This article describes the first detections of disease due to natural infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIv) H5N1 of the Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b in wild terrestrial mammals throughout the United States during 2021-2022. Affected mammalian species include 50 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 6 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), 4 raccoons (Procyon lotor), 2 bobcats (Lynx rufus), 2 Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), 1 coyote (Canis latrans), 1 fisher (Pekania pennanti), and 1 gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Infected mammals primarily exhibited neurological signs. Necrotizing meningoencephalitis, interstitial pneumonia, and myocardial necrosis were the most common lesions; however, species variations in lesion distribution were observed. Genotype analysis of sequences from 48 animals indicates that these cases represent spillover infections from wild birds.
A simple high-performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of ceftazidime in plasma has been developed. Using an ultrafiltration technique samples were separated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a Symmetry C 18 4.6 × 250 mm column (5.0 μm) and ultraviolet absorbance was measured at 260 nm. The mobile phase was a mixture of 10 mM potassium phosphate monobasic pH 2.5 with phosphoric acid and acetonitrile (90:10). The standard curve ranged from 0.1 to 100 μg/ml. Intra-and inter-assay variability for ceftazidime was <12%, and the average recovery was 89%. The lower limit of quantification was 0.1 μg/ml. This method has been used successfully to analyze frog plasma samples at this institution and it could be applied to other small volume samples in a clinical or research setting.
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