Severe Neutropenia Associated With Griseofulvin Therapy in Cats With Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Griseofulvin administration was associated with the development of absolute neutropenia in six of seven (86%) cats with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection. The neutropenia was severe (less than 400 neutrophils/microliter) in four of the six affected cats, and one cat died from sepsis. Neutrophil counts returned to baseline values within 15 days after drug withdrawal in all surviving cats. No symptoms or hematologic abnormalities were observed in four normal (FIV-seronegative) cats treated with the same lot of griseofulvin at equivalent doses. Neutropenia recurred in two of two FIV-seropositive cats upon griseofulvin rechallenge. Cats with FIV infections appear to be at increased risk for griseofulvin-associated neutropenia. This phenomenon may be analogous to the increased frequency of antibiotic-induced neutropenias observed in humans infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.     

Congenital cataracts in an Ayrshire herd: a herd case report

Background

Microbiological standards within pork slaughter processing plants in the European Union are currently governed by Commission Regulation (EC) 2073/2005, which describes detailed performance criteria at specific stages of the procedure (following carcass dressing and before chilling) for total viable counts (TVC), Enterobacteriaceae (EB) and Salmonella spp. In this study, 95 carcasses from an Irish pork slaughter plant were sampled by swabbing 100 cm² of surface at three sites (belly, ham, jowl) to examine the effects of eight processing stages (stunning, bleeding, scalding, singeing, polishing, evisceration, final inspection and chilling) on contamination levels.

Results

TVC ranged from approximately 1.7–6.3 log cfu cm² during sampling. There were significant reductions in TVC for all sites after scalding and singeing (p < 0.05), whilst there was a significant increase in counts after polishing and evisceration (p < 0.05) compared with preceding stages. EB counts indicated hygienic weak points in the examined slaughter plant leading to faecal (cross)-contamination, with elevated counts after stunning, bleeding and evisceration (p < 0.05), compared with final counts after chilling.

Conclusions

Although the bacterial numbers reported in this study may reflect specific plant practices and temporal influences, results show that contamination can be introduced at various steps in the process and highlight the importance of monitoring locations other than those required by legislation within the process. Monitoring can be used to establish baseline levels for high-risk stages specific to each plant and to assess the effectiveness of additional interventions.     

The fall, recovery, orbit, and composition of the Tagish Lake meteorite: a new type of carbonaceous chondrite

The preatmospheric mass of the Tagish Lake meteoroid was about 200,000 kilograms. Its calculated orbit indicates affinity to the Apollo asteroids with a semimajor axis in the middle of the asteroid belt, consistent with a linkage to low-albedo C, D, and P type asteroids. The mineralogy, oxygen isotope, and bulk chemical composition of recovered samples of the Tagish Lake meteorite are intermediate between CM and CI meteorites. These data suggest that the Tagish Lake meteorite may be one of the most primitive solar system materials yet studied.     

Infrared spectroscopy of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples returned by Stardust

Infrared spectra of material captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft reveal indigenous aliphatic hydrocarbons similar to those in interplanetary dust particles thought to be derived from comets, but with longer chain lengths than those observed in the diffuse interstellar medium. Similarly, the Stardust samples contain abundant amorphous silicates in addition to crystalline silicates such as olivine and pyroxene. The presence of crystalline silicates in Wild 2 is consistent with mixing of solar system and interstellar matter. No hydrous silicates or carbonate minerals were detected, which suggests a lack of aqueous processing of Wild 2 dust.     

Validation of Diagnostic Methods for European Foulbrood on Commercial Honey Bee Colonies in the United States

One of the most serious bacterial pathogens of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) is Melissococcus plutonius, the cause of the disease European foulbrood. Because European foulbrood is highly variable, with diverse outcomes at both the individual and colony levels, it is difficult to diagnose through visual inspection alone. Common lab diagnostic techniques include microscopic examination and molecular detection through PCR. In 2009, a lateral flow device was developed and validated for field diagnosis of European foulbrood. At the time, M. plutonius was thought to be genetically homogenous, but we have subsequently learned that this bacterium exists as multiple strains, including some strains that are classified as ‘atypical’ for which the lateral flow device is potentially less effective. These devices are increasingly used in the United States, though they have never been validated using strains from North America. It is essential to validate this device in multiple locations as different strains of M. plutonius circulate in different geographical regions. In this study, we validate the field use of the lateral flow device compared to microscopic examination and qPCR on larval samples from 78 commercial honey bee colonies in the United States with visual signs of infection. In this study, microscopic diagnosis was more sensitive than the lateral flow device (sensitivity = 97.40% and 89.47%, respectively), and we found no false positive results with the lateral flow device. We find high concurrence between the three diagnostic techniques, and all three methods are highly sensitive for diagnosing European foulbrood.