Casuïstiek(en)

Since a few years acute mortality in late summer has been observed in trushes (Turdinae) kept in aviaries by bird ringers. Only fieldfares and redwings are affected. Swelling and darkening of spleens and livers are the most conspicious lesions. Sexual and asexual stadia of Plasmodium were detected cytologically in blood smears. Schizonts were found in impression smears of liver, spleen, and kidney. Incidence and pathogenesis of haematozoal infections in trushes are reviewed and compared with our findings.

In the summer and fall of 1999 and in May 2000, ten outbreaks of salmonellosis were diagnosed in adult beef and dairy cows in Belgium. The main clinical sign was severe, often fatal diarrhoea. Catarrhal or haemorrhagic enteritis was the main necropsy finding. Infected cows excreted large numbers of Salmonella serotype Typhimurium. Six out of seven lysotyped Typhimurium strains belonged to lysotype DT104. In contrast with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, this type of salmonellosis in adult cattle has not been reported in Belgium before.

Cerebellar abiotrophy is defined as a premature spontaneous progressive loss of neurons. In an 11-months-old cat with cerebellar abiotrophy, clinical symptoms developed progressively after castration. Histologically a loss of Purkinje cells, granular layer cells and demyelination of white matter were observed. Apoptotic neurons were found using the TUNEL technique. In this case the cerebellar abiotrophy was due to apoptosis of neuronal populations. An episode of anoxia/hypoxia of the nervous system during anesthesia may have played a role in the induction of cerebellar apoptosis.

At the end of 1999 symptoms resembling the “postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome” (PMWS) were mentioned in the field. This article describes three cases in which the clinical symptoms could be confirmed by histopathology. In two cases electron microscopic examination revealed the presence of small aggregates of virus-like particles that were circular and had a diameter of 14 to 17 nm. In the third case, virologic examination demonstrated the presence of porcine circovirus (PCV) type 2. The clinical and (histo)pathological findings and the discussion about this syndrome and its etiology are briefly described to focus the attention of the practitioner.

An acute salimonycin poisoning was diagnosed in a pig farm, in this case in one compartment housing 200 weaning piglets. The poisoning was caused by a drug incompatibility due to the administration of salinomycin in the feed and the presence of traces of tiamulin left in the drinking water, resulting from the fact that tiamuylin had been administered to fattening pigs housed in the stable four months before the appearance of the clinical symptoms in the piglets. The main symptoms of poisoning were loss of appetite and locomotor disturbances. The locomotor symptoms consisted of weakness of the posterior body half and lateral decubitus in more severe cases. Finally, 35 of the 200 piglets died. Histological study of the skeletal muscles, biochemical study of the blood, and chemical analysis of the drinking water for tianulin were performed to establish the diagnosis.

This case report describes a special case of a bulk milk quality problem in a well managed, high yielding dairy herd. The number of colifrom bacteria per ml milk was too high. The problem was caused by a chronic Klebsiella oxytoca-infection in one udder quarter of one cow. Apparently, chronic udder infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria may give rise to profuse shedding of bacteria, causing problems with bulk milk quality.

Absolute ethanol is a widely used embolization substance in human beings but has no definite indication in animals. In this study, three dogs with a unilateral ectopic ureter were treated by renal embolization with sterile absolute ethanol using a previously described technique. Immediate cessation of urinary incontinence was observed in two cases, while the third case improved but showed persistent urinary incontinence that was ascribed to vesicourethral sphincter incompetence. Post-interventional complications were the same as those encountered with the more conventional surgical techniques. Other possible applications of embolization procedures with absolute ethanol are briefly discussed.

The addition of excessive amounts of copper to commercially prepared milk replacers caused chronic copper toxicity in veal calves from two different Belgian farms. A possible mixing error by the feed company resulted in copper levels ranging from 120 to 159 mg/kg in the milk powder. On one farm, four animals died showing the typical clinical signs of chronic copper toxicity, including weakness, anorexia and severe icterus. Pathology and biochemistry of the calves and chemical analysis of the blood, milk powder and liver were performed to establish the diagnosis. In the liver, copper concentrations of 297 and 500 mg/kg fresh liver were found, which are indicative of a chronic copper intoxication.

This case report describes a two-year-old red and white East Flemish cow with an aggressive angiomyxoma (AA). The cow was presented for examination because of vague complaints: dullness, loss of weight, diarrhea. Rectal examination revealed the presence of multiple large, undefinable masses in the pelvic cavity. The cow died the day after the clinical examination and was autopsied. The histopathological examination revealed an aggressive angiomyxoma. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first description of an AA in animals.

In this article, an outbreak of sudden death in bucket reared calves, due to hypomagnesemia is described. The cattle population on the farm mainly consisted of Belgian blue calves, which were fed whole milk. The diagnosis was made per exclusionem and was confirmed by laboratory investigations afterwards. This rarely diagnosed disorder should not be forgotten when the differential diagnosis of sudden death in calves is made.