700 



GLASSMAN AND BENNETT 



1.65 0.26 2.37 2.94 



1.29 g% 



Fig. 6 Serum protein electrophoretic pattern for an alligator with 

 acute infection. 



Bennett, 1978). Whether the presence of this parasitic infection 

 altered their red blood cell counts or percentages of white cells is 

 unknown. Animals from the Louisiana Wildlife Preserve, which were 

 raised from eggs in a clean environment, were also studied. They 

 showed no evidence of haemogregarines, and yet their other 

 hematologic values were similar to those of the wild normals. 



It was observed in phase 4 of the study that animals captured in 

 the wild (from June 20 to 30) had large numbers of leeches 

 {Placobdella multilineata) along their dorsal surface and attached to 

 the upper and lower jaws inside the oral cavity. Upon capture these 

 ten animals all exhibited marked eosinophilia, 60 ± 14%, compared 

 with the normal range of 5 to 10%. Removal of the leeches when the 

 animals were placed in the control tanks resulted in a drop to ~10% 

 over a 1-month span; this suggests that the parasites were responsible 

 for the eosinophilia. 



Animals with A. hydrophila infections were treated by a variety 

 of methods. An oil-base ointment containing polymyxin B and 

 neomycin, which was applied to lesions topically, was effective in 

 healing severe isolated lesions. Intramuscular injections of kanamycin 

 were given daily at a dose of 10 to 50 mg/kg body weight for 5-day 

 intervals. Kanamycin appeared to halt the progression of the 



