2016 - 85 (4)

There was a time when science still had to ‘hatch’. An era during which man often extrapolatedexisting knowledge to a level beyond reality. That period is not as far behind us as we wouldlike to believe. Breeding of animals has always stimulated man’s fantasy. Out of this, a very interestingmyth - or is it a mystery? - was born: the existence of a hybrid between horse and cow,‘Le Jumart’.On top of the very well-known hybrids between horses and donkeys, the French ‘capitainedes haras’ Francois Alexandre de Garsault (1692-1778) describes the procedure of how to createa hybrid between a cow and a horse in his widespread and well known ‘Nouveau ParfaitMaréchal’, first published in 1741. In depth research showed that he was far from being the onlyone who believed in the existence of such a crossover species. Other well-respected contemporaryscientists even dedicate chapters in their textbooks on this animal, such as the French naturalistand medical doctor Jean-Pierre Buchoz (1731-1807) in his ‘Traité Economique et Physique deGros Menu Bétail’ published in 1778. Even opinion leaders Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) and LazzarroSpallanzani (1729-99) were convinced that these animals really roamed around in Franceduring the 18th century. Finally, even the founder of the first ‘Ecole Vétérinaire’ in the world,Claude Bourgelat (1712-1779) testified in a letter to Bonnet to have admired the product of astallion and a cow with his own eyes. Fortunately, the debate could count on important disbelieversas well, with Albrecht von Haller taking the lead by publishing a paper in the ‘Supplémentà l’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et Métiers’ (1777), in whichhe calls the existence of the Jumart a ‘fable’. It would take another century for André Suchetet(1849-1910) to publish an ‘Extrait des Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France’ with thetitle ‘La Fable des Jumarts’ (1889). Extremely interested in hybridization, this 19th century politicianand member of several scientific societies, faces the challenge to finally steer the scientificcommunity to a general conclusion on this enigma. This paper describes in a chronological orderthe rise and fall of one of the most intriguing ‘fabula’ in reproductive medicine and how it tookemerging modern science about 200 years to decide on ‘myth’ or ‘mystery’.

In the first part of this series of articles on modern equine dentistry, which was published in the fourthissue of this journal in 2015, different dental pathologies in the horse were reviewed. In this second part,the focus is directed towards how these diseases can be diagnosed. This involves the implementationof a proper oral examination combined with the use of correct terminology/nomenclature to record theencountered pathology on a dental record sheet. Several dental diagnostic imaging techniques, suchas oral endoscopy, radiography, computed tomography, scintigraphy and MRI provide complementaryinformation on the identification of the exact disease process, a prerequisite to deduct proper prognosticand therapeutic conclusions.

Contagious respiratory infections are an important cause of respiratory disease in horses,resulting in impaired pulmonary function, poor performance and sometimes severe illness. Althoughbacterial infections are often suspected to be involved, viruses are frequently overlookedand are an underestimated cause of respiratory disease outbreaks in horses. In this study, nasalswabs of 103 horses with acute symptoms of respiratory disease were analyzed for the presenceof 13 different respiratory pathogens. Gamma herpesviruses were the most commonly detected,with 60% of the samples being positive, followed by streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus infection(30%). Rhinovirus B, streptococcus equi subsp. equi, adenovirus 1 and EHV-4 were morerarely detected. Further research is necessary to correctly interpret the importance of gammaherpesviruses in horses, for example by screening a healthy control population. National surveillanceof respiratory viruses in horses by PCR analysis on nasal swabs might be a useful, earlywarningsystem for viral epidemics.

 The pathological condition of the enthesis at the medial humerus epicondyle is referred to as flexorenthesopathy. Lesions include thickening, inflammation, fibrillation, partial rupture and calcificationof the enthesis. In this case report, the evolution of primary flexor enthesopathy in a 1,5-year-oldItalian cane corso is described. Several medical imaging techniques, i.e. radiography, ultrasound andcomputed tomography were used to diagnose primary flexor enthesopathy, in this case bilaterally. Anintra-articulair injection with methylprednisolone-acetate is regarded the standard treatment. The longterm follow-up was evaluated based on the clinical improvement, the size of the calcification and theincrease in osteoarthritis. 

A four-year-and-eight-month-old whippet was presented with a chronic skin wound situated at the medial aspect of the right elbow. Because of its chronic nature, the wound was initially carefully debrided and subsequently treated by means of negative pressure therapy. This fairly new technique offers a wide range of advantages that improve the healing capacities of a chronic wound. The beneficial effect of negative pressure wound therapy on the development of a nice granulation bed was clear. In order to optimize the final result, an autologous skin grafting (full-thickness free mesh graft) was performed. By applying negative pressure on the skin graft, a quick and solid attachment of the graft was achieved. After a period of four weeks, the wound was almost completely healed despite various earlier attempts to successfully treat that wound in the two-months period prior to referral.

In this case report, a paraneoplastic syndrome caused by testicular neoplasia in a ten-year-oldcryptorchid dog is described. Feminization and pancytopenia were observed, resulting from thetesticular neoplastic production of estrogens. A diagnosis of testicular tumor and associated bonemarrow suppression was made by ultrasonography and blood examination, with estrogen bloodlevels being severely elevated. Urinalysis revealed a urinary tract infection. Castration was performedtogether with a blood transfusion, and antibiotic treatment was started. After an initialimprovement, the dog died suddenly after approximately three weeks.In this report, the importance is highlighted of identifying clinical signs associated with feminizationin intact male dogs at an early stage, to avoid severe, potentially irreversible, hematologicalconsequences due to bone marrow suppression. Elective orchidectomy of both testes ishighly recommended in cryptorchid dogs as neoplastic transformation of the undescended testismay occur, with potentially fatal outcome.

A Belgian population of ten breeds with a low to moderately low genetic diversity or whichare relatively popular in Belgium, i.e. Bichon frise, Bloodhound, Bouvier des Flandres, Boxer,Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Irish setter, Papillon, Rottweiler, Golden retriever and Labradorretriever, was genotyped for all potentially relevant disease-causing variants known at thestart of the study. In this way, the frequency was estimated for 26 variants in order to improvebreeding advice. Disorders with a frequency high enough to recommend routine genotyping inbreeding programs are (1) degenerative myelopathy for the Bloodhound, (2) arrhythmogenicright ventricular cardiomyopathy and degenerative myelopathy for Boxers, (3) episodic fallingsyndrome and macrothrombocytopenia for the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, (4) progressiveretinal atrophy rod cone dysplasia 4 for the Irish setter (5) Golden retriever progressive retinalatrophy 1 for the Golden retriever and (6) exercise induced collapse and progressive rod-conedegeneration for the Labrador retriever. To the authors’ knowledge, in this study, the presenceof a causal mutation for a short tail in the Bouvier des Flandres is described for the first time.

Om gerichter fokadvies te kunnen geven, werd de frequentie geschat van alle ziekteveroorzakendemutaties die bekend waren bij de start van de studie en potentieel relevant zijn voor een aantal hondenrassendie relatief populair zijn of waarvan de genetische diversiteit in België laag tot middelmatig laag is. Deresultaten voor de Duitse herder, Mechelse herder, Lakense herder, groenendaeler, Tervurense herder,Australische herder en bordercollie worden hier besproken. Aandoeningen met een frequentie hooggenoeg om deze routinematig te genotyperen voor fokprogramma’s zijn (1) “multidrug resistance 1”en “hereditary cataract” voor de Australische herder, (2) degeneratieve myelopathie voor de Duitseherder, de Mechelse herder en de groenendaeler en (3) “collie eye anomaly” voor de bordercollie. Dehyperuricosurie-mutatie, beschreven bij de Duitse herder, werd in deze studie niet aangetroffen bij ditras, maar werd volgens de auteurs wel voor het eerst vastgesteld bij de Mechelse herder.