Genotyping and comparative pathology of Spirocerca in black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: The pathology of spirocercosis, a disease caused by the infestation of carnivores with the nematode Spirocerca lupi, has been extensively described in domestic dogs and coyotes. However, it has not been described in wild carnivores in South Africa. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether black-backed jackals are a host for Spirocerca species and to provide a detailed description of the associated pathology. Jackals were also stratified according to age and the Spirocerca species recovered were characterized using molecular techniques. METHODS: Standard necropsies were performed on routinely culled jackals from three of the nine provinces of South Africa during the period June 2012 to February 2013. Jackals were screened for the presence of pathognomonic Spirocerca-induced lesions and for evidence of aberrant migration. Relevant samples were submitted for histopathology and collected larvae were genotyped at nine microsatellite loci. RESULTS: Spirocerca lupi-associated aortic lesions were found in 16 of 93 (17%) black-backed jackals. Of these, four (25%) were associated with S. lupi larvae. Genotyping of the larvae revealed amplification of all nine loci that amplified dog-derived S. lupi, with the same level of polymorphism in the allele size ranges. Only 1 of 93 jackals had an esophageal nodule with concurrent S. lupi-induced aortic aneurysms. The single esophageal nodule found did not contain adult nematodes, nor did it communicate with the esophageal lumen. None of the jackals that were examined had macroscopically evident spondylitis, which is frequently reported in the dog. Histopathology of the S. lupi-induced aortic lesions in the jackal revealed replacement of elastic and smooth muscle fibers by fibrous connective tissue. In cases where inflammation was present, the inflammatory infiltrate consisted predominantly of eosinophils. The single esophageal nodule histologically resembled the early inflammatory nodule described in dogs and consisted of fibrous connective tissue, multifocal accumulation of lymphocytes, plasma cells and rare hemosiderin-laden macrophages. CONCLUSIONS: These lesions suggest that the life cycle of S. lupi may not or only rarely be completed in jackals. A possible explanation might be that jackals are relatively resistant to developing significant pathology associated with S. lupi-infection. However, before any conclusions can be drawn, many more jackals, including those that die naturally will have to be investigated for evidence of S. lupi infection.

Characterization of the nucleic acid binding activity of inner core protein VP6 of African horse sickness virus.

Minor structural protein VP6 is the putative helicase of African horse sickness virus (AHSV), of the genus Orbivirus in the Reoviridae family. We investigated how the protein interacts with double-stranded (ds) RNA and other nucleic acids. Binding was assayed using an electrophoretic migration retardation assay and a nucleic acid overlay protein blot assay. VP6 bound double and single stranded RNA and DNA in a NaCl concentration sensitive reaction. Of six truncated VP6 peptides investigated, two partially overlapping peptides were found to bind dsRNA at pH 7.0, while other peptides with the same overlap did not. The distinction between the peptides appeared to be the pI which ranged from more than 8.0 to just above 6.0. Changing the pH of the binding buffer modified the binding activity. Regardless of assay conditions, only peptides with a specific region of amino acids in common, showed evidence of binding activity. No sequence homology was identified with other binding domains, however, the presence of charged amino acids are assumed to be important for binding activity. The results suggested dsRNA binding in the blot assay was strongly affected by the net charge on the peptide.

Extreme microglossia.

The congenital anomaly of extreme microglossia is uncommon and fewer than 50 cases have been described. The microglossia has often occurred in association with limb abnormalities and, therefore, these cases have been grouped together as the hypoglossia-hypodactylia syndrome within the oromandibular-limb hypogenesis syndromes. We present five cases seen at our referral centre. Surprisingly for this number none had limb anomalies but all had marked micrognathia-Gorlin-Hall classification type 5-two requiring tracheostomy for upper airway obstruction. All required tube feeding for between 4 and 17 months. Long term follow-up is not yet available.