[Liver capillariasis (Calodium hepaticum) in rodents from Ituri (DRC) and Dakar (Senegal)]

Detection of zoonotic pathogens in animals performed at the University Hospital Institute Méditerranée Infection (Marseille - France)

At the University Hospital Institute Méditerranée Infection (IHU, Marseille, France), for almost thirty years, veterinarians have been carrying out epidemiological investigations, together with doctors, on animals living near human cases of zoonoses, on the one hand, and on the other hand, transverse and longitudinal epidemiological surveillance studies on animals which are reservoirs, vectors or sentinels of potentially zoonotic infections,. This article presents the methods adopted and the results obtained from these studies. They have been the subject of 76 peer-reviewed publications relating to wild animals (37 publications) and/or domestic animals (48 publications). These studies were often carried out in the field with veterinarians from the French army's health service (39 publications). They were at the origin of the detection of some thirty zoonotic pathogens in the laboratories of the IHU (64 publications) and/or other French laboratories (18 publications). Our approach is an original embodiment of the "One Health" concept.

Ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures in wild-caught African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys spp.)

PURPOSE

To report ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures (IOPs) in wild-caught African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei and gambianus) from Tanzania and Ghana.

PROCEDURES

After being placed under general anesthesia for examination, slit-lamp biomicroscopy before and after pharmacologic mydriasis and indirect ophthalmoscopy was performed. Eyes were fluorescein stained and IOPs measured by rebound tonometry using the TonoVet^® .

RESULTS

Thirty-two sexually mature pouched rats (64 eyes) were examined, including 16 males and 16 females. The mean IOP (± standard deviation) was 7.7 (±2.9) mmHg. Fluorescein staining was negative in all eyes. One or more ocular abnormalities were detected in 21 pouched rats (35 eyes). These ocular lesions included the following: lens opacities (n = 23 eyes), persistent pupillary membranes (n = 5), chorioretinal scarring (n = 3), corneal vascularization (n = 2), palpebral margin defect with focal trichiasis (n = 2), phthisis bulbi (n = 1), and posterior synechiae (n = 1). Lens opacities included incipient anterior cortical opacities (n = 7), immature cataract (n = 6), incipient nuclear opacities (n = 5), punctate pigment on anterior lens capsule (n = 2 eyes), incipient suture tip opacities (n = 2), and hypermature cataract (n = 1).

CONCLUSIONS

Ocular abnormalities were common in the evaluated population of giant pouched rats; however, most of the detected lesions were mild and believed to have minimal impact on vision. Rebound tonometry with the TonoVet^® was a reliable and simple technique to measure IOPs in the anesthetized pouched rats.