Acanthocephalan infection and sparganosis in a green tree snake (Dendrelaphis punctulata).

Acanthocephalan and spargana parasites were identified within a body wall mass during exploratory surgery in a wild green tree snake. Acanthocephalan parasites have not previously been reported in this species. Surgical excision, the treatment of choice, could not be achieved because of the extensive infiltration of the coelomic cavity.

Pathology of skin diseases in crocodiles.

Objective: To establish which skin diseases occur in crocodiles, particularly those on farms, to indicate the relative frequency of each particular disease and to provide information on pathogenesis, especially in regard to lesions with two or more pathogens present.

Design: A gross and microscopic retrospective (period of 1989 to 1995) and current (1996 to 1997) examination of skin lesions in crocodiles in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Result: Skin lesions were obtained from crocodiles on nine farms, from a group of experimental animals and from one adult found dead in the wild.

Observations of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Indonesia.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and manifestations of fibropapillomatosis in green turtles in Indonesia, to identify any relationship between fibropapillomatosis and concurrent parasitic infection, to ascertain the effect of fibropapillomatosis on health, and to examine whether environment might have an effect on the prevalence of fibropapillomatosis.

Procedure: 4407 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and 401 hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) were examined. The occurrence of fibropapillomatosis was correlated with sex, maturity, curved carapace length, body weight/curved carapace length ratio, the number and distribution of tumours on the skin, parasite burdens, some haematological variables and the region of capture.

Efficacy of praziquantel in the treatment of green sea turtles with spontaneous infection of cardiovascular flukes.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of praziquantel as a treatment for cardiovascular flukes in turtles.

Procedure: Six green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) spontaneously infected with cardiovascular flukes (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) were treated orally with praziquantel, and necropsied 3 or 7 days later to look for flukes in the heart and major blood vessels. Six similar animals were maintained as untreated controls.

Relationship of blood corticosterone, immunoglobulin and haematological values in young crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) to water temperature, clutch of origin and body weight.

Objective: To examine whether sub-optimal temperature induced stress and immunosuppression in farmed saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) hatchlings.

Design: A clinico-pathological study.

Animals: A total of 140 hatchlings were used.

Pathology of mucormycosis of cane toads in Australia.

The gross and microscopic pathology of a fungal septicaemia caused by the zygomycete. Mucor amphibiorum in 27 free-ranging cane toads, Bufo marinus, in Australia is described. Seven of the 27 toads had clinical signs of illness when discovered and five of these seven were moribund.

The immunopathology of unilateral vasectomy in the ram.

This study investigated the relationship between the local (spermatic granuloma) and systemic events after unilateral vasectomy in six rams. Spermatic microgranulomas were first observed at 4 weeks post vasectomy (PV), at which time lymphocytes, chiefly CD4+ (helper/inducer) cells, were incorporated into the periphery of the phagocytic wall. Although plasma cells accumulated around blood vessels near these early granulomas, they were not incorporated into them.

Major histocompatibility complex antigens in normal, acanthotic and neoplastic ovine skin: an association been tumor invasiveness and low level MHC class I expression.

The distribution and density of ovine MHC class I and class II antigens in normal, acanthotic and malignantly transformed ovine skin was investigated using monoclonal antibodies and an immunoperoxidase technique. The subjects were sheep that had been exposed to high levels of sunlight for more than 6 years. The expression of MHC class II antigens in the plasma membrane of cells within the normal epidermis was restricted to basally located dendritic and mononuclear cells.

Diseases in young farmed crocodiles in Irian Jaya.

Thirty-eight young crocodiles that were emaciated and were euthanased or were found dead on 12 farms in Irian Jaya were examined post mortem. Major diseases were coccidiosis (nine crocodiles), pentastomiasis (four), visceral gout (two) and bacterial pneumonia and septicaemia (two). Other diseases and infections were steatitis, fungal pneumonia, gastric capillariasis, haemogregarine infection, ascariasis, filarioid infection and the presence of flukes in the intestine, kidney and blood.

The distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in normal and acanthotic ovine skin.

The prevalence and distribution of lymphocyte subpopulations in normal and acanthotic ovine skin were investigated using monoclonal antibody immunocytochemistry. CD8+ cells were predominant in the epidermis of both normal and acanthotic skin, but were CD8+ cells, CD4+ cells and T19+ cells infrequent in normal epidermis. Within the dermis of normal skin, there were significantly greater numbers of CD4+ and T19+ cells situated around the superficial dermal vessels than in any other region examined.

Immunopathology of experimental Jembrana disease in Bali cattle.

Sequential immunohistochemical studies of the lymphoreticular responses of Bali cattle (Bos javanicus syn. Bos sondaicus) after inoculation with the Jembrana disease virus were carried out using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase test for immunoglobulin containing cell assessment and the indirect immunoperoxidase test for lymphocyte subset assessment. The prevalence of immunoglobulin G-containing cells declined during the acute phase of the disease but became significantly elevated during convalescence.

Disease-husbandry associations in farmed crocodiles in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

To investigate husbandry-disease associations in farmed crocodiles 7 farms in Queensland and the Northern Territory were visited and details of past and present farm design and husbandry practices were recorded. In addition pathological examination of 300 (mostly young) crocodiles was carried out (85 necropsied, one biopsied and 214 examined retrospectively). Mortality rate and occurrence of disease, especially opportunistic infections with bacteria and fungi, were highest during winter months and in farms located at greater latitudes.

The pathology of experimental Trypanosoma evansi infection in the Indonesian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Six Indonesian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) were inoculated intravenously with 10(5) Trypanosoma evansi, examined clinically, haematologically and serologically, and then killed 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 or 12 weeks after infection for detailed pathological study. Relapsing fever was related to the waves of parasitaemia and fluctuations of pulse and respiration rates. Anaemic mucous membranes, depression, weakness, refusal to walk, loss of appetite and emaciation were seen.