Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection in farmed rabbits in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Encephalitozoon cuniculi is an important microsporidian parasite with zoonotic potential. The present study highlights the impact of encephalitozoonosis on rabbit health in Egypt. Three rabbit farms in Giza, with a total of 16,400 rabbits were investigated due to occurrence of rabbits displaying clinical signs consistent with encephalitozoonosis. RESULTS: Clinical signs observed during a 4 months observation period in 2018 included vestibular disease, paresis, limb paralysis, cataracts, phacoclastic uveitis, frequent urination, marked decrease in body weight and in some pregnant females, also repeated abortions. The total morbidity rates in adult and young rabbits were 76.7% and 81.5%, respectively. The highest mortality rate was recorded in offspring (12.3%), followed by dams (5.6%), and the lowest recorded mortality rate was in males (0.04%). Post-mortem findings included enteritis, pale enlarged kidneys, congested leptomeninges, focal brain necrosis, and endometrial congestion. Histopathological examination revealed nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis and glial nodules with central necrosis in the brain, vacuolation and necrosis of renal tubular epithelium, and corneal ulceration and ruptured lens capsule with fragmentation of lenticular fibres. E. cuniculi were observed in the brain, retinal ganglion cells, kidneys, and liver. Transmission electron microscopy examination revealed the presence of different developmental stages of E. cuniculi in the brain and kidney. Presence of E. cuniculi was confirmed by conventional polymerase chain reaction using a universal 16S gene for Encephalitozoon spp. followed by sequencing and sequence analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of E. cuniculi in rabbits was confirmed at three farms in Egypt. Nervous signs and ocular lesions were the most predominant findings in these farms.

Pathological and bacteriological studies on reproductive tract abnormalities of she-camels (Camelus dromedarius), emphasizing on zoonotic importance.

OBJECTIVE: Infertility caused by reproductive pathologies plays a significant role in animal breeding and could result in massive economic losses to livestock owners. Hence, this study was designed to allocate various pathological lesions in the female reproductive tract of she-camels (Camelus dromedarius) slaughtered in Egypt and isolate the causative agents associated with those pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 500 genitalia of adult nonpregnant she-camels aged between 6 and 15 years old were collected from three slaughterhouses at the Giza Governorate, Egypt, from August 2017 to August 2019. The uterus, cervix, and vagina were examined pathologically and microbiologically. RESULTS: The uteri of 152 cases (30.4%), cervices of 24 cases (4.8%), and vaginae of 20 cases (4.2%) showed pathological abnormalities. The uterine inflammatory lesions were detected in 119 cases (23.8%), and the non-inflammatory lesions were detected in 58 cases (11.6%). Pathological changes of the cervix comprised 4.8%, whereas vaginal abnormalities represented 4%. The total microbial recovery rate was 28.4%, and the isolated organisms included Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in addition to Candida albicans. Trials to isolate Brucella and Salmonella species were negative; however, virological examination revealed the isolation of bovine herpesvirus type-1 in two cases. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory lesions were the most prevailing pathological lesions observed along the genital tract of she-camels, and E. coli was the most prevalent isolate. The microbiological burden from the genital discharge could be of zoonotic importance to the examiner and could be a contaminant to the environment and, consequently, human. In addition, attention should be paid toward the possibility of infected she-camels to transmit such infections to farm animals in contact.