A retrospective study of brain lesions in goats submitted to three veterinary diagnostic laboratories

Abstract

Abstract.A retrospective study of brain lesions in goats was conducted to identify the range of lesions and diseases recognized and to make recommendations regarding the best tissues to examine and tests to conduct in order to maximize the likelihood of making a definitive diagnosis in goats that may have had clinical signs referable to the brain. One hundred thirtynine goats with a brain lesion were identified. The most common lesion, in 52.5% of the goats, was suppurative inflammation. Approximately two-thirds of these goats had encephalitic listeriosis. Other goats were found to have suppurative inflammation in association with septicemia, pituitary abscesses, dehorning injury, and otitis. Thirty goats (21.6%) were diagnosed with polioencephalomalacia. Twenty-one goats (15.1%) were diagnosed with nonsuppurative inflammation. In more than half of these goats, no definitive diagnosis was made, while 8 were infected with Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus and 1 with Rabies virus. However, few goats were tested for rabies. Based on these findings, it is recommended that, in addition to appropriate handling of the brain, the head should be examined with attention paid to the sella turcica and the temporal bones for evidence of a pituitary abscess and otitis, respectively. Histologic examination should include multiple areas of the brain, including the brainstem, for lesions of encephalic listeriosis; the cerebral cortex, for lesions of polioencephalomalacia; and the hippocampus, for Negri bodies associated with Rabies virus infection. Consideration should be given to collecting samples of other tissues including, but not limited to, the spinal cord and liver for ancillary testing if warranted.

Suppurative infectious diseases of the central nervous system in domestic ruminants

“…In North America, 41.5% of the neurological diseases of sheep are caused by bacteria (Rimoldi et al 2016), similar to the observed in the present study, where these were mainly composed by L. monocytogenes meningoencephalitis, followed by spinal cord abscesses. L. monocytogenes meningoencephalitis in sheep and goats is the main neurological disease caused by bacteria (Oevermann et al 2010, Allen et al 2013, Câmara et al 2014). According to Allen et al (2013), two thirds of the SIND diagnosed in goats from the USA were composed of L. monocytogenes meningoencephalitis, which is similar to the findings of the present study in which 71.42% of the goats were affected by this condition.…”

“…L. monocytogenes meningoencephalitis in sheep and goats is the main neurological disease caused by bacteria (Oevermann et al 2010, Allen et al 2013, Câmara et al 2014). According to Allen et al (2013), two thirds of the SIND diagnosed in goats from the USA were composed of L. monocytogenes meningoencephalitis, which is similar to the findings of the present study in which 71.42% of the goats were affected by this condition. Brugére-Picoux (2008) has described previously that sporadic or outbreaks of the disease are related to the consumption of poorly fermented silage (pH>5.5), which is an important predisposing factor.…”

“…Central nervous system (CNS) diseases affecting domestic ruminants comprise conditions that cause economic losses globally, and bacterial infections are important causes of mortality and, also, neurological disturbances of livestock animals (Fecteau et al 1997, Kessell et al 2011, Allen et al 2013. The main inflammatory neurological diseases caused by bacteria in ruminants are: listeriosis, suppurative leptomeningitis and meningoencephalitis, cerebral and spinal cord abscesses, basilar empyema and neurotuberculosis (Loretti et al 2003, Rissi et al 2010, Câmara et al 2014, Konradt et al 2016.…”

Congenital portosystemic shunts and hepatic encephalopathy in goat kids in California

“…In a retrospective study of 27 goats with spinal cord lesions, 13/27 (48%) of the goats were diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy. 1 The researchers attributed that 8 of the 13 goats to have lesions suggestive of copper deficiency; and in the remaining 5, 2 had vertebral malformations, and, in the other 3, no underlying cause for the degenerative myelopathy was found. The study did not include the histological examination of the liver so it was not possible to rule out hepatic vasculopathy as a cause of degenerative myelopathy.…”

“…13,18 Spongy degeneration of the CNS due to hepatocerebral disease and/or hyperammonemia, characterized by diffuse or focal vacuolation, particularly of the white matter, has been reported in a number of young domestic animal species, including sheep, cattle, pigs, and goats. 2,12,29 In this study, serum bile acids were measured in 2 goats and these were elevated. Bile acids have been reported to be elevated in cases of severe liver disease 28 and in juvenile goats with a hepatic portosystemic shunt.…”