ABSTRACT
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects cervids; it is classified under transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). CWD is particularly contagious, making its eradication in endemic areas very difficult and creating serious problems for cervid conservation and breeding. It has recently become an emerging public health risk to be managed by health authorities. Starting in 2017, active CWD surveillance in Italy has intensified with the monitoring of wild and farmed cervids. The present study summarizes findings from a histopathological survey of the brains from wild ruminants collected via CWD monitoring between 2017 and 2019. A total of 113 brains from 62 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 51 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) were submitted for analysis at the National Reference Center for Animal Encephalopathies (CEA) to determine major patterns of neuropathological lesions and correlated pathogens. Brain lesions were detected in 20 animals, 10 brain samples were unsuitable for examination, and 83 presented no lesions. Neuropathological examination revealed non-suppurative encephalitis or meningoencephalitis in most cases (15/20). This brain study revealed evidence for the absence of CWD in Italy and provided a reference spectrum of neuropathological lesions for differential diagnosis in cervids.
ABSTRACT
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is the rarest species of pinniped in the world. Necropsy of a Mediterranean monk seal pup that stranded alive on the southern Adriatic Italian coast and died a few hours later revealed co-infection by cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) and Toxoplasma gondii. Pathological lesions included a multifocal, moderate to severe, necrotizing myocarditis and a diffuse, chronic, moderate interstitial pneumonia with bronchial and bronchiolar epithelial hyperplasia. Lesions of atypical necrotizing arteritis were seen in the aorta and major pulmonary arteries in association with the presence T. gondii organisms. Severe haemorrhagic foci and lesions of non-suppurative meningoencephalitis, together with the presence of protozoal cysts, were seen in the brain. Co-infection of CeMV and T. gondii has not been previously reported in monk seals. The vascular lesions found in this animal can be considered atypical because they have not been reported in other terrestrial or marine mammal species. The disseminated toxoplasmosis associated with the unusual vascular and haemorrhagic brain lesions could be related to the immunosuppressive effects of CeMV infection.
