Beniamino Tesei

Clinical investigation on Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in Italian donkeys

BackgroundInterest in the welfare and diseases of donkeys is constantly increasing in several countries. Despite this, clinical research into donkeys needs to be in continual development since they show different reactions compared to horses in many conditions, including infectious diseases, and need specific clinical and therapeutic approaches. No reports are currently available on clinical and clinical pathology data regarding donkeys with natural piroplasms infection.ResultsVenous blood samples were taken from one hundred and thirty eight donkeys and underwent indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) to detect IgG antibodies against Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and real-time polimerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. Clinical examinations, haematological analyses and serum bilirubin evaluation were also performed and compared with positive or negative status. A seroprevalence of 40.6% and 47.8% was found for T. equi and B. caballi, respectively; double positivity was detected in 19.6% of the animals. PCR results showed that 17.4% of the animals tested positive for T.equi and 3.6% for B. caballi with no double positivity. Twelve donkeys (8.7%) had clinical signs consistent with chronic forms of the disease and no acute forms were detected. Fifty-eight donkeys had haematological and serum bilirubin alterations and 56 (96.6%) of them were IFAT and/or PCR positive. Changes in erythrocyte number, packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, platelets number and total bilirubin were significantly associated with positive and symptomatic animals.ConclusionNonspecific clinical presentation seems to be very common in donkeys and several clinical pathology alterations persist after natural infection. Therefore, apparently healthy donkeys can have masked but severe clinical pathology alterations. Acute forms are very seldom observed in donkeys. Clinical monitoring of chronically infected donkeys is recommended since such animals represent a risk both for transmission to other animals and for their own health; furthermore, their production performances could be reduced. The study should also be intended as a contribution for veterinary practitioners because it describes the most usual clinical presentations and laboratory findings of equine piroplasmosis in naturally infected donkeys in endemic areas.

Occurrence of Borrelia lusitaniae infection in horses.

The aim of the study was to investigate Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infection in horses exposed to heavy tick infestations. Blood samples of 98 healthy horses from 5 stud farms were examined by SNAP(®) 4D× and PCR to detect antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. and Borrelia DNA, respectively. Ten samples (15.3%) were antibody positive and 5 samples (5.1%) were both antibody and PCR positive. Sequence analysis showed the highest homology with the B. lusitaniae genospecies. No differences were found between sexes and stud farms, while age was significantly related to seropositivity (p<0.05). Our data confirms the presence of B. lusitaniae infection in horses, previously not clearly demonstrated.

Epidermolysis Bullosa in the Dog: Four Cases

Cerquetella, M., Spaterna, A., Beribe, F., Mechelli, L. and Tesei, B., 2005. Epidermolysis bullosa in the dog: Four cases. Veterinary Research Communications, 29(Suppl. 2), 289-291

Clinic and ultrasonographic findings in a cat with Tetralogy of Fallot.

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a congenital cardiopathy of man and domestic animals. Fallot was a cardiologist in human medicine of the late 19th–early 20th century. This cardiac malformation is characterized by ventricular septal defect, dextroposition of the aorta, pulmonic stenosis and consequent right ventricular hypertrophy. Cardiac morphological alterations in TOF derive from a defective fetal development of both pulmonary and aortic arteries, resulting from troncus arteriosus, and right and left ventricular outflow tracts, resulting from conus arteriosus. There is also an incomplete development of the conotruncal septum which causes a skew between dorsal and apical parts of interventricular septum. As shown by Goodwin and Cooper (1992), pulmonary stenosis causes an increased resistance to blood flow ejected from the right ventricle. This leads to hypertrophy and hypertension of this ventricle, and leads to a right-to-left shunt through interventricular septum defect. The first consequence of the shunt is an inflow in aorta of bad oxygenated blood, that can easily induce hypoxia. Symptoms are failure to grow, exercise intolerance, cyanosis and syncope. Cyanosis depends on the entity of the shunt and it is not always present, but it is typical of most cases. For this reason, in the past the illness was called ‘‘blue disease’’ because of the colour assumed by mucosae. Cyanosis is always present when the subject gets excited or during physical effort, when even asphyxia can occur. TOF is more common for dogs than for cats (Patterson et al., 1993). For this species diagnosis is performed by anatomo-pathological examination or angiography which is an invasive intra vitam examination involving a lot of risks (Eyster et al., 1977). The aim of this report is to furnish a contribution to the study of this pathology in cats, especially for the non-invasive diagnostic methods such as ultrasound.

Adenocarcinoma Involving the Tongue and the Epiglottis in a Horse

ABSTRACT Tumors involving the oral cavity of the horse are uncommon. No cases of equine adenocarcinoma on the dorsum of the tongue have been reported in the literature. We report a case of adenocarcinoma located on the dorsum of the posterior one-third of the tongue in a 29-year-old gelding with severe dysphagia. Endoscopy revealed an epiglottis involvement, and histology was consistent with adenocarcinoma arising from minor salivary glands, which was associated with a severe fungal colonization of affected tissues. The goals of this report are to present an uncommon case of dorsum of the tongue-associated neoplasia and to highlight the association with atypical fungal colonization, to review the literature and to discuss possible clinical approach and prognosis.

Feline idiopathic ulcerative dermatosis: three cases

A. Spaterna1*, L. Mechelli2, F. Rueca3, M. Cerquetella1, C. Brachelente2, M.T. Antognoni3 and B. Tesei1 1Veterinary Science Department, Clinical Section, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62024 Matelica, Macerata, Marche; 2Veterinary Biopathological Science Department; 3Veterinary Pathology, Diagnostic and Clinic Department, Section of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, 06100 Perugia, Umbria, Italy *Correspondance: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Sezione clinica, Università degli studi Camerino, 62024 Matelica, (MC), Marche, Italy E-mail: andrea.spaterna@unicam.it

Ultrasonographic biometry of the eyes of healthy adult donkeys

Sixty-two healthy adult donkeys were included in this study, giving a total of 124 eyes for examination. The weight of the donkeys was estimated and an ultrasonography of the eyes was performed using a curvilinear transducer. Ocular measurements were taken in a horizontal plane and included the following values: globe axial length (GAL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), vitreous body depth (VD), lens diameter (LDi) and lens depth (LDe). The mean and sds for each measurement are reported in mm: GAL 34.22±2.05; ACD 3.01±0.58; VD 20.20±1.63; LDi 17.96±1.66 LDe 11.06±0.71. Gender was not a variability factor for ocular biometry in donkeys, while the weight was directly related to the ultrasonographic ocular values. Lens dimensions represented an exception and further investigation should be carried out to verify a possible correlation with age rather than weight. This is the first paper reporting reference data for ocular biometry in donkeys. The ultrasonographic evaluation of the equine eye is a manageable procedure that is easy to perform and can provide information not always obtainable with direct ocular examination. It allows the imaging of intraocular and retrobulbar structures and the diagnosis of some important disorders involving these areas (Scotty and others 2004, Michau 2005, Dietrich 2007). Ocular ultrasound is also indicated where it is impossible to directly visualise (eg, with an ophthalmoscope) posterior structures of the globe in cases of corneal oedema or ulceration, cataract or ocular masses (Withcomb 2002). Ultrasound can be used to investigate enophthalmos, buphthalmos or exophthalmos in cases of ocular protrusion and suspicion of disparity in globe size (Withcomb 2002). The most common diseases that can be detected or confirmed with ultrasound are corneal diseases, cataract, lens luxation, intraocular cysts or masses, glaucoma and retinal detachment (Reef 1998, Withcomb 2002). Although horses and donkeys can be affected by …

Sebaceous Adenitis in the Dog: Three Cases

A. Spaterna1*, M.T. Antognoni2, S. Cappuccini3 and B. Tesei1 1Veterinary Science Department, Clinical Section, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Matelica; 2Veterinary Pathology, Diagnostic and Clinic Department, Section of Internal Medicine; 3Veterinary Biopathological Science Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy *Correspondence: Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Sezione clinica, Università degli Studi Camerino, 62024 Matelica, (MC), Marche, Italy E-mail: andrea.spaterna@unicam.it

Preliminary Evaluation of M-Mode, B-Mode, and X-Strain® Echocardiographic Indices Before and During Therapy in Dogs Affected by Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Clinical examination and m-mode, b-mode, and two-dimensional speckle tracking evaluations with X-Strain® software were carried out in two dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy before and during therapy. During follow-up, the two dogs presented not only in better clinical condition, but also with improvements in m-mode and b-mode indices, as well as increased values of strain and strain rate. Consequently, X-Strain® evaluation should be included in routine echocardiography to better understand the pathogenesis and evolution of disease characterized by reduced myocardial contractility, optimize the therapeutic protocol during follow-up, and contribute to finding the range of normal values for strain and strain rate in the dog.