The in vitro release of vancomycin, teicoplanin, gentamicin and clindamycin from biodegradable calcium sulphate (CaSO(4)) carrier beads is described. All antibiotics showed prolonged release from the carrier beads, which was elevated during the first 24 h, with peak levels exceeding 2500 microg/bead. Doubling the antibiotic load of the beads revealed a more prolonged elution and a two-fold increase in antibiotic release. Local carrier-associated antibiotic treatment with CaSO(4) beads may prove to be effective in the management of chronic bone infections.

Two 8-month reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and a 1-month-old Hereford-Holstein calf (Bos taurus) were inoculated intranasally with the Singer (cytopathogenic) strain of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus. Clinical signs in reindeer included loose stools containing blood and mucus, and transient laminitis or coronitis. Signs in the calf were limited to bloody mucus in the stool and lesions in the nasal mucosa. Antibody titers to BVD virus in the reindeer were intermittent, and titers in the calf persisted from days 14 to 63 post-inoculation (PI). Viremia was detected on PI day 4 in one reindeer, days 3-7 in the other, and days 2-7 in the calf. Bovine viral diarrhea virus was isolated from the lung of the calf at necropsy (PI day 63)

Serologic evidence of contagious ecthyma (CE) was found in domestic sheep (Ovis aries), domestic goats (Capra hircus), Dall sheep (Ovis dalli), and musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) in Alaska. A moose (Alces alces) calf and a caribou (Rangifer tarandus) fawn were susceptible to experimental infection and both developed antibody titers as a result. CE virus was isolated from lesions of Dall sheep which were involved in a natural outbreak of the disease.

Twenty-nine (64.4%) of 45 reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, examined over a two-year period were infected with trypanosomes. Trypomastigotes and dividing epimastigotes were found in the blood of fawns, cows, and bulls. Morphometric analysis of bloodstream trypomastigotes from reindeer and comparison of these parasites with similar stages of trypanosomes from elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer from the contiguous United States proved them conspecific; the trypanosomes from these members of the Cervidae are identified as Trypanosoma cervi Kingston & Morton, 1975. This is the first report of trypanosomes from reindeer. No pathogenic effects are known to be caused by these parasites. RYPANOSOMES have never been reported from reindeerReceived 10 VI 81; accepted 7 V 82

Safety, efficacy, and tissue residues of ivermectin, a broad spectrum parasiticide, were determined in Alaskan reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Reindeer treated at 5 times and 10 times the standard dose of 200 mcg/kg had no detectable physical or behavioral reactions to ivermectin injected subcutaneously in the midcervical area. Ivermectin eliminated essentially 100% of reindeer warble larvae (Hypoderma (Oedemagena) tarandi). Tissue levels of ivermectin in back fat, injection site, muscle, liver, and kidney collected 3, 10, 17, and 24 days post injection were determined. All tissues levels rapidly declined and were approaching low unmeasurable amounts at the end of the 24 day test period. Ivermectin is a safe effective parasiticide that has been used successfully to threat thousands of reindeer in Alaska.