Porcine teschovirus polioencephalomyelitis in western Canada.

Beginning in 2002, a small number of pig farms in western Canada began reporting 4-7-week-old pigs with bilateral hind-end paresis or paralysis. Low numbers of pigs were affected, some died, most had to be euthanized, and those that survived had reduced weight gains and neurological deficits. Necropsies revealed no gross lesions, but microscopic lesions consisted of a nonsuppurative polioencephalomyelitis, most severe in the brain stem and spinal cord. The lesions were most consistent with a viral infection. Tests for circovirus, Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, coronavirus, Rabies virus, and Pseudorabies virus were negative. Using immunohistochemistry, virus neutralization, fluorescent antibody test, and nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Porcine teschovirus was identified in tissues from affected individuals. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of teschovirus encephalitis in western Canada and the first reported case of polioencephalomyelitis in pigs in Canada, where teschovirus was confirmed as the cause.

Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens isolated from environmental sites in companion animal veterinary hospitals in southern Ontario.

Hospital-based infection control in veterinary medicine is emerging and the role of the environment in hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in veterinary hospitals is largely unknown. This study was initiated to determine the recovery of Escherichia coli and selected veterinary and zoonotic pathogens from the environments of 101 community veterinary hospitals. The proportion of hospitals with positive environmental swabs were: E. coli--92%, Clostridium difficile--58%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)--9%, CMY-2 producing E. coli--9%, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius--7%, and Salmonella--2%. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp., canine parvovirus, and feline calicivirus were not isolated. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolates was low. Important potential veterinary and human pathogens were recovered including Canadian epidemic strains MRSA-2 and MRSA-5, and C. difficile ribotype 027. There is an environmental reservoir of pathogens in veterinary hospitals; therefore, additional studies are required to characterize risk factors associated with HAI in companion animals, including the role of the environment.