ABSTRACT
A 4-year-old female spayed Australian cattle dog was presented to the Emergency Service at the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center Small Animal Hospital for generalized pain and lethargy. At presentation, the dog showed severe cervical spinal pain and thoracic limb deficits consistent with a multifocal neuroanatomic localization. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine revealed T2 and T1 postcontrast intense signal extending from the level of the medulla through C5 most marked in the caudal brainstem and cranial cervical spinal cord. The suspected diagnosis was severe meningoencephalomyelitis and secondary edema. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from the cerebellomedullary cistern revealed a marked mixed pleocytosis with intralesional structures morphologically consistent with Mycobacterium sp. Standard DNA PCR assay performed on the CSF yielded the presence of Mycobacterium haemophilum. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of CNS mycobacteriosis diagnosed on CSF analysis in a dog.
Subject(s)
Cattle Diseases , Dog Diseases , Mycobacterium haemophilum , Female , Cattle , Dogs , Animals , Australia , Spinal Cord/diagnostic imaging , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/veterinary , Leukocytosis/veterinary , Dog Diseases/diagnosis , Dog Diseases/cerebrospinal fluid , Cerebrospinal FluidABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Non-suppurative encephalitides in a variety of species, including humans and dogs, have been linked to infection by astroviruses and bornaviruses. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To determine whether or not ribonucleic acid of astroviruses or bornaviruses was present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of dogs with clinically diagnosed meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown etiology (MUE). ANIMALS: Twenty-five client-owned dogs evaluated by CSF analysis at a single university referral hospital. METHODS: Prospective case-control study. Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from clinically diagnosed MUE and control cases and evaluated by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the presence of astrovirus and bornavirus. RESULTS: Neither astrovirus nor bornavirus nucleic acids were identified in CSF collected from 20 clinically diagnosed MUE and 5 control cases. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The negative results of this investigation suggest that astrovirus and bornavirus are not commonly detectable in CSF of dogs with MUE.