Abstract: A 10-year-old female cat was brought to Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana for post-mortem examination. The animal used to live, together with 26 other cats, in the big terrace of an apartment at the 8th floor in Rome; and was always fed with industrial pet food. Anamnesis referred balance troubles, vomit and convulsions, during a couple of days, followed by sudden death. At necropsy, the cat presented mucoid rhinitis, purulent tracheitis, small areas of pneumonia, dark spots in the liver, catarrhal-hemorrhagic gastritis, fibrinous enteritis and meningeal hyperemia. Thoracic and abdominal cavities were completely invaded by hundreds of larval stages of cestodes. The same parasites were also included in nodules in pancreatic, lung and kidney parenchyma. Microscopic examination of parasites allowed their identification as larval stages (metacestodes) of cestodes of the genus Mesocestoides. The molecular genotyping of the metacestodes indicates a close relationship with members of the genus Mesocestoides, although a significant variation was found with respect to the available sequences of other species of the genus.
Abstract: We report a case of dirofilariasis of the breast occurring in a 6-yr-old Bernese female dog living in central Italy presenting with a breast lump, diagnosed on cytological examination of nipple secretion fluid smears. The direct smears of nipple discharge revealed clusters of glandular cells characterized by mild pleomorphic appearance and the presence of some nematodes of about 350 microm in length in the background. The smears also contained several inflammatory cells, including eosinophils. Both the Knott and the antigen tests were negative for Dirofilaria immitis. The morphological features of this round worm is compatible with that of Dirofilaria repens. The case describes an unusual finding of dirofilariasis presenting as a breast lump, simulating an inflammatory breast carcinoma.
Abstract: In Italy Neospora caninum has been reported in cattle, in buffaloes and in dogs. No data are available about the infection in sheep and goats. In this paper, the authors report the detection of protozoan cysts, identified as N. caninum by PCR, in the brain of an aborted goat foetus.
Abstract: Several PrP gene polymorphisms modulate sheep scrapie susceptibility. Recently, an increase of scrapie outbreaks has been reported in Italy. A vaccine containing sheep brain homogenate was used in most of the outbreaks. We investigated PrP gene polymorphisms in scrapie-affected and clinically healthy Sarda breed sheep from a flock exposed to the aforementioned vaccine, and in affected Sarda sheep from unexposed flocks. All affected animals were (Gln/Gln)171 homozygous. Moreover, we observed no variation for Ala136 and a new polymorphism (Lys to Asn) at codon 176. Our findings confirm the correlation between scrapie and (Gln/Gln)171 in breeds with no variation for Ala136.
Abstract: West Nile (WN) virus infection is a mosquito-borne flavivirosis endemic in Africa and Asia. Clinical disease is usually rare and mild and only in a few cases the infection causes encephalomyelitis in horses, fever and meningoencephalitis in man. We report here the clinical and pathological findings in an epidemic of the disease involving 14 horses from Tuscany, Italy. All cases were observed from August to October 1998. Affected horses showed ataxia, weakness paresis of the hindlimbs and, in 6 cases, there was paraparesis progressing to tetraplegia and recumbency within 2 to 9 days. Eight animals recovered without any important consequences. Serological investigations revealed positivity to WN virus in all the 14 horses and the agent was isolated from the cerebellum and spinal cord of an affected horse. Postmortem examination was carried out on 6 horses. The neuropathological pattern was that of a mild to moderate, nonsuppurative polioencephalomyelitis with constant involvement of the ventral horns of the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord, where focal gliosis and haemorrhage were also apparent in some cases. Differential diagnoses with other equine viral encephalomyelitides are discussed. Climatological and environmental characteristics of the geographic area in which the outbreaks occurred suggest the existence of suitable conditions for the development of the disease. This is the first report of WN virus equine encephalomyelitis in Italy.
Abstract: Mediastinal haemolymph nodes (HN) and lymph nodes (LN) of 15 healthy calves and ten healthy steers and 53 steers with respiratory diseases (pneumonias) were studied using monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) specific to bovine B and T lymphocytes: BAQ155A (B), CH128A (BoCD2), CACT138A (BoCD4), CACT80 (BoCD8), BAQ4A (Null cells). Topographical distribution of the HN T and B cell subset appears similar to the distributions in the LN. The germinal centres contained B+, BoCD2+ and BoCD4+ cells, whereas no staining of lymphocytes could be seen in the mantle zone. BoCD2+, BoCD4+ and BoCD8+ lymphocytes were located in the parafollicular lymphatic tissue, whereas B and Null lymphocytes were scattered. The same pattern was observed in the hyperplastic haemolymphadenitis of steers with respiratory diseases with an increased positive staining for BoCD4 and BoCD8. A similar pattern was observed for HN and LN Immunoglobulin Containing Cells (ICC). Furthermore, in the calf HN, IgM positive ICC were the most frequent class (44% in HN vs. 33% in LN). It is likely that they could contribute to produce a particularly efficient primary immune response. This is the first study of the distribution of different lymphocyte phenotypes in mammalian haemolymph nodes.
