In an outbreak of proliferative gill disease in laboratory rainbow trout fingerlings lesions were multifocal among filaments and uniquely severe in the distal region of affected filaments, forming nodules. This contrasted with the more common forms of proliferative gill disease in Ontario, such as b...

Lesions induced in the gills of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) by exposure to acutely lethal aqueous concentrations of inorganic mercury and copper were examined by light and electron microscopy. Lesions were most severe during the first 48 hours of exposure to the metals and were characterized pri...

Between 15 November and 13 December 1993, three cases of rabies of probable bat origin were confirmed in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from the same area of Prince Edward Island, Canada, previously thought to be free of rabies in terrestrial mammals. Such clusters have rarely been described in North Ame...

Three radio-collared Cougars (Felis concolor) in Alberta died from injuries sustained while attacking prey, and a fourth may have died protractedly from such an injury, injuries included a fractured vertebral column, punctured abdominal cavity, severe cranial trauma, and bacterial infection of the t...

Juvenile rainbow trout were exposed to 36, 171, 1017 or 4887 mg/litre of suspended kaolin clay for 64 days. Gills were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using histology. Branchial pathology was absent at all sample times exposed to 36, 171 and 1017 mg/litre kaolin, although intracellular kao...

A report is given of the discovery in New Brunswick in May 1996 of a dead St. Lawrence beluga aged >=34 years and in the latter stages of lactation. It indicates that some old females in this population remain reproducibly active..

The Canadian harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) hunt has, for several decades, raised public concerns related to animal welfare. The field conditions under which this hunt is carried out do not lend themselves easily to detailed observations and analyses of its killing practices. This article repo...

Tyzzer's disease was diagnosed in four muskrats (Ondatra zibethica) found dead over a 2 month period in a single feed-house in a Saskatchewan marsh. No dead animals were found elsewhere in the marsh, although several hundred apparently healthy animals were trapped during this period. Similarities in...

In August 1988 Coxiella burnetii was identified in the lungs of a 2-day-old dead kitten from Prince Edward Island by a direct fluorescent antibody test. The kitten was from a stray cat that had aborted fetuses about 10 days earlier. Examination showed no gross lesions, but multifocal, granulomatous ...

Total mercury (Hg) concentrations were measured in the fur, brain and liver of wild mink (Mustela vison) and river otters (Lontra canadensis) collected from eastern and Atlantic Canada. Total Hg concentrations in fur were strongly correlated with levels in the brain and liver. There was no differenc...

The Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre (CCWHC) was established in 1992 as an organization among Canada's 4 veterinary colleges, with a mandate to apply veterinary medicine to wildlife management and conservation in Canada. A major function of the CCWHC is nation-wide surveillance of wild an...

Vessel-whale collision events represented the ultimate cause of death for 21 (52.5%) of the 40 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) necropsied between 1970 and December 2006. Injuries seen in vessel-struck whales fall into two distinct categories: (1) sharp trauma, often resulting from ...

From winter 1997 to summer 1998, an epizootic of salmonellosis affected several species of songbirds over a large area of the eastern North American continent. This article describes the details of this epizootic in the Canadian Atlantic provinces, based on laboratory examination of dead affected bi...

Between August 1992 and November 1995, 31 moribund or dead common loons (Gavia immer) found in the three Maritime provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) were necropsied. Eight of these birds were in good body condition and died acutely from drowning or trauma. The rem...

Cloacal and pharyngeal swabs from 100 tree-nesting Double-crested cormorant (DCC) chicks were examined by culture for commensal and potentially pathogenic bacteria. No Salmonella or Erysipelothrix were isolated from the cloacal swabs. Twenty-two cloacal swabs were positive for Campylobacter, of whic...

Small multifocal lesions of proliferative pododermatitis were observed in an emaciated adult male northern gannet (Morus bassanus). Ultrastructurally, these lesions were associated with numerous virus-like particles with a size and morphology suggestive of Papovaviridae. DNA in situ hybridization wi...

In fall 1991, a radio-collared black bear (Ursus americanus) in northern Labrador (Canada) died from valvular endocarditis caused by coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus, with widespread dissemination of the infection to other organs shortly before death. Apparently, this is the first reported c...

Two wild Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in an extremely emaciated state and with severe proventricular food impaction also had a nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis and ganglioneuritis. The condition in these two birds was morphologically similar to psittacine proventricular dilatation, a recently id...

We describe 4 years of an experimental rotation in ecosystem health offered to senior veterinary students in Canada. Faculty from the 4 Canadian veterinary colleges collaborated in offering the rotation once annually at 1 of the colleges. The 1st rotation was held in Guelph in 1993, followed in succ...

A stranded juvenile fin whale was successfully euthanized with an intravenous injection of sedative and cardioplegic drugs. Veterinarians may face a number of serious difficulties if called to perform this task, and advance preparation is required for successful euthanasia of these animals.

Much attention has been given over the years to animal welfare issues surrounding the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada. However, very little information is available on this subject in the scientific literature. This article reports the results of observations made by representatives of the Canadian Vet...