Spirometra erinacei / S. erinaceieuropaei in a feral cat in Manawatu with chronic intermittent diarrhoea

CASE HISTORY: A feral cat captured in the Manawatu region of New Zealand was treated for worms and fleas, and kept confined in a metabolic cage. It showed good appetite and weight gain but had intermittent watery, yellow diarrhoea.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: Clinical examination under sedation was unremarkable and routine blood tests showed no significant abnormalities. The cat was negative for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV). Different canned cat foods did not alter the course of the diarrhoea, and the cat was euthanised 6 months after capture. At necropsy, two sections of adult Spirometra tapeworms were found in the jejunum and typical Spirometra eggs were found in colonic contents. Molecular identification of the parasite was undertaken, using the cytochrome- c oxidase subunit-1 gene (cox1) sequence.

DIAGNOSIS: Chronic intermittent diarrhoea associated with Spirometra erinacei / S. erinaceieuropaei infection.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Spirometra has not been reported in New Zealand before but has been associated with gastrointestinal disease in cats in other parts of the world. It requires speciestargeted treatment to be eliminated effectively, and is zoonotic. Diagnosis could be diffi cult for clinicians who are not familiar with the parasite and its life cycle.     

THE ASSOCIATION OF MANGANESE AND COBALT IN SOILS—FURTHER OBSERVATIONS

Soil Mn was mineralized either as birnessite or lithiophorite in five out of seven widely distributed soils taken from Bermuda, Europe, and the Middle East countries. The majority of the soil Co was associated with these minerals. This agrees with earlier work on Mn in Australian soils and suggests that these two minerals are the most common soil forms of secondary Mn minerals.     

Canine respiratory virus infections

The aetiology and pathogenesis of canine respiratory disease is complex. Current research has implicated a number of viruses in this important disease problem. Distemper virus, two adenoviruses (ICH virus and A26/61 virus), herpesvirus and reovirus have all been isolated from the respiratory tract of dogs and are all capable of causing respiratory lesions in experimental animals. The general features of each of these virus infections are discussed.
Résumé. L'étiologie et la pathogenèse des maladies respiratoires chez le chien est complexe. Une recherche en cours a impliqué un nombre de virus dans cette maladie qui pose un problème important. Le virus de la maladie du jeune âge chez le chien, les adénovirus twp (le virus ICH et le virus A 26/61), le virus de l'herpts et le réovirus ont été tous isolés des voies respiratoires de chiens et sont tous susceptibles de causer des lesions respiratoires chez des animaux expérimentaux. On discute des traits généraux de chacune de ces infections par virus.
Zusammenfassung. Die Ätiologie und Pathogenese von Hunde-Atmungskrankheiten ist komplex. Gegenwärtige Forschung hat eine Reihe von Viren mit diesem wichtigen Krankheitsproblem in Verbindung gebracht. Staupevirus, twp Adenovirus (ICH Virus und A26/61 Virus), Herpesvirus und Reovirus wurden alle vom Luftweg von Hunden isoliert und sind alle fähig Atemläsionen in Versuchstieren zu verursachen. Die allgemeinen Merkmale von diesen Virusinfektionen wurden erörtet.     

Pharmacokinetics of hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier hemoglobin-glutamer-200 bovine (oxyglobin) in the horse

Oxyglobin (OXY) is a hemoglobin‐based oxygen carrier (HBOC) made of glutaraldehyde‐polymerized bovine hemoglobin (bHb). Products similar to OXY are under development for use as temporary blood substitutes in trauma, shock and anemia. Since they all may increase blood O₂‐carrying capacity and thus, possibly tissue oxygenation, they may also be used to enhance performance of both equine and human athletes. That is why HBOCs are banned from use in athletic competition. Our goal was to determine the pharmacokinetics of OXY after intravenous (IV) infusion to horses. Blood and urine samples were collected from adult horses that received an IV dose of 32.5 g of OXY. Concentrations of OXY in plasma and urine were quantified using a newly developed LC/Q‐TOF‐MS/MS detection technique. Level of quantification (LOQ) was 50 μg mL^–1. The decline of the plasma concentration‐time curve of the HBOC was described by a 2‐compartment model (C1 and C2). The median distribution alpha (t1/2k1,0) and elimination beta (t1/2k2,0) half‐lives were 1.3 and 12.0 hours, respectively. The bHb molecules in OXY are not of uniform size and vary substantially in molecular weight (MW). Of the OXY molecules 53% were eliminated in C1, which represented the smaller MW molecules and 47% in C2, which represented the larger MW bHb. The maximal 0‐time plasma concentration was 662.0 μg/mL and declined to 97.1 μg mL^–1 at 24 h. The area below the plasma concentration‐time curve was 5143 μg h^–1 mL^–1. The volumes of C₁ and C₂ were 86.9 and 63.9 mL kg^–1, respectively. Oxyglobin was not detected in urine. This study shows the detection and quantification in equine plasma of a HBOC following IV infusion and demonstrates the short half‐life of about 50% of infused bHb molecules.