An outbreak of bovine necrotic vulvovaginitis associated with Porphyromonas levii, an emerging animal and human pathogen, affected 32 cows on a dairy farm in the northeast of Israel. Five animals had to be culled. This report appears to be the first that associates P. levii with bovine necrotic vulvovagnitis.

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS be provided. The only risk factor linked to the three cases, showed that they lived in the same rural area as the suspect farm. Livestock coxiellosis assumes the character of a contagious disease by means of inhalation of infected fomites which can be carried over distances by the wind or by infected new hosts (Tissot Dupont and others 1999). In conclusion, in spite of no signs of related abortion occurring among ewes, the features of this outbreak suggested that the farm's sheep may have been the source of infection, with the manure as the potential vector. C burnetii infection is mostly asymptomatic in sheep, and ewes shed large numbers of organisms and may therefore constitute the main source of human contamination. These findings emphasise the need for closer surveillance of animals which may shed such agents to avoid the spread of the disease.

A persistence of the embryonic type of mitotic cycle was found in postnatal strains with aneuploidy of sex chromosomes (45,X; 47,XXX; 49,XXXXX; 47,XYY; 49,XXXXY). Life-span and proliferating activity of the strains did not differ from those of diploid postnatal cells.

Diagnosis of botulism in cows is obtained by detecting the neurotoxin and/or Clostridium botulinum in the suspected animal. The standard method for detecting the toxin is the mouse bioassay. However, in recent years, the use of mice has become very costly and inconvenient in some facilities, and public pressure has been increasing to find alternatives to live animal bioassays. In this manuscript, we describe the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedures in the diagnosis field cases of bovine type D botulism. Bovine samples from clinical cases diagnosed as C. botulinum type D according by clinical symptoms and bioassay resulted in expected PCR product ( approximately 497 bp) similar to the C. botulinum type D NCTC 8265 strain while the gene product was confirmed by sequence data.

Lake Kinneret (Israel), which currently supplies 30% of the national water demands (of which 50% is for domestic purposes), is also utilized for commercial fishery, recreation, and tourism. The measures taken to prevent pollution include, among others, sewage and fish pond waste removal, and burial of industrial and household solid wastes at established garbage dumps. On January 13,1985, hundreds of dead and moribund gulls (Lams ridibundus) were observed on the shoreline and water surface at the northwest part of the lake, and around the northern garbage dump site. Sick birds exhibited signs that the nervous system was involved, i.e., paralysis of the wings and of the feet, and limberneck. Routine analyses ruled out the possibility that the poisoning was due to pesticides or an infective agent. Botulism intoxication was suspected and type Cbotulism toxin was identified in the serum of moribund birds. This is the first record of a botulism outbreak in waterfowl in Israel. The total mortality was approximately 3000-4000 gulls, of which 1200 dead birds were collected and burnt. Investigations revealed that at a garbage dump situated in the vicinity of the lake, waste products of a chicken slaughter house were not buried as required by formal regulations. Examination of lake water, sediments, and vegetation for possible contamination by botulism toxin were negative. The implications of the outbreak on the environment are discussed.