Ulcerative facial and nasal dermatitis and stomatitis in cats associated with feline herpesvirus 1

Ulcerative dermatitis of the nasal planum or haired skin of the face, associated with intranuclear inclusion bodies compatible with herpesvirus, was identified in nine cats. Clinically, lesions were ulcerative and crusted, and often persistent. A tenth cat had focal proliferative ulcerative stomatitis, also associated with intranuclear inclusion bodies. Microscopically, there was necrosis and ulceration associated with prominent eosinophilic inflammation. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were noted in all cases, within the surface or adnexal epithelium. Ultrastructural examination of skin from two cats revealed virions morphologically compatible with a herpesvirus. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for feline herpesvirus 1 on DNA extracted from fresh-frozen or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples and/or consensus primer PCR with DNA sequencing performed on DNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples from seven cats revealed that the virus was indistinguishable from feline herpesvirus 1. PCR was negative in one of eight cats tested.     

Gastrointestinal pythiosis with concurrent presumptive gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis in a Boxer dog

A 2‐year‐old female spayed Boxer dog was presented for a 1‐month history of progressive hemorrhagic diarrhea with tenesmus and weight loss despite trial courses of antibiotics and diet change. Abdominal ultrasound revealed severe, focal thickening, and loss of normal architecture of the colonic wall with abdominal lymphadenomegaly. Dry‐mount fecal cytology, performed on several consecutive days, consistently revealed numerous, round, 16‐20 μm structures with basophilic, granular content, and a thin cell wall. Transmission electron microscopy identified these structures as fungi. Culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer, D1/D2 regions, and DNA‐directed RNA polymerase II core subunit (RPB2) confirmed the presence of Basidiobolus microsporus in the feces. Biopsies collected via ileocolonoscopy revealed marked, multifocal, chronic, neutrophilic, and eosinophilic ileitis and colitis with ulceration, granulation tissue, and intralesional hyphae (identified with Gomori methenamine silver stain). A Pythium enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and Pythium‐specific PCR performed on the formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded biopsy specimens were positive while Basidiobolus‐specific PCR was negative, thus confirming a diagnosis of pythiosis. This report describes a fatal case of colonic and intestinal pythiosis with the presence of fecal Basidiobolus sp. spores, suggestive of concurrent gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis.     

Natural Heterobilharzia americana infection in horses in Texas

The schistosome Heterobilharzia americana infects dogs, raccoons, and other mammals in the southeastern United States. Migration of eggs into the liver results in parasitic granulomas with varying degrees of fibrosis and inflammation. Recently, hepatic parasitic granulomas in horses were shown to be caused by H. americana infection. In the present study, samples of liver from 11 of 12 horses with hepatic granulomas identified at necropsy (n = 11) or surgical biopsy (n = 1) were used for DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing using primers specific for a portion of the H. americana small subunit ribosomal RNA gene. A polymerase chain reaction amplicon of the correct size was produced from the extracted DNA in 8 of the 11 horses. Amplicons from 5 of the 8 positive horses were sequenced and had 100% identity with H. americana. In all but 2 of the 12 horses, Heterobilharzia was not responsible for the primary clinical disease, and the hepatic granulomas were considered an incidental finding.     

The effect of GnRH or oestradiol injected at pro-oestrus on luteal function and follicular dynamics of the subsequent oestrous cycle in non-lactating cycling Holstein cows

Oestrous synchronization involves synchronization of ovarian follicular turnover, new wave emergence, and finally induction of ovulation. The final step can be synchronized by the parenteral administration of either GnRH or oestradiol benzoate. This study investigated corpus luteum and follicular emergence after ovulation had been induced by the administration of either GnRH or oestradiol benzoate. The injection of oestradiol benzoate may have delayed the emergence of the first follicular wave subsequent to the induced ovulation; administration of oestradiol benzoate or GnRH lowered the progesterone rise so that the maximum dioestrous concentration of progesterone on Day 9 was lower when cows were treated during pro-oestrus compared to the spontaneously ovulating controls. One implication of findings from the present study is that induction of ovulation with either oestradiol benzoate or GnRH, administered 24 or 36 h after withdrawal of the CIDR device, respectively, may lower fertility. Future studies must identify the timing of administration relative to the time of CIDR device withdrawal and the optimum concentration of oestradiol benzoate or GnRH that would not have untoward effects on the development of the corpus lutea, particularly within the first week of dioestrus.