Brucellosis associated with stillbirth in a bottlenose dolphin in Australia

A captive adult female bottlenose dolphin presented with stillbirth. The placenta appeared oedematous. No other gross lesions were evident in the placenta or the stillborn calf. Histopathology revealed mild multifocal placentitis and foetal encephalitis. Brucella sp. was isolated from lung, liver, spleen and kidney. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated this organism to be most similar to Brucella ceti sequence type (ST) 27. Brucella sp. DNA was detected in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded placenta and brain by real-time PCR using primers targeting the IS711 gene. Immunohistochemical staining revealed Brucella sp. antigen in placental inflammation. This is the first report of isolation of Brucella sp. from a marine mammal in the Southern Hemisphere and the first report of marine Brucella-associated disease in Australia.     

牦牛大肠埃希氏菌病灭活疫苗的制备

用本实验室分离鉴定的致病性牦牛大肠埃希氏菌，按常规方法制备了4批氢氧化铝胶灭活疫苗。对牦牛大肠埃希氏菌的菌液培养、纯粹检验、活菌计数、灭活等进行了探索，并对用该菌研制成的疫苗进行了常规检验。结果4批灭活疫苗经无菌检验为阴性；经物理性状检验为：静置后上层是淡黄色的澄明液体，下层为灰白色沉淀，振荡后呈均匀混浊液；经牦牛安全检验结果为安全；经牦牛效力试验有效。牦牛大肠埃希氏菌病灭活疫苗为免疫预防该病打下了良好的基础。     

Congenital hypothyroidism in a boxer dog

Congenital central hypothyroidism was diagnosed in a one-year-old boxer dog. The dog was presented for investigation of lameness, lethargy and obesity. Survey skeletal radiographs revealed delayed bone maturation and epiphyseal dysgenesis. A diagnosis of hypothyroidism was confirmed on the basis of a low basal serum thyroxine (T₄) concentration that failed to increase following bovine thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) administration. However, repeated administration of TSH resulted in reactivation of the thyroid gland suggesting a central rather than a primary problem. Consistently low basal plasma Cortisol concentrations were suggestive of a concurrent secondary or tertiary hypoadrenocorticism. Surprisingly, plasma growth hormone concentrations were elevated before treatment but decreased once thyroid replacement therapy had commenced.     

Feline melanoma: a comparative study of ocular, oral, and dermal neoplasms

Melanomas diagnosed in 29 cats over an 11 year period included 19 ocular (16 intraocular, three palpebral), five oral, and five dermal melanomas. Intraocular melanomas involved the ciliary body and iris in 12; the whole eye was involved in four. The average age of cats with intraocular melanomas was 11 years; the female : male ratio was 9 : 7. Histologically, eight intraocular tumors were mixed, six were epithelioid, and two were spindle cell. Ten of 16 cats (62.5%) with intraocular melanomas were killed because of the tumor at a mean of 156 days; four are living with no evidence of disease (average, 255 days). The mean time of death in cats with palpebral melanoma was 409 days. Metastasis occurred in 63% of cats with intraocular melanoma and all cats with palpebral melanoma. Four cats with oral melanoma were killed at a mean of 61 days; all had metastasis. Of five cats with cutaneous melanoma, one was killed with metastasis at 90 days; three cats were alive without evidence of recurrence or metastasis greater than 365 days after surgery. Results of this study indicate that in the cat, ocular melanomas are more common than oral and dermal melanomas, and ocular and oral melanomas are more malignant than dermal melanomas, with higher rates of mortality and metastasis.     

Historical, clinical and laboratory features of 126 hyperthyroid cats.

The historical and clinical features and the haematological and biochemical changes in 126 cats with hyperthyroidism are described; 125 of the cats were domestic short- or longhaired, and one was a chinchilla. There were 62 males and 64 females with a mean age of 13.0 years. The duration of signs ranged from two days to two years with a mean of 5.4 months. The historical and clinical features were weight loss, polyphagia, polyuria/polydipsia, tachycardia, hyperactivity, diarrhoea, respiratory abnormalities, other cardiac abnormalities, skin lesions, vomiting, moderately raised temperature, decreased activity, decreased appetite, congestive cardiac failure, haematuria and intermittently decreased appetite. Goitre was palpable in 123 cats. The serum total thyroxine concentrations of the cats were more than three standard deviations above the mean of the reference range. Serum total tri-iodothyronine concentrations ranged from 0.78 to 14.96 nmol/litre and were within the reference range in 11 of the cats. Mild hyperthyroidism was a much commoner cause of high normal or marginally above normal thyroid hormone concentrations than severe, concurrent, non-thyroidal illness. Other common biochemical changes were increased of serum alanine aminotransferase, urea, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase. There were minimal changes in the red cell parameters. Leucocyte changes showed two trends: a mature neutrophilia, either with or without an accompanying leucocytosis often in association with a lymphopenia, or an eosinophilia, either with or without a lymphocytosis.     

Seismic-wave attenuation associated with crustal faults in the new madrid seismic zone

The attenuation of upper crustal seismic waves that are refracted with a velocity of about 6 kilometers per second varies greatly among profiles in the area of the New Madrid seismic zone in the central Mississippi Valley. The waves that have the strongest attenuation pass through the seismic trend along the axis of the Reelfoot rift in the area of the Blytheville arch. Defocusing of the waves in a low-velocity zone and/or seismic scattering and absorption could cause the attenuation; these effects are most likely associated with the highly deformed rocks along the arch. Consequently, strong seismic-wave attenuation may be a useful criterion for identifying seismogenic fault zones.