duction to the Johannesburg zoo. Ever- largely dependent on the state .

tate .of the ceU Diagnosticians, Annual Proceedings: 365·382

mann et a1.,3 and Pfeifer6 reported on an
outbreak in Oregon in which serious
losses occurred. However, the presence of
coronavirus antibodies with no clinical
FIP disease, was reported in a group of
wild-caught cheetahs by Horzinek &
Osterhaus!.
No antibodies to coronaviruses could
be detected in the study group. These
animals therefore constitute a FIP-free
population. This has important implica-
tions; firstly they serve as a population
from which animals can safely be intro-
duced into established breeding groups
and, secondly, they constitute a highly
susceptible population which emphasises
the need for screening of all newcomers to
the group.
Feline infectious peritonitis is an im-
mune mediated disease 7• It is therefore
mediated immunity (CMI) of the animal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank Prof JAW
Coetzer, Miss H Snyman and Mrs R
Roos. The co-operation of the staff of the
National Zoological Gardens and De
Wildt Cheetah Research Centre is also
gratefuUy acknowledged.
REFERENCES
1. Appel M 1987 Virus infections of carnivores.
Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam:
419·420
2. Colly L 1973 Feline infectious peritonitis.
Veterinary Clinics of North America 3: 34
3. Evermann J, Burns G, Roelke M, McKeirnan
A, Greenlee A, Ward A, Pfeifer M 1983
Diagnostic features of an epizootoc of feline in·
fectious peritonitis in captive cheetahs.
American Association of Veterinary Laboratory
4. Horzinek M, Osterhaus A '1978 Feline infec·
tious peritonitis: a worldwide serosurvey.
American Journal of Veterinary Research 40:
1487·1392
5. Morsbach D 1987 Cheetah in Namibia. Cat
News 6: 25·26
6. O'Brien S, Wildt D, Goldman D, Merril C,
Bush M 1983 The cheetah is depauperate in
genetic variation. Science 221: 459·462
7. Pedersen N 1983 Feline infectious peritonitis
and feline enteric coronavirus infections. Feline
Practice 13: 5·20
8. Pfeifer M, Evermann J, Roelke M, Gallina A,
Ott R, McKeirnan A 1983 Feline infectious
peritonitis in a captive cheetah. Journal of the
American Veterinary Medical Association 183:
1317·1319
9. Van Rensburg I, Silkstone M 1984 Concomi·
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832·836

Book review/Boekresensie

ATLAS OF DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY OF

EXOTIC PETS

K GABRISCH, F GRIMM, E ISENBUEGEL, P KOBUK, J PAUL-MURPHY,

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2011)

C P OSWALD, G A RUEBEL, B J SCHILDER, P WOLVEKAMP

1st Edn. Schluetersche Wolfe, Hannover and W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia. 1991, pp
224, 328 radiographs and 51 line drawings. ISBN (0-7234-1642-7).
The editors of the atlas selected a representative international team of clinicians and
radiologists, specialists on diseases and breeding of exotic and domestic pet animals. The
objective of the volume was to fiU the gap in knowledge on radiological interpretation of a
large variety of smaU to medium-sized mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. The
book is primarily destined to meet the needs of veterinary practitioners.
A short, weU structured chapter describes radiographic techniques relevant to each
group of animals. Methods of physical and chemical restraint are briefly described, as
well as the standard radiographic positioning.
Normal anatomy is demonstrated on several radiographs in each species. The accompa-
nying texts depict the unique anatomic features of single species of their groups, such as
the os penis or the intra-abdominal position of the testicles in the male guinea pig. These
data are interesting from the point of view of the comparative anatomy and indispensable
for the proper radiologic interpretation of radiographs.
The following chapter covers abnormalities. As in the previous section, descriptions of
the excellent radiographs are concise and accurate. Line drawings are used effectively to
augment some radiographs by outlining important landmarks. Some abnormalities are in-
dicated on radiographs with the help of arrow markers. Only certain diseases/abnor-
malities are presented. However, the selection is sufficiently representative to cover the
more common conditions.
The book is well laid out and easy to read. It indicates the diagnostic value of radiology
in exotic and domestic pets, for conditions in which the clinical and many paraclinical
methods of investigation could be risky to the patient and non-rewarding for the clinician.
The atlas can be recommended to veterinary practitioners dealing with these particular
species and for veterinarians in zoological gardens as well as to animal rescue and
breeding centres. Research workers in the laboratory animal sciences, comparative
anatomy and physiology will also find this atlas highly interesting.

J. Still

0038-2809 JI S.Afr.vet.Ass. (1991) 62(3):124-125 125