Rabies serum neutralizing antibody in mongooses from Grenada

During a four year study on Grenada, 4,754 mongooses were examined, of which 100 (2.1 percent) were rabid. Of 1,675 mongooses tested for rabies serum neutraslizing (SN) antibody, 498 (30 percent) were positive. During these four years (1971-74) the antibody prevalence rate increased from 20.8 percent to 43.3 percent, whereas the number of rabid mongooses decreased from 3.5 percent to 0.6 percent. Naturally acquired antibody was monitored in 20 captive mongooses for up to 35 months, and it was still circulating in 18 when monitoring ceased. The highest titre recorded was 1:1,400, and the rate of fall was highest in mongooses with high initial titres. High titres of naturally occuring antibody suggest recent rabies activity. 14 mongooses vaccinated parenterally with 1.0 ml of attenuated ERA vaccine showed substantial increases in antibody titres; most had titres greater than 1:1,000 one month later and maintained a high titre for several months. The highest recorded was 1:34,800. The virus titres of brain material from rabid mongooses ranged from 10 to the power 1.8 to 10 to the power 4.3 and, in some cases, were only slightly lower than those of salivary gland tissue (range 10 to the power 1 to 10 to the power 5.6) (Summary)

Gross and microscopic anatomy of the major salivary glands of the ferret

The gross and microscopic anatomy of the major salivary glands of the ferret was studied. There were 5 pairs of major salivary glands, parotid, submandibular, sublingual, molar and zygomatic. They were of compound tubuloacinar type and consisted of numerous lobes and lobules. The parotid gland was grossly similar to the parotids in other mammals but histologically it was seromucous as in the carnivores dog and cat. The parotid duct opened into the vestibule of the mouth opposite the upper third premolar tooth. The submandibular gland was single on each side, oval in shape and cervical in position. Histologically it was entirely mucous. The submandibular duct opened at a sublingual papilla in the oral cavity at the side of the frenulum of the tongue. The sublingual gland was the smallest of the major salivary glands. It was single on each side and lay deep to the digastric muscle. It opened by several small ductules into the submandibular duct. It was mainly mucous and did not contain intercalated and striated ducts. The molar gland was located superficially near the angle of the mouth. It was irregularly pyramidal and opened by several small ducts into the vestibule opposite the lower molar teeth. It was predominantly mucous. There were no intercalated or striated ducts. The zygomatic gland was present deep to the masseter and related to the orbit in the infratemporal fossa. The gland opened by several small ducts into the vestibule opposite the upper molar teeth. It was also predominantly mucous and there were no intercalated or striated ducts (AU)

Morphological and histological study of the gastro-intestinal tract of the ferret

The morphology and histology of the post-pharyngeal part of the gastro-intestinal tract of the ferret were studied. The oesophagus was a distensible muscular tube. Its mucosa was lined by keratinizing stratified squamous epithelium. The muscle coat was striated throughout except near the cardia. A cardiac sphincter was present. The stomach was morphologically and histologically very similar to that of man. The duodenum appeared C-shaped and had a mesoduodenum. The bile and pancreatic ducts formed a common duct in the wall of the duodenum. The sphincter of Oddi was present. Brunner's glands were present in the pyloric part of the stomach, and up to the common opening of the bile and pancreatic ducts in the duodenum. The intestine could be differentiated macroscopically and microscopially into the small and large intestines. The small intestine distal to the duodenum formed coiled tubes suspended by a mesentery. It was not possible morphologically to differentiate jejunum and ileum. Histologically, however, the distal portion was identifiable as ileum by increasing numbers of goblet cells, and Peyer's patches in the submucosa. Villi were present in the mucosa throughout but there was no spiral or circular fold. The larg intestine was a straight dilated tube lying in the left flank and extending from the splenic flexure to the anus in the median plane. It was suspended by a short mesocolon except for the rectal portion in the pelvis. The ileo-colic junction was differentiated morphologically and histologically. There was no caecum, appendix, taeniae coli or appendices epiploicae. The large intestine was not differentiated topographically into ascending, transverse and descending colon (AU)

Rabies in Grenada

Rabies in Grenada wildlife is at present almost exclusively confined to the mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus, and it is currently estimated tht 3.5 percent of the mongoose population is rabid. There have been 4 human deaths in the past decade, and most of the rabies in dogs, cats, and domestic livestock is thought to originate from mongoose bites. In 1971 over 11,000 dogs were vaccinated, and 25 people received antirabies treatment as a consequence of bites. Although rabies is not yet established in dogs, the presence of a large dog population poses a permanent threat, and dog vaccination campaigns and attempts at mongoose eradication have provided only temporary relief from an increasing problem. The history of rabies on the island up to the end of 1971 is considered, and the outlook for the future discussed.(Summary)

Mongoose rabies in Grenada

From June, 1965, to March, 1968, the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory carried out examinations for rabies on 655 mongoose and domestic animal specimens from Grenada by fluorescent antibody techniques and mouse inoculation. Rabies virus was isolated from 29 of 600 routinely trapped mongooses, from 25 to 35 domestic animals. There was incomplete agreement in diagnosis between flourescent antibody assay and mouse inoculation technique, the latter detecting more positives. (AU)

American trypanosomiasis in British Honduras. VI. A natural infection with Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi in the opossum Didelphis marsupialis (Marsupialia, Didelphoidea), and experimental investigations of different wild-animal species as possible reservoirs for the parasite

The occurrence is described of a natural infection with Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi in the common opossum, Didelphis marsupialis, captured in El Cayo District, British Honduras. The identity of the parasite was established from histological sections if the heart muscle, which showed pseudocysts filled with leishmania forms. Seven species of wild animal were experimentally infected with T. cruzi. Rats of the species Heteromys desmarestianus, Ototylomys philotis, Tylomys nudicaudus and Oryzomys sp. were all highly susceptible to the parasite and developed a fatal illness. It ie concluded that these species are unlikely to act as natural reservoirs for T. cruzi, but that they may prove useful in further experimental studies on the parasite and for the passage of strains. A rat of the species Nyctomys sumichrasti showed a high resistance to the infection; only scanty intracellular forms of T. cruzi were found in heart-muscle smears, and chagastic pseudocysts were present in small numbers in histological sections of the heart muscle. Results similar to those obtained with the Nyctomys rat were observed in a coati (Nasua narica), which also showed a high resistance to the challenge . No intracellular forms of T. cruzi were found in the heart muscle, but they were present in small numbers in the liver and spleen; they were morphologically identical to those seen in the heart muscle smears from the Nyctomys rat. No infection developed in two young grey foxes (Urocyon cinereo-argenteus) when challenged with a highly virulent strain of T. cruzi. It is concluded that these animals are unlikely to act as natural reservoirs for the parasite in British Honduras. It is believed that, although experimental inoculation of wild animals with T. cruzi may be prejudiced by their possible previous contact with the parasite, the results may give some indication of the nature of possible reservoir-hosts. (AU)

Parasitological studies in British Honduras. 1. A parasite resembling Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi in the coati, Nasua narica (Carnivora, Procyonidae), and a note on Trypanosoma legeri from the ant-eater, Tamandua tetradactyla (Edentata)

A trypanosome, morphologically indistinguishable from Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi, is described in the coati (Nasua narica, Carnivora, Procyonidae) from British Honduras. Although Chagas' disease has yet to be reported from British Honduras, it is known to occur in the neighbouring countries of Guatemala and Mexico. It is suggested that the disease may exist in British Honduras but has so far gone undiagnosed. Clinical and epidemiological searches for it might well be instigated. T. legeri Mesnil and Brimont, 1910, was encountered in five of 12 ant-eaters (Tamandua tetradactyla) examined in the El Cayo District of British Honduras. Attempts to culture the parasite in NNN blood-agar media were unsuccessful (Summary)