Ixodes dammini, the vector of Lyme disease and babesiosis, is distributed in various locations in the northeastern quadrant of the United States and nearby Canada. The life cycle of this tick, which includes larval, nymphal, and adult stages, spans at least two years. The tick over-winters between larval and nymphal feeding. Horizontal transmission of pathogens is facilitated by a feeding patte...

The MICs and minimum fungicidal concentrations of amphotericin B, natamycin, miconazole, itraconazole, and flucytosine against 17 isolates of Fusarium solani, 14 isolates of Fusarium moniliforme, 10 isolates of Fusarium oxysporum, and 3 isolates of Fusarium semitectum were determined by a broth microdilution method. Amphotericin B and natamycin were the most active agents tested and failed to s...

Parsimony analysis of sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear rDNA and partial sequences of the large subunit (LSU) place four anamorphic Chalara species as a monophyletic grouping within the teleomorph genus Ceratocystis. Chalara ovoidea, Ch. thielavioides, Ch. populi, and Ch. elegans (synanamorph: Thielaviopsis basicola) form aleurioconidia typical of the anamorph g...

The ultrastructure of the body wall of Moniliformis dubius has been studied in the light and electron microscope. It consists of an apparently syncytial tegument, overlaid by a tenuous cuticle in the form of a finely fibrous extracellular fringe and is backed by a basement membrane and fibrous connective tissue. The tegument contains a framework of fibres, which, distally, is connected to a den...

A colony of albino rats was developed from three breeders (not germ-free) originally delivered by Cesarian section and artificially reared in the laboratories of Professor James A Reyniers. The colony has been maintained under quarantine since June, 1948, in the absence of any demonstrable involvement of the respiratory tract or of the middle ears. At autopsy pleuropneumonia-like organisms, Str...

Rat bite fever is a rarely reported acute febrile bacterial illness caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis or Spirillum minus following a rat bite. It is classically characterised by abrupt onset of fever with rigors, myalgias, headache, and the appearance of a generalised maculopapular petechial skin rash. Polyarthritis complicates the course of the disease in up to 50% of infected patients, a...