Occurrence of Listeria spp. in captive antelope herds and their environment.

Two juvenile scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah) at the Wild Animal Park Planckendael died from acute septicemia caused by Listeria monocytogenes serovar 4b. Subsequently, Listeria spp. were isolated from the feces, food, and environment of seven antelope species and examined using a two-stage enrichment procedure in Fraser Broth, followed by isolation on PALCAM agar.

Isolation of Basidiobolus ranarum from ectotherms in Antwerp zoo with special reference to characterization of the isolated strains.

Ten Basidiobolus ranarum (= Basidiobolus haptosporus) strains, isolated from faeces of 102 different lower vertebrates (ectotherms) exhibited in Antwerp Zoo, or from their environment were studied for their temperature requirements, haemolysis and other enzyme activities in vitro. All isolates grew well at 25 and 37 degrees C. Three strains that produced undulated zygospore walls were haemolytic and positive for hyaluronidase.

The presence of a divergent T-lymphotropic virus in a wild-caught pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) supports an African origin for the human T-lymphotropic/simian T-lymphotropic group of viruses.

We isolated a divergent simian T-lymphotropic virus (STLV) (strain PP1664) from a wild-caught African bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee, Pan paniscus). Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of this virus show that it reliably separates from the two well-established primate T-lymphotropic virus types, HTLV-I/STLV-I (PTLV-I) and PTLV-II, and from a third type isolated from an African-born Papio hamadryas and designated by us as PTLV-L. Four of eight bonobos kept at the Antwerp Zoo, Belgium, showed an aberrant PTLV serology.

Mycobacteriosis caused by Mycobacterium genavense in birds kept in a zoo: 11-year survey.

We report on a disease in 27 birds (1 bird belonging to the order Coraciiformes, 3 to Piciformes, 4 to Galliformes, 7 to Psittaciformes, and 12 to Passeriformes) caused by fastidious mycobacteria. All birds were caged at the Antwerp Zoo and died suddenly between 1983 and 1994. Seventeen birds had no previous signs of disease, and 10 birds showed emaciation.