W, C. DOLOWY AND L. J. SWANGO 
1023 
(D.V.M.) from a foreign veterinary school. The 
veterinarian employed in this position as a 
technician has a background in microbiology 
and, thus was able to meet the needs for a 
bacteriologist plus contribute considerably more 
to our laboratory by assisting with necropsies 
and helping out in the clinical pathology and 
virology laboratories when needed. 
The capabilities in the bacteriology section 
enable routine isolation and identification of 
bacteria and testing for antibiotic sensitivity. 
Identification of bacterial isolates is usually 
taken to the species level including the gram 
negative coliforms. Isolates are occasionally 
sent to outside laboratories for confirmation 
of identity and/or typing. Examples of isolates 
which were confirmed in this manner are : 
1. Vibrio parahemolyticus and Aetino- 
bacillus suis isolated from a cutaneous 
abscess on a sand rat imported from 
the United Arab Republic. 
2. Salmonella typhimurium isolated from 
organs taken from a sand rat imported 
from the United Arab Republic. 
3. Streptococcus fecalis isolated from tis- 
sues taken from a fur seal on the Pri- 
bilof Islands. 
4. Pasturella pseudotuberculosis isolated 
from tissues taken from a guinea pig. 
5. Listeria monocytogenes (type la) iso- 
lated from the uterus of guinea pigs 
that were aborting near term or giving 
birth to weakened or dead fetuses. 
In addition to the capabilities in bacteriology, 
some efforts are made to isolate and identify 
mycoplasma and fungi. Mycoplasma pulmonis 
was isolated on more than one occasion from 
mice with middle ear infection and pneumonia. 
The fungi most commonly isolated were Tricho- 
phyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis. 
One fungal isolate from wild-caught, laboratory 
sparrows was identified as probably belonging 
to the Mortierellaceae. 
D. Virology 
The virology section is staffed by the veteri- 
nary virologist, who has direct responsibility for 
this section of the diagnostic laboratory, and 
one full-time virology-tissue culture technician 
who has an M.S. degree in virology. The pro- 
gram in virology has been limited because of 
inadequate laboratory facilities. The control of 
environmental factors is far more critical to the 
successful operation of a virology-tissue culture 
laboratory than any other section of the diag- 
nostic laboratory. A laboratory has not been 
available in which we could control the air sup- 
ply, "traffic", or maintain "sterile" rooms or 
cubicles. However, it has been possible to pre- 
pare and maintain cell cultures for limited virus 
isolation and in vitro studies. Also, serologic 
and immunologic studies of a specified nature 
have been possible. 
The cell and tissue culture capabilities have 
included the use of standard procedures for the 
preparation and maintenance of both primary 
cell cultures and established cell lines. Because 
of the limitations imposed by inadequate labor- 
atory facilities, we have had to limit our studies 
primarily to canine and feline viruses. There- 
fore, our emphasis has been on the use of cell 
culture systems which were susceptible to these 
viruses. Primary cell cultures prepared in our 
laboratory have included canine kidney, canine 
lung, feline kidney, chick embryo, and hamster 
embryo. In addition to primary cell cultures, a 
dog kidney cell line and the BSC-1 monkey kid- 
ney cell line have been maintained on a contin- 
uous basis. 
Microtiter techniques have been used as much 
as possible in serologic tests performed in our 
laboratory. Viral hemagglutination, hemaggluti- 
nation inhibition, and complement fixation pro- 
cedures are routinely done. Other procedures 
have been used as needed to evaluate immuno- 
logic competence, e.g., tests for hemolysin and 
hemagglutinin antibodies in sera from animals 
previously inoculated with sheep erythrocytes. 
Tests for virus neutralizing antibody have been 
done in both cell cultures and embryonating 
eggs. 
Direct and indirect fluorescent antibody tech- 
niques are used for diagnostic and research 
purposes. For the direct technique, we prepare 
our own conjugates of fluorescein isothiocyanate 
labeled globulins using hyperimmune sera from 
rabbits or goats. Evan's blue dye is routinely 
used as a counterstain in immunofluorescent 
procedures. Acridine orange staining of virus 
