Animal Disease Survey of Navassa Island, West Indies.

Abstract

Navassa Island is located 18 degrees 25 minutes north and 75 degrees and zero minutes west and is the closest American possession to the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The island is uninhabited. The wild animals studied on Navassa Island included goats, rats, and several species of birds. Low levels of mercury and DDT were detected in these animals. Radioisotope analysis of animal tissue revealed low levels of plutonium 238 and 239. Light microscopy examination of tissue demonstrated sarcosporidiosis in wild rats, central nervous system degeneration in the goat compatible with a slow virus disease known as scrapie, avian malaria and several pathogenic metazoan parasites in various vital organs. A contact dermatitis in man caused by the tree, Metopium taxiferum was identified. Sera from goats, rats, birds and bats were negative for rabies and avian influenza. (Modified author abstract)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 25, 1973
Accession Number
AD0767964

Entities

People

  • James L. Kupper
  • John Bowman
  • Richard J. Brown
  • Robert O. Baker
  • W. C. Hixson

Organizations

  • Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Animal Diseases
  • Birds
  • Cells
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Virus Diseases

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Military Engineering.
  • Vector-Borne Disease and Entomology
  • Virology (or Medical Virology).