Diseases occurring in captive waterfowl at an Ontario park maintained for research and public education were studied over a three-year period, 1967–1970. Organic diseases, probably causally associated with stresses of captivity, were the most serious mortality factors. These diseases were amyloidosis, myocardial infarction, and gout. With the exception of aspergillosis and one serious outbreak of Pasteurella anatipestifer infection, infectious diseases were of secondary importance.

Setaria yehi Desset, 1966, is reported from domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus Linnaeus), maintained at College and Cantwell, Alaska. Microfilariae were present in blood from reindeer harboring S. yehi. Gross and microscopic findings in the infected animals revealed a low-grade peritonitis. Caribou, moose, dairy cows, goats, and dogs examined in the local areas were negative for microfilariae.

The incidence of helminth parasites in snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) was studied in 1957–1962 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Seventy-five hares were examined for the presence of all helminths, 210 only for certain parasites. Adult tapeworms were present in 5 of 75 (6.7%) hares examined, cysticerci of Taenia pisiformis in 88 of 210 (41.9%), and coenuri of Multiceps sp. in 15 of 179 (8.4%). Nine genera of nematodes were found. Obeliscoides cuniculi occurred most frequently, Nematodirus sp. least frequently. Protostrongylus sp. and Obeliscoides cuniculi appeared to produce pathogenic effects, and Multiceps sp. and Dirofilaria scapiceps may have impaired movement of some hares.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus was present in brook trout in two Ontario salmonid hatcheries but did not appear to cause high mortality. Experiments and field observations showed that a number of factors were responsible for the low mortality, in particular, low water temperatures during the age of highest susceptibility of the fry and a lack of, or low level of transmission of virus during these periods of cold water temperatures.

An infection of Capillaria hepatica found in a spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) from Highlands County, Florida, apparently constitutes the first record of this parasite in a wild carnivore.

Hematological values, including erythrocyte counts, hematocrit and hemoglobin values, and total and differential leucocyte counts, were measured at approximately 30-day intervals during a calendar year in adult snow (Chen caerulescens), blue (Chen caerulescens) and Canada geese (Branta canadesis interior). Blood samples from approximately 10 birds (range 3–14) of each type of goose were examined at each bleeding period. Erythrocyte counts for snow and blue geese were very similar and slightly higher than those recorded for Canada geese. Seasonal trends were evident for erythrocyte, hematocrit, and hemoglobin measurements. The highest erythrocyte counts occurred during the winter and spring; the lowest during the summer. Hematocrit and hemoglobin values were highest in the winter and early spring and at their lowest level in the fall. Total and differential leucocyte counts revealed no obvious species or seasonal variations. There were no hematological differences detected between males and females. This is the first report of a detailed hematological study of snow, blue, and Canada geese.

Contracaecum spp. (Nematode: Ascaroidea) caused gastric ulcers in a Steller sea lion from the California coast and a white pelican from Tule Lake, California. The parasite penetrated deeply into the gastric wall, causing extensive inflammtory reaction. A hyaline material formed a mold surrounding the head of the nematode in the granulation tissue.

Vibrio anguillarum was identified as the causative agent of an epizootic in tropical freshwater fishes. It was pathogenic for selected species of other freshwater fishes, and was isolated from inoculated gravid guinea pigs, and their fetuses and dead young. Gross and microscopic lesions are described.

Microscopic lesions caused by helminths discussed in this paper are verminous pneumonia, gastric ulcers, and ulcerative enterocolitis in the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus); biliary fibrosis and pulmonary granulomas in the dall porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli); and gastric fibrosis in an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and a Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops gilli).

Agglutinating antibody responses of several Atlantic bottlenose dolphins were measured after exposure to live and killed Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae vaccines. The live product was found to stimulate antibody production better than the killed bacterin. An immunization schedule utilizing an initial exposure to the bacterin with subsequent exposures with the live vaccine product is proposed.

One hundred and thirteen African buffalo, Syncerus caffer, from two areas of Uganda were examined for Elaeophora poeli. The parasite was not found in 69 buffalo from the West Acholi District but was present in the aorta of 6 (14%) of 44 buffalo from the Queen Elizabeth Park. It was also found on the surface of the heart of a seventh animal. The gross appearance of the seven infections are described and illustrated. Male buffalo over 5 years of age were most frequently infected.

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were immunized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Groups of catfish, housed in cages in a pond, were immunized by intramuscular (IM) injection of single doses of BSA or VSV or 2 doses of BSA or VSV given 1 week apart. Other groups of catfish were immunized with 1 IM injection of BSA or VSV incorporated in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA). The antibody responses were measured at weekly intervals. Passive hemagglutination was used for detection of anti-BSA antibodies, and serumneutralization was used for detection of anti-VSV antibodies. A significant antibody response occurred in those catfish immunized with either BSA or VSV incorporated in FCA. One injection of BSA or VSV in physiologic saline induced little or no detectable antibody production. Two injections of BSA or VSV in physiologic saline induced a slight transcient antibody response between the third and fourth week post-injection.

A polydactylous right front foot was collected from a 5-year-old female barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) in northwestern Manitoba (59°21′N, 100°13′W). We determined by gross visual and radiographic examination that the foot had a complete extra digit in the position of the ancestral 1st digit. This is the first account of a polydactylous foot in the genus Rangifer.

Disseminated toxoplasmosis was diagnosed in saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) from a Canadian zoo. Multiple foci of necrosis were found in most tissues of the animals. Toxoplasma cysts were found in association with these lesions. Toxoplasma trophozoites were recovered from mice injected with infected tissues. Subsequent to his examination of the infected saigas, enlarged lymph nodes in the author were diagnosed as toxoplasmic lymphadenitis.

A description is given of the cutaneous lesions associated with Filaria taxideae Keppner, 1970 infections in badgers, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1778), from Wyoming. Female F. taxideae migrated into the dermis of the host and deposited their ova beneath the epidermis. Lesions developed gradually around the groups of ova, and no haemorrhagic lesions were observed on gross examination. First-stage larvae were observed at the periphery of developing and healed lesions along with embryonated ova. A comparison is made with the formation of the cutaneous lesions associated with the closely related Parafilaria Yorke and Maplestone, 1926.

Twenty-eight Pacific pilot whales (Globicephala scammoni) swam ashore on San Clemente Island off southern California on 8 January 1971. Investigation of the stranding led to collection of information on the bacteriology, reproductive tissue histopathology, liver mercury and DDE contents, and herd statistics of the species. These data together with the knowledge that squid were spawning just offshore and the meteorological conditions at the time led the authors to conclude that the stranding was a natural event precipitated by these optimal biological, beach, and tide conditions.

Immature sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) responded to the intraperitoneal injection of heat-killed, adjuvant-suspended cells of the salmonid kidney disease bacterium by producing agglutinins specific for the pathogen. These antibodies were detectable for at least 16 months following a single injection. With water temperatures of 12–15 C which prevailed during the first 100 days following this injection, the response was rather slow to develop, and whether or not antibodies were produced in this period, depended on the dose of antigen given. Under a similar temperature regime, a second injection, given 13 months after the first, elicited a clear-cut anamnestic response. Ninety days following primary and secondary vaccination, maximum agglutinating titres were 1:2,560 and 1:10,240, respectively.

Electrophoregrams of sera from vaccinated fish revealed the presence of one, and sometimes two, fractions of low mobility. These fractions occurred in the gamma and beta regions, and contained antibody. They were most distinct in sera with high titres; they were not observed in sera from non-vaccinated controls (these typically showed three major components of higher mobility); and they were selectively removed when sera were adsorbed with cells of the kidney disease bacterium. Some properties of the antibodies were studied.