Analyses of outbreaks of African horse sickness showed that movement of infected Culicoides midges on the wind was most likely responsible for the spread of the disease over the sea from Morocco to Spain in 1966, from Turkey to Cyprus in 1960, and from Senegal to the Cape Verde Islands in 1943. The pattern of spread of the epidemic in the Middle East in 1960 could have been laid down by the infected midges carried on spells of south-east winds, and analyses of outbreaks in Algeria in 1965 and India in 1960 also suggested windborne spread of the disease. Each spread occurred when the presence of virus, host and vector coincided either with a spell of winds unusual for a particular time of year (Spain, Cyprus, Cape Verde Islands and Algeria) or with a series of disturbances usual at that time of the year (Middle East and India). Inferred flight endurance of the midge varied up to at least 20 h and flight range from 40 to 700 km. Flight occurred when temperatures were likely to have been in the range of 15–25 °C if it was at night or 20 to about 40 °C if it was by day.

It is suggested that likely movements of midges on the wind can be estimated from synoptic weather charts, and should be taken into account when planning control of the disease in the face of an outbreak. Such control includes a ban on movement of horses, vaccination and spraying of insecticide.

The risk of spread to countries outside the endemic areas should be assessed by reference to possible wind dispersal of infected midges.

Skin scales may be attracted onto the surface of administration set connector needles before insertion into infusion containers. Viable microorganisms associated with skin scales may therefore gain access to the infusion by this route. A technique is described for creating an environment of airborne skin scales. This environment is used to examine the attraction of skin scales onto the surface of administration set connector needles and three other materials. After exposure, skin scales are found adhering to the surface of each material examined. The attraction of skin scales onto administration set connector needles is dependent on the time of exposure to the environment. Results suggest that intravenous infusions can be contaminated by this route when the infusion and administration set is assembled.

The ability of six different types of contamination control mats currently in use at the entrances to theatre suites and other clean areas to remove bacteria-carrying particles from theatre trolley wheels was compared. Marked differences in the effectiveness of this property were obtained; and all mats showed some disadvantages. Modification of one of the mats has resulted in improved efficiency under working conditions.

Cross-sectional surveys of infection in relation to ward structure and practice were made in 38 hospitals between 1967 and 1973, including repeat surveys in 12 hospitals. The survey team (a research nurse and a senior microbiologist or technician) visited one ward a day and entered data on patients, including appearance of wounds seen at change of dressings, on the structure of the ward, and on ward practices; bacteriological swabs were taken from noses of all patients and staff of wards visited and from infected or open wounds, also from some environmental sites. Effect of age, sex, length of hospital stay and antibiotic use on carriage of tetracycline-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and on post-operative sepsis are considered here.

Clinical infection (sepsis), further classified as ‘severe’, ‘moderate’ or ‘mild’ in accordance with a code of physical signs, including inflammation and suppuration, was found in 6·1% of clean undrained operation wounds. Drained wounds and those through hollow, heavily colonized viscera (‘contaminated’ wounds) had higher sepsis rates than undrained and ‘clean’ wounds; there was less sepsis with closed drainage and with small drains. Staph. aureus (24%) was the commonest single bacterial species, but gram-negative bacilli (50%) were found in a much larger proportion of septic wounds. The results showed that the infection rate was lowest among patients between 20 and 40 years old. Infection was significantly more common in male than in female patients.

Nasal carriage of tetracycline-resistant Staph. aureus, used as an index of hospital-acquired infection, was commonest in geriatric patients and least common in gynaecological patients. There was correlation between nasal carriage of tetracycline-resistant staphylococci and age of the patient, length of hospital stay, sex, (male greater than female), operative treatment, and treatment with tetracycline, ampicillin and nitrofurantoin, but not with penicillin.

Strains of Salmonella typhimurium of predominantly Middle Eastern origin, but distributed from England to India, were found to carry at least three types of resistance plasmid. The most important was initially identified as an FI plasmid by compatibility tests, but differs from the F factor on the one hand and the FI factors R162 and CoIV on the other. The three groups of FI plasmids can be distinguished by their compatibility reactions with the MP10 plasmid of S. typhimurium (Smith, Humphreys, Grindley, Grindley & Anderson, 1973) and group H1 factors: the F factor is unilaterally incompatible with group H1 (Smith, Grindley, Humphreys & Anderson, 1973; Anderson, 1975b); the FI factors are compatible with MP10 and group H1 and FIme factors are incompatible with MP10 but compatible with H1. The majority of S. typhimurium cultures belonged to phage type 208; most of those that did not, belonged to types related to 208. Only a minority of their FIme plasmids were autotransferring. The remainder were mobilizable by F-like plasmids, and by group H1 and H2 factors, but not by the fi–I1 facter δ, or by plasmids of the I2, B, P, W, N and com 7 groups. The compatibility reactions of the autotransferring F1me plasmids were identical with those of the non-transferring members of the group, and both were large, single-copy plasmids.

The S. typhimurium strains of this series carried A or AK, and SSu resistance determinants: small, probably multicopy, non-transferring plasmids similar to those originally described in phage type 29 of S. typhimurium (Anderson & Lewis, 1965b).

These S. typhimurium cultures probably represent a clone of wide geographical distribution. The accurate epidemiological study of such clonal outbreaks requires, in addition to phage typing, precise identification of the plasmids harboured by the epidemic strains, and may have to be carried to the molecular level.

FIme plasmids were identified in other drug-resistant salmonellas, notably in a strain of S. wien which caused large outbreaks of mainly paediatric infection in Algeria, and also spread to Britain. An FIme plasmid was found in S. typhi phage type 44 from Algeria, in which the phage-restricting properties of the plasmid are responsible for the specificity of the type.

Two trials were carried out by 9 and 47 laboratories to evaluate the reproducibility and sensitivity of a standard technique for the isolation of salmonellas from animal feeding stuffs.

The trials involved the examinations of test samples containing known numbers of salmonellas by a buffered peptone water pre-enrichment technique. Statistical analysis of the results of the trials showed that the method was capable of detecting salmonellas in most probable numbers as low as 2·3 per 100 g and that no significant differences in performance were observed between laboratories.

The standard technique described is recommended for the examination of animal feed and conforms to international recommendations.

Analytical expressions have been derived for the exchange of air across doorways or similar apertures, in terms of the temperature difference between the spaces on both sides of the opening and the net volume of air flowing through this as a result of unbalanced air supply or extract. A simple allowance for turbulence which gives reasonable correspondence with observation is included. The formulae, which assume complete air mixing on both sides of the doorway up to the plane of the aperture, predict outflows from the warmer side, when there is an excess air supply to this side, which are progressively smaller than those observed as the temperature difference rises above 2–3 °C and the volume of excess air supply increases to produce an averaged outflow velocity greater than 0·1–0·15m/s. This seems to be due to lack of mixing of the warm outflowing air with the cooler air mass. A correction factor for this can be deduced as a function of the pressure difference due to the excess air supply. The limiting magnitude and general form of this function are compatible with a simple theoretical model of the air flow patterns involved.

The modification of Middlebrook's 7H11 oleic acid albumin agar medium by the addition of fresh bovine serum and lysed sheep red cells to encourage growth of Mycobacterium bovis is described. The improved medium was made selective by the addition of antibiotics and a comparative trial of this medium and the guineapig test in the isolation of M. bovis from badger tissues is reported. A close agreement between the two tests was found; the guinea-pig test detected 95% of all isolations and culture detected 91%.