Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in prairie dogs from a research facility
Dixon, D.; Reinhard, G.R.; Kazacos, K.R.; Arriaga, C.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 193(2): 251-253
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 3403358 Document Number: 314504
Baylisascaris sp. (probably B. procyonis) larvae were found in the brain, lungs and liver of one of 52 black-tailed prairie dogs, Cynomys ludovicianus, reared on a wildlife farm in Wisconsin, USA, and maintained at a research unit in New York. Low values of RBC, PCV, corpuscular haemoglobin, corpuscular volume and serum chloride ion concentration were found. Creatinine values were high. The prairie dog showed progressive ataxia and brain tissue was most severely affected; 11 larvae were recovered from one half of the brain. The animal had probably been infected from eggs picked up in an ineffectively cleaned pen on the wildlife farm which had previously held raccoons, Procyon lotor. 2 other prairie dogs had similar symptoms, and hstopathologic changes and larvae in the brain.