88 ESVP/ECVP Proceedings 2012 SEVERE CONGENITAL PLEUROPERITONEAL DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA AND PERICARDIAL APLASIA IN A STILLBORN FRIESIAN FOAL a toi *, I. Morar y, A. Gal *, M. Taulescu *, A.F. T
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a ran *, C. C
A. Nagy *, G. Borza * and C. Bouari* *Department of Anatomic Pathology and yDepartment of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Veterinary Gynecology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania Introduction: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and pericardial aplasia are largely idiopathic and uncommon lesions in animals. Materials and Methods: A full-term stillborn female Friesian foal was presented for necropsy examination. The pedigree was also made available for a complete analysis. Results: Grossly, the peritoneal cavity contained approximately 500 ml of clear fluid. The small intestine, caecum, ascending colon, spleen and the intermediate left liver lobe were displaced into the thoracic cavity through a diaphragmatic defect measuring 15  20 cm. The diaphragmatic defect involved the left-dorsal part of the diaphragmatic tendinous center. Complete absence of the anterior and left pericardium and hypoplasia of the left lung was observed, associated also with abdominal organ displacement. The displaced lobe of the liver was markedly enlarged and showed marked diffuse fibrosis. Conclusions: Congenital diaphragmatic hernias are uncommon in the horse; however, several studies have reported different types of hernia including typical pleuroperitoneal diaphragmatic hernia, hiatal hernia, peritoneopericardial diverticulum and retrosternal diaphragmatic hernia. This is the first report of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia in Friesians and the first mention of a CDH and pericardial aplasia in a foal. In man there are a number of studies which suggest that genetic factors are involved in development of CDH, but in our case this could not be confirmed. Pedigree analysis showed no similar phenotype resulting from the same parent animals. ZOO AND WILDLIFE PATHOLOGY INCREASED MORTALITY IN CAPTIVE ROCK HYRAXES (PROCAVIA CAPENSIS) AT RIGA NATIONAL ZOO, ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMIC APICOMPLEXAN INFECTION, HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII, AND HAEMOSIDEROSIS y _ , I. Matıse VanHoutan z and I. Pigiņka* K. Broka *, A. Zuraw *Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvian University of Agriculture, Jelgava, y Department of Veterinary Pathology, Freie Universit€at Berlin, Berlin, Germany and zVeterinary Pathology Service, Vetfonds, Jelgava, Latvia Introduction: Apicomplexa are protozoan parasites infecting most genera of warm-blooded animals. A typical feature for this phyllum is the formation of sporocysts, which produce infectious sporozoites. The diseases caused by this group of organisms include among others sarcocystosis, neosporosis and toxoplasmosis. In the period from October 2012 to November 2013 in the Riga National Zoo of Latvia, 14 rock hyraxes showed signs of generalized weakness followed by death. The outbreak started after animals were moved to an enclosure located next to wild cats. Materials and Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded tissue samples from various organs (i.e. heart, liver, lung, kidney, uterus, spleen, thyroid gland, lymph nodes, bone marrow, intestine and brain) from all animals were examined microscopically with sections stained by HE, periodic acideSchiff and Perls’ Prussian blue, and subjected to immunohistochemistry (IHC) and PCR Results: Histological examination revealed parasitic sporocysts in the heart, liver and uterus (9/14), coagulation necrosis with mononuclear (i.e. lymphoplasmacytic, histiocytic) infiltrates (14/14) in virtually all organs and haemosiderosis in the liver (10/14). Intralesional parasites, histologically compatible with Apicomplexa, were positive for Toxoplasma gondii-specific antibodies while PCR product sequencing failed to specify the species. Conclusions: Hyraxes appear to be susceptible to infections with apicomplexan protozoa. Immunohistochemical analysis indicates the involvement of Toxoplasma spp. in the disease. Another factor 152:1, 2015 that could play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease may be haemosiderosis, which is known to suppress immunity, causing an increased susceptibility to other diseases. HELICOBACTER INFECTION IN CHEETAHS (ACINONYX JUBATUS) G. Rossi *, R. Gambi y, S. Berardi *, A. Piccinini *, M. Cerquetella * and G.E. Magi* *School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino and and yPractitioner, Ancona, Italy Introduction: Worldwide, the majority of captive cheetahs develop a progressive Helicobacter-associated chronic gastritis causing vomiting, weight loss and failure to thrive. We describe two cases of gastric Helicobacter-like organisms (GHLOs) associated with gastritis with gastro-oesophageal reflux in cheetahs, with intestinal-type columnar metaplasia of the pre-cardial oesophageal mucosa. Materials and Methods: A chronic diffuse gastritis and reflux oesophagitis from cardial incompetence was diagnosed endoscopically in two cheetahs, a 7-year-old male and a 4-year-old female, with a long history of recurrent vomiting and dysphagia, maintained in an Italian Zoo. For histological analysis, biopsy samples were processed routinely and sections stained with HE, Alcian blueePAS (pH 2.5) and Giemsa. Inflammatory infiltrates and GHLOs were characterized by immunohistochemistry. Results: GHLO-related gastritis, with florid infiltrates of CD3+/ CD4+/CD25-/Foxp3- T cells and CD79a+/CD21+ B cells, and with CD3+/CD8+ T cells within the glandular epithelium was diagnosed in both cheetahs. Chronic oesophagitis was also observed in both animals and, in oesophageal biopsy samples from the male animal, there was intestinal metaplasia with columnar and goblet cell rich epithelium, heavily colonized by GHLOs. Conclusions: In captive cheetahs, the most common causative agent of chronic gastritis is represented by Helicobacter spp. infection. Although there are many descriptions of GHLOs-related gastritis in cheetahs, there are no reports on the potential impacts that this chronic condition and recurrent vomiting can have on the oesophageal mucosa. We describe two cases of GERD in cheetahs, differing in degree of severity, and with a case of intestinal-type columnar metaplasia of the pre-cardial oesophageal mucosa, associated with GHLOs colonization. This condition, known also as Barrett’s oesophagus, is one of the possible complications of reflux oesophagitis in man, but is reported rarely in animals and, until now, undescribed in cheetahs. DETECTION OF PNEUMONIA VIRUS OF MICE IN AN AFRICAN HEDGEHOG (ATERELIX ARBIVENTRIS) WITH SUSPECTED ‘WOBBLY HEDGEHOG SYNDROME’ H. Madarame *, K. Ogihara y, M. Kimura *, M. Nagai z, T. Omatsu z, H. Ochiai x and T. Mizutaniz *Laboratory of Small Animal Clinics, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, y Laboratory of Pathology, Department of Environmental Hygiene, xResearch Institute of Biosciences Azabu University and zResearch and Education Center for Prevention of Global Infectious Diseases of Animals, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan Introduction: ‘Wobbly hedgehog syndrome’ (WHS) is an idiopathic progressive paralysis of African hedgehogs. Materials and Methods: A 198-day-old female pet African hedgehog was presented with sudden onset of astasia and abasia. The practitioner suspected WHS. The animal deteriorated and died 51 days after presentation. The animal was subjected to pathological examination, including immunohistochemistry with mouse anti-pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) (strain 15; antiserum kindly supplied by Dr. H. Rosenberg). Total RNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded brain tissue. Libraries for deep sequencing were constructed and sequence data analysis was performed. Results: The affected hedgehog had non-suppurative encephalitis with vacuolation of the white matter. Brain samples yielded RNA reads that were highly homogeneous to PVM (strain15) (96.5% of full genomic sequence homology by analysis of next generation sequencing). PVM antigen was also detected in the brain and the lungs immunohistochemically.