The results of a serological survey of ruminant livestock in some countries of the Caribbean and South America for type-specific antibody to bluetongue virus are reported. Using the microneutralisation test with the international serotypes 1 to 22 of bluetongue virus, antibodies to several types were detected. Analysis of the data indicated that in 1981-82 bluetongue virus types 6, 14 and 17, or viruses closely related to them, were infecting ruminants in this region of the world. Antibody to the related virus of epizootic haemorrhagic disease (serotype 1) was also detected in cattle. The difficulty in interpreting the epidemiological significance of data generated by a serological survey of this kind is discussed.

A serological survey of 6250 sera from cattle, sheep and goats in seven Caribbean and two South American countries showed that antibody to bluetongue virus was widely distributed in each species throughout the survey area. Overall prevalences of antibody were 70 per cent in cattle, 67 per cent in sheep and 76 per cent in goats as assessed by an immunodiffusion test. Within countries the percentage prevalences were Jamaica 77, St Kitts/Nevis 70, Antigua 76, St Lucia 82, Barbados 61, Grenada 88, Trinidad and Tobago 79, Guyana 52 and Surinam 84. No clinical cases of bluetongue have been confirmed in the area surveyed and there are no virus isolates available to indicate which serotype(s) of virus is/are causing the infection(s).

Clinical manifestations of subcutaneous filariasis in a yellow-collared macaw (Ara auricollis) included lameness induced by subcutaneous nodule formation, which was attributed to the presence of the filarial parasite Pelecitus sp. Following anthelmintic and corticosteroid therapeutic failure, the problem was resolved by surgically removing the adult worms.

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