Phaeohyphomycosis in a snow leopard (Uncia uncia) due to Cladophialophora bantiana.

Phaeohyphomycosis caused by Cladophialophora bantiana was diagnosed in a 5-month-old snow leopard with spastic paralysis of the hind legs and inability to defaecate or urinate. At post-mortem examination, a greenish soft mass resembling an abscess was found on one side of the epidural space at the fourth lumbar vertebral body. Histological examination revealed a purulent meningitis with myelomalacia. Dematiaceous fungal hyphae, present within the inflammatory infiltrate, were identified as C. bantiana by culture and sequence analysis of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene. This neurotropic fungus rarely affects organs other than the brain in human beings and cats, and has been reported only occasionally in Europe. The case described suggests that phaeohyphomycosis due to C. bantiana infection may be recognized more frequently in the future and the possible involvement of organs other than the brain should be borne in mind.

Cerebellar cortical degeneration in three English bulldogs: clinical and neuropathological findings.

This case report describes the clinical and neuropathological findings in three young English bulldogs affected by cerebellar cortical degeneration. The dogs, born from the same parents, were presented with clinical signs indicating progressive cerebellar dysfunction: a wide-based stance, severe cerebellar ataxia characterised by marked hypermetria, spasticity, and intention tremors of the head and trunk with loss of balance. On histopathological examination, lesions were confined to the cerebellum and consisted of diffuse degenerative cortical lesions, and there was a loss of Purkinje and granule cells. The history, clinical signs and neuropathological findings confirmed the diagnosis of cerebellar cortical degeneration. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of cerebellar cortical degeneration in the English bulldog.

[Swiss scrapie surveillance. I. Clinical aspects of neurological diseases in sheep and goats]. / Scrapie-Uberwachung in der Schweiz. I. Klinische Aspekte von neurologischen Erkrankungen bei Schaf und Ziege.

Small ruminants infected with scrapie show a large range of often unspecific clinical symptoms. The most-often described signs, locomotion, sensibility and behavioural disorders and emaciation, rarely occur together, and cases have been described in which only one of those signs was detectable.Thus, formulating a well-circumscribed definition of a clinical suspect case is difficult. Most animals with CNS-effecting diseases such as listeriosis, polioencephalomacia, cerebrospinal nematidiasis and enterotoxemia will, in a thorough neurological examination, show at least some scrapie-like symptoms. Among the 22 neurological field cases examined in this study, a goat with cerebral gliomatosis and hair lice showed the closest similarity to clinical scrapie. The unilateral deficiency of the cerebral nerves has potential as an clinical exclusion criterion for scrapie. However, the laboratory confirmation--or exclusion--of scrapie remains important. It thus needs to be realized that a consistent and thorough examination of neurologically diseased small ruminants (including fallen stock) is the backbone of a good surveillance system for these diseases. This should be a motivation for submitting adult sheep and goats for neuropathological examination.

Presumed immune-mediated cerebellar granuloprival degeneration in the Coton de Tuléar breed.

An unusual form of cerebellar granuloprival degeneration was observed in three male Coton de Tuléar puppies between 12 and 14 weeks of age from different litters showing progressive cerebellar signs beginning at 8 weeks after birth. Pathological examinations revealed a shrunken cerebellum. Histopathologically the granular cells were diminished or almost completely absent, some 'torpedos' of Purkinje cells were present. There was a marked gliosis, and occasionally small inflammatory foci were present. A marked diffuse T cell infiltration (CD3(+) cells) occurred in the lesions, B cells did not appear. CD18 staining showed an upregulation of microglial cells at the lesion site. Histopathologically the lesions resembled paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration which is caused by an autoimmune mediated T cell reaction. This congenital condition in the Coton de Tuléar dog breed could be based on a genetically defined immune defect leading to autoimmune destruction of the granular cells.

Detection of PrP(Sc) in subclinical BSE with the paraffin-embedded tissue (PET) blot.

The appearance of a new variant of CJD (vCJD) in young patients has caused considerable public concern and there is evidence that this novel disease is caused by the same agent as BSE. BSE is a prion disease that became epidemic in the UK, with a peak incidence in January 1993. New test systems should aim to identify BSE-infected cattle early in the incubation period. We compared the established histological and immunohistochemical methods and the Western blot method used by Prionics with the PET blot method that detects prion PrP(Sc) deposits in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue. Investigating the obex region with the PET blot, all BSE cases were detectable and no false positive cases occurred. From the Swiss culling program, five clinically healthy cattle out of 1761 were identified as incubating BSE. With the PET blot method four of them showed the same PrP(Sc) deposition pattern that was seen in clinical BSE, though less conspicuous. In one of the five cases, PrP(Sc) was restricted to two brain stem nuclei, a pattern that was reported to be the first manifestation of PrP(Sc) deposits in the brain after peripheral infection and one that occurs after half of the incubation time. In this case, histology and Western blot were negative.

Targeted screening of high-risk cattle populations for BSE to augment mandatory reporting of clinical suspects.

In Switzerland, the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was diagnosed in November 1990. Case numbers peaked in 1995, with a total of 352 BSE cases identified by 30 April 2000. Reporting of clinically suspect cattle is currently the most commonly used method world-wide to detect BSE cases. The effectiveness of mandatory reporting depends on a variety of factors; for other diseases passive surveillance underestimates the incidence of clinical cases. The efficiency of passive surveillance systems for BSE will remain unknown until screening tests able to identify clinically affected cattle have been applied in several countries. This paper provides the first detailed description of a targeted screening programme for BSE. Two populations of cows >24 months of age were included in the targeted screening: (i) cows found dead or culled on site where the carcass was submitted to rendering (fallen stock) and (ii) cows with health-related problems unfit for routine slaughter that were slaughtered under emergency procedures (emergency slaughter). Between 1992 and 1999, on average 81 clinical BSE suspects per year were reported to the veterinary authorities (passive surveillance), of which 43% were confirmed with BSE. A total of 30 clinical cases were captured by passive surveillance and an additional 20 BSE cases detected by targeted screening between May 1999 and April 2000. The odds of finding a BSE case was 49 times higher in the fallen stock and 58 times higher in emergency-slaughtered cattle when compared to passive surveillance. The targeted screening of fallen stock and emergency-slaughtered cattle considerably increased the number of detected cases in this 12-month period. Targeted-screening cases were on average 4 months younger than the clinical suspect cases. In conclusion, post-mortem testing of fallen stock and emergency-slaughtered cows >24 months for BSE is an important active surveillance element within a total surveillance system that principally is based on mandatory reporting of clinical suspect cases. Without ante-mortem screening tests to detect BSE-infected cattle during the incubation period, a combination of effectively functioning passive and active BSE surveillance strategies might be the only approach to assess the BSE situation reliably in a given country or region - and it is necessary to substantiate claims of freedom from the disease.

Nuclear DNA fragmentation and immune reactivity in bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

To investigate whether apoptosis contributes to neuronal degeneration in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), morphological changes consistent with apoptosis were sought and in-situ end labelling (ISEL) was applied, in a series of 20 BSE cases and 10 age-matched normal control cattle. Apoptotic changes were not found in neurons but were occasionally seen in glial cells. Relatively few ISEL-positive neurons were found, but many labelled nuclei were seen in glial cells in certain areas. None of the labelled cells showed morphological features of apoptosis. ISEL(+)cells occurred in areas of spongiform change and other areas of grey matter lacking spongiform change. Some association was found between degree of cellular DNA fragmentation and accumulation of abnormal prion protein (PrP(Sc)). Interestingly, small or moderate numbers of T lymphocytes, not present in the normal central nervous system (CNS), were detected in the CNS parenchyma in most BSE cases. There was a pronounced astrogliosis, but markers of macrophage or microglial activation were only slightly increased. The results indicate that nuclear DNA vulnerability is enhanced in certain neuroanatomical areas in BSE, but evidence that apoptosis plays a role in neuronal loss in BSE was very limited. 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Necrosis of hippocampus and piriform lobe in 38 domestic cats with seizures: a retrospective study on clinical and pathologic findings.

The clinical records of 38 cats (1985-1995) with a neuropathologically confirmed diagnosis of necrosis of the hippocampus and occasionally the lobus piriformis were evaluated retrospectively. There was no sex or breed predisposition. Most cats were between 1 and 6 years of age (mean age 35 months) and had either generalized or complex-partial seizures of acute onset and rapid progression. The seizures had a tendency to become recurrent and to present as clusters or even status epilepticus later in the course of the disease. Fourteen cats died spontaneously, and 24 were euthanized. Histopathologic examination revealed bilateral lesions restricted to the hippocampus and occasionally the lobus piriformis. The lesions seemed to reflect different stages of the disease and consisted of acute neuronal degeneration to complete malacia, affecting mainly the layer of the large pyramidal cells but sometimes also the neurons of the dentate gyrus and the piriform lobe. The clinical, neuropathologic, and epidemiologic findings suggest that the seizures in these cats were triggered by primary structural brain damage, perhaps resulting from excitotoxicity. The cause remains unknown, but epidemiologic analysis suggests an environmental factor, probably a toxin.

Necrosis of hippocampus and piriform lobe: clinical and neuropathological findings in two Italian cats.

The present paper reports the clinical and neuropathological findings in two cats with a neuropathologically confirmed diagnosis of necrosis of the hippocampus and piriform lobe. The cats were presented because of acute onset of behavioural changes and complex partial seizures. The neurological examination suggested a forebrain lesion. The results of blood examination were within the normal range, and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and computed tomography (CT) scan in one cat did not show any abnormality. Despite therapy with diazepam (Valium; Roche) there was deterioration of the clinical signs and the cats were euthanased. The neuropathological examination revealed hippocampal necrosis that included the piriform lobe.

Modelling the expected numbers of preclinical and clinical cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Switzerland.

The objective of this study was to model the expected numbers of cattle incubating bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the numbers of clinical cases of BSE in the Swiss cattle population between 1984 and 2005. The results were compared with the observed number of clinical BSE cases and with the results of a culling and testing scheme on herdmates of cattle with BSE. The age distribution of the Swiss cattle population, the age-at-death distribution of the first 235 BSE cases and exposure information were used to calculate the expected number of infected cattle in each birth cohort and the resulting numbers of clinical cases and survivors incubating the disease for each year. The model which did not assume any under-reporting of cases fitted the observed epidemic curve of clinical cases reasonably well, and predicted that the Swiss BSE epidemic would come to an end between 2003 and 2005. The age of survivors incubating BSE is increasing. The higher than expected incidence of subclinical cases observed in animals from the culling scheme is most probably the result of the heterogeneous distribution of infected animals and affected herds in the population. The results of the model need to be taken into account when designing surveillance and testing schemes for BSE.

'Continuous muscle fibre activity' in six dogs with episodic myokymia, stiffness and collapse.

Continuous muscle fibre activity was observed in a crossbred dog, a Yorkshire terrier, a border collie and three Jack Russell terriers. The clinical signs consisted of episodes of generalised myokymia which developed into muscle stiffness and delayed muscle relaxation and generally led to the dogs collapsing into lateral recumbency. These episodes were preceded by intense facial rubbing in three of the dogs, and were associated with severe hyperthermia in five of them. All three Jack Russell terriers showed continuous ataxia. The dogs had above normal activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and creatine kinase, but their cerebrospinal fluid was normal. Myokymic discharges were observed by electromyography in two of the dogs. Two of them were treated with membrane-stabilising agents, with variable results.

Neuropathological and aetiological studies of sporadic non-suppurative meningoencephalomyelitis of cattle.

Sporadically occurring non-suppurative encephalitis appears to be a frequent condition of Swiss cattle. Fifty-one such cases diagnosed over a period of 10 years were examined retrospectively to investigate whether they constituted one or more distinct diseases, and to search for aetiological agents. Three cases were characterised by periventricular granulomatous encephalitis, and most probably represented a different disease, but the remaining 48 cases had disseminated non-suppurative encephalitis with widespread neuronal changes. Neuronal degeneration was very marked in the hippocampus of 10 cases and in the cerebellar Purkinje cells of 11. It was thought that the latter cases represented morphological variations of the same disease rather than a different disease because of their overlapping morphological features. The 48 cases had the following features in common: the disease had primarily neurological signs affecting mostly adult cattle, it was a sporadic condition, and there was a clear tendency for it to have a subacute to chronic course. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification for chlamydial DNA was negative except in one of 32 specimens, and immunohistochemistry did not demonstrate the presence of chlamydial antigens either in the one PCR-positive case or in the other cases examined. Immunohistochemistry for rabies virus, Borna disease virus, and central European tickborne encephalitis virus was negative. In four cases, immunolabelled cells were found in the lesions with antibodies against paramyxovirus antigens.

Fibrocartilaginous embolism in 75 dogs: clinical findings and factors influencing the recovery rate.

The records of 75 dogs with fibrocartilaginous embolism of the spinal cord were evaluated retrospectively. The diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically in 21 dogs (group A) and remained suspected in 54 patients (group B). The two groups were compared. Particular emphasis was placed on the description of physiotherapy procedures, recovery rates and prognostic criteria. Results demonstrated that fibrocartilaginous embolism affected mainly middle-aged, large- or giant-breed dogs. Clinical signs were peracute in onset, non-progressive and often asymmetric. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was normal in the majority of dogs. Intramedullary swelling was the only abnormality detected on myelograms of these patients. A positive correlation was found between a poor prognosis and the involvement of intumescences, symmetrical clinical signs and decreased deep pain sensation. However, physio/hydrotherapy instituted immediately after the diagnostic work-up seemed to have a major influence on the recovery rate.

[Suspicion of visna in a sheep from Graubünden Canton]. / Visnaverdacht bei einem Schaf aus dem Kanton Graubünden.

A lentivirus belonging to the group of retroviridae causes a chronic progressive interstitial pneumopathy (maedi) or a demyelinating encephalo-myelitis (visna) in sheep and goats. Pulmonary lesions of maedi as well as sero-positive, clinically healthy animals can be observed in Switzerland; visna, which even in countries with endemic infection does not occur frequently, is extremely rare. The head and cervical spine of an ewe with severe nervous troubles suspected of scrapie were submitted for postmortem examination. We found a demyelinating myelitis resembling visna. Immunocytochemical staining (PAP) to demonstrate the presence of the virus in paraffin sections was negative, but several animals of the flock proved to be seropositive for maedi/visna virus, which supports the histological diagnosis. Although there is no risk of an epidemic outbreak of maedi/visna in Switzerland, modes of transmission, eradication programmes and prophylactic measures successfully employed in countries with endemic maedi/visna are discussed.

[Examination of the brains of slaughtered cattle for the occurrence of BSE in Italy with attention to non-specific neuronal vacuoles]. / Untersuchungen an Gehirnen von Schlachtrindern zum Vorkommen von BSE in Italien unter Beachtung unspezifischer neuronaler Vakuolen.

In order to find out whether BSE exists in Italy 378 brains of normally slaughtered 2-10 years old cattle submitted from slaughterhouses all over the country were examined histologically. None showed the typical lesions of BSE. About 11.5% of the brains contained large vacuoles in the neurons of brain stem nuclei, in particular the red nucleus in the midbrain. They were considered non specific.

[Multiple cranial nerve deficits after eye injury and eye enucleation. A case report]. / Multiple Kopfnervenausfälle nach Augenverletzung und Bulbusexstirpation. Ein Fallbericht.

A 12-year old Simmental x Red Holstein cow was admitted to the clinic eight months after an eye laceration followed by eye extirpation. The region of the excised eye had healed, however, the cow had additional trigeminal and facial nerve palsy. Nevertheless, the cow was in good general condition, and therefore, was sent home without therapy. After delivering a sound calf, her physical condition deteriorated and she was slaughtered. Histologic examination of the brain revealed degeneration of the right optic nerve and right half of the chiasma opticum as well as left tractus opticus (opposite side); furthermore, degenerative changes with slight inflammation of the right vestibular nuclei were observed. Possible pathogenesis is discussed.

Neuronal vacuoles in the canine brain.

Intraneuronal vacuoles have been observed in the motor trigeminal nucleus of the medulla oblongata of two dogs which showed neurological deficits. Its significance and possible relation with the same lesions observed in other animal species are discussed.

[Frequency of neurologic diseases in cattle]. / Häufigkeit neurologischer Erkrankungen beim Rind.

The cases of neurological diseases at the Institute of Animal Neurology, University of Berne, from 1985-1994 were assessed. During this period 532 cattle with neurological symptoms were examined. After 1980 differential diagnostic investigation of rabies negative brains were not pursued anymore and the number of examined cattle brains had declined to 25-30 per year. With the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 1990 in Switzerland the number of cattle brains examined has increased to 75-80 yearly. The most frequently diagnosed neurological diseases found are BSE, followed by listeriosis and viral encephalitides.

Paradoxical vestibular disease with trigeminal nerve-sheath tumor in a dog.

A thirteen-year old spayed female poodle was referred because of atrophy of temporal and masseter muscles on the left and head tilt and episodical circling to the right side. Additionally, decreased facial sensation, absent menace reaction, palpebral and corneal reflexes on the left side, as well as ipsilateral hemiparesis and tongue palsy were noticed. Generalised vestibular ataxia and hypermetria in the front limbs were present. Based on the clinical signs, the presumptive anatomical localization of the lesion was the cerebellopontine angle including parts of the caudal brainstem with involvement of the trigeminal, facial and hypoglossal nerves. Involvement of either flocculonodular lobe or the caudal cerebellar peduncle on the left side causing paradoxical vestibular disease was suspected. On magnetic resonance imaging a large enhancing lesion in the area of the left cerebellopontine angle involving the trigeminal nerve and compressing cerebellum and brainstem was seen. Because of the poor prognosis the dog was euthanized on the owner's request. This space occupying lesion could be identified as a trigeminal neurofibrosarcoma/schwannoma on post mortem histopathological examination.

[Intracranial astrocytomas in eight cats: clinical and pathological findings]. / Intrakranielle Astrozytome bei acht Katzen: Klinische und pathologische Befunde.

Intracranial astrocytomas are rarely diagnosed in cats. Clinical and pathological aspects of these tumors are more often described in humans and dogs. The classification scheme used in human medicine is of important prognostic value. We have analyzed clinical neurological and pathological findings from 8 cats with intracranial astrocytomas. The animals were 10.1 years old in average and presented with a history of tetraparesis (n = 3), epilepsy (n = 2), loss of balance (n = 3) and dyspnoe (n = 1). The latter cat died immediately after the first presentation while the other animals were euthanized because of a progressive course of the symptoms despite therapy. Even though feline astrocytomas, that we could classify into 4 different types in this study, are clinically and pathologically well correlated with those of other species, a prognostically useful classification has never been established before.