Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Red fox with crusty skin plaques cured by clindamycin for Neospora
By Duhey, Jitender P et al.·Published in Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine : official publication of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians·2014·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnosis and treatment of Neospora caninum--associated dermatitis in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with concurrent Toxoplasma gondii infection.
- Species:
- wildlife
Plain-English summary
A 3-month-old red fox developed crusty skin plaques while recovering from an accident that required amputation of its leg. Tests showed the skin lesions were caused by a protozoal infection from Neospora caninum, although the fox also had a concurrent Toxoplasma gondii infection. The fox was treated with clindamycin, an antibiotic, for a month, which completely cleared up the skin lesions and the protozoa were no longer found in follow-up tests. This case is notable as it is the first documented instance of Neospora caninum affecting a wild canid.
People also search for: red fox skin problems · Neospora caninum treatment · Toxoplasma gondii in wildlife
Abstract
A 3-mo-old red fox (Vulpes vulpes) developed generalized crusty plaques on its body during rehabilitation after an automobile accident requiring amputation of one leg. Histologic examination of skin lesion biopsy revealed granulomatous dermatitits with many intralesional protozoal tachyzoites. The protozoa stained positively with antibodies to Neospora caninum but not to Toxoplasma gondii. Treatment with clindamycin hydrochloride (10 mg/kg, twice daily, s.c.) for 1 mo completely resolved lesions, and protozoa were not demonstrable in biopsy of skin after treatment. The fox had agglutinating antibodies to T. gondii (modified agglutination test, titer 1:3200) and N. caninum (Neospora agglutination test, titer 1:25), and viable T. gondii (genotype III) was isolated from the skin biopsy after treatment. This is the first report of clinical neosporosis in a wild canid.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25000720/