Identification of bovine astrovirus in cases of bovine non-suppurative encephalitis in eastern Canada.

Bovine astrovirus (BoAstV) was identified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on brain tissue of 2 feedlot cattle that died of non-suppurative encephalitis. Sequencing demonstrated a high degree of identity with neurotropic US and Swiss BoAstV strains. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of BoAstV-associated encephalitis in cattle residing in eastern Canada.

Identification de l'astrovirus bovin dans des cas d'encéphalite bovine non suppurative dans l'Est du Canada. L'astrovirus bovin (BoAstV) a été identifié par amplification en chaîne par la polymérase avec la transcriptase réverse sur des tissus du cerveau de 2 bovins de parcs d'engraissement qui étaient morts d'encéphalite non suppurative. Le séquençage a démontré un haut niveau d'homologie avec les souches neurotropiques américaine et suisse de BoAstV. À notre connaissance, il s'agit du premier rapport confirmé d'une encéphalite associée à BoAstV chez le bétail résidant dans l'Est du Canada.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Experimental reproduction of necrotic enteritis in chickens: a review.

This review discusses key factors important in successful experimental reproduction of necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens, and how these factors can be adjusted to affect the severity of the lesions induced. The critical bacterial factor is the need to use virulent, netB-positive, strains of Clostridium perfringens; disease severity can be enhanced by using netB-positive C. perfringens strains that are also tpeL-positive, by the use of young rather than old broth cultures, and by the number of days of inoculation and the number of bacteria used. Use of cereals rich in non-starch polysaccharides can enhance disease, as does use of animal proteins. Administration of coccidia, including coccidial vaccines, combined with netB-positive C. perfringens, increases the severity of experimentally-induced NE. Dietary manipulation may be less important in coccidia-based models since the latter are so effective. Disease scoring systems and welfare considerations are discussed.

Fatal extraintestinal toxoplasmosis in a young male cat with enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes.

A 22-month-old indoor/outdoor neutered male domestic short-haired cat had a history of progressive lethargy, vomiting, and decreased appetite. Abdominal ultrasound revealed an irregular hyperechoic mass in the mid-abdomen. He was unresponsive to symptomatic medical management and was euthanized after 3 days of hospitalization. A diagnosis of disseminated extraintestinal toxoplasmosis was made based on the finding of intracytoplasmic protozoan parasites on histopathological examination of mesenteric lymph nodes, hepatic and intestinal samples, and on immunohistochemistry.

Toxoplasmose extra-intestinale mortelle chez un jeune chat mâle présentant des ganglions lymphatiques mésentériques enflés. Un chat domestique mâle stérilisé, d'intérieur et d'extérieur, âgé de 22 mois a été présenté avec une anamnèse d'abattement progressif et des vomissements ainsi qu'un appétit diminué. Une échographie abdominale a révélé une masse hyperéchogène irrégulière dans le milieu de l'abdomen. Il n'a pas répondu à une gestion médicale des symptômes et a été euthanasié après 3 jours d'hospitalisation. Un diagnostic de toxoplasmose extra-intestinale disséminée a été posé en se basant sur la découverte de parasites protozoaires intracytoplasmiques à l'examen histopathologique des ganglions lymphatiques mésentériques et des échantillons hépatiques et intestinaux ainsi qu'à l'immunohistochimie.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Protothecosis in a dog.

A case of a disseminated algal infection is reported in a young rough-coated collie dog with progressive neurologic deficits, blindness, and hemorrhagic diarrhea. Prototheca zopfii organisms were cultured from feces, urine, and blood. At necropsy, granulomas containing typical organisms were identified within the proximal colon, heart, kidneys, and eyes.

Protothécose chez un chien. Un cas d'infection algoïde est signalé chez un jeune chien Collie à poil court avec des troubles neurologiques progressifs, de la cécité et de la diarrhée hémorragique. Des organismes de type Prototheca zopfii ont été cultivés à partir des fèces, de l'urine et du sang. À la nécropsie, des granulomes contenant des organismes typiques ont été identifiés dans le côlon proximal, le cœur, les reins et les yeux.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Monoparesis in association with feline pulmonary carcinoma: a literature review with 3 new cases.

We describe 3 cases of cats that were presented with a sudden onset of monoparesis as a result of arterial thromboembolism without evidence of cardiovascular disease that were subsequently diagnosed with a primary pulmonary carcinoma. Arterial tumor thromboemboli due to pulmonary carcinoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis in cases of lameness or paresis in older cats. We theorize that large tumor emboli may obstruct peripheral arteries leading to acute monoparesis.

Monoparésie associée au carcinome pulmonaire félin : compte rendu de la littérature avec 3 nouveaux cas. Nous décrivons 3 cas de chats qui ont été présentés avec l'apparition soudaine de monoparésie en raison d'un thrombo-embolisme artériel sans preuve de maladie cardiovasculaire qui ont été subséquemment diagnostiqués avec un carcinome pulmonaire primaire. Les thromboembolies des tumeurs artérielles causées par le carcinome pulmonaire devraient être considérées comme un diagnostic différentiel dans les cas de boiterie ou de parésie chez les chats âgés. Nous présentons la théorie que les embolies de grosses tumeurs peuvent bloquer les artères périphériques causant une monoparésie aiguë.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Focal thoracolumbar spinal cord lymphosarcoma in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo).

A 6-year-old, castrated male domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) was euthanized following progressive hind limb paresis and atonia of the bladder of 1-year duration. Neurological evaluation localized the lesion to the thoracolumbar spinal region, and magnetic resonance imaging showed a focal intramedullary spinal cord lesion. Histopathology revealed an extensive, unencapsulated, poorly demarcated mass within the thoracolumbar spinal cord, diagnosed as lymphosarcoma.

Lymphosarcome thoraco-lombaire localisé dans la moelle épinière chez un furet(Mustela putorius furo) . Un furet domestique (Mustela putorius furo) mâle castré âgé de 6 ans a été euthanasié après une parésie progressive des membres postérieurs et une atonie de la vessie d'une durée de 1 an. L'évaluation neurologique a repéré la lésion dans la région de la moelle épinière thoraco-lombaire et une imagerie par résonance magnétique a indiqué une lésion intramédullaire localisée dans la moelle épinière. L'histopathologie a révélé une masse importante, acapsulée et faiblement démarquée dans la moelle épinière thoraco-lombaire qui a été diagnostiquée comme un lymphosarcome.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Subclinical cecal impaction in a dog.

A 7-year-old, bichon frise dog was incidentally diagnosed with cecal impaction. Typhlectomy was performed as cecal rupture and resultant septic peritonitis appeared to be imminent. Histopathological evaluation did not identify an underlying cause for impaction and cecal dysmotility was suspected. Subclinical cecal impaction has not previously been reported in dogs.

Impaction cæcale subclinique chez un chien. Un diagnostic fortuit d'impaction cæcale a été posé chez un chien Bichon frisé âgé de 7 ans. Une typhlectomie a été réalisée, car une rupture cæcale et une péritonite septique résultante semblaient imminentes. L'évaluation histopathologique n'a pas identifié une cause sous-jacente pour l'impaction et la dysmotilité était soupçonnée. L'impaction cæcale subclinique n'a pas été précédemment signalée chez les chiens.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

Severe gastric impaction secondary to a gastric polyp in a horse.

A 13-year-old Percheron gelding was presented for refractory gastric impaction. At necropsy a pedunculated 10 cm × 11 cm × 14 cm mass, histologically identified as an inflammatory polyp, was suspected to have been partly obstructing the pylorus. This is the first report of a polyp resulting in gastric outflow obstruction in a horse.

Surcharge gastrique grave secondaire à un polype gastrique chez un cheval. Un hongre Percheron âgé de 13 ans a été présenté pour une surcharge gastrique réfractaire. À la nécropsie, une masse pédonculée de 10 cm × 11 cm × 14 cm, identifiée à l'histologie comme un polype inflammatoire, a été soupçonnée d'avoir partiellement bloqué le pylore. Il s'agit du premier rapport d'un polype qui se traduit par l'obstruction de l'écoulement gastrique chez un cheval.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

The successful experimental induction of necrotic enteritis in chickens by Clostridium perfringens: a critical review.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is one of the most important enteric diseases in poultry and is a high cost to the industry worldwide. It is caused by avian-specific, Necrotic Enteritis Beta toxin (NetB)-producing, strains of Clostridium perfringens that also possess in common other virulence-associated genes. In Europe the disease incidence has increased since the ban on in-feed "growth promoting" antibiotics. Because of this, many recent studies of NE have focused on finding different ways to control the disease, and on understanding its pathogenesis. Frustratingly, reproduction of the disease has proven impossible for some researchers. This review describes and discusses factors known to be important in reproducing the disease experimentally, as well as other considerations in reproducing the disease. The critical bacterial factor is the use of virulent, netB-positive, strains; virulence can be enhanced by using tpeL- positive strains and by the use of young rather than old broth cultures to increase toxin expression. Intestinal damaging factors, notably the use of concurrent or preceding coccidial infection, or administration of coccidial vaccines, combined with netB-positive C. perfringens administration, can also be used to induce NE. Nutritional factors, particularly feeding high percentage of cereals containing non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) (wheat, rye, and barley) enhance disease by increasing digesta viscosity, mucus production and bacterial growth. Animal proteins, especially fish meal, enhance C. perfringens proliferation and toxin production. Other factors are discussed that may affect outcome but for which evidence of their importance is lacking. The review compares the different challenge approaches; depending on the aim of particular studies, the different critical factors can be adjusted to affect the severity of the lesions induced. A standardized scoring system is proposed for international adoption based on gross rather than histopathological lesions; if universally adopted this will allow better comparison between studies done by different researchers. Also a scoring system is provided to assist decisions on humane euthanasia of sick birds.

Enumeration of viral capsid assembly pathways: tree orbits under permutation group action.

This paper uses combinatorics and group theory to answer questions about the assembly of icosahedral viral shells. Although the geometric structure of the capsid (shell) is fairly well understood in terms of its constituent subunits, the assembly process is not. For the purpose of this paper, the capsid is modeled by a polyhedron whose facets represent the monomers. The assembly process is modeled by a rooted tree, the leaves representing the facets of the polyhedron, the root representing the assembled polyhedron, and the internal vertices representing intermediate stages of assembly (subsets of facets). Besides its virological motivation, the enumeration of orbits of trees under the action of a finite group is of independent mathematical interest. If G is a finite group acting on a finite set X, then there is a natural induced action of G on the set T(x) of trees whose leaves are bijectively labeled by the elements of X. If G acts simply on X, then |X|:=|X(n)|=n·|G|, where n is the number of G-orbits in X. The basic combinatorial results in this paper are (1) a formula for the number of orbits of each size in the action of G on T(x)(n), for every n, and (2) a simple algorithm to find the stabilizer of a tree τ ∈T(x) in G that runs in linear time and does not need memory in addition to its input tree. These results help to clarify the effect of symmetry on the probability and number of assembly pathways for icosahedral viral capsids, and more generally for any finite, symmetric macromolecular assembly.

Multilobular osteochondrosarcoma of the os penis in a dog.

Multilobular osteochondrosarcoma (MLO) of the os penis was diagnosed in a dysuric dog. Recurrence was confirmed or suspected twice over a 22-month period. This is the first reported case of MLO occurring in the os penis, and the 5th reported case of neoplasia of the os penis in the dog.

Sinusoidal endothelial cell and hepatic stellate cell phenotype correlates with stage of fibrosis in chronic liver disease in dogs.

We evaluated the extent of hepatic fibrosis in chronic liver disease of dogs using a modification of Ishak's staging criteria for human chronic liver disease, and examined the association of stage of fibrosis with immunophenotypic markers of transdifferentiation of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells and hepatic stellate cells. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, hematoxylin and eosin-stained liver biopsy specimens from 45 case dogs with chronic liver disease and 55 healthy control dogs were scored for the presence and extent of fibrosis. This stage score for fibrosis strongly correlated with upregulated von Willebrand factor (vWF) expression in lobular sinusoidal endothelial cells (Spearman correlation coefficient [SCC] = 0.57, p < 0.05). Immunoreactivity for vWF factor was identified in 68.9% of case biopsies, varying in distribution from periportal to diffuse, whereas vWF immunoreactivity was identified in only 14.5% of control specimens, and was restricted to the immediate periportal sinusoids. The majority of both case and control biopsies exhibited similar prominent lobular perisinusoidal expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). A minority of specimens (17.8% of case biopsies, 1.8% of control biopsies) exhibited low perisinoidal α-SMA expression, and there was a weak negative correlation between α-SMA expression and stage of fibrosis (SCC = -0.29, p = 0.0037). These results document a method for staging the severity of fibrosis in canine liver biopsies, and show a strong association between fibrosis and increased expression of vWF in hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells.

Oral thermal injury associated with puncture of a salbutamol metered-dose inhaler in a dog.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features, diagnostic work-up, treatment, and outcome of a dog with oral thermal injury secondary to chewing on a salbutamol metered-dose inhaler (MDI). CASE SUMMARY: A Boxer dog was presented after chewing on a salbutamol MDI. The dog was anxious, tachycardic and had moderate hypokalemia. The dog was treated with potassium supplementation and discharged after 24-hour hospitalization. Five hours after the discharge, the dog represented for dysphagia, anorexia, cervical pain, and a left-sided head tilt. Oral examination revealed edematous and erythematous swelling of the soft palate causing airway compromise; histopathology demonstrated vascular necrosis and infarction. The dog was treated with supportive care including the placement of a tracheostomy tube. The dog recovered fully and was discharged 8 days after initial presentation. NEW OR UNIQUE INFORMATION PROVIDED: Salbutamol toxicity has been documented previously in dogs but oral thermal injury associated with a salbutamol MDI has not been reported in dogs. Although a rare complication, dogs who have been exposed to MDIs should have a thorough oral exam and be monitored closely for signs of respiratory compromise.