The incidence of overweight in cats has been reported in various studies to range between 6 and 52% depending on such factors as gender, neutering, age, being cross-bred, living in a single or two-cat household, no dog living in the household, inactivity, feeding fresh meat or fish, eating a premium or therapeutic food, distribution of food on a free choice basis and owner underestimation of their cat's body weight or body condition (BC). The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of overweight and to determine the risk factors associated with excess body weight, including owners' perception of their cat's BC in the studied population. Between March and June 2006, all owners presenting healthy cats for vaccination at the National Veterinary School of Alfort were questioned by a veterinarian using a standardised and validated questionnaire. Owners and veterinarians gave an oral evaluation of the cat's BC first verbally and then by comparison with a legend free visual scale. Univariate analysis was performed for all variables. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to variables strongly associated with overweight or regarded as major risk factors. On a total population of 385 cats, 19.0% were found to be overweight and 7.8% to be obese. The evaluation of overweight cats' BC by their owner was better with the visual scale than with the verbal description. This study confirmed earlier reports identifying being male, neutering, and underestimation of the cat's BC by the owner, as risk factors for being overweight.

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Corynebacterium ulcerans causes zoonotic infections, such as diphtheria and extrapharyngeal infections. We report here the first case of a diphtheria-like illness caused by C. ulcerans in France and transmitted likely by a dog to an immunocompromised woman. CASE REPORTA 47-year-old woman was admitted in the emergency room at the Bicêtre University Hospital (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France) for severe dyspnea in October 2003. She was immunocompromised due to treatment by prednisone at 6 mg/daily, tacrolimus at 12 mg/daily, and mycophenolate nofetil at 1 g/daily since she had undergone a kidney graft 1 year previously. Ten days prior to her admission to Bicêtre Hospital, the patient had been treated to no avail for sinusitis by oral amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (2 g/daily).Physical examination revealed severe stridor. She had fever at 38°C and mild tachycardia. The endoscopic examination identified a pseudomembranous exudate covering the nasopharynx and laryngeal vestibulum, ulceration, and subglottic constriction. A blood test found an increase of C-reactive protein (100 g/ml) and a white blood cell count of 3,500/l. This severe dyspnea indicated intubation, and the patient was subsequently hospitalized in the intensive care unit.Throat swab showed coryneform and gram-positive rods. After 24 h of incubation on sheep blood agar at 37°C in 5% CO 2 , shiny and whitish colonies grew that produced a slight hemolysis. Microscopic examination of these colonies revealed gram-positive, coryneform rods arranged in palisades. They were catalase positive, showed a positive reaction for urease, were negative for pyrazinamidase, and fermented glucose, ribose, maltose, and glycogen. These characteristics corresponded to those of Corynebacterium ulcerans. Biochemical identification was confirmed by partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene that showed 99% identity of the sequence of that strain with that of a C. ulcerans reference strain (11).Since C. ulcerans may acquire lysogenic ␤-corynephages coding for a diphtheria-like toxin (DT), PCR test (using primers DT1 and DT2 for detection of tox gene of C. diphtheriae (6) was performed that showed the presence of the DT-like gene in C. ulcerans. Disk diffusion susceptibility testing was performed on Mueller-Hinton blood agar (supplemented with 5% [vol/vol] sheep blood) after overnight incubation at 35°C and 5% CO 2 . In the absence of standardized breakpoints for Corynebacterium, antibiotic susceptibility was determined by using the NCCLS criteria for Streptococcus spp. other than Streptococcus pneumoniae (10).

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The Bovigam(®) gamma interferon (IFNγ) assay was used to complement official skin-test screening in a low bovine tuberculosis (bTB) prevalence region in France. The aim of our work was to determine decisional cut-off values for protein purified derivatives (PPD) and ESAT6-CFP10 antigens (R) in order to optimize the efficacy of the modified Bovigam(®) test, in this low-prevalence area, for optimal classification of infected or non-infected herds following positive skin tests. The sensitivity of the IFNγ assay relative to post-mortem bTB-positive animals (Se(r)) was studied in 60 cattle from 20 bTB-infected herds. Its absolute specificity (Sp) was studied in 492 cattle from 25 bTB-free herds from a bTB-free zone. Its operational specificity (relative to the positive skin test) (Sp(r)) was also studied in 547 skin-test positive cattle from 172 bTB-free herds from an infected zone. Using normalized interpretations for individual (PPD or R) results, the cut-off values at 0.02 for PPD and 0.01 for R were obtained with a view to employ them in low prevalence areas with no previously observed non-specific reactions to SITT. Concerning its use after positive skin tests, cut-off values were set at 0.05 for PPD and at 0.03 for R. The choice of an interpretation method considering positive results with PPD and/or R (PPDUR), justified in a high risk context, provided a test Se(r) of 93% [84-98] and Sp(r) of 71.8% [67.9-75.6]. Analysis of positive results with PPD and R (PPDUR), ideal for low-risk contexts, provided a test Sp(r) of 94.3% [92.0-96.1] and Se(r) of 77% [64-87]. Thus, adapting the criteria to the region's infection status and to the conditions for its application is essential for the appropriate use of the IFNγ assay.