Thrombocytosis in 24 Horses (1989–1994)

The records of horses presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine between January 1, 1989 and April 30, 1994 were evaluated to determine risk factors associated with thrombocytosis. Of the 2,346 horses for which a CBC was performed, 24 (1.0%) had a platelet count > 400,000/μL. Demographic, diagnostic, physical examination, and clinicopathologic variables from these cases were compared with a reference population consisting of 189 horses with a normal platelet count presenting during the same period. Infectious/inflammatory disorders were observed more commonly in horses with high platelet counts than in horses with normal platelet counts. Initial independent evaluation of demographic variables revealed that horses more than 3 years of age, females, and geldings were less likely to have thrombocytosis than were younger horses or stallions. Independent analysis of clinicopathologic variables revealed that horses with thrombocytosis were more likely to have hyper-fibrinogenemia, leukocytosis, hypoproteinemia, and anemia than were horses with normal platelet counts. Physical examination parameters associated with thrombocytosis included tachycardia and pyrexia. In the final multivariable model, the variables with the strongest association with thrombocytosis included leukocytosis, anemia, and hyper-fibrinogenemia. Thrombocytosis rarely causes clinical problems in horses and is not likely to require specific antiplatelet therapy. The strong association of thrombocytosis with infectious/inflammatory disorders, however, should lead clinicians to suspect these types of conditions in horses with high platelet counts.     

DISSEMINATED HISTOPLASMOSIS WITH OSSEOUS LESIONS IN A CAT WITH FELINE LYMPHOSARCOMA

A cat was presented with a non-weight-bearing lameness of the left thoracic limb, painful joints and lymphadenopathy. Marked bilateral osteolysis of the distal radial and ulnar metaphyses was detected radiographically. A post mortem diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis and feline lymphosarcoma was made.     

An experimental investigation of the postparturient rise of faecal egg count of Ostertagia circumcincta as a source of infection for lambs

A group of three ewes and six lambs running on worm free pasture exposed to infection arising from a stimulated postparturient rise of faecal egg count was compared with a similar group not exposed to a postparturient rise. The second group remained almost worm free and gained weight steadily whilst the first acquired a high worm burden and ceased to gain weight from the time they began to acquire worms. Methods of controlling the worm infection and preventing weight loss are discussed.     

Multidrug-resistant bacterial ingluvitis associated with squamous cell carcinoma in a budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus).

A 2-year-old budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) was presented to the Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for chronic regurgitation. Multiple drug-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca was cultured from the crop. Necropsy revealed a mass in the crop that was histologically diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of SCC in a budgerigar associated with a multidrug-resistant bacterial ingluvitis.     

Probabilistic models of fire occurrence across National Park Service units within the Mojave Desert Network,USA

The frequency and size of wildfires within the Mojave Desert are increasing, possibly due to climate and land cover changes and associated increases in non-native invasive plant biomass, as measured by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). These patterns are of particular concern to resource managers in regions where native plant communities are not well adapted to fire. We used an information-theoretic and mixed-model approach to quantify the importance of multiple environmental variables in predicting, separately, the probabilities of occurrence of all fires and the occurrence large (>20 ha) fires in five management units administered by the National Park Service in the Mojave Desert Network and based on fire ignition data obtained for the period 1992–2011. Fire occurrence was strongly associated with areas close to roads, high maximum NDVI values in the year preceding ignition, the desert montane ecological zone, and high topographic roughness. Large fire probability was strongly associated with lightning-caused ignition events, high maximum NDVI values in the spring preceding ignition, high topographic roughness, the middle-elevation shrubland ecological zone, and areas further from roads. Our probabilistic models and maps can be used to explore patterns of fire occurrence based upon variability in NDVI values and to assess the vulnerability of Mojave Desert protected areas to undesirable fire events.     

Mixed lymphocyte reaction: an in vitro test for antilymphocytic serum activity

When Lewis rats were exposed to antilymphocytic serum, produced in rabbits, to Lewis lymphoid cells, the transformation of their thoracic duct lymphocytes in response to foreign lymphoid cells was markedly reduced in comparison with that in response to similar cells from donors treated with saline or normal rabbit serum. It is suggested that the mixed lymphocyte reaction may be used as an in vitro test for the in vivo activity of antilymphocytic serum.