Equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy

Braz J Vet Pathol. March 2023;16(1):85-88. 10 Refs

Teodoro TGW¹, Mendonça FS, Asin J²

¹ São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brazil.; ² jasinros@ucdavis.edu

Author Abstract

Clinical History:

A euthanized, 14-year-old, Warmblood gelding that had participated in an equine show was presented for necropsy and diagnostic workup to the San Bernardino laboratory of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System. The animal had a 4-day history of mildly swollen limbs and hyperthermia, and developed neurologic signs shortly before euthanasia.

Necropsy Findings:

The urinary bladder had multifocal to coalescing hemorrhages in the mucosa and approximately 5 ml of turbid urine with sandy sludge (Figure 1). The entire spinal cord was removed and cross-sectioned serially after fixation in 10% neutral-buffered formalin during 48h. Multifocally, in multiple sections of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar segments, there were uni- or bilateral and asymmetrical, wedge-shaped areas of gray discoloration and hemorrhage (Figures 2-4). In addition, there were extensive hemorrhages around the nerve roots of the cauda equina.

Follow-up questions:

Five differential diagnoses for the gross lesions in the spinal cord (Fig. 1B-1D)
Microscopic description for the lesions in the spinal cord (Fig. 2A-2D)
Most likely cause based on clinical history and gross and microscopic findings.

Article Tools:

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Toxicity of House Plants to Pet Animals.
This review article describes in detail the most common and popular indoor poisonous plants grown in Europe, the mechanisms of action of their active substances and clinical signs of the respective poisonings. This manuscript is supplemented with rich photographic documentation of these plants not found in similar articles, and also includes a description of the treatment of individual types of poisoning.

Head Trauma Management in Small Animals
This article reviews the pathophysiology of head trauma, patient assessment, diagnostic testing, treatment recommendations, monitoring, and prognosis.

Wavy changes in the whiskers of domestic cats are correlated with feline leukemia virus infection.
The prevalence of wavy whiskers (WW) was significantly correlated with FeLV antigen positivity in the blood. Of 56 cases with WW, 50 (89.3%) were serologically positive for FeLV. The significant association between WW and serological FeLV positivity was also confirmed by multivariate analysis. In WW, narrowing, degeneration, and tearing of the hair medulla were observed. Mild infiltration of mononuclear cells in the tissues, but no degeneration or necrosis, was found. By immunohistochemistry, FeLV antigens (p27, gp70, and p15E) were observed in various epithelial cells including the sinus hair follicular epithelium of the whisker.

Understanding the Role of Therapy Dogs in Human Health Promotion.
Therapy dog programmes are delivered across a variety of settings including hospitals, aged care facilities and mental health services, highlighting the important role they play in human health outcomes. Research has shown that that there are biomarkers for stress in humans and other animals engaged in human-animal interactions. This review aims to assess the impact of human-animal interactions on therapy dogs engaged in providing support to human health.

Acute onset of circling and dull mentation in a 1-year-old male neutered domestic shorthair cat.
CNS cuterebriasis represents a neurologic disease more common in cats than dogs, resulting in presentation during summer months with acute onset and often asymmetric, focal or multifocal, intracranial signs preceded by upper respiratory disease.