ISOLATION OF CHLAMYDIA PSITTACI FROM CATS WITH CONJUNCTIVITIS

SUMMARY Chlamydia psittaci was repeatedly demonstrated in stained smears of conjunctival scrapings from a group of cats in a single household and in 5 instances the organism was isolated by yolk sac inoculation of 6-day-old specific pathogen free, embryonated hen eggs. Thirteen of 15 cats in the cattery developed conjunctivitis at various times over a 9-month period. The outstanding features of the disease were its severity, chronicity and refractoriness to treatment. Prolonged (2 week) treatment with tetracycline was required to effect clinical recovery. Nine of 14 cats in the household developed significant complement-fixing (CF) antibody titres (>128) to the chlamydia group antigen. A single serum from the owner had a titre of 32 although no associated illness was recognised. Of 134 serums collected from random source cats aged 1 month to 16 years, 17 (12.7%) also contained CF antibody to chlamydia group antigen. This is the first report of the isolation of chlamydia from cats with conjunctivitis outside North America and the first report to indicate general incidence figures for chlamydia infection of cats where vaccination is not used.     

THE ISOLATION OF PICORNAVIRUSES FROM CATS WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE

One hundred and sixty samples including nasal swabs, conjunctival swabs, lung tissue, swabs of tonsil and an oral swab were taken from 59 cats suffering from respiratory disease. Thirty-nine of the specimens (from 23 cats) contained agents that produced a rapid cytopathic effect in cultures of feline kidney cells. Two of the isolates were studied in detail, and they were found to be resistant to lipid solvents, stable at pH 5 but not at pH 3, able to pass through a 50 mμ filter and not stabilized to inactivation at 50°C in the presence of molar concentrations of MgCl₂. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations revealed particles about 45 mμ in diameter that lacked an outer envelope. These properties indicate that the agents are feline picornaviruses.
Antibodies to one of the isolates were present in 14 of 56 cat serums. Four kittens inoculated with picornaviruses developed upper respiratory tract disease, but 3 died with signs of enteritis possibly caused by concurrent infection with pan-leucopenia virus. Picornaviruses were isolated from nasal swabs from 3 of these kittens, and from lung and spleen of the other.     

THE ISOLATION OF MYCOPLASMAS FROM CATS WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE

Mycoplasma were isolated from 11 of 160 samples from cats with respiratory disease. Most isolations were made from nasal swabs. Two of the isolates were tested for metabolic activity, and one fermented glucose while the other metabolized arginine. Metabolism-inhibiting antibodies active against the arginine metabolizing mycoplasmas were present in 6 of 20 cats serums at titres of from 1/2 to 1/8. Antibodies against the glucose fermenting mycoplasma were not present in any of the 20 serums.     

国内火鸡体内霉形体的分离与鉴定

从北京和呼和浩特市4个火鸡场的95只火鸡、50只火鸡胚和42份精液样品中分离到15个分离物,用国际霉形体分类分会推荐的生化、遗传学和血清学方法证明其中有两个分离物是两种霉形体混合物,共17株霉形体。所有分离物在无抑菌剂的培养基上连续传代5次未出现细菌形态、对毛地黄皂苷敏感、不水解尿素、DNA的G C含量介于26-34mol％之间。生长抑制试验和间接表面免疫荧光技术的试验结果将其中的15个株分属于霉形体属的5个种,即鸡毒霉形体(Mycoplasma gallisepticum)4株、滑液霉形体(M.synoviae)2株、衣阿华霉形体(M.iowae)1株、鸡霉形体(M.gallinarum)和雏鸡霉形体(M.pullorum)各4株。其余2株也属霉形体属,但尚未鉴定到种。     

ISOLATION OF CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI FROM POULTRY CARCASES

SUMMARY Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 94% of chicken carcase rinses collected in a Queensland poultry abattoir. Direct plating resulted in the isolation of the organism from 84% of the rinses. A further 10% were found to contain C. jejuni by a procedure of selective enrichment and membrane filtration. Counts of C. jejuni on the carcases ranged from 0 to 1.1 times 10⁵ organisms per carcase.     

ISOLATION OF A HAEMAGGLUTINATING ADENO-LIKE VIRUS RELATED TO VIRUS 127 FROM AN AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FLOCK WITH AN EGG DROP SYNDROME

An egg drop syndrome within Australian broiler poultry is described. The syndrome was characterised by delayed onset of laying, a lower peak in egg production and a drop in egg production shortly after reaching peak production. Antibody to virus 127 was detected in 102 of 106 fowl serums tested. Two haemagglutinating viruses were isolated from one affected flock and one was subjected to further study. It was adenovirus-like on electron-microscopic examination and haemagglutination was not inhibited by a specific antiserum to Newcastle disease virus. An antiserum was raised in White Leghorn fowl against the isolate and this antiserum was found to cross-react with virus 127, a prototype virus of Egg Drop Syndrome 76.