Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a monocyte/macrophage-tropic lentivirus that primarily infects goats resulting in a well-recognized set of chronic inflammatory syndromes focused on the joint synovium, tissues of the central nervous system, pulmonary interstitium and mammary gland. Clinically affected animals generally manifest with one or more of these classic CAEV-associated tissue lesions; however, CAEV-associated renal inflammation in goats has not been reported in the peer-reviewed literature. Here we describe six goats with chronic, multisystemic CAEV infections in conjunction with CAEV-associated renal lesions. One of the animals had CAEV antigen-associated thrombotic arteritis resulting in infarction of both the kidney and heart. These goats had microscopic evidence of inflammatory renal injury (interstitial nephritis) with detectable renal immunolabeling for CAEV antigen in three of six animals and amplifiable proviral sequences consistent with CAEV in all six animals. Cardiac lesions (vascular, myocardial or endocardial) were also identified in four of six animals. Within the viral promoter (U3) region, known transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) were generally conserved, although one viral isolate had a duplication of the U3 A region encoding a second gamma-activated site (GAS). Despite the TFBS conservation, the isolates demonstrated a degree of phylogenetic diversity. At present, the clinical consequence of CAEV-associated renal injury is not clear.

Las lesiones patológicas causadas por acantocéfalos en aves marinas son poco conocidas. En este sentido, se presenta un estudio de las lesiones patológicas en una gaviota gris (Leucophaeus modestus) (Tschudi, 1843) por el acantocéfalo Profilicollis altmani (Perry, 1942) Van Cleave, 1947. Macroscópicamente, se encontró un engrosamiento de la pared intestinal circunscrito a la profunda área de penetración de los gusanos, con nódulos blanquecinos en la serosa. Microscópicamente, se observó la penetración del extremo anterior del acantocéfalo en las vellosidades intestinales y submucosa, rodeada por una severa necrosis caseosa y una reacción inflamatoria conformada por un moderado número de eosinófilos, algunas células gigantes multinucleadas, células mononucleares y periféricamente un tejido conectivo fibroso denso y vascularizado. Asimismo, entre la probóscide y el tejido necrótico se evidenciaron numerosas bacterias basófilas de forma bacilar. Adicionalmente, en áreas adyacentes se observaron focos necróticos rodeados por células gigantes multinucleadas agrupadas formando pequeños granulomas multifocales sin la presencia del parasito. Las observaciones sugieren que P. altmani causa una severa enteritis eosinofílica granulomatosa en la gaviota gris, ave migratoria común de la costa peruana.

Rumen acidosis (RA) is one of the most prevalent alimentary diseases of ruminants and is caused by excessive fermentation of feedstuff in the reticulorumen. This retrospective study aimed to characterize the microscopic lesions of acute and subacute cases of RA in cattle older than 6 months. Fifty-two RA cases with rumen fluid pH ≤5.5 at the time of necropsy were selected. Cases were classified as acute or subacute RA based on their clinical histories; 7 animals were included as controls. In rumen histologic sections, the number, length, and width of ruminal papillae and the thickness of the mucosal epithelium and stratum corneum were measured. Univariable linear mixed models were used to compare groups. Eleven of 28 acute cases (39%) had small (<150 µm in diameter) pustules within the ruminal epithelium. Histomorphometry of acute cases differed from control cases only by shorter ruminal papillae, highlighting the scant morphologic changes in this group. In cases of subacute RA (n = 24), the rumen papillae were shorter and wider than in control animals, and there was epithelial hyperplasia, parakeratotic hyperkeratosis, and, in 19/24 cases (79%), there were numerous intraepithelial pustules (150-500 µm in diameter). There was a higher number of ruminal papillae in subacute RA cases when compared with acute RA cases. Subacute RA cases had wider rumen papillae and thicker epithelium than acute RA cases. Our study highlights the distinctive lesions and histomorphometry of the rumen in cattle with acute and subacute RA.