Tuberculosis in deer

Extract

It is an intriguing observation on the history of state veterinary medicine that major disease problems of the past usually generated less public debate than many of the minor problems of today; Mycobacterium bovis infection of cattle and farmed deer in New Zealand illustrates this paradox. It took many years of campaigning by a few dedicated individuals before a bovine tuberculosis eradication scheme was established, yet within a few months of the discovery of the same infection in farmed deer there have been numerous demands for government action.     

Malformity in deer

Extract

Sir, — An adult red deer (Cervus elaphus) hind captured from the Tararua Ranges in February 1980 was gifted to Massey University. A male calf was born in December, 1980, and was seen to be “suckling” on two occasions soon after birth. It was subsequently found dead and necropsy showed that no milk had been ingested and fat reserves were depleted indicating that it had died from starvation.     

Leptospirosis in deer

Extract

Sir:–A recent letter by Noeline Inglis dated 10th September 1984 in the October issue of your Journal is indeed interesting. I would however like to emphasise the danger of drawing too many conclusions from serological titres without supportive evidence from cultural isolations of the organism involved.     

Keratitis in red deer

Twenty-five of 40 red deer (Cervus elaphus) exhibited corneal opacities and ulceration resembling mild bovine infectious keratitis. Attempts to incriminate either a bacterial or viral causal agent were unsuccessful.

Subconjunctival injections of a penicillin/streptomycin mixture were administered in both eyes of affected and in-contact animals. Resolution over an 8 week period was uneventful.     

Yohimbine injection in deer

Abstract

Extract

Sir:— In the 12 months since the completion of the trials reported in this Journal(1) Mackintosh, C.G. and van Reenen, G. 1984. Comparison of yohimbine, 4-aminopyridine and doxapram antagonism of xylazine sedation in deer (Cervtis elaphus). N.Z. vet. J., 32: 217–217. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] over 3000 doses of yohimbine have been used to reverse xylazine sedation in deer at Invermay and in field trials throughout New Zealand. During this time four deer have suffered transient convulsions characterised by tetanic spasms, paddling of the limbs, inability to stand and rapid nodding of the head. This was accompanied by rapid blinking of the eyelids and grinding of the teeth. These signs abated in 5 to 10 minutes after which time the deer relaxed and regained its ftet in 10 to 20 minutes. In the 30 minutes prior to yohimbine administration these deer had received a single injection of xylazine (0.5 to 1.0 mg/kg) and on one occasion the xylazine was given in conjunction with Img of fentanyl and 8 mg azaperone (0.1 ml Fentaz). On each occasion the intention was to inject yohimbine at the recommended dose rate (1) Mackintosh, C.G. and van Reenen, G. 1984. Comparison of yohimbine, 4-aminopyridine and doxapram antagonism of xylazine sedation in deer (Cervtis elaphus). N.Z. vet. J., 32: 217–217. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] (0.2 to 0.25 mg/kg) into the jugular vein and the convulsions commenced within five seconds of this injection. Normally it takes one to three minutes for reversal ofxylazine sedation to occur. Thus it is highly likely that these injections were intra- carotid, thereby resulting in a very high concentration of yohimbine in the cranial arteries. All four animals recovered and there were no apparent after effects. These convulsions occured more rapidly hut were less severe than those expcrienced with the combination of yohimbine and 4-aminopyridine reported in the earlier trail.(1) Mackintosh, C.G. and van Reenen, G. 1984. Comparison of yohimbine, 4-aminopyridine and doxapram antagonism of xylazine sedation in deer (Cervtis elaphus). N.Z. vet. J., 32: 217–217. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]