Cutaneous, respiratory and hepatic aspergillosis in Brazilian white Pekin mallards (Anas platyrhynchos).

Aspergillosis is one of the most frequent mycosis affecting avian species. Here is reported an outbreak of aspergillosis affecting 60-day-old white Pekin mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). About 10% of animals in a lot of 200 mallards from a commercial husbandry presented respiratory disorders and skin lesions at slaughter. Three out of 13 animals sent to diagnosis showed, simultaneously, airsacculitis, lung and liver presenting white nodules with variable diameters and elevated, yellowish brown, crusted, multifocal skin lesions located at the base of the feather follicles in the breast. Histopathological examination of lung and liver samples revealed nodules of different sizes with small areas of necrosis surrounded by intense granulomatous inflammation and the presence of fungal hyphae. The skin samples showed dermatitis surrounding a severe necrotizing folliculitis, associated with fungal hyphae. Mycological evaluation of tissues allowed the isolation of Aspergillus fumigatus from the skin samples and Aspergillus flavus from lungs and liver samples. The application of quicklime (CaO) in the litter as part of the disinfection procedures could have contributed to the development of skin lesion in the mallards, predisposing the fungal installation in the damaged site. The occurrence of cutaneous lesions associated with A. fumigatus is a rare manifestation of aspergillosis in birds, and this appears to be the first case reported in white Pekin mallards.

Spontaneous poisoning by Dodonea viscosa (Sapindaceae) in cattle.

This communication reports a southern Brazilian outbreak of acute hepatic insufficiency in which 14 dairy animals died after consumption of Dodonea viscosa. The clinical course lasted a few hours and was characterized by apathy and staggering disorders. The main postmortem findings occurred in livers as enhanced lobular patterns and hepatocellular necrosis that ranged from centrilobular to massive. Similar clinical and pathological effects were experimentally induced by dosing a heifer with 30 g/kg of the plant's green leaves.

Peritonite infecciosa felina: 13 casos / Feline infectious peritonitis: 13 cases

Numa pesquisa realizada em tecidos de 638 gatos necropsiados, foram encontrados 13 casos (2,03 por cento) de peritonite infecciosa felina. Oito desses casos (61,53 por cento) eram da forma efusiva ou úmida, e 5 apresentavam a forma seca ou näo-efusiva da doença. A idade dos gatos afetados variou de 2 meses a 3 anos. Doze gatos (92,30 por cento) eram de raças puras, cinco deles (38,47 por cento) eram oriundos de ambientes onde havia mais de um gato e três eram provenientes de um mesmo gatil. A duraçäo da doença clínica foi de 7 a 45 dias e os sinais clínicos incluíram emagrecimento, anorexia, diarréia, icterícia, vômito, linfadenopatia e distúrbios neurológicos. Os achados de necropsia na forma úmida incluíam excesso de líquido viscoso (50ml a 1 litro), translúcido ou levemente opaco na cavidade peritoneal e, em um caso, na cavidade torácica. Exsudato fibrinoso cobria as superfícies serosas dos órgäos abdominais dando-lhes aspecto granular e brancacento. Na forma seca, havia múltiplos focos granulomatosos sob a superfície serosa e para o interior do parênquima de órgäos abdominais; esses achados eram particularmente proeminentes nos rins. Opacidade de córnea foi observada em um gato. Histologicamente, havia graus variáveis de vasculite e perivasculite piogranulomatosa, particularmente em arteríolas. Meningite ou meningoencefalite piogranulomatosa foram observadas em três gatos com a forma seca de peritonite infecciosa felina.