William L. Jellison

Q fever; a review of current knowledge.

Excerpt Q fever is an acute specific, often serious, and occasionally fatal rickettsial disease of man. It is characterized by a high fever, headache and malaise and is often misdiagnosed as influe...

Haplomycosis in Montana Rabbits, Rodents, and Carnivores.

Haplomycosis is the name proposed by Emmons (1) for a disease of animals characterized by the presence in the lungs of the fungus Haplosporangium parvum. This fungus was first cultured during a survey of mycotic infections of rodents in southern Arizona by Emmons and Ashburn (2). Of the 303 rodents examined and cultured in their survey, 25 were found infected with Coccidioides immitis and 101 with H. parvum. Nine rodents were infected with both fungi. A wide range of rodent hosts in nature is indicated by the variety of animals found infected in Arizona which included 23 of 124 Perognathus, 3 of 29 Dipodomys, 5 of 10 Citellus, 1 of 27 Onychomys, and 2 of 113 Peromyscus.1 The presence of Haplosporangium parvrum in native rodents in Alberta, Canada, was noted by Dowding (3, 4) soon after the Emmons and Ashburn survey. Dowding found large fungus cells in the lungs of 14 animals and established the fungus in culture from 8 of these. Infected animals included 13 white-footed deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus borealis, and one red squirrel, Tamiasciuru-s hudsonicus baileyi. In a later publication, Dowding (5) reported that the infection had probably been found in muskrats in British Columbia by Ian McTaggert Cowan of the University of British Columbia, but she did not state on what evidence the diagnosis had been based. Numerous infected muskrats have been found in western Montana as reported later in this paper. What appears to be the first observation on haplomycosis, although not identified at the time, was made by Dr. Arnold B. Erickson of the University of Minnesota and reported in 1949 (6). The lungs of a beaver collected in Aitkin County, Minnesota, March 31, 1941, were observed to contain an abundance of small discrete white nodules. The writer has examined sections of this material and agrees that the organism is Haplosporangium sp., although presence of infection in rodents in that area has not been confirmed by culture. In 1944 the writer found and later recorded (7) the presence of

The presence of a pulmonary fungus in Korean rodents.

INFORMATION published by the Department of the Army on epidemic hemorrhagic fever (1) and unpublished data indicate that the disease is contracted in nature and that it is rarely if ever contracted in towns or villages, nor does it appear to be contagious in the human population. As a disease in nature, an animal reservoir seems possible though not essential. A further possibility, based on rather extensive observations of others, is that rodents serve as the most likely animal reservoirs because of

Porcupine Louse Infesting the Monkey

A collection of lice made from this animal consisting of 7 males, 7 females and 4 immature specimens after clearing the material has been identified as Eutrichophilus setosus (Giebel) Mjoberg, the porcupine louse. This is a common parasite on the Canada porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, and has been reported from Lake and St. Louis Counties of Minnesota by Jellison (1931). A cage of porcupines was maintained in the gardens near the monkeys and is the probable source of this infestation. Six species of Mallophaga that have been found on various primates are recorded by Stiles (1929) but these were believed to be on their normal hosts. The degree of infestation, especially of immature specimens, found in this instance indicates that the porcupine louse was well established on its new host.

Opisodasys Jordan 1933, a Genus of Siphonaptera

Head: Frontal tubercle very small, antennal groove extending 2/3 depth of head, bordered dorsally with fine setae, most numerous posteriorly. Long bristles on 2nd segment of antennae not equaling club. Eye well-pigmented, gena broad. Genal row of 4 bristles on one side and 3 on the other (this same irregularity occurs in a male of this species). Bristles in occipital row, all short, except 2nd ventral one which extends to mesothorax. Rostrum equaling trochanter. Thorax: Pronotal comb of about 24 spines. One lateral bristle on fore femur. First pair of plantar bristles displaced ventrally on all tarsi. Metanotum with an apical spinelet on each side. Abdomen: Apical spinelets on each side of tergites I to IV, 3-3-2-1 respectively. Each side of tergites II to VII with an anterior row of 4-6 short bristles and median row of 6-7 long bristles, alternating with very fine setae. Each side of sternites II to VI with 3-5-4-4 and 4 bristles respectively. Modified segments: Sternite VII with short rounded posterior dorsal lobe, and about 18 bristles irregularly arranged as figured. Three lateral bristles on anal tergite proximal to stylet, anal sternite slightly rounded with numerous long bristles on border. Stylet about 3 times longer than wide, with a long terminal and three quite long subterminal or lateral bristles. Three long antepygidial bristles on each side, median one longest. Head of spermatheca barrel shaped, 1times longer than wide, tail curved dorsally, tip well-sclerified. Allotype female from Sciurus griseus Riverside County, California, September 1936.

A New Mite, Laelaps aplodontiae, from Aplodontia

Several collections of mites from the mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa (Rodentia: Aplodontidae), represent an undescribed species of the family Laelaptidae. This species is placed provisionally in the genus Laelaps although it does not have the characters of this genus in the restricted sense in which Laelaps is defined today. Particularly the ventral plate of the female differs from that of Laelaps s.s., in having six pairs of spinelike setae instead of four and in its elongate shape.

Applicability of the Ascoli Test to Epizootic Tularemia in Wild Rodents

The Ascoli thermoprecipitin test for diagnosis of tularemia has been applied to experimentally infected animals including voles (Microtus) and found to be useful in identifying the infection (Larson, 1951). Sarchi (1930) reported successful use of the method for diagnosis of tularemia in water rats (Arvicola) in Russia, but no reports have appeared in this country on practical application of the test to diagnosis of disease in wild animals. A great increase in voles in several western states and the occurrence of tularemia among them (Jellison et al., 1958) afforded an opportunity for application of the test to field specimens.