Intracardiac foreign body in a dog

A dog that was referred to the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center was discovered to have a bamboo skewer within the right atrium and right ventricle, traversing the tricuspid valve. The skewer was ingested approximately four months prior to referral and was partially removed via gastrotomy. The presenting complaint at the time of referral included coagulopathy, anemia and leukocytosis. A linear, hyperechoic structure was identified in the right heart during an echocardiogram. The foreign body was suspected to be a portion of the skewer that the patient had previously ingested. Cardiopulmonary bypass was performed and the foreign body was removed successfully. Complications following surgery included the development of tricuspid valve and ventricular wall thrombi, atrial flutter and amiodarone toxicity. Many indications have been described in the veterinary literature for cardiopulmonary bypass. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, successful removal of an intracardiac foreign body with cardiopulmonary bypass has not been reported in a veterinary patient. This represents a new indication for cardiopulmonary bypass in veterinary medicine.     

Decline and likely extinction of a northern Australian native rodent, the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus

Contemporary fire patterns are considered the most likely cause for regional population decline amongst small to medium mammals in northern tropical Australia. Here we assess the extinction risk faced by a vulnerable north Australian native rodent, the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat Conilurus penicillatus in relation to fire frequency. This species has recently suffered a significant contraction in range. We provide the first quantitative evidence to demonstrate the immediate threat destructive wildfires and regular annual fire pose to the long-term population persistence of C. penicillatus. We show that late-dry season fires cause a reduction in both juvenile and adult survival probabilities. However, abundance declined at the unburnt as well as a frequently burnt site, suggesting that fire exclusion alone does not guarantee the species’ long-term persistence. Our model projections indicate that the remaining populations of C. penicillatus on the Northern Territory mainland risk extirpation within the next ten years. Conservation requires decisive management action to ameliorate extensive and destructive fires. A multi-faceted management plan needs to focus on restoring a fire management regime which generates a fine-scale mosaic of burnt and unburnt habitat, and the release of captive bred animals into fenced reserves free of exotic predators.     

Chemical precursors for studying the effects of glucosinolate catabolites on diseases and pests of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) or related plants

A range of 3, 5-disubstituted 1,3, 5-thiadiazinane-2-thiones are described which decompose in moist air to give organic isothiocyanates. Organic isothiocyanates are the main biologically active catabolites from the glucosinolate components of crucifers. The thiadiazinanethiones provide a source of organic isothiocyanates for biological studies and examples of tests with pathogens and insect pests of oilseed rape are given.     

Age, geographic, and temporal distribution of fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in cow-calf herds

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium parvum from California cow-calf herds with respect to age, geographic region, temporal effects, and association with watery feces. ANIMALS: Cows and calves from 38 beef cow-calf operations. PROCEDURE: Fecal specimens were collected and examined for C parvum oocysts, using immunofluorescent microscopy. Associations between age, geographic region, month of collection, watery feces, and likelihood of shedding C parvum were evaluated. RESULTS: 3.9% of cattle were shedding C parvum oocysts. Prevalence of shedding among calves ranged from 0 to 13%, and was 0.6% among cattle > or = 12 months old. The odds of shedding C parvum among 2-month-old calves were 41 times greater than among cattle > 4 months old. The odds of shedding C parvum among cattle tested in May were 8.7 times greater than among cattle tested during June, July, or August. The odds of infected individuals having watery feces were 3 to 4 times greater than for noninfected individuals, but the etiologic fraction was only 8 to 9%. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Substantial fecal shedding of C parvum by cow-calf herds was limited to calves 1 to 4 months old, with low prevalence detected in older animals. Risk of contamination of watersheds with C parvum was limited to those periods when young calves were in the herd. Although the odds of having watery feces were greater for animals infected with C parvum than for noninfected animals, the low etiologic fraction suggests that most calves with watery feces were not infected with C parvum.     

Tail-base mass from a "horse of a different color"

A 14-year-old bay Thoroughbred gelding was presented for evaluation of a mass at the base of the tail. The mass had been present for 1 year, and recently had begun to increase in size. Additional masses were found around the eye and shoulder. A fine-needle aspirate of the tail-base mass revealed highly anaplastic round to polyhedral cells containing dark green to black cytoplasmic granules interpreted to be melanin. Histologically, the mass was composed of pleomorphic, poorly pigmented, round to polyhedral cells interpreted to be neoplastic melanocytes. With immunohistochemistry, the cells were positive for vimentin and S-100, but negative for pancytokeratin and Melan-A. The cytologic and histopathologic diagnoses were amelanotic melanoma. The horse was treated with cimetidine, but the tumor continued to progress. In this report, we describe the cytopathologic features of an aggressive amelanotic melanoma in a non-grey horse and emphasize the unique correlation between cytologic and histologic findings.     

Detection of Escherichia coli Shiga toxin (stx) and enterotoxin (estA and elt) genes in fecal samples from non-diarrheic and diarrheic greyhounds

Virulence factors responsible for acute diarrhea in greyhounds have not been well established. The objective of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between disease and the presence of the Escherichia coli toxin genes in non-diarrheic and diarrheic greyhound feces. DNA extracted from broth cultures was evaluated for the presence of Shiga toxin and enterotoxin genes and broth samples were evaluated for Shiga toxin and heat-labile enterotoxin. Shiga toxin (stx1 and stx2) and enterotoxin (et and estA) genes were identified in both non-diarrheic and diarrheic samples after in vitro cultured of swabs at 37 degrees C for 16-24h. The stx1 gene was present in 3% of non-diarrheic and 15% diarrheic samples and the stx2 gene was identified in 36 and 23%, non-diarrheic and diarrheic samples, respectively. Shiga toxin was present in 48% diarrheic and 25% of the non-diarrheic in vitro cultured samples. The elt gene was detected in vitro cultured swabs in 12% of the non-diarrheic and 7% of the diarrheic samples. Labile toxin was present in the feces of small numbers of both groups of dogs. A significant correlation existed between the presence of both stx1 genes and Shiga toxin in feces, and lack of disease in non-diarrheic (P=0.01) and presence of disease in diarrheic (P=0.024) greyhounds. Correlation between production of Shiga toxin and detection of stx1 or stx2 was significant in both the diarrheic and non-diarrheic feces (P=0.03); however, only the presence of stx1 correlated with diarrhea in both groups of samples (P<0.008). The incidence of toxigenic E. coli in both non-diarrheic and diarrheic greyhounds indicates a zoonotic potential from dogs to humans and requires further study.