TUBERCULOSIS AND BRUCELLOSIS IN WOOD BISON (BISON BISON ATHABASCAE) IN NORTHERN CANADA: A RENEWED NEED TO DEVELOP OPTIONS FOR FUTURE MANAGEMENT.

Effective, long-term strategies to manage the threat of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis spillback from northern, diseased bison to the Canadian cattle herd and adjacent disease-free wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) herds have eluded policy makers in recent decades. A controversial plan to depopulate infected herds and repopulate them with disease-free wood bison was rejected in 1990 because of significant public concern. Since then, technical advances in vaccine technology, genetic salvage, selective culling, and diagnostic test development have occurred.

A retrospective study of non-suppurative encephalitis in beef cattle from western Canada.

Non-suppurative encephalitis occurs sporadically in beef cattle in western Canada, leading to loss of animals. This retrospective study investigated the presence of viral, bacterial, and protozoal antigens or DNA in 37 western Canadian feedlot cattle with non-suppurative encephalitis for which a cause had not been identified. Cases were selected based on the age of the animal (> 7 months), and clinical history of recumbency and depression.

Description of the larva of Ceratophyllus vagabundus vagabundus (Siphonaptera:Ceratophyllidae) from nests of Ross's and lesser snow geese in Nunavut, Canada.

Adults of the flea, Ceratophyllus vagabundus vagabundus , were present in the hundreds in nests of Ross's (Chen rossii) and lesser snow (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) geese in the Arctic goose colony at Karrak Lake, Nunavut, Canada. Ceratophyllus v. vagabundus had not been previously recorded in association with Ross's or snow geese.

Systemic infection with Mortierella wolfii following abortion in a cow.

Severe meningoencephalitis and endometritis associated with necrotizing vasculitis, thrombosis, and infarction were found at necropsy of a 4-year-old Aberdeen Angus cow with a history of abortion and neurological signs. Focal pyogranulomatous pneumonia and nephritis were also present. Fungal hyphae typical of zygomycetes were abundant within lesions, and Mortierella wolfii was cultured from multiple tissues.

Naturally acquired feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in cats from western Canada: Prevalence, disease associations, and survival analysis.

This retrospective study evaluated epidemiologic features and disease associations of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in client owned cats from western Canada. Among 1205 cats that were tested 66 (5.5%) were positive for FIV antibody (FIV(+)) with a higher prevalence in males than females.

An outbreak of West Nile virus infection in captive lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) ducklings.

This report describes West Nile virus (WNV)-associated mortality in captive lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) ducklings that occurred in Saskatchewan, Canada, in July and August 2007. There were no clinical signs or gross necropsy findings suggestive of the cause of death; however, microscopic lesions were consistent with WNV infection, including nonsuppurative encephalitis and myocardial, pancreatic, and splenic necrosis. Necrosis of the thymus and thyroid was also observed in some birds, which has not previously been reported in association with WNV infection.

Malignant mesenchymal tumors in two white-tailed jack rabbits (Lepus townsendii).

Two white-tailed jack rabbits (Lepus townsendii) with proliferative lesions in their internal organs were submitted to the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) for necropsy because of concern that dogs that had contact with the hares might have been exposed to an infectious disease. In both hares, the primary diagnosis was neoplasia. One hare had metastatic leiomyosarcoma and uterine fibroma, the other had metastatic mesenchymal tumors involving the liver and mesentery.