Changes in blood coagulation parameters of red deer (Cervus elaphus) experimentally infected with malignant catarrhal fever.

Changes in blood coagulation parameters were followed in four red deer (Cervus elaphus) experimentally infected with malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) of deer. Blood platelet counts, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), one-stage prothrombin time (OSPT), activated clotting time (ACT), plasma anti-thrombin III (ATIII) activity, fibrinogen degradation production (FDP) and fibrinogen levels were measured. Inoculated deer became pyrexic after 17 or 19 days. Thereafter they developed watery diarrhoea which rapidly became haemorrhagic. The course of the clinical disease ranged from four to six days before the animals were killed or died. All inoculated deer developed abnormalities in laboratory parameters of blood coagulation. These varied within and between animals, but the coagulation profiles of all four animals remained abnormal until death. Post-mortem findings included extensive systemic petechiation, severe haemorrhage in the alimentary canal and vasculitis with disseminated thrombosis. Abnormal coagulation parameters included extension of APTT and OSPT, increased FDP, decreased ATIII and platelet counts and increased fibrinogen levels. The increases in fibrinogen were compatible with the acute phase response. The other coagulation abnormalities and haemorrhage and thrombosis were indicative of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) with consumption coagulopathy, ACT remained normal in all deer although final clot quality was considered poor.

A vesiculo-bullous disease in pigs resembling foot and mouth disease. I. Field cases.

Eleven incidents of bullae and vesicles on the snouts and less frequently the feet of white-skinned pigs on seven farms are described. Bullous and vesicular lesions up to 5 cm in diameter and containing clotted gelatinous fluid were located on the dorsal aspect of the snout, behind the flange. Lesions ruptured, became ulcerated, developed scabs and healed within three weeks. There was no transmission to other pigs or ruminants. The condition was associated with contact with green vegetable material containing parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) or celery (Apium graveolens), followed by exposure to periods of extended sunshine. Parsnips and celery are known to contain furocoumarins, potent phototoxic compounds. It is suggested that absorption of furocoumarins on the skin of the snout and feet after contact with parsnips and celery and exposure to ultraviolet light caused the lesions in the cases reported. It is postulated that a similar condition may have been responsible for national foot and mouth disease scares in pigs at Warkworth and Temuka in New Zealand and at Legana in Tasmania.

A vesiculo-bullous disease in pigs resembling foot and mouth disease. II. Experimental reproduction of the lesion.

Vesiculo-bullous dermatitis of pigs characterised by presence of vesicles and bullae on the snout and feet of white skinned pigs was reproduced experimentally. Leaves of parsnips (Pastinaca sativa), or celery (Apium graveolens) infected with the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were fed or rubbed on the snouts and feet of white skinned pigs. Pigs were then exposed to sunlight or to UV light of intensity approximately 212 m W/M2 at a wavelength 340-360 nm for eight hours per day until vesicles developed. All treated pigs developed lesions on the snouts, and less frequently on the feet. Lesions were characterised by the appearance of erythema at 24 hours after treatment. Vesicles developed at 48 hours and became maximal by 72 hours. Pigs treated with plant material without exposure to UV light or exposed to UV light without contact with plant material did not develop lesions. The experimental lesions closely resemble those observed in several field cases in 1984 and 1985 in New Zealand and to lesions present in three well publicized foot and mouth disease scares at Warkworth, and Temuka in New Zealand and Legana in Tasmania.

Experimental transmission of malignant catarrhal fever to red deer (Cervus elaphus).

Malignant catarrhal fever was transmitted from affected to recipient red deer (Cervus elaphus) using blood or lymphoid suspension as inoculum. Incubation periods ranged from 11 to 26 days. The disease was also transmitted using lymphoid suspension stored overnight at 4 degrees C or at -70 degrees C for 8 months. The experimental disease was characterised by fever, depression, anorexia, diarrhoea and dysentry. The course of the disease was approximately 96 hours. Major lesions consisted of acute mesenteric lymphadenitis and acute haemorrhagic typhlitis and colitis. Lesions in the caecum and colon started as multifocal mucosal haemorrhages and progressed rapidly to massive mucosal haemorrhage.

Experimental tuberculosis in red deer (Cervus elaphus).

This study was designed to investigate experimental Mycobacterium bovis infection of red deer (Cervus elaphus). Three intravenously inoculated deer (dose 10 microg-1000 microg) developed miliary tuberculosis of the lungs and all died within 28 days of being infected. No clinical illnesses were observed in four subcutaneously (dose 1 microg-1000 microg) and three intratracheally (dose 10 microg-100 microg) inoculated deer. At the conclusion of the experiment six weeks post inoculation, these seven animals reacted to 2 mg/ml of bovine purified protein derivative. The principal lesions in the intravenously inoculated deer were in the lungs which had multiple foci of necrosis containing very large numbers of acid fast bacilli. A gradation of changes was seen in the subcutaneously inoculated deer. The animal receiving the 1 microg dose only had lesions at the injection site and the draining prescapular lymph node. Deer receiving higher doses also had histopathological changes in the lungs and liver. Microscopic changes in the intratracheally infected animals were restricted to the thoracic cavity. The ability of the deer to controlled infection was related to the route of inoculation.

Survival of Aujeszky's disease virus in frozen pig meat.

The survival of Aujeszky's disease virus was studied in muscle, lymph node and bone marrow frozen at -18 degrees C, following infusion of a large dose of the virus into the hindquarter of a freshly killed pig. Previous attempts to induce an adequate viraemia for such studies, using intranasal and intravenous routes of inoculation of large doses of virus in live pigs, were unsuccessful. In frozen meat and marrow, the virus showed a biphasic inactivation curve with time, similar to that seen with cell-cultured virus. Most virus was rapidly inactivated initially but a small population of more stable virus persisted for a considerable period of time. In contrast, virus in lymph node showed a uniform inactivaton rate, like that of the more stable componet only. Virus was not detectable in any of the tissues after 35 days of storage at -18 degrees C.