Encephalomyocarditis virus mortality in semi-wild bonobos (Pan panicus).

BACKGROUND: Fatal myocarditis from encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infection has previously been identified in sporadic and epidemic forms in many species of captive non-human primates probably including one bonobo (Pan paniscus). METHODS: We investigated the deaths of two bonobos that were suspicious of EMCV using a combination of histopathology, immunohistochemistry and, for one of the two bonobos, reverse transcription PCR. RESULTS: Histopathological examination of heart tissue from the two bonobos showed changes characteristic of EMCV. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed the presence of EMCV antigen in heart tissue of both and in kidney and intestine of one of the bonobos. EMCV RNA was also isolated from the serum of the bonobo tested. CONCLUSION: Together, these findings confirm that EMCV was responsible for deaths of the two bonobos. Strict separation of bonobos in particular and captive primates in general from potential sources of EMCV contamination should be maintained to prevent mortality caused by EMCV.

[Management of ear, nose, and throat diseases in district hospital centers in Madagascar]. / Prise en charge de la pathologie ORL dans les centres hospitaliers de district à Madagascar.

The purpose of this report is to describe the experience of a specialized medico-surgical ENT team sent to hospital centers in Atalaha and Tulear, Madagascar by a nonprofit organization called "Terre rouge" from the Reunion Island. In three separate short-term missions, a total of 93 patients received care. Discussion focuses on the particular pathological, cultural, and pedagogical features of the Island and on the resources that were deployed during the missions. Providing ENT care in district hospitals in Madagascar requires adaptation to the difficult climatic conditions, poor hospital facilities (infrastructure, equip ment, and personnel), and advanced stage of diseases. To ensure continuous access to ENT care, it will be necessary to provide practical and didactic training for healthcare personnel in the country.

[Voluminous mucocele of frontal sinus with superior eyelid and orbit expansion]. / Volumineuse mucocèle frontale à extension orbito-palpébrale.

INTRODUCTION: A mucocele is an unusual benign cystic tumor, frequently seen in the adult and affecting mucous sinuses that expand the orbit by bone destruction. It is caused by a lack of sinus aeration; surgical treatment consists in cyst extirpation and sinus drainage. DESCRIPTION: A 72-year-old man, without a history of sinus disease, presented a voluminous mucocele of the right frontal sinus that had begun 3 years before, with superior eyelid and orbit expansion hiding and pushing the eye to the downside and the outside. The cyst was surgically removed via the external approach without sinus drainage because of a lack of technical means resulting from the total destruction of the anterior and severe thinning of the posterior wall of the right frontal sinus with dura mater exposure. After surgery, the patient recovered visual function without diplopia, and normal eyelid and ocular motility. However, the right eye is abnormally sized a bit downside. CONCLUSION: A mucocele of the frontal sinuses can show major superior eyelid development with a low risk of trochlea injury during surgery, a possibility particularly if the destruction of the anterior wall of the frontal sinuses is opened ahead of the orbit septum. Sinus drainage was not undertaken for our patient because of the substantial destruction of the posterior wall of the frontal sinus, with a high risk of infection.

Severe necrotizing encephalitis in a Yorkshire terrier: topographic and immunohistochemical study.

Necrotizing encephalitis of the Yorkshire terrier is a chronic non-suppurative encephalitis that was reported in approximately 15 cases worldwide. We report the case of a 10-year-old female Yorkshire terrier with gross evidence of severe cortical degeneration and necrosis. Microscopically, affected areas were mainly located in the cortical white matter and in the mesencephalon without implication of the cerebellum. Cavitation necrosis, demyelination, gemistocytic astrocytosis, marked perivascular lymphocytic cuffing with a diffuse lymphocytic/histiocytic/gitter cell infiltration characterized the lesions. Immunohistochemical analysis identified the major infiltration of T lymphocytes and macrophages with implication of some cytotoxic lymphocytes and IgG-producing plasma cells; depositions of IgG in the affected white matter were also observed. Specific stains did not reveal fungal, protozoal or bacterial organisms and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis for distemper virus was also negative. The lympho-histiocytic inflammation suggests a T-cell-mediated and a delayed-type immune reaction as a possible pathogenic mechanism for this brain disorder.

Sclerosing peritoneal mesothelioma in a dog - a case report.

A case of peritoneal sclerosing mesothelioma in a 3-year-old German shepherd dog is reported. The dog presented a severe abdominal distension. Cytological examination of the peritoneal fluid revealed anaplastic epithelioid cells. Necropsy findings revealed an irregular-shaped mass attached to the pancreas and stomach with numerous nodules covering the intestinal and urinary bladder serosa. The diagnosis was made by histology and immunohistochemistry, with cytokeratin, vimentin and calretinin antibodies. Differential diagnosis with chronic peritonitis and spreading of abdominal primary carcinoma is discussed.

[Diagnostic pitfalls in childhood acute obstructive dyspnea]. / Pièges diagnostiques d'une dyspnée aiguë obstructive de l'enfant.

Diagnosis of an acute obstructive dyspnea is very difficult because there are many possible causes. The authors reported the case of a 3.5-year-old boy with an atopic status who presented iterative asthma attacks which evolute to severity in spite of an appropriate therapy. Then suffocation occurred with a serious infectious context. The cause of the disease was diagnosed by respiratory tract endoscopic exam which allowed to detect a laryngeal papillomatis. The surgical extraction of this tumour cured the patient. Physiopathology of acute obstructive dyspnea in child was discussed. Upper airway obstructions are separated from lower pulmonary diseases. Two syndromes are very difficult to separate among upper airway obstructions: spasmodic laryngitis and subglottal laryngitis. They are considered in fact as different outward signs of the same disease: subglottal laryngitis is the infectious evolutive form of a spasmodic laryngitis in which atopic status exists. Laryngeal papillomatosis would be a favourising factor of infection. The authors conclude that respiratory tract endoscopic exam is very important to diagnose childhood acute obstructive dyspnea.

Role of the coypu (Myocastor coypus) in the epidemiology of leptospirosis in domestic animals and humans in France.

The coypu (Myocastor coypus), a rodent whose natural habitat is stagnant freshwater, has become a widespread pest in France within the last decade. This study investigated the prevalence of seropositivity and the renal carriage of leptospires in coypus in order to evaluate their role in terms of the risk of infection by Leptospira interrogans in domestic animals and humans. The study involved the application of serological and bacteriological methods to identify leptospires infection and/or carriage in 738 coypus trapped from 1996 to 1999 in six areas of France. Seroprevalence in samples ranged from 16.5 to 66%, and three field strains were isolated (two L. interrogans Icterohaemorrhagiae and one L. interrogans Sejroe). This first report on the isolation of leptospires from coypus in France emphasises the role of this animal in the epidemiology of leptospirosis.