SUSPECTED NEUROTOXICITY DUE TOCLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENSTYPE B IN A TIGER (PANTHERA TIGRIS)

Abstract

A 4-yr-old tiger (Panthera tigris) was referred with acute onset of severe abnormal consciousness. Neurological evaluation showed normal palpebral and corneal reflexes, normal pupil diameter with normal direct and consensual papillary light reflex, and absent menace response bilaterally. Diffuse forebrain lesion or focal lesion affecting the ascending reticular activating system was suspected. Complete blood examination and cerebrospinal fluid analysis were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed an empty sella as the only result. Clostridium perfringens 10(4) to 10(7) colony-forming units/g were detected in fecal flora samples. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay identified serotype B counts with production of epsilon toxin. This toxin specifically accumulates in the central nervous system, where it causes acute neurological signs in humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. In this communication, the acute onset of neurological signs without evidence of trauma, vascular, metabolic, or inflammatory diseases may be caused by neurotoxicity due to C. perfringens.

Isolation of Clostridium perfringens and C. difficile in crab-eating fox ( Cerdocyon thous - Linnaeus 1776) from Northeastern Brazil

“…Aliquots of 10μl of each dilution were plated on sulfite polymyxin sulfadiazine agar (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, MI, USA) and were anaerobically incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. After incubation, all sulfatereducing colonies from each dilution were subjected to a previously described PCR protocol (Vieira et al, 2008) for the detection of genes encoding the major C. perfringens toxins (alpha, beta, epsilon and iota), beta-2 toxin (cpb2) and enterotoxin (cpe). The PCR protocol described by Keyburn et al (2008) and Gohari et al (2015) was applied for the detection of the NetB-and NetF-encoding genes (netB and netF, respectively).…”

Anatomic Study of the Elbow Joint in a Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Gross Dissections

“…Nevertheless, the small risk degree which its application entails might allow us to justify its use in these endangered species. With developing technology in zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centres, MRI is a promising, noninvasive, and accurate method for tiger imaging [17][18][19][20][21]. Our research provides the first anatomical description of the elbow in a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) via low-field MRI.…”

“…To our knowledge, MRI has been only used to describe the normal anatomic features of the stifle and tarsus joints [17,18], as well as brain characteristics [19]. Also, previous reports describing several neurological disorders have been published on this species [20,21]. However, no published studies were found describing the Bengal tiger elbow joint using MRI and gross anatomical dissections.…”

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridium perfringens isolated from domestic and wild animal species in Brazil

“…Despite the importance of C. perfringens as a pathogen for humans and animals, the role of this agent in wild carnivores remains unknown. The current understanding of C. perfringens pathogenicity is based on reported cases of hemorrhagic enterocolitis and nervous disorders (ZEIRA et al, 2012).…”

“…However, these studies only assessed isolates from a single animal species and were restricted to strains from domestic animals. Thus, recent reports have highlighted the need for an empirical analysis of the most effective antimicrobial for treating C. perfringens infections in wild animals (ZEIRA et al, 2012).…”