Salmonella in sheep in Iceland.

In 1995 several outbreaks of food poisoning in humans occurred in Iceland, that were traced to salmonella contamination of singed sheep heads. This prompted us to study the prevalence of salmonella infection in sheep and to trace where and how infection might have occurred. Faecal, intestinal contents and tonsillar samples were collected in the spring and autumn from sheep on 50 farms in the southwestern part of the country, where salmonellosis had been detected and from 5 farms in the northwestern part of the country. All faecal samples from the southwest were negative, whereas samples from 3 farms obtained in the autumn in the northwest were positive. Tonsillae taken in the autumn were positive in sheep from 3 farms in the southwest and 2 in the northwest. Our results show that salmonella infection is rare in Icelandic sheep but healthy carriers my harbour the bacteria in tonsillae. Salmonella was not detected in drainage from slaughterhouses nor in singed sheep heads.

The female pelvic floor: a dome--not a basin.

BACKGROUND: Classically and based on necropsy observations, the muscles of the pelvic floor (the levator ani and coccygeus muscles) have been described as having the shape of a basin. In a previous study by Hugosson et al. (1991), magnetic resonance imaging revealed the dome shape of the pelvic floor in live subjects when muscular tonus is present. METHODS: The normal anatomy and the dynamic movements of the female pelvis were examined with magnetic resonance imaging including conventional and fast sequences. Six nulliparous and six parous healthy women without signs or symptoms of pelvic relaxation were studied in the supine position at rest, during voluntary pelvic contractions and during bearing down. RESULTS: The levator ani muscle was dome-shaped at rest. During voluntary pelvic contractions the muscle straightened, becoming more horizontal and during bearing down it descended, becoming basin-shaped. The width of the genital hiatus was the same in both groups at rest and it widened during bearing down in all but two 3-para women. The bladder base was lifted upward and forward during voluntary pelvic contractions but during bearing down it descended. The rectum at rest had a posterior angle which decreased during voluntary pelvic contractions and increased during bearing down. CONCLUSIONS: MRI of the female pelvis is valuable in anatomic and dynamic analysis in healthy women and offers new information about the female pelvic floor. The female pelvic floor is shaped like a dome-not like a basin.

Prevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi antibodies in terrestrial mammals in Iceland, 1986 to 1989.

Antibodies to Encephalitozoon cuniculi were found in wild arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus), feral mink (Mustela vison), wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and house mice (Mus musculus) in Iceland. Animals with antibodies were found throughout the country. No lesions attributable to encephalitozoonosis were found in adult animals necropsied. However, one arctic fox cub with a neurological disorder had pathological and serological evidence of encephalitozoonosis.