Abstract
BackgroundA 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.ResultsAt 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.ConclusionsPhylogenetic 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.
Highlights
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
The neuropathological findings of the malacic area were consistent with a granulomatous meningoencephalitis predominantly involving the right basal nuclei and thalamus
The cholesterol granuloma (CG) was characterized by a chronic granulomatous reaction to continuous deposition of cholesterol crystals that appeared as empty clefts phagocyted by macrophages (Fig. 2b)
Summary
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. Halicephalobus gingivalis is a ubiquitous and saprophyte nematode belonging to the order Rhabditida and commonly found free-living in association with water, soil, manure and decaying organic matter. This parasite affects horses, humans, zebras, cattle and big horn sheep [1,2,3,4,5] generally with a fatal outcome. It is characterized by a rhabditiform esophagus, dorsiflexed ovary and ventroflexed vulva. A definitive diagnosis is possible in vivo by biopsy of the accessible nodular lesions or by postmortem examination
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