No abstract

Cloacal swabs from 45 Grenada bank tree boas ( Corallus grenadensis ) were sampled during a 12‐month period (2011–2012) from the rain forests and scrublands of Grenada. Cloacal swabs were examined by enrichment and selective culture for the presence of Salmonella spp. In all, 16 (35.6%) of the snakes were positive for Salmonella , and six serovars of Salmonella were isolated. The most common serovar was Rubislaw (31.3%), the most frequent serovar recently isolated from green iguanas in Grenada, followed by serovar Braenderup (18.8%), and serovar IV:48:g,z51:‐ (formerly, S . Marina) (18.8%), also found in green iguanas in this country. The remaining three less frequent serovars were, IV:53:g,z51:‐, I:6,7:e,h:‐ and IIIb:38:i:z. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests conducted by a disc diffusion method against amoxicillin–clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, imipenem, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, tetracycline and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole showed that drug resistance is minimal, with intermediate susceptibility, only to streptomycin. This is the first report of isolation and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Salmonella serovars from wild Grenadian tree boas.

An approximately 31-yr-old California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) with a history of chronic visual impairment and corneal disease presented with slow onset, progressive neurologic deficits. Treatment for rear flipper paresis was not effective and the animal was euthanatized. Histopathologic findings included hepatocellular and biliary neoplasia, ocular amyloidosis, adrenal adenoma and pheochromocytoma, and spinal cord changes consistent with multicentric neurofibromatosis. This is the first documentation of these conditions in a California sea lion.

In the presence of acetaldehyde, metabolizing human erythrocytes accumulate an altered hemoglobin product showing chromatographic similarity to hemoglobin AIa or AIb. The adduct is stable to overnight dialysis with an intracellular half-life of about 5.5 days. Adduct formation is accompanied by proportional changes in cell oxygen affinity (decrease in P50 of 3 mm Hg/mM adduct). Little unaltered hemoglobin remains after overnight incubation in 15 mM acetaldehyde, with significant adduct formation and marked reduction of cell ATP occurring after prolonged incubation in as little as 0.5 mM acetaldehyde.