Severe Pleural Effusion in a Dog Affected by Larval Mesocestodiasis.

A 4-year-old, 20 kg, female mixed breed dog was referred to our Veterinary Teaching Hospital for severe respiratory distress. Thoracic ultrasonography revealed severe pleural effusion with multiple anechoic cystic structures within the fluid. Abdominal cavity presented few small and irregular cystic structures. Diagnosis of infection by larval stages of Mesocestoides spp. on the basis of a PCR approach was performed and therapy with oral fenbendazole was started. Due to an incomplete clinical response, the dog underwent to remove metacestodes cysts by surgical debridement. The dog showed no recurrence of clinical signs for 12 months after the surgery. Pleural larval cestodiasis should be added as a differential diagnosis in the list of diseases causing pleural effusion in dogs.

Demodicosis in a captive African straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum).

Demodicosis is most frequently observed in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), but it has rarely been reported in bats (Chiroptera). The overpopulation of Demodex spp. that causes dermatological changes is generally associated with a compromised immune system. We describe the gross and histological features of generalized demodicosis in an adult female African straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) drawn from a captive research colony. The histology of the lesions revealed comedones and follicular infundubular cysts harbouring numerous Demodex spp. mites, eliciting a minimal inflammatory response in the adjacent dermis. The histological examination of a full set of tissues did not reveal clear evidence of immunosuppression, although a clinical history of recent abortion and possible stressors due to captivity could be considered risk factors for the demodicosis. Attempts to determine the Demodex species using PCR on DNA extracted from the formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue failed. This is the first clinical and histological description of demodicosis in Eidolon helvum.