Sulphanilamide toxicity and crystalluria in a dog after suspected ingestion of a wound treatment ointment

A dog was presented in a comatose state with spastic convulsions. Five to six hours before admission the dog had been in a stableyard for some time. The dog recovered within three days, after symptomatic treatment with barbiturates and sodium bicarbonate. During the first day of observation, urinary examination revealed crystalluria, and the urinary precipitate consisted of sulphanilamide as identified by mass and infrared spectrometry. Sulphanilamide toxicity was diagnosed on the basis of the neurological disturbances and the concomitant presence of sulphanilamide crystals in the urine. The most plausible explanation of the accidental poisoning and unusual case of crystalluria was ingestion of a sulphanilamide-containing ointment used in the topical treatment of wounds and fetlock eczema in horses, to which the dog had access.     

A live Pasteurella haemolytica vaccine efficacy trial

A live Pasteurella haemolytica serotype 1 vaccine was used in an efficacy trial conducted on 100 lightweight feeder calves purchased from a Florida ranch. Forty-one calves were inoculated with the vaccine intradermally in the neck. Fifty-nine calves served as nonvaccinated controls. Fourteen days later, the calves were shipped to an order buyer in eastern Tennessee, where the calves were mixed with 60 local calves in a community sale barn for 72 hours. After 3 additional days, the calves were shipped to a research feedlot in Bushland, Tex. They remained in the feedlot for 56 days, and the test was concluded 76 days after vaccination. The P haemolytica vaccine had no significant effect on performance, morbidity, or mortality. There was no significant difference between the vaccinated and nonvaccinated calves in the number of times Pasteurella was isolated. The calves became seropositive to bovine viral diarrhea virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus during the 76-day experiment. All calves initially were seropositive to parainfluenza-3 virus. A virulent outbreak of IBR occurred 30 days after the calves arrived at the feedlot. Before the onset of IBR, the isolation of P haemolytica serotype 1 from nasal turbinates was rare (2 of 500 nasal swabs). After the IBR outbreak, P haemolytica serotype 1 was isolated from 40 of 92 calves.     

THE FIRST TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND

The veterinary literature of 1966–1986 was searched for articles and books related to the use of diagnostic ultrasound in animals. There were 492 references, categorized as follows: general, 30; small animal applications, 169; large animal applications, 248; blood pressure measurement, 23; ultrasound-guided biopsy, 4; miscellaneous, 18.     

DECREASED TOXICITY OF COPPER AND MANGANESE IONS TO SHRIMP NAUPLII (Penaeus stylirostris STIMPSON) IN THE PRESENCE OF EDTA

Although ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is used routinely in the intensive culture of penaeid shrimp larvae to increase both the percentage of eggs that hatch and the survival of larvae, the mode of action is not known. To explain EDTA's beneficial effect this study compares the toxicities of copper and manganese divalent ions in the presence and absence of 10 mg EDTA/liter seawater. Toxicity was evaluated in terms of the percentage of Penaeus stylirostris nauplii surviving after 12 and 24 hours of exposure to either copper or manganese and in terms of the percentage of nauplii that metamorphose to the protozoeal stage. In the absence of EDTA, copper and manganese ions were toxic to nauplii with copper causing 100% mortality at a much lower concentration (20 μM) than manganese (20,000 μM). In the presence of EDTA, survival of nauplii exposed to copper was increased but survival of nauplii exposed to manganese was not affected. At concentrations lower than the levels that reduce survival, copper ions (0.2 μM) and manganese ions (2 μM) reduce the percentage of nauplii that metamorphose to protozoea. In the presence of EDTA, the percentage of nauplii that metamorphose to protozoea is increased with both nauplii exposed to copper ions and nauplii exposed to manganese ions. The beneficial effects of EDTA are probably due to the chelation of copper and manganese ions by EDTA. Chelation lowers the free concentration of these ions and thus reduces their toxicities.