Two immature female bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were found stranded on the Atlantic coast of the USA. Necropsy and histopathologic examination of both dolphins demonstrated acute necrotizing lesions in multiple organ systems. Commonly seen in these lesions were cells with enlarged nuclei that contained single 4 to 6 m diameter homogeneous eosinophilic inclusion bodies that were often surrounded by a clear halo. Ultrastructural examination revealed that intranuclear inclusions contained 90 to 110 nm diameter viral particles with electron-dense cores and hexagonal profiles. Viral particles were also present in the cytoplasm, and these were surrounded by variably electron-dense envelopes. Enveloped virions were 140 nm in diameter. Polymerase chain reactions targeting the DNA polymerase and terminase genes of herpesviruses were carried out on unfixed tissues of both animals, and analysis of the DNA products indicated the presence of two novel alphaherpesviruses. The gross, histologic, ultrastructural, and molecular genetic findings indicate disseminated herpesviral infections, and support the conclusion that the alphaherpesviruses caused the deaths of the two dolphins. This is the first report of disseminated herpesviral infection in cetaceans.

Abstract. During necropsy of a 6-year-old, male African Green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), multifocal pale, white to tan areas, 1-2 cm in diameter, were noted in the right lateral lobe, medial lobe, and capsular surface of the liver. Light microscopic examination of the liver revealed numerous spindle cells dispersed within interconnecting, broad bands of collagen, up to 200 mm in width, which often spanned and connected portal areas. A diagnosis of hepatic ductal plate malformation, most closely resembling congenital hepatic fibrosis with von Meyenburg complexes, was made. Few cases of ductal plate malformations in domestic animals are reported in the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first case reported in a nonhuman primate.

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Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival tissues of seven adult cats of both sexes that died after being experimentally infected with Yersinia pestis were examined light microscopically to characterize the lesions. The cats were exposed in two groups using two routes of infection: ingestion of Y. pestis-infected rodent or a subcutaneous injection of Y. pestis to simulate a flea bite. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissues from all organ systems from a representative cat from each group to determine the distribution of Y. pestis bacilli during infection. In all seven cats, bubonic plague lesions were seen. The lesions of pneumonic plague were present in two cats. Septicemic plague was confirmed in all seven cats by bacteriologic culture. Aggregations of bacteria were seen in lymphoid tissue in all cats and in lung tissues from the two cats with pneumonic plague. The most consistent histologic finding was necrosuppurative inflammation in the lymph nodes. Invariably, Y. pestis bacteria were present in large numbers at affected sites. Orally infected cats had more numerous lesions in the lymph nodes of the head and neck regions. These experimentally induced cases of feline plague document that cats are unique among carnivores in exhibiting bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plague following exposure to Y. pestis. The lesions of the orally infected cats were consistent with those previously described for naturally occurring Y. pestis infections in cats and corroborate the contention that cats most commonly contract plague by eating Y. pestis-infected rodents and not via flea bite. The histopathology of Y. pestis disease in these cats is comparable to that described for human plague.

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