Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology Commons^™

Rodents And Other Vertebrate Invaders In The United States, Michael W. Fall, Michael L. Avery, Tyler A. Campbell, Peter J. Egan, Richard M. Engeman, David Pimentel, William C. Pitt, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Gary W. Witmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contents

Introduction

Assessing impacts of rodents and other vertebrate invaders

Accounts of some important vertebrate invaders
Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Roof rat (Rattus rattus)
Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans)
House mouse (Mus Musculus)
Nutria (Myocastor coypus)
Gambian giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus)
Feral swine (Sus scofa)
Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus)
Rock pigeon (Columba livia)
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)
Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis)
Burmese python (Python …

Carbenoxolone Blocks The Light-Evoked Rise In Intracellular Calcium In Isolated Melanopsin Ganglion Cell Photoreceptors, Jayne R. Bramley, Erin M. Wiles, Patricia J. Sollars, Gary E. Pickard

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Retinal ganglion cells expressing the photopigment melanopsin are intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). These ganglion cell photoreceptors send axons to several central targets involved in a variety of functions. Within the retina ipRGCs provide excitatory drive to dopaminergic amacrine cells via glutamatergic signals and ipRGCs are coupled to widefield GABAergic amacrine cells via gap junctions. However, the extent to which ipRGCs are coupled to other retinal neurons in the ganglion cell layer via gap junctions is unclear. Carbenoxolone, a widely employed gap junction inhibitor, greatly reduces the number of retinal neurons exhibiting non-rod, non-cone mediated light-evoked Ca²⁺ signals suggesting extensive …

Y-Like Retinal Ganglion Cells Innervate The Dorsal Raphe Nucleus In The Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones Unguiculatus), Liju Luan, Chaoran Ren, Benson Wui-Man Lau, Jian Yang, Gary E. Pickard, Kwok-Fai So, Mingliang Pu

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of the mesencephalon is a complex multi-functional and multi-transmitter nucleus involved in a wide range of behavioral and physiological processes. The DRN receives a direct input from the retina. However little is known regarding the type of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) that innervates the DRN. We examined morphological characteristics and physiological properties of these DRN projecting ganglion cells.

Methodology/Principal Findings: The Mongolian gerbils are highly visual rodents with a diurnal/crepuscular activity rhythm. It has been widely used as experimental animals of various studies including seasonal affective disorders and depression. Young adult gerbils were used …

Challenges And Opportunities For Toxicology In Mexico, Rodrigo Franco, Balam Muñoz

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

We have developed this Special Issue titled “Challenges and Opportunities for Toxicology in Mexico” with the aim to highlight not only the challenges toxicology research faces in Mexico, but also the efforts and drive towards cutting edge research to address them. Altogether, this special issue should be a valuable source of information for all readers with an interest in toxicology and human health.

Mexico is an important economy worldwide and is a major exporter of several supplies and commodities. Because of this, its industry is a source of occupational exposure to several chemical derivatives (Nieusma 2011). The situation of occupational …

Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells, Gary E. Pickard, Patricia J. Sollars

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) respond to light in the absence of all rod and cone photoreceptor input. The existence of these ganglion cell photoreceptors, although predicted from observations scattered over many decades, was not established until it was shown that a novel photopigment, melanopsin, was expressed in retinal ganglion cells of rodents and primates. Phototransduction in mammalian ipRGCs more closely resembles that of invertebrate than vertebrate photoreceptors and appears to be mediated by transient receptor potential channels. In the retina, ipRGCs provide excitatory drive to dopaminergic amacrine cells and ipRGCs are coupled to GABAergic amacrine cells via gap …

Long-Term Clinicopathological Characteristics Of Alpacas Naturally Infected With Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Type Ib, D. Bedenice, Edward J. Dubovi, Clayton Kelling, Jamie N Henningson, Christina L. Topliff, N. Parry

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Substantial bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)-related production losses in North American alpaca herds have been associated with BVDV type Ib infection.

Objectives: To classify and differentiate the long-term clinicopathological characteristics of BVDV type Ib infection of al- paca crias, after natural virus exposure. We hypothesized that persistently infected (PI) alpacas specifically demonstrate growth retardation, clinicopathological evidence of opportunistic infections, and early mortality.

Animals: Thirty-five crias naturally exposed to BVDV (18 acute, 3 chronic, 14 PIs), and 19 healthy cohort controls of 5 northeastern alpaca farms were prospectively evaluated over 2 years (September 2005–September 2008).

Methods: Observational cohort-control study.

Results: …

Gender Differences In Cns Autoimmunity Induced By Mimicry Epitope For Plp 139–151 In Sjl Mice, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Sivasubramani Thulasingam, David Steffen, Jay Reddy

Jay Reddy Publications

Development of multiple sclerosis (MS) is more prevalent in females than in males, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Microbial infections have been suspected as triggers of MS and it is not known whether gender differences in reactivity to environmental antigens contribute to the disease pathogenesis. We demonstrated that ACA 83–95, a mimicry epitope from Acanthamoeba castellanii for proteolipid protein (PLP) 139–151, induces clinical signs of encephalomyelitis in both male and female SJL mice. Conversely ACA 83–95-induced effector cells from males fail to induce disease in female mice. Although we found no gender differences in the frequencies of antigen-specific …

Rnai Screening Reveals Requirement For Host Cell Secretory Pathway In Infection By Diverse Families Of Negative-Strand Rna Viruses, Debasis Panda, Anshuman Das, Phat X. Dinh, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Debasis Nayak, Nicholas J. Barrows, James L. Pearson, Jesse Thompson, David L. Kelly, Istvan Ladunga, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Negative-strand (NS) RNA viruses comprise many pathogens that cause serious diseases in humans and animals. Despite their clinical importance, little is known about the host factors required for their infection. Using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a prototypic NS RNA virus in the family Rhabdoviridae, we conducted a human genomewide siRNA screen and identified 72 host genes required for viral infection. Many of these identified genes were also required for infection by two other NS RNA viruses, the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus of the Arenaviridae family and human parainfluenza virus type 3 of the Paramyxoviridae family. Genes affecting different stages of …

Consensus-Based Reporting Standards For Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies For Paratuberculosis In Ruminants, Ian A. Gardner, Søren S. Nielsen, Richard J. Wittington, Michael T. Collins, Douwe Bakker, Beth Harris, Srinand Sreevatsan, Jason E. Lombard, Raymond Sweeney, David R. Smith, Jerrie Gavalchin, Shigetoshi Eda

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) statement was developed to encourage complete and transparent reporting of key elements of test accuracy studies in human medicine. The statement was motivated by widespread evidence of bias in test accuracy studies and the finding that incomplete or absent reporting of items in the STARD checklist was associated with overly optimistic estimates of test performance characteristics. Although STARD principles apply broadly, specific guidelines do not exist to account for unique considerations in livestock studies such as herd tests, potential use of experimental challenge studies, a more diverse group of testing purposes and …

Regulated Commercial Harvest To Manage Overabundant White-Tailed Deer: An Idea To Consider?, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Charles W. Anderson, Timothy R. Van Deelen, David Drake, W. David Walter, Stephen Vantassel, Scott E. Hygnstrom

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Declines in hunter recruitment coupled with dramatic growth in numbers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have challenged our ability to manage deer populations through regulated hunting. We review the efficacy of current regulated hunting methods and explain how they are unable to reduce deer numbers sufficiently in some environments. Regulated commercial harvest would provide an additional tool to help state wildlife agencies manage overabundant populations of white-tailed deer. We outline potential means to govern regulated commercial deer harvest and explain how it is compatible with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. We identified several benefits, including reduced …

The Lack Of An Inherent Membrane Targeting Signal Is Responsible For The Failure Of The Matrix (M1) Protein Of Influenza A Virus To Bud Into Virus-Like Particles, Dan Wang, Aaron Harmon, Jing Jin, David H. Francis, Jane Christopher-Hennings, Eric A. Nelson, Ronald C. Montelaro, Feng Li

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

The matrix protein (M1) of influenza A virus is generally viewed as a key orchestrator in the release of influenza virions from the plasma membrane during infection. In contrast to this model, recent studies have indicated that influenza virus requires expression of the envelope proteins for budding of intracellular M1 into virus particles. Here we explored the mechanisms that control M1 budding. Similarly to previous studies, we found that M1 by itself fails to form virus-like-particles (VLPs). We further demonstrated that M1, in the absence of other viral proteins, was preferentially targeted to the nucleus/perinuclear region rather than to the …

Tactics For Identifying And Eliminating Tritrichomonas Foetus From Infected Beef Herds, Jeff D. Ondrak

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The protozoan, Tritrichomonas foetus (TF), has been recognized as a cause of bovine infertility for more than 100 years (Skirrow and BonDurant, 1988). As an obligate parasite of the bovine reproductive tract its control and eradication seems achievable (Harding, 1950). However, this disease continues to trouble United States cattle producers and a recent epidemic in the Western US has lead to increased interest in research and regulatory efforts (Cima, 2009). Outbreak investigations were carried out on three Nebraska ranches to assess the efficiency of currently available diagnostic tests, culture, gel polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real time PCR (rtPCR), in …

Role Of All Of The Prrsv Glycoproteins In Protective Immune Response, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) contains the major glycoprotein, GP5, as well as three other minor glycoproteins, namely, GP2a, GP3, and GP4, on the virion envelope, all of which are required for generation of infectious virions. To study their interactions amongst each other and with the cellular receptor for PRRSV, we have cloned each of the viral glycoproteins and CD163 receptor in expression vectors and examined their expression and interaction with each other in transfected cells by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) assay using monospecific antibodies. Our results show that strong interaction exists between GP4 and GP5 proteins, although weak interactions …

Cell-Type Specific Distribution Of Chloride Transporters In The Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, Michael A. Belenky, Patricia J. Sollars, David B. Mount, Seth L. Alper, Yosef Yarom, Gary E. Pickard

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a circadian oscillator and biological clock. Cell-to-cell communication is important for synchronization among SCN neuronal oscillators and the great majority of SCN neurons use γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a neurotransmitter, the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult central nervous system. Acting via the ionotropic GABAA receptor, a chloride ion channel, GABA typically evokes inhibitory responses in neurons via Cl− influx. Within the SCN GABA evokes both inhibitory and excitatory responses although the mechanism underlying GABA-evoked excitation in the SCN is unknown. GABA-evoked depolarization in immature neurons in several regions of the brain is a function …

Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Nonstructural Protein 1Β Modulates Host Innate Immune Response By Antagonizing Irf3 Activation, Lalit Beura, Saumendra Sarkar, Byungjoon Kwon, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Clinton J. Jones, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection of swine leads to a serious disease characterized by a delayed and defective adaptive immune response. It is hypothesized that a suboptimal innate immune response is responsible for the disease pathogenesis. In the study presented here we tested this hypothesis and identified several nonstructural proteins (NSPs) with innate immune evasion properties encoded by the PRRS viral genome. Four of the total ten PRRSV NSPs tested were found to have strong to moderate inhibitory effects on beta interferon (IFN-β) promoter activation. The strongest inhibitory effect was exhibited by NSP1 followed by, NSP2, NSP11, …

The Minor Envelope Glycoproteins Gp2a And Gp4 Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Interact With The Receptor Cd163, Phani B. Das, Phat X. Dinh, Israrul H. Ansari, Marcelo De Lima, Fernando A. Osorio, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) contains the major glycoprotein, GP5, as well as three other minor glycoproteins, namely, GP2a, GP3, and GP4, on the virion envelope, all of which are required for generation of infectious virions. To study their interactions with each other and with the cellular receptor for PRRSV, we have cloned each of the viral glycoproteins and CD163 receptor in expression vectors and examined their expression and interaction with each other in transfected cells by coimmunoprecipitation (co-IP) assay using monospecific antibodies. Our results show that a strong interaction exists between the GP4 and GP5 proteins, although …

Detection And Molecular Characterization Of Canine Enteric Viruses In Southern Ireland., Susan Mcelligott

Theses

Enteric viruses, such as canine parvovirus (CPV) and canine coronavirus (CCoV), are a major cause of gastroenteritis in dogs. More serious clinical symptoms occur in young pups, or when both of these viruses infect an animal simultaneously. Caliciviruses and rotaviruses can also cause gastroenteritis in dogs, but these viruses, while causing significant problems in other animal species and humans, are considered to be less significant pathogens of canines. However, on occasion, these viruses have been reported to produce severe clinical symptoms such as vomiting, haemorrhagic enteritis and severe dehydration.

Many viral vaccines for canines are formulated using old vaccine viral …

Promiscuous Mating In Feral Pigs (Sus Scrofa) From Texas, Usa, Johanna Delgado-Acevedo, Angeline Zamorano, Randy W. Deyoung, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt, David B. Long

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Feral pigs represent a significant threat to agriculture and ecosystems and are disease reservoirs for pathogens affecting humans, livestock and other wildlife. Information on the behavioural ecology of feral pigs might increase the efficiency and effectiveness of management strategies.

Aims. We assessed the frequency of promiscuous mating in relation to oestrous synchrony in feral pigs from southern Texas, USA, an agroecosystem with a widespread and well established population of feral pigs. An association between multiple paternity of single litters and synchrony of oestrous may indicate alternative mating strategies, such as mateguarding.

Methods. We collected gravid sows at …

Induction Of Interferon And Interferon Signaling Pathways By Replication Of Defective Interfering Particle Rna In Cells Constitutively Expressing Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Replication Proteins, Debasis Panda, Phat X. Dinh, Lalit Beura, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

We show here that replication of defective interfering (DI) particle RNA in HEK293 cells stably expressing vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) replication proteins potently activates interferon (IFN) and IFN signaling pathways through upregulation of IFN- promoter, IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) promoter, and NF-κB promoter activities. Replication of DI particle RNA, not mere expression of the viral replication proteins, was found to be critical for induction of IFN and IFN signaling. The stable cells supporting replication of DI RNA described in this report will be useful in further examining the innate immune signaling pathways and the host cell functions in viral genome …

Towards An Understanding Of The Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Latency-Reactivation Cycle, Guey-Chuen Perng, Clinton Jones

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Infection by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can cause clinical symptoms in the peripheral and central nervous system. Recurrent ocular shedding can lead to corneal scarring and vision loss making HSV-1 a leading cause of corneal blindness due to an infectious agent. The primary site of HSV-1 latency is sensory neurons within trigeminal ganglia. Periodically, reactivation from latency occurs resulting in virus transmission and recurrent disease. During latency, the latency-associated transcript (LAT) is abundantly expressed. LAT expression is important for the latency-reactivation cycle in animal models, in part, because it inhibits apoptosis, viral gene expression, and productive infection. A …

Method For Identification Of Virulence Determinants, Raul G. Barletta, Beth Harris

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Disclosed are methods for the determination of virulence determinants in bacteria and in particular bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium. Also disclosed are compositions and methods for stimulating an immune response in an animal using bacteria and virulence determinants identified by the methods of the present invention.

Methods And Compositions For Vaccnation Of Animals With Prrsv Antigens With Improved Immunogenicity, Israrul H. Ansari, Fernando A. Osorio, Asit K. Pattnaik,

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Pigs challenged with hypoglycosylated variants of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) major surface protein GP5 exhibited increased production of PRRSV-neutralizing antibodies relative to the levels of neutralizing antibodies produced by pigs immunized with wild type (wt) or glycosylated GP5. This invention provides for methods of obtaining improved immune responses in pigs to PRRSV, compositions useful for obtaining the improved immune responses as well as isolated polynucleotides that encode hypoglycosylated variants of PRRSV major surface protein GP5.

Single-Amino-Acid Alterations In A Highly Conserved Central Region Of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus N Protein Differentially Affect The Viral Nucleocapsid Template Functions, Debasis Nayak, Debasis Panda, Subash C. Das, Ming Lou, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The nucleocapsid protein (N) of vesicular stomatitis virus and other rhabdoviruses plays a central role in the assembly and template functions of the viral N-RNA complex. The crystal structure of the viral N-RNA complex suggests that the central region of the N protein interacts with the viral RNA. Sequence alignment of rhabdovirus N proteins revealed several highly conserved regions, one of which spanned residues 282 to 291 (GLSSKSPYSS) in the central region of the molecule. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis of this region suggested that replacement of the tyrosine residue at position 289 (Y289) with alanine resulted in an N-RNA template that is …

Biarsenical Labeling Of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Encoding Tetracysteine-Tagged M Protein Allows Dynamic Imaging Of M Protein And Virus Uncoating In Infected Cells, Subash C. Das, Debasis Panda, Debasis Nayak, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

A recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-PeGFP-M-MmRFP) encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein fused in frame with P (PeGFP) in place of P and a fusion matrix protein (monomeric red fluorescent protein fused in frame at the carboxy terminus of M [MmRFP]) at the G-L gene junction, in addition to wild-type (wt) M protein in its normal location, was recovered, but the MmRFP was not incorporated into the virions. Subsequently, we generated recombinant viruses (VSV-PeGFP-∆M-Mtc and VSV-∆M-Mtc) encoding Mprotein with a carboxy-terminal tetracysteine tag (Mtc) in place of the M protein. These recombinant viruses incorporated Mtc at levels similar to M in …

Light-Induced Fos Expression In Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells In Melanopsin Knockout (Opn4-/-) Mice, Gary E. Pickard, Scott B. Baver, Malcolm D. Ogilvie, Patricia J. Sollars

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Retinal ganglion cells that express the photopigment melanopsin are intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs) and exhibit robust synaptically driven ON-responses to light, yet they will continue to depolarize in response to light when all synaptic input from rod and cone photoreceptors is removed. The light-evoked increase in firing of classical ganglion cells is determined by synaptic input from ON-bipolar cells in the proximal sublamina of the inner plexiform layer. OFF-bipolar cells synapse with ganglion cell dendrites in the distal sublamina of the inner plexiform layer. Of the several types of ipRGC that have been described, M1 ipRGCs send dendrites exclusively into the …

The Detection And Analysis Of Selected Pathogens In The Water Supply Of Dairy Cohort Herds., Niall Drummond

Theses

The issue of food safety is a growing concern to Irish agriculture and to the food industry. In the last twenty years, many novel pathogens, which can cause concern to the food industry, have been identified. Organisms such as Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) cause hemorrhagic colitis and Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), which is the major cause of acute renal failure in children in many countries, and it’s presence in food is a cause of growing concern. Other pathogens causing concern are those implicated as causative agents of Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) and these can be bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms.

Consumption …

A Herpesvirus Encoded Deubiquitinase Is A Novel Neuroinvasive Determinant, Joy I. Lee, Patricia J. Sollars, Scott B. Baver, Gary E. Pickard, Mindy Leelawong, Gregory A. Smith

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The neuroinvasive property of several alpha-herpesviruses underlies an uncommon infectious process that includes the establishment of life-long latent infections in sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system. Several herpesvirus proteins are required for replication and dissemination within the nervous system, indicating that exploiting the nervous system as a niche for productive infection requires a specialized set of functions encoded by the virus. Whether initial entry into the nervous system from peripheral tissues also requires specialized viral functions is not known. Here we show that a conserved deubiquitinase domain embedded within a pseudorabies virus structural protein, pUL36, is essential for initial …

Regulation Of Innate Immune Responses By Bovine Herpesvirus 1 And Infected Cell Protein 0 (Bicp0), Clinton Jones

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) infected cell protein 0 (bICP0) is an important transcriptional regulatory protein that stimulates productive infection. In transient transfection assays, bICP0 also inhibits interferon dependent transcription. bICP0 can induce degradation of interferon stimulatory factor 3 (IRF3), a cellular transcription factor that is crucial for activating beta interferon (IFN-β) promoter activity. Recent studies also concluded that interactions between bICP0 and IRF7 inhibit trans-activation of IFN-β promoter activity. The C3HC4 zinc RING (really important new gene) finger located near the amino terminus of bICP0 is important for all known functions of bICP0. A recombinant virus that contains a single …

Synergistic Inhibition Of Bovine Leukemia Virus Replication In Vitro By Ribavirin And Alpha-Interferon [Abstract Only], Jeffrey Isaacson, Charles Wood, Jay Reddy

Jay Reddy Publications

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is an oncogenic retrovirus that infects cattle. It is classified in the human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) group, although BLV mainly infects B cells rather than T cells. Most BLV-infected cattle remain asymptomatic, but about 30% develop persistent lymphocytosis, and perhaps 5% eventually acquire B-cell lymphoma. Mainly as a result of the latter condition, BLV is a significant economic problem for cattle producers worldwide. Moreover, because of the close genetic similarities between the two viruses, BLV may also be a useful model for investigating HTLV-associated diseases in humans. The prognosis of HTLV-I-associated disease is generally poor …

Spontaneous Idiopathic Arteritis Of The Testicular Artery In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor), A. N. Hamir, M. V. Palmer, H. Li, J. Stasko, D. G. Rogers

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The testes and the spermatic cord of raccoons (Procyon lotor, kits to adult breeders; n = 48) were examined. Segmental arteritis confined to the extratesticular portions of the testicular artery was present in raccoons of all ages. The arterial changes were seen in laboratory-confined experimental and control animals as well as in wild-caught raccoons. The lesions consisted of proliferative endarteritis with presence of inflammatory cells within the intima, media, and the adventitial regions of most affected vessels. Some aspects of the proliferative arterial lesions were reminiscent of systemic necrotizing vasculitis (polyarteritis nodosa), an immunologically mediated condition of animals and humans. …