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V P Studdert

Publications and source records attributed to V P Studdert.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Isolation of Chlamydia psittaci from cats with conjunctivitis.

Chlamydia psittaci was repeatedly demonstrated in stained smears of conjunctival scrapings from a group of cats in a single household and in 5 instances the organism was isolated by yolk sac inoculation of 6-day-old pathogen free, embryonated hen eggs. Thirteen of 15 cats in the cattery developed conjunctivitis at various times over a 9-month period. The outstanding features of the disease were its severity, chronicity and refractoriness to treatment. Prolonged (2 week) treatment with tetracycline was required to effect clinical recovery. Nine of 14 cats in the household developed significant complement-fixing (CF) antibody titres (greater than 128) to the chlamydia group antigen. A single serum from the owner had a titre of 32 although no associated illness was recognized. Of 134 serums collected from random source cats aged 1 month to 16 years, 17 (12.7%) also contained CF antibody to chlamydia group antigen. This is the first report of the isolation of chlamydia from cats with conjunctivitis outside North America and the first report to indicate general incidence figures for chlamydia infection of cats where vaccination is not used.

Animals↗

Horner's syndrome in the dog and cat as an aid to diagnosis.

Four cases of Horner's syndrome, two in dogs and two in cats, are described. Miosis, ptosis, and enophthalmos were present in three of the cases and in addition, protrusion of the nictitating membrane was present in the fourth case. In the two cases described in cats, there was also evidence of peripheral vasodilation in the skin of the face on the same side as the Horner's syndrome.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Comparison of the polymerase chain reaction and culture for the detection of feline Chlamydia psittaci in untreated and doxycycline-treated experimentally infected cats.

The diagnostic sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was compared with that of culture on conjunctival swabs over the course of infection in 4 doxycycline-treated and 4 untreated cats that were experimentally infected with feline Chlamydia psittaci. Treated cats were given 25 mg (5 mg/kg) of doxycycline orally twice daily for 3 weeks from day 6 after challenge. Clinical signs improved within 3 days of institution of treatment. Culture remained positive for 1 day and PCR remained positive for up to 5 days after treatment was commenced. No recurrence of clinical signs occurred and the organism could not be detected by either PCR or culture for 2 weeks after cessation of therapy. In the 4 untreated cats, conjunctival swabs were taken daily to day 14 and every 2nd weekday to day 64 after challenge. PCR was significantly more sensitive than culture in untreated cats overall (PCR 85.7%, culture 72.9%, P approximately 0) and for cats with clinical signs (PCR 89.2%, culture 79.2%, P = .008). PCR and culture had equivalent sensitivity (100%) for cats showing clinical signs in the 1st month of infection, whereas PCR was considerably more sensitive than culture for cats showing clinical signs in the 2nd month (PCR 72.9%, culture 47.9%, P = .028). Organisms were not detected by PCR in blood or any tissue collected from treated or untreated cats at postmortem. Thus, effective treatment of chlamydiosis in cats is possible with much shorter treatment regimens than currently recommended, and PCR is the more sensitive diagnostic method in chronically infected cats.

Animals↗

Prevalence of feline Chlamydia psittaci and feline herpesvirus 1 in cats with upper respiratory tract disease.

The epidemiology of feline chlamydiosis and feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV1) infection in cats was determined using a duplex polymerase chain reaction assay. In cats with upper respiratory tract disease (URTD), prevalences of 66 (14.3%) of 462 cats and 98 (21.2%) of 462 cats were found for Chlamydia psittaci and FHV1, respectively. In cats without URTD, prevalences were 1/87 (1.1%) for both pathogens. Younger cats, cats sampled in summer, and cats with conjunctivitis were more likely to be positive for C psittaci than were cats sampled in other seasons and cats without conjunctivitis. Cats with recent contact with cats outside the household, cats with acute disease, and sneezing cats were more likely to be positive for FHV1 than were cats that had not had recent contact with cats outside the household, cats with chronic disease, and cats that were not sneezing. Purebred cats were less likely to be positive for FHV1 than were mixed breed cats and prevalence varied with year of sampling. Coinfection with both pathogens was lower than would be expected from their respective prevalences. Vaccinated cats were equally likely to be positive for FHV1 as unvaccinated cats. In sneezing cats FHV1 was more likely to be detected than C psittaci, particularly in acute cases, and when sneezing was not accompanied by conjunctivitis. Cats with reproductive disease concurrent with URTD were more likely to be infected with FHV1 than with C psittaci. Thus, the factors that should be considered in clinical diagnoses of C psittaci infections are the presence of conjunctivitis, age, and season, whereas contact with other cats, acute disease, and sneezing should be considered in diagnoses of FHV1 infection.

Animals↗