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Two horse farms, on which there was a high incidence of proven and suspected equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), were studied. Symmetric ataxia and paresis, along with laryngeal adductor, cervicofacial, local cervical, and cutaneous trunci hyporeflexia, characterized the syndrome. Serum vitamin E concentration reflected a deficient state in affected and unaffected horses on both farms when compared with selected reference groups and with published values. A high incidence of the disease was evident in offspring of two particular sires on one farm. Vitamin E supplementation resulted in correction of the deficient state in most horses and was associated with a drastic reduction in the incidence of EDM on one farm from 40% to less than 10% the year following vitamin E supplementation. In addition, during the last year, the severity of signs in the few cases was dramatically reduced. This information substantiates the hypothesis that EDM is a vitamin E-responsive disorder of Equidae with a possible familial predisposition. (Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 1987; 1:45-50)

Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) affected with gas bubble disease (GBD) were examined histologically to determine the pathogenesis of the early stages of gas emboli formation. Lesions preserved by a rapid fixation method were located in tissues associated with acid-secreting glands or with high metabolic requirements. Following the development of small gas emboli formed in the retinal chorio-capillaries, a progressive development of unilateral exophthalmia was detected. A lesion found in every treated moribund fish but never in controls was gas displacement of the blood from the afferent arteriole within the gill filaments. The exposure of fish to well water containing graded levels of atmospheric gases from 114 to 118% nitrogen and 103 to 110% oxygen saturation resulted in high mortality. However, fish held in nitrogen varying between 103 and 117% and oxygen from 50 to 94% saturation experienced insignificant mortality. We suggest that hatchery oxygen levels should be maintained below 100% if nitrogen supersaturation is present to reduce mortality from GBD.

A litter of 5-week-old Doberman Pinschers with pustular dermatitis was treated dermally with a hexachlorophene-containing emulsion. Shortly after a second treatment, all of the puppies developed neurologic signs consisting of muscle tremors, ataxia, and apparent muscle weakness. The clinical history and signs, histologic lesions within the central nervous system, and measurement of hexachlorophene in liver and kidney tissue confirmed a diagnosis of hexachlorophene toxicosis.

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