An epizootic of peroneal and tibial neuropathy in Walker Hound pups
Jans, H.E.; Kornegay, J.N.; Breitschwerdt, E.B.; Armstrong, P.J.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 197(4): 498-500
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 2170312 Document Number: 355945
Early in life, Walker Hound puppies from several litters, later determined to have peroneal and tibial neuropathy, had been given supplements of either evaporated milk and corn syrup mixed with well water or powdered bitch milk formula mixed with well water. Other pups not given supplements were not affected. Pelvic limb monoparesis, areflexia, analgesia, and muscular atrophy developed by 2-weeks of age. Abnormalities detected by light and electron microscopy included scattered swollen axons containing increased organelles and whorled neurofilaments. The clear association between clinical signs of disease and dietary supplementation of pups among healthy dogs in a kennel, as well as lack of an obvious pattern of inheritance, suggested an environmentally acquired toxin, specifically the well water. Attempts to reproduce neuropathy in a litter of Beagle pups 2 years after initial evaluation of the disease syndrome were unsuccessful. Atomic absorption studies performed on the well water to detect heavy metals did not reveal toxic concentrations. Toxins that may have been responsible for the neuropathy in these pups were not identified.