Helicobacter pylori in dyspeptic patients in Kuwait.

Two hundred and four patients, mainly Arabs, attending for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at the gastroenterology clinic in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Kuwait, were examined for evidence of infection with Helicobacter pylori and associated inflammation. Biopsy specimens of antrum, body, and duodenum; gastric juice; and antral mucosal brushings were investigated by microbiological, cytological, and histopathological methods. Clinical conditions diagnosed at endoscopy included gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenitis and duodenal ulcer, but half the patients had endoscopically normal gastric and duodenal mucosae. H pylori was detected by one or more of the procedures in at least one specimen from 197 (96.6%) of the patients. Histological and cytological analysis showed equal sensitivity, but bacteriological culture was less reliable. The proportion of positive cases was high, compared with other reported series, which may have been accounted for by the variety of diagnostic techniques used in this study, the selected population (all with gastrointestinal symptoms) or genetic or environmental predisposing factors peculiar to the sample population.

Anthelmintic evaluation of a thiabendazole-resistant strain of Ostertagia circumcincta recovered from sheep in England.

A total of 35 worm-free lambs were infected with a strain of Ostertagia circumcincta isolated earlier from sheep in Cheshire, England, and found to be resistant to thiabendazole (TBZ). When patency was established the sheep were divided into groups of six, and dosed orally with either TBZ (44 mg kg-1, 88 mg kg-1), fenbendazole (FBZ; 5 mg kg-1) or levamisole (7.5 mg kg-1) or not treated. Three of the remaining five animals were dosed with FBZ at 10 mg kg-1. Egg hatch tests, post-dosing faecal egg counts and post-mortem worm counts confirmed resistance to TBZ, and a degree of side-resistance to FBZ was also revealed. Only levamisole gave the clearance expected of modern anthelmintics.

Experimental chemotherapy in horses infected with benzimidazole-resistant small strongyles.

The presence of benzimidazole-resistant strains of equine small strongyles was confirmed in horses at two properties in north west England by a series of faecal egg counts and larval cultures after treatment with mebendazole. A trail formulation of mebendazole in combination with piperazine citrate gave greater reductions in faecal egg counts than mebendazole alone but was much less effective than pyrantel embonate or dichlorvos.

Efficacy of ivermectin against Dictyocaulus arnfieldi in ponies.

The efficacy of orally administered ivermectin against induced Dictyocaulus arnfieldi infection was evaluated in a controlled study comprising 12 yearling ponies. Treatment with ivermectin paste, at a dose rate of 200 micrograms/kg bodyweight orally once, was 100 per cent effective against both adult and immature or inhibited stages of the horse lungworm. Similar control of second and third instars of Gastrophilus intestinalis was observed and no nematode eggs were present in faeces from seven to 15 days after treatment when the study was terminated.

Susceptibility of North Ronaldsay sheep to copper from cupric oxide needles.

Three housed North Ronaldsay sheep were treated with copper in the form of cupric oxide "needles", two at the manufacturer's recommended dosage rate and the third at twice this level. Sheep of this breed are especially sensitive to high dietary intake of copper. Pre- and post-dosing blood samples were monitored for changes in packed cell volume and changes in content of plasma copper, bilirubin, AST and SDH. Weight changes were also recorded. The animal dosed at twice the recommended level died on day 19 post-dosing of acute copper poisoning. The two dosed at the standard rate remained healthy and put on weight steadily throughout the six months following treatment. Two Welsh Mountain sheep dosed at the standard rate and maintained and examined in the same way likewise showed no signs of copper toxicity.

Causes of death and illness in the native sheep of North Ronaldsay, Orkney. I. Adult sheep.

Post-mortem examinations on 71 native sheep found dead on the island of North Ronaldsay, Orkney in four visits between April 1983 and July 1985 were carried out. The sheep in this almost feral flock have access to a small area of unmanaged moorland pasture but are otherwise restricted to the foreshore where they subsist largely on Laminaria spp. and other seaweeds. Young adult animals died largely of heavy parasite burdens combined with inadequate nutrition, while the older sheep often starved because of severe dental disease precipitated by heavy deposits of tartar on the cheek teeth--rarely seen in sheep on a more conventional diet. Other underlying metabolic conditions, such as the extensive mineralization of the kidney medulla in many mature sheep, may be debilitating. The pathological findings suggest that adaptation to the peculiar environmental rigours and dietary restrictions on North Ronaldsay is less complete than has previously been assumed.

Causes of death in the native sheep of North Ronaldsay, Orkney. II. Lambs.

Investigation showed that the common causes of death in North Ronaldsay lambs were trauma due to behavioural patterns and starvation/hypothermia due in part to poor condition of the ewes.

The efficacy of levamisole administered orally or parenterally against Heligmosomoides polygyrus in mice.

Albino mice (Balb c/nut) experimentally infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus were treated with levamisole hydrochloride ('Nemicide'--ICI Pharmaceutical PLC) by oral drenching or subcutaneous injection at 5, 10 and 20 mg kg-1. Faecal egg counts monitored for two or three days after dosing and post-mortem worm counts were used to assess the efficacy of these treatments. The lowest dose rate gave poor clearance of adult worms but at 10 and 20 mg kg-1, 91 and 96% reductions in worm burden were achieved. Reduction in post-dosing faecal egg counts were variable. Neither method of administration offered particular advantage in terms of efficacy. Faecal egg count data gave inconsistent differences and at necropsy, worm counts were lower in mice dosed orally but not significantly so.

Salmonellae from dogs in Vom, Northern Nigeria.

Examination by culture of single faecal samples from 120 domestic dogs in the Vom area of Nigeria showed 22 (18 per cent) of the animals to be excreting Salmonella organisms. One of the dogs yielded two and another three different serotypes. The total number of Salmonella serotypes isolated in the survey was 21. Dogs may be important in Nigeria as agents for the transmission of salmonellosis to man and domestic livestock.

Use of the India ink immuno-reaction for the rapid detection of enteric pathogens in two area of Nigeria.

The India-ink Immuno-reaction (IIR) was used as a simple, convenient procedure for the detection of carriers of enteric organisms in an unselected sample of patients attending a mission clinic at Kubacha in a remote area of Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. To assess the reliability of this procedure in difficult working conditions a similar population from the same clinic was subsequently examined by routine bacteriological culture techniques. Because of a temporary shortage of suitable anti-sera we were unable also to examine specimens from this second group by IIR. A further group of patients attending the out-patients clinic of the General Hospital in Kaduna with symptoms of acute enteric disease was investigated using both IIR and routine culture. Proportionally more positive results were obtained from Salmonellae, Shigellae and Vibrios with IIR than with routine culture. A larger scale controlled survey is desirable to evaluate the procedure further.