min (P < 0.05).

Sixteen American bison, Bison bison, were artificially infected with 10⁵ infective stage larvae of Ostertagia ostertagi on 21 April 1993. At 42 days post-infection eight bison were treated with 0.5% ivermectin pour-on (500 μg/kg bodyweight) and eight treated with the carrier only. Bison were necropsied 17 and 18 days post-treatment (21 and 22 June 1993, respectively). Mean (±SE) of 5,413 (±1,716) adults and 565 (±305) immature O. ostertagi were recovered at necropsy from bison treated with the carrier. No O. ostertagi were detected in bison treated with ivermectin pour-on. Based on the levels of the ivermectin marker metabolite in liver and adipose tissue 18 days post-treatment, the established bovine withdrawal time of 48 days appears adequate to insure that violative residues do not occur.

A serological survey for a range of avian paramyxoviruses (PMV) was carried out among wildfowl from southern Spain, 1990 to 1992, using the hemagglutination inhibition technique. We collected 579 sera from 24 avian families (18 aquatic and six non-aquatic). Antibodies were detected to all paramyxoviruses in waterfowl, with a notable prevalence of antibodies to PMV-8 (43%) and to a lesser extent PMV-6 (21%). By contrast, in non-aquatic species high antibody prevalences were detected only to PMV-2 (60%), particularly in sparrows (68%), while antibody prevalences to other PMV's were moderate or low.

In May 1991, clinical, pathologic, and virologic investigations were carried out on an 8-yr-old male lion (Panthera leo), with recurrent infections, in captivity with two lionesses in the Zoological Garden of Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy. The lion had severe pneumonia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and' an increase in blood urea nitrogen and creatininemia; in spite of therapy, it died within 3 months. At necropsy, the animal had a lymphoma and other lesions similar to those described in feline immunodeficiency virus-infected cats. We identified FIV gag-sequence using PCR amplification of lymph node tissues.

A 3-month-old lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) infant that died on 2 February 1985 in the Baltimore Zoo (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) due to fulminating Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis had congested, edematous lungs, and thickened and congested brain leptomeninges with a grayish-yellow fluid within the subarachnoid brain space. From bacterial cultures made postmortem of the subarachnoid brain space fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, throat secretions, nasal secretions, and lung fluid, we isolated pure cultures of group B streptococci, alpha hemolytic S. pneumoniae, type 19F (capsular). We also isolated Staphylococcus aureus and S. hemolytica from antemortem nasal and throat bacterial cultures from all 13 animals of the M. silenus colony. Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis in M. silenus has not been previously reported.

Nine Alaskan wolves (Canis lupus) were found dead during spring and summer 1985; five of seven animals tested for rabies virus were positive. The 1985 epizootic altered annual den use patterns by wolves in northeastern Alaska, but did not appear to affect population size. We propose that rabies in arctic wolves may be more common than previously thought.

Tuberculosis was found in a wild, mature male Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) at Hobart, Tasmania on 8 March 1992. We observed fibrogranulomatous and pyogranulomatous lesions in the lung, pleura, lymph nodes and spleen. The SDS/PAGE profile of this Tasmanian isolate was similar to other seal strains; however, differences were detected using pTBN12 and insertion sequence IS6110 probes.

We examined whether trichomoniasis had been a factor in a dramatic mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) population decline in Fillmore, Utah (USA). We reasoned that if we could not find a high proportion of doves showing clinical signs of disease then the population was not being affected. Prevalences of Trichomonas gallinae in doves were 21% for 1992 and 14% for 1993. We also examined 230 birds and found only one with oral lesions. These prevalences were similar to those observed at the same study site in the 1950's, or reported elsewhere. Based on our results, we believe that trichomoniasis was not affecting the Fillmore mourning dove population at the time of our study.

We detected no infections with species of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Sarcocystis or Trypanosoma in blood smears, liver and spleen impressions, and muscle tissue from 136 redheads (Aythya americana) collected or captured at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana (USA), during three winters (1987 to 1990). One bird, a juvenile male, was infected with an unidentified species of microfilaria. Thus, we found no evidence that hematozoa had an effect on redheads during the course of the study.

When using the Baermann technique to detect larvae of Parelaphostrongylus tenuis in deer feces, it is difficult to ensure that no larvae remain on glassware between samples. Of several cleaning methods tested here, emersion in 95% ethanol after flushing with hot or cold water was the most effective and practical.

Hematological parameters were measured in 14 fledgling Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), with the disease puffinosis and in 10 birds that did not have the disease, on the Island of Skomer between 2 and 11 September 1991. The mean plasma fibrinogen concentration was significantly higher in the diseased birds and some of these had abnormally elevated monocyte counts. No other significant differences were observed.

Iron is excluded from foci of hepatocellular alteration in carcinogenesis of rodents and some fish. Among white perch (Morone americana), there is a condition of hepatic copper storage in which copper-loaded livers are produced naturally. In a group of fish collected from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (USA), from September to December 1990, we observed hepatic lesions which excluded copper similar to the phenomenon of iron exclusion, in a white perch with over 3,600 μg/g wet weight hepatic copper. The lesions were of two types: one with cells morphologically different from normal hepatocytes and which had diminished to absolute exclusion of copper with the copper specific histochemical stain rubeinic acid, and a second with cells morphologically similar to normal hepatocytes which had only a partial exclusion of copper. Although the exact cause and nature of the lesions was not determined, intrinsic copper toxicity, environmental pollution, or a combination of these factors may have contributed to their development.