Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Isolation and molecular characterisation of Halicephalobus gingivalis in the brain of a horse in Piedmont, Italy.
- Journal:
- Parasites & vectors
- Year:
- 2017
- Authors:
- Pintore, Maria Domenica et al.
- Affiliation:
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Piemonte Liguria and Valle d'Aosta · Italy
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old stallion of the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paard Nederland breed in Piedmont, Italy, was diagnosed with a serious brain infection called meningoencephalitis, which was initially thought to be caused by the West Nile virus. The horse showed signs like tilting its head to one side, circling, alternating between being very tired and excited, having a fever, and abnormal eye movements. Despite treatment with various medications, the horse's condition worsened, leading to euthanasia. A post-mortem examination revealed no skin issues, but the brain showed signs of infection, and a specific parasite called Halicephalobus gingivalis was found. The treatment did not work, and the horse was euthanized due to its poor health.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A fatal case of meningoencephalitis was reported in a 13-year-old Koninklijk Warmbloed Paard Nederland stallion, suspected of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Clinical signs included right head tilt and circling, depression alternated with excitability, fever and lateral strabismus. Combined treatment consisting of dimethylsulfoxide, dexamethasone, sulphonamides and sedative was administered, but because of the poor conditions the horse was euthanatized and submitted for necropsy. RESULTS: At post-mortem examination no skin lesions were observed, all organs appeared normal on gross evaluation and only head and blood samples were further investigated. Neuropathological findings consisted of granulomatous meningoencephalitis and larvae and adult females of Halicephalobus gingivalis were isolated and identified from the digested brain. Frozen brain was submitted to PCR amplification and 220 bp multiple sequence alignment was analysed by Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Phylogenetic inference revealed that the isolate belongs to H. gingivalis Lineage 3. WN surveillance can help to deepen our knowledge of horse neurological disorders investigating their causes and incidence. Moreover, it can help to understand the geographic distribution of the H. gingivalis, to unravel epidemiological information, and to estimate risk for humans.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28270191/