A 6-year-old thoroughbred gelding was presented with a history of blepharospasm and opacity in the OS of 1 weeks' duration. Ophthalmic examination findings were consistent with acute uveitis in the OS, and traditional treatment was initiated with systemic antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, topical mydriatics, and corticosteroids. During the total treatment period of 4 weeks response to treatment was weak and the horse developed further problems such as cellulitis of the right hind limb with fever and eventually weight loss and dependent edema. Blood work was indicative of liver disease. Abdominal sonography revealed severe splenomegaly and slight hepatomegaly, and a liver biopsy confirmed malignant T-cell lymphoma. The horse was euthanized due to deteriorating general condition and subsequently underwent postmortem examination. Necropsy and histologic examination revealed a multicentric lymphoma with involvement of spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, and OU.The findings in this case demonstrate that the differential diagnosis of intraocular and systemic lymphoma should be considered in any horse presenting with anterior uveitis, especially when uveitis is unresponsive to treatment and when additional systemic signs of illness such as lethargy, fever, weight loss, or dependent edema arise.Cytological examination of aqueous humor may provide a rapid diagnosis of intraocular lymphoma in eyes with clinical uveitis.

BackgroundAlthough mustelids occur worldwide and include a wide range of species, little is known about the diseases affecting them. Mustelids have regularly been submitted for post mortem investigation in the framework of the program for general wildlife health surveillance in Switzerland, which has been in place for nearly 60 years. We performed a retrospective analysis of the necropsy reports on mustelids submitted to the diagnostic service of the University of Bern. The aims of this study were to present an overview of the causes of mortality and morbidity observed in these carnivores, to assess differences among species, to assess changes in disease detection over the study period, and to describe the pathology of selected diseases.ResultsFive hundred and sixty-six reports from 1958 to 2015 were analyzed. Most animals were stone martens (Martes foina, 46%) and badgers (Meles meles, 44%); the remaining species were polecats (Mustela putorius, 4.7%), pine martens (Martes martes, 2%), stoats (Mustela erminea, 1.4%), weasels (Mustela nivalis, 0.8%) and otters (Lutra lutra, 0.3%). Infectious diseases (n = 262) were frequent and were mostly bacterial or viral; non-infectious conditions (n = 169) were less common and were mostly traumatic or due to metabolic disorders. The most frequent diagnoses included distemper (75% were badgers), amyloidosis (96% were martens), bacterial respiratory infections (all mustelids), biting lice (badgers only) and pulmonary and gastro-intestinal helminths (all species). Less frequent diseases included histoplasmosis (badgers only), aspergillosis, toxoplasmosis, hepatozoonosis, and sarcoptic mange. Lesions due to infection with distemper virus were primarily appreciated in the respiratory tract and central nervous system; they presented species-specific characteristics such as necrosis in the ependyma in badgers and absence of syncytia in stone martens. Amyloidosis in martens was multisystemic in most cases and included both AA and AL amyloidosis; the main macroscopic change was severe splenomegaly.ConclusionInfectious diseases were the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality of mustelids, with marked species-specific differences. Lung and skin were the most commonly affected organs. Contagious diseases such as canine distemper, sarcoptic mange and rabies in mustelids showed a similar temporal pattern as in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), suggesting pathogen spillovers from foxes to mustelids.

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Leptospirosis was first diagnosed in free-ranging Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber L.) in Switzerland in 2010. Pathologic, serologic, molecular and epidemiologic analyses were carried out on 13 animals submitted for necropsy from 2010 through 2014. Typical lesions included alveolar haemorrhages in the lungs, tubular degeneration and interstitial nephritis in the kidneys. Microscopic agglutination test results were positive for serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis, Autumnalis and Sejroe. Molecular analysis identified four distinct profiles belonging to serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae or Copenhageni. The severity and features of the lesions were consistent with a fatal disease associated with leptospires similarly to what has been reported in other animals and humans. The spatiotemporal occurrence of leptospirosis in beavers suggested an upstream spread of the bacteria and coincided with an increased incidence of leptospirosis in dogs and a case cluster in humans. However, an epidemiologic link among beaver cases and among species was not supported neither by the serologic nor molecular data.

An outbreak of foot rot occurred in the ibex colony "Vanil Noir" in Switzerland from May to December 2014. This article describes field observations and the analyses carried out on the limbs of 3 animals submitted for postmortem examination. Disease signs observed in the field included lameness, poor body condition and overgrown hooves. Macroscopic examination of selected limbs revealed severe lesions in all of them, including interdigital inflammation with ulceration and malodorous exudation. Histological changes were consistent with chronic laminitis with bone resorption, which was not detected at radiographical examination. Grocott-positive organisms compatible with Dichelobacternodosus were detected in the lesions. Samples collected from the lesions were positive by polymerase chain reaction for benign D. nodosus, which is typically associated with only mild lesions in domestic sheep. Whether D. nodosus is endemic in the colony or had previously been transmitted from sympatric domestic livestock is unclear. The unusual warm and humid weather conditions in 2014 may well have contributed to the outbreak.