First evidence of Johne's disease in farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Belgium.

In a deer farm, chronic diarrhoea was seen in a 4-year-old hind. This animal died in poor condition on the farm and Johne's disease was suspected. Ziehl-Neelsen staining of the faeces of this hind were positive for the presence of clumps of small acid-fast bacilli, but faecal cultures remained negative. Direct and indirect tests were performed on 24 hinds and stags (yearlings, 2- and 4-year-old animals). The indirect tests performed were serology (Mycobacterium paratuberculosis antibody ELISA, HerdChek, Idexx), comparative cervical skin test (CCT) and lymphoproliferation test (LT) using Mycobacterium bovis purified protein derivative (PPD) and Mycobacterium avium PPD as antigens. Three positive serological results, three positive CCT and eight positive LT were observed in hinds and stags older than 2 years. No positive serological results were observed in the yearling group, whereas some sensitisation was observed in the CCT as well as in the LT for the same group of animals. The degree of concordance between these indirect tests was poor. The three seropositive animals were slaughtered and subjected to post-mortem examination. Histopathology was performed on mesenteric lymph nodes and on the terminal ileum. Visual changes in some mesenteric lymph nodes were observed, no gross lesion was seen in the intestine. Although Ziehl-Neelsen staining yielded no positive results, a catarrhal focal necrotic enteritis associated with a granulomatous lymphadenitis compatible with Johne's disease was evidenced. The mycobacterial cultures on organ samples from slaughtered animals were positive after 2 months for M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis and negative for M. bovis and M. avium. This is the first description of Johne's disease in a deer farm in Belgium.

Pathological findings in two fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) with evidence of morbillivirus infection.

Two immature female fin whales stranded on the Belgian and French coastlines, were examined post mortem. The main gross findings were massive parasitic infestation, associated with a large thrombus in one whale, and severe emaciation. Microscopical investigations revealed multinucleated syncytia with large intranuclear inclusion bodies in various tissues, and positive immunolabelling for morbillivirus antigens. Other evidence of morbillivirus infection was provided by the demonstration of specific viral structures in syncytia and in cell cultures, and the detection of neutralizing antibodies to canine distemper virus. To the authors>> knowledge, this is the first firm report of morbillivirus infection in baleen whales.

Morbillivirus in common seals stranded on the coasts of Belgium and northern France during summer 1998.

Sixteen common seals (Phoca vitulina) were stranded on the Belgian and northern French coasts during the summer of 1998. Eleven (10 pups and one adult) were sampled for histopathological, immunohistochemical, serological, bacteriological, parasitological and virological investigations. The main gross findings were severe emaciation, acute haemorrhagic enteritis, acute pneumonia, interstitial pulmonary emphysema and oedema, and chronic ulcerative stomatitis. Microscopical lung findings were acute to subacute pneumonia with interstitial oedema and emphysema. Severe lymphocytic depletion was observed in lymph nodes. Severe acute to subacute meningoencephalitis was observed in one animal. Specific staining with two monoclonal antibodies directed against canine distemper virus (CDV) and phocine distemper virus was observed in a few lymphocytes in the spleen and lymph nodes of three seals. Anti-CDV neutralising antibodies were detected in sera from six animals. Seven of the seals were positive by reverse transcriptase-PCR for the morbillivirus phosphoprotein gene. The lesions observed were consistent with those in animals infected by a morbillivirus, and demonstrated that distemper has recently recurred in North Sea seals.

Delayed hypersensitivity reactions by the mycobacterial antigen A60 and cutaneous testing in tuberculosis.

Antigen A60 has been purified from the cytoplasm of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, and its composition has been determined: it has proved to be able to elicit immune reactions of both humoral and cellular type. Inoculation of A60 into the footpad of mice previously sensitized with the same antigen, or with whole mycobacterial cells produced a footpad swelling showing a peak at 24 h. Similar delayed hypersensitivity reactions were induced in sensitized guinea-pigs by subcutaneous injection of an A60 dose of 0.01 micrograms (minimal revealing dose). A quantity thousandfold higher (15 micrograms A60) was unable to induce in unsensitized guinea pigs the mounting of a cellular immunisation against A60, as shown by negative cutaneous testings 1 month later. Our results show that A60 preparations satisfied the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission and met the WHO recommendations for new tuberculins. Handicaps of old tuberculin and PPD (heterogeneous mixtures titrated biologically and unstable in solution) can be overcome by A60 preparations (a single antigen spectrophoretically measurable and stable).

[Osteoarthritis and tenosynovitis of the finger due to Mycobacterium intracellulare. A case report and review of the literature]. / Ostéo-arthrite et ténosynovite du doigt due à Mycobacterium intracellulare. Observation d'un cas et revue de la littérature.

The authors present one case of osteo-arthritis and tenosynovitis of the right forefinger due to Mycobacterium intracellulare, in a 61-year old woman. The treatment consists of a synovectomy of the finger's proximal interphalangeal joint and of the sheath of the flexor tendons and a drug regimen associating erythromycin and cotrimoxazole for 2 1/2 months. This therapy proves successful, as the patient is clinically cured. A literature review records 19 similar osteo-articular and peri-articular infections due to the Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare group, reported during these last 25 years.

[A case of pulmonary mycobacteriosis due to Mycobacterium intracellulare (author's transl)]. / Un cas de mycobactériose pulmonaire humaine par Mycobacterium intracellulare.

An M. intracellulare, rough strain (serotype 7) has been isolated from sputum of a sixty-year old patients. This patient was a political prisoner in Germany between 1942-1945 and had contracted pulmonary tuberculosis with the cavity in the upper lobe of the right lung. A strain of mycobacterium susceptible to antituberculous drugs was isolated from his sputum in 1973. Since 1979, the isolation of M. Intracellulare has been accompanied by clinical signs of pulmonary mycobacteriosis, i.e. persistence of the cavity in spite of antituberculous treatments reapparition of cough with sputum, general weakness. Intradermo-reaction with specific sensitin gives a strong positive reaction, contrasting with a weak reaction with PPD tuberculin. As the antibiogram of the strain shows a susceptibility to cotrimoxazole and erythromycin, the patient underwent a therapy with the combination sulfamethaxozale-trimethoprime and erythromycin, for 4 months. At the end of this treatment, he seems to have recovered completely. The radiological aspect of the lungs remains unchanged. Although the source of contamination remains unknown, one thinks on the basis of bibliographica data, that it can be found in human beings, or seldom in animals (a pig, a bird) or in nature (a pond).