High morbidity cutaneous enzootic myiasis by Dermatobia hominis (Diptera: Oestridae) in sambar deer (Rusa unicolor).

This study describes the first known occurrence and treatment of enzootic cutaneous myiasis by Dermatobia hominis in a herd of sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Sambar deer are clinically affected by enzootic cutaneous myiasis during the spring and summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through direct inspection and clinicopathological evaluation in the herd with 80 R. unicolor, it was observed that infestation by D. hominis caused 100% morbidity. At histological exam, skin had eosinophilic and granulomatous chronic active severe necrohemorrhagic dermatitis associated with botfly and moderate surrounding fibroplasia. The systemic treatment with oral ivermectin at 0.08% was effective in 93.7% of deer with enzootic cutaneous myiasis after fourteen days. After treatment, the skin deer had eosinophilic and granulomatous chronic severe dermatitis associated with degenerated botfly and severe fibroplasia. Notable differences in leukocyte profile were observed between groups pre- and post-treatment. Decrease of relative values of neutrophils and eosinophils were significant in the treated deer group. An increase of relative values of monocytes was also confirmed in the treated group. Sambar deer was the only species affected by D. hominis, even though several other wild herbivores were kept in the same area. More studies are needed to elucidate the susceptibility of R. unicolor to D. hominis cutaneous infestations.

An outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) / Surto de febre catarral maligna em cervos Sambar (Rusa Unicolor)

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is an infectious, pansystemic and highly fatal disease with wide geographic distribution. The species that are clinically prone to it include cattle, deer and bison. In Brazil, the disease in ruminants and deer is associated with the contact with sheep, especially during labor, when the fetal remains that are eliminated contain the ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2). The outbreak took place in a conservationist property in the city of Casimiro de Abreu/RJ, which hosted 23 Sambar deer, and, of these, 19 died, showing neurological signs. The deer lived in a location together with 15 male and female meat sheep. A female specimen of the Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), aged approximately three years, which had presented with neurological clinical signs was referred to necropsy in the Setor de Anatomia Patológica at Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (SAP/UFRRJ). During necropsy, cerebrospinal fluid was sampled for analysis; fragments of several organs were fixated in 10% buffered formalin and processed for histopathological analysis. Fragments of occipital lobe, cerebellum and bulb were collected to perform the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The diagnosis of this outbreak was based on epidemiological, clinical and pathological findings, and on the amplification of the OvHV-2 DNA through PCR. The histological changes were the base to confirm the MCF case and were characterized by degeneration of vascular endothelial cells, fibrinoid vasculitis, hyperplasia and necrosis of lymphoid organs. However, PCR was an important tool to confirm the diagnosis. MCF as an important disease with nervous symptomatology in deer.(AU)

A febre catarral maligna (FCM) é uma doença infecciosa, com distribuição geográfica ampla, pansistêmica e altamente fatal. As espécies clinicamente suscetíveis incluem bovino, cervo e bisão. No Brasil, a doença em ruminantes e cervídeos está associada ao contato com ovinos, principalmente durante o parto, no qual os envoltórios fetais eliminados contém, em suas secreções, o Herpesvírus ovino-2 (OvHV-2). O surto ocorreu em uma propriedade conservacionista no município de Casimiro de Abreu/RJ, que abrigava 23 cervos exóticos, onde foram registradas a morte de 19 destes, com sinais neurológicos. Os cervos habitavam em um piquete com 15 ovinos de corte, machos e fêmeas. Um exemplar de cervo sambar (Rusa unicolor), fêmea, com aproximadamente três anos de idade, que havia apresentado sinais clínicos neurológicos foi encaminhado para necropsia no Setor de Anatomia Patológica da Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (SAP/UFRRJ). Durante a necropsia foi realizada a coleta de líquido cefalorraquidiano e de fragmentos de lobo occipital, cerebelo e bulbo, para a realização de reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR). Fragmentos de diversos órgãos foram fixados em formalina 10% tamponada e processados para a análise histopatológica. O diagnóstico do presente surto foi estabelecido com base nos achados epidemiológicos, clínicos, patológicos e na amplificação do DNA do OvHV-2 através da PCR. As alterações histológicas foram a base para confirmar o caso de FCM e caracterizaram-se por degeneração de células endoteliais vasculares, vasculite fibrinoide, hiperplasia dos órgãos linfoides. Contudo, a PCR foi uma ferramenta importante para a confirmação do diagnóstico. Ressalta-se a importância da FCM na lista dos diagnósticos diferenciais de doenças que cursam com sintomatologia nervosa em cervídeos.(AU)