Fatal toxoplasmosis and concurrent Calodium hepaticum infection in Korean squirrels (Tanias sibericus)

Four Korean squirrels (Tanias siberius) imported in Spain from People's Republic of China died 2 days after their arrival at a pet shop. They had neurological signs associated with generalized toxoplasmosis involving brain, lungs, liver, and the heart. Toxoplasma gondii-like tachyzoites and tissue cysts were found in organs of all four squirrels. The protozoa stained positively with T. gondii polyclonal antibodies and were ultrastructurally similar to T. gondii. Calodium (Capillaria) hepaticum infection was found in the liver of one squirrel.     

Investigation of field outbreaks of turkey haemorrhagic enteritis in Hungary

Epidemiological, pathological, serological and virological investigations are reported on turkey haemorrhagic enteritis virus (THEV) infection in Hungarian turkey flocks. The pathogenesis of infection in experimentally infected turkeys and chickens, as well as the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/sequencing method for epidemiological investigation and for the differentiation of vaccine and field strains of THEV was also studied. Since the first recognition of the disease in Hungary in the late 1970s, until recently the disease has been diagnosed sporadically in its mild form. In the last few years (2000-2005), however, the number of outbreaks and the severity of the disease increased (9-23 affected flocks/year). Most of the outbreaks occurred at the age of 6 to 8 weeks and was complicated with Escherichia coli infection. The antibody levels to THEV in turkey flocks gradually declined till 5-7 weeks of age, and then they increased sharply due to natural infection with THEV. The immune response to vaccination (at 5 weeks of age) showed no significant antibody level increase one week postvaccination, but four weeks later the antibody level reached high values and then remained at this high level. The agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test to detect turkey adenovirus A (TAdV-A) antigen and PCR methods for THEV-specific DNA gave similarly positive results if spleens with pathognomonic lesions were tested; however, PCR proved to be more sensitive in cases with less characteristic pathological lesions. Nucleotide sequence alignment of PCR products amplified from Hungarian field strains and the Domermuth vaccine strain and that of the published THEV hexon sequences in GenBank database revealed slight differences between the sequences.     

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Normal aerobic bacterial conjunctival flora in the Crab‐eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) and Coati (Nasua nasua) housed in captivity in pernambuco and paraiba (Northeast,Brazil)

Objective To determine the normal aerobic bacterial conjunctival population of the Coatis and the Crab‐eating raccoons housed in captivity in the Pernambuco and Paraiba states of Brazil. Animals studied Ten healthy Coatis and 10 healthy Crab‐eating raccoons were selected for this study. Animals are from three zoos situated at the Pernambuco and Paraiba States in the north‐east of Brazil. Procedures After ophthalmologic examination, swabs from healthy animals were carefully collected in order to avoid contamination. Samples were identified and submitted to the laboratory. Swabs were plated for culture on ovine blood agar (8%) and agar Levine and incubated at 37 °C and observed 24 and 48 h. Results Staphylococcus spp. was the most common microorganism isolated from conjunctival sac. Shigella spp. comprised the Gram‐negative genera isolated. Escherichia coli were isolated from the right eye of one Coati that had no growth at contralateral eye. Nine eyes from coatis and 10 from Crab‐eating raccoons had no microorganisms isolated. Conclusion Our results were in accordance with previous studies indicating Staphylococcus sp., followed by Corynebacterium spp. as the most common inhabitant of the eyes of most mammalian species.     

Prevalence and analysis of potential risk factors for Cryptosporidium parvum infection in lambs in Zaragoza (northeastern Spain)

An epidemiologic study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of and to identify factors associated with the risk of Cryptosporidium infection in sheep in Zaragoza (northeastern Spain). Faecal samples from 583 lambs aged from 1 day to 3 months and 205 ewes older than 1 year were collected at 89 farms in the two regions of the province of Zaragoza with the highest sheep population (Zaragoza and Ejea de los Caballeros). In every sheep farm, data of the factors potentially associated with the likelihood of C. parvum infection were analysed: geographical location, season, size of herd, number of lambs in the herd at sampling time, lambing period, cleaning of lambing area and presence of diarrhoeic lambs in the farm. C. parvum oocysts were identified by using the Ziehl-Neelsen technique in 344 lambs (59%) from 75 farms (84.4%). Infected lambs ranged from less than 7 days to 90 days of age, although the percentage of animals shedding oocysts peaked at 8-14 days of age (76.2%). Statistical analysis showed that infection rates were significantly higher in lambs aged between 1 and 21 days (66.4%) than in those aged between 22 and 90 days (23%) (P<0.0001, chi(2)). Analysis of correlation between excretion of oocysts and diarrhoea revealed a relationship in all age groups and the probability of presenting diarrhoea was significantly higher for lambs shedding oocysts (86.3%) than for those which did not excrete the parasite (32.2%) (P<0.0001, chi(2)). Similarly, cryptosporidial infection rates were significantly higher in diarrhoeic (79.4%) than in non-diarrhoeic lambs (22.4%). Furthermore, infection intensity was correlated with the presence of clinical symptoms. Presence of diarrhoeic lambs in the farm was the only factor significantly associated with an increased risk of infection since the percentage of herds testing positive was significantly higher in farms with diarrhoeic lambs (91.3%) than in those without cases of neonatal diarrhoea (12.5%) (P<0.0001, chi(2)). Factors associated with a decreased risk of C. parvum infection in lambs included low numbers of lambs in the farm and cleaning of the lambing area. Additionally, lambs 8-14 days of age were less likely to be infected at the first lambing period and in spring/autumn. Cryptosporidial infection was also detected in 16 ewes (7.8%) which excreted few oocysts and without diarrhoea.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Onchocerca lupi and its Wolbachia endosymbiont

The morphology of Onchocerca lupi, responsible for canine ocular onchocercosis, is unique within the genus. Earlier analyses of the 5S ribosomal RNA gene spacer region sequence of the parasite and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence of its Wolbachia endosymbiotic bacteria (Rickettsiales) supported the morphological and biological arguments that O. lupi is a distinct species. However, the exact phylogenetic position of O. lupi and its endosymbiont could not be unambiguously determined. Herein we report analyses based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene of the filarial species and the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) and the bacterial cell-cycle ftsZ genes of their wolbachiae. Our results indicate that O. lupi separated from other Onchocerca spp. early in evolution. This is in line with the previous morphological analysis demonstrating that O. lupi is an atypical Onchocerca species showing both primitive and evolved characters. The phylogenetic trees generated for the COI sequences of filariae and the wsp and ftsZ sequences of their wolbachiae were congruent with each other, which supports the hypothesis that nematodes and their Wolbachia endobacteria share a long co-evolutionary history.