Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse with brain infection and unusual symptoms in Italy
By Pintore, Maria Domenica et al.·Published in Parasites & vectors·2017·Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Piemonte Liguria and Valle d'Aosta, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Isolation and molecular characterisation of Halicephalobus gingivalis in the brain of a horse in Piedmont, Italy.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 13-year-old stallion was brought in with severe neurological symptoms, including a right head tilt, circling, and alternating depression and excitability. Despite treatment with various medications, the horse's condition worsened, leading to euthanasia. A post-mortem examination revealed granulomatous meningoencephalitis, and a parasite called Halicephalobus gingivalis was identified in the brain. This case highlights the importance of monitoring for neurological disorders in horses, particularly those potentially linked to infections like West Nile virus.
People also search for: horse head tilt causes · stallion neurological symptoms · Halicephalobus gingivalis in horses · West Nile virus horse treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A fatal case of meningoencephalitis was reported in a 13-year-old Koninklijk Warmbloed Paard Nederland stallion, suspected of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Clinical signs included right head tilt and circling, depression alternated with excitability, fever and lateral strabismus. Combined treatment consisting of dimethylsulfoxide, dexamethasone, sulphonamides and sedative was administered, but because of the poor conditions the horse was euthanatized and submitted for necropsy. RESULTS: At post-mortem examination no skin lesions were observed, all organs appeared normal on gross evaluation and only head and blood samples were further investigated. Neuropathological findings consisted of granulomatous meningoencephalitis and larvae and adult females of Halicephalobus gingivalis were isolated and identified from the digested brain. Frozen brain was submitted to PCR amplification and 220 bp multiple sequence alignment was analysed by Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Phylogenetic inference revealed that the isolate belongs to H. gingivalis Lineage 3. WN surveillance can help to deepen our knowledge of horse neurological disorders investigating their causes and incidence. Moreover, it can help to understand the geographic distribution of the H. gingivalis, to unravel epidemiological information, and to estimate risk for humans.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28270191/