the Veterinary School, University of Sydney.

From 1947 to national President of the Australian Auxiliary to the Veteri-

1954 he was Veterinary Pathologist in the Western Australian
Department of Agriculture. He commenced duty as a Research
Officer at the CSIRO Animal Health Research Laboratory at
Parkville in March 1955.
He is an outstanding veterinary pathologist and is highly
regarded as an authority on liver pathology. He is knowledg-
able in many fields and is generous in sharing his knowledge
with others. He is highly skilled in electron microscopy and
has contributed his expertise in a number of studies by other
people.
He was appointed to the Editorial Committee of the Aus-
tralian Veterinary Journal in 1973 and has served continuously
to the present time. He is a valued member of Editorial
Committee because of his wide experience and expertise in
veterinary pathology. He is particularly skilful in evaluating
and editing scientific articles, especially the pathological as-
pects and histopathology and electron microscopic illustrations
and much work has been improved by his recommendations.
For many years now he has compiled the Index for each
volume of the Journal.
Kay Smits
Kay Smits’ involvement with the Australian Veterinary As-
sociation commenced in 1971 with the inaugural formation
of the West Australian Auxiliary. She was secretary of the
initial committee for two years and then held the same office
in 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978.
In 1980 Kay was the Auxiliary’s representative on the World
Congress Organising Committee which involved monthly
meetings for the next three years.
In 1982-83 she was elected as the State President of the
West Australian Womens group and in 1983 was also the
nary Profession.
Much of the undoubted success of the women’s meetings
and functions at the World Congress was directly due to the
enthusiasm and hard work of Kay Smits.
Kay Smits, by her interest and dedication to the Australian
Veterinary Association, is a worthy recipient of a Meritorious
Service Award.
Clifford Albert Hall
(awarded in 1985)
Clifford A Hall qualified as a member of the RCVS from
Liverpool University in 1945. For twelve years he was in large
animal practice in the United Kingdom. From 1957 to 1972
he worked for industry in Australia, USA and South America.
From 1973 until his retirement in 1984 he was with the NSW
Department of Agriculture.
He joined the AVA in 1958, soon after moving from the
United Kingdom where he had been a member of the British
Veterinary Association. He has been on the committee of the
NSW Division since 1975; was the Treasurer from 1977 to
1980 and President in 1981-82 and again in 1983-84. He has
served on various Divisional sub-committees.
He has been on the Federal Council of the AVA since 1978,
Finance Committee and NSW House Committee since 1980
and the National Headquarters Planning Committee since its
inception in 1983.
He was a member of both the 1978 and 1984 Sydney LACS;
he was Treasurer of the latter.
Clifford Hall is indeed a worthy recipient of a Meritorious
Service Award.

SHORT CONTRIBUTIONS
The electrocardiogram of the eastern grey the kangaroos in standing position (Figure 1A) while corn
kernels were offered in order to keep the animals stationary.
kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) Alligator clips were attached to the skin over the points of
the stifles and the elbows. The exploring electrode for V,, was
placed between the blades of the scapulae. Care was taken to
Department of Veterinary Medicine, A REZAKHANI* record the ECG during an interval when muscle artifact from
University of Queensland, J D WEBSTER body tremor or movement was minimal.
St Lucia Queensland 4067 R B ATWELL The ECG was recorded on standard (I, 11, 111) and aug-
mented unipolar (aVR, aVL, aVF) limb leads, and with the
During the past decade a number of papers have been
written describing the habits, nutrition, anatomy, physiology,
biochemistry and the bacterial and parasitic diseases of the
kangaroo (Grandage 1978). Degenerative cardiomyopathy was
considered as a cause of death in a captive kangaroo (Chineme
and Njoku 1978). Although the electrocardiograms (ECG) of
some of the marsupial family have been documented (Sza-
buniewicz and Szabuniewicz 1978; Rezakhani et al 1985 un-
published data) no published report could be found in English
literature on the ECG of the kangaroo. A description of the
ECG of the eastern grey kangaroo is therefore presented in
this paper.
Eighteen healthy, unanaesthetised eastern grey kangaroos
were the source of material in this study and were kept at the
Lone Pine Koala Sancturay in Brisbane. There were 17 males
and one female. The precise ages of the kangaroos were not
known, but they were all adult and estimated to be 2 to 6
years of age.
Electrocardiograms were recorded in field conditions, be-
tween 8.00 am to 9.00 am using a direct writing, single channel,
battery operated ECG machine?. The ECG was recorded with Figure 1A. Standing position from which ECG was recorded
from all 18 kangaroos.
Present address: Department of Clinical Studies, School of
Veterinary Medicine Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Fi ure 16. For comparison the ECG was recorded in this u p
t Electrocardiograph h-13,Fukada Denshi, Japan rig%t position from 4 kangaroos.
310 Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 63, No. 9, September, 1986
 Figure 2. Examples of electrocardiographic tracings from 4 kangaroos. Traces C and D recorded from the same
kangaroo in standing position A and B (Figure 1) respectively. Notice the absence of the ST segment in all traces.

Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 63, No. 9, September, 1986 311

unipolar chest lead (V,,). Traces were obtained from 4 kan-
garoos in both standing positions (Figure 1 A,B) for com-
parison. Traces were recorded using a calibration of lOmm
= 1 mV and paper speed of 25mm/sec. The ECGs were
analysed using 3 times magnification to determine duration
and interval and the amplitude of the component deflections.
Heart rate was calculated in each lead, and the average taken
as the heart rate for each kangaroo.
The forms of the QRS complex, related to the ventricular
activation process, were designated to the nomenclature pre-
viously described. However, lower case letters were used when-
ever the amplitude was less than 0.5 mV and capital letters
when the configuration was 0.5 mV and more. electrocardi-
ographic duration (sec) and amplitude (mV) were measured
in lead 11. The amplitude of the QRS complex in leads I aVF
and V,, was calculated to determne the major direction of
ventricular depolarisation in 3 planes.
The average heart rate was 58 f 10 beats/min (range 45
to 90). All the kangaroos had regular sinus rhythum. Typical
ECG tracings of 4 kangaroos are shown in Figure 2. One of
these shows the similar ECG pattern (C and D) obtained from
position A and B displayed in Figure 1, while another (E)
shows some of the variation seen in some kangaroos.
The mean duration in sec ( f SD) of the P wave in lead I1
was 0.05 f 0.01 (range 0.04-0.08). The mean amplitude was
0.14 f 0.05 mV (0.06-0.25). The P wave was generally positive
in leads I , 11, aVL and aVF and negative in leads aVR and
Vl0. Bifed and triphasic P waves ( + / - I + and - I + / - were
) Sancturay, in particular Mr P Douglas, for their co-operation.
also observed.
The PR and QT intervals were 0.15 f 0.01 sec (0.12-0.19)
and 0.19 k 0.01 sec (0.16-0.22) respectively. Because of the
small number of animals used no attempt was made to cor-
relate the QT interval with the heart rate.
In lead I1 the mean duration of the QRS complex was 0.07
f 0.01 sec (0.06-0.09). The mean amplitude of the R wave
in the same lead was 2.22 f 0.75 mV (1.20-4.40) The s or S
wave was 0.53 f 0.72 mV (0.10-2.50). A q wave in lead I1
was observed only in one case with amplitude of 0.05 mV.
In the ECG’s of the 18 Kangaroos, 25 various patterns of
QRS complex were observed in 7 leads. Triphasic QRS patterns
(qRs, QRS, RSR’, RSr‘, rSR’ - 52%) dominated over
monophasic (R, QS - 5 % ) , biphasic (Qr, QR, Rs, RS, rS
- 38%) or quadrophasic (qrSr‘, rSRs‘, qrsR’, qrSr’ - 5 % )
patterns. The pattern of the QRS complex of the kangaroo
was variable in all leads except in lead V,,, where there was
only one pattern (Qr). The major QRS complex direction
(algebraic sum) in leads I and aVF was positive and in Lead
V,, was negative.
The mean duration of the T wave in lead I1 was 0.11 f
0.01 sec (0.10-0.14), whereas the mean amplitude was 0.59 f
0.46 mV (0.15-1.80). The T wave was positive in leads 11, 111,
aVF and negative in leads 1, aVR, aVL and V,,. No distinct
ST segment was observed in the ECG’s of these Kangaroos.
The average mean electrical axis of the QRS complex in
the frontal plane was t 76” f 16” with a range of + 50” to
+ 117”’
The only value seen to be reported for the heart rate of the
grey kangaroo is 47 beats/min recorded from one kangaroo
which was fasted for 48h (Kinnear and Brown 1967). As the
kangaroos were not under any physical or chemical restraint
at the time of ECG recording, the value obtained can pre-
sumably be accepted as a normal heart rate of such captive
animals.
In all leads studied, the analysis of the ECG components
revealed that the direction of P and T waves, and the form
of the QRS complexes, were variable. The direction of P
waves in standard limb leads of the kangaroo is similar to
that of the sheep (Rezakhani and Edjtehadi 1980). The variable
patterns of the QRS complex (25 patterns) in the kangaroo is
similar to that of ruminants such as sheep and camel (Rezak-
hani and Szabuniewicz 1977).
According to the criteria given by Hamlin and Smith (1969,
animals with qR or R pattern for their QRS complex in lead
V,, are classified in group B. They include ruminants, horses,
312
donkeys and birds. The kangaroo can be classified as group
A, which has the Qr type in lead V,,. Other animals in this
group are the dog, cat, rat, monkey, American oppossum and
koala.
Based on the algebraic sum of the QRS complex in leads
I, aVF and V,,, mean vector force along the X axis (lead I )
was leftward directed (rightward in 3 animals), and along the
Y axis (lead aVF was caudally directed. The mean vector force
along the Z axis (lead V,,) was of a ventral direction.
N o distinct ST segment could be seen on the ECG’s of these
kangaroos (Figure 2). This has also been found in some other
animals (Sambhi and White, 1960). Various ideas have been
put forward to explain both an ST segment of short duration,
and the absence of an ST segment in the ECG of animals
such as rats, mice and hedgehogs, but the actual reason(s)
has not been documented. Presumably it is associated with a
different repolarisation mechanism when compared to other
animals.
When electrocardiograms were taken in 2 standing positions
(Figure 1, A and B) from 4 kangaroos no significant change
in the basic QRS pattern or P and T wave was observed. No
sex differences could be evaluated in this study as the ECG
recording of female kangaroos was found to be extremely
difficult and few valid traces were obtained apart from the
one included in this study. No explanation apart from timidity
could be offered to explain this observation.
We would like to thank the staff of the Lone Pine Koala
References
Chineme, C N and Njoku, C 0 (1978) - J Wildlife Dis 14: 52
Grandage, J (1978) - Proceedings No 36 The Post-graduate Com-
mittee in Veterinary Medicine - The University of Sydney -
Fauna-Part B: P 73
Hamlin, R L and Smith, C R (1965) - Ann N Y Acad Sci 27: 195
Kinnear. J E and Brown. G D (1967) - Nature Lond 215: 1501
Rezakhani, A and Szabuniewicz., M (1977) - ZbL Vet Med A, 24:
277
Rezakhani, A and Edjtehadi, M (1980) - ZbL Vet Med A, 27: 152
Sambhi, M P and White, F N (1960) - Circulation Res 8: 129.
Szabuniewicz, J M and Szabuniewicz, M (1978) - ZbL Vet Med A.
25: 785
(Accepted for Publication 18 February 1986)
A disease outbreak involving pneumonia in
captive koalas
Department of Veterinary Pathology P J CANFIELD
and Bacteriology C J OXENFORD
University of Sydney, G R LOMAS
New South Wales 2000
“Hillside” R K DICKENS
Blacktown Road, Blacktown,
New South Wales 2148
In 1979 McKenzie ef al documented spasmodic outbreaks
of pneumonia associated with Bordetella bronchiseptica in a
captive koala colony near Brisbane. The outbreaks tended to
occur during winter when the koalas were on a low plane of
nutrition, and most often affected newly weaned and aged
koalas. We report an outbreak of pneumonia in koalas held
in an enclosure in a wildlife park in Sydney. However, not
all deaths in the enclosure could be associated with pneumonia,
and not all pneumonias were solely due to E . bronchisepfica.
Seven koalas had been held in an enclosure within a wildlife
reserve for a period of one year or longer. In March, 2 koalas
died suddenly, 3 days apart. The 5-year-old female koala had
been in good condition and showed no signs of ill-health
except for coughing during the night prior to death. The aged
male koala had been suffering from “dirty tail” syndrome
Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 63, No. 9, September, 1986