Heartbeat and respiration of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were monitored simultaneously using a visual and non-intrusive method, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands. All three species demonstrated sleep apnoea with reduced heart rate. In adult elephant seals, heartbeat fell 18% in ap...

Equine herpesvirus type 9 (EHV-9), which we isolated from a case of epizootic encephalitis in a herd of Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni) in 1993, has been known to cause fatal encephalitis in Thomson's gazelle, giraffe, and polar bear in natural infections. Our previous report indicated that EHV-9 was similar to the equine pathogen equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), which mainly causes abo...

Most studies of heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) in natural populations relate to fitness traits expressed early in life, whereas traits that are often more difficult to measure such as longevity and adult body size remain elusive. Teeth provide a window on an individual's life history, allowing the reliable estimation of both age and body size. Consequently, we collected paired upper...

Herpesviruses occasionally cause lethal infection in alien hosts by interspecies transmission such as B virus infection in humans from Macaques and pseudorabies virus infection in various animals from pigs. Most of the infection can be characterized as lethal encephalitis. One of typical examples is equine herpesvirus 9 (EHV-9), also called as gazelle herpesvirus 1 (GHV-1), which was isolated f...

Case 1. An increase in mortality occurred in a herd of 7000 free ranging Rhim gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa marica) in the UAE. Post-mortem revealed ruminal bloat and generalized haemorrhagic gastro-enteritis. Laboratory diagnosis confirmed Clostridium perfringens (direct smears and toxins found) enterotoxaemia and coli septicaemia. As this disease process was considered multifactorial, dietar...