Abstract
A 10-year-old Quarter Horse gelding presented to the Texas A&M University Veterinary Teaching Hospital with a six month-history of ataxia and lameness in the hind limbs. The horse was treated presumptively for equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) based on clinical signs but was ultimately euthanized after its condition worsened. Gross lesions were limited to a small area of reddening in the gray matter of the thoracic spinal cord. Histologically, trypanosome amastigotes morphologically similar to Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease in humans and dogs, were sporadically detected within segments of the thoracic spinal cord surrounded by mild lymphoplasmacytic inflammation. Ancillary testing for Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania spp. was negative. Conventional and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of affected paraffin embedded spinal cord were positive for T. cruzi, and sequencing of the amplified T. cruzi satellite DNA PCR fragment from the horse was homologous with various clones of T. cruzi in GenBank. While canine Chagas disease cases have been widely reported in southern Texas, this is the first report of clinical T. cruzi infection in an equid with demonstrable amasti...Continue Reading
References
Feb 1, 1984·Journal of Economic Entomology·J O Ikenga, J V Richerson
Apr 1, 1994·The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science·O FujitaY Oku
Feb 27, 2001·Veterinary Parasitology·J P DubeyC A Speer
May 24, 2006·Veterinary Parasitology·M B NabityK F Snowden
Mar 6, 2007·Infection, Genetics and Evolution : Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases·Marc DesquesnesSimone Frédérique Brenière
Jul 31, 2007·Acta Tropica·Maria PironSílvia Sauleda
Feb 5, 2008·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·De-Hua LaiJulius Lukes
Feb 8, 2008·Veterinary Parasitology·S A KjosJ K Olson
Mar 6, 2009·Veterinary Pathology·A RodriguesC S L Barros
Jul 31, 2009·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Caryn Bern, Susan P Montgomery
Sep 10, 2011·Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports·Marco Oliveira Py
Oct 7, 2011·Clinical Microbiology Reviews·Caryn BernSusan P Montgomery
Jan 25, 2012·Virchows Archiv : an International Journal of Pathology·Natalie LudygaMichaela Aubele
May 29, 2012·Infectious Disease Clinics of North America·Anis RassiJoffre Marcondes de Rezende
Aug 4, 2012·PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases·Raul O Cosentino, Fernán Agüero
Aug 31, 2012·Emerging Infectious Diseases·Sarah M ReussJames F X Wellehan
Jan 26, 2013·PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases·Tomas DuffyAlejandro G Schijman
Mar 30, 2013·Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinária = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Órgão Oficial do Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária·Fernanda EversRoberta Lemos Freire
Citations
Mar 16, 2019·Parasitology·Evaristo Villalba-AlemánReggiani Vilela Gonçalves
May 17, 2019·Parasites & Vectors·Philippe BüscherNick Van Reet
May 25, 2021·Veterinary Parasitology : Regional Studies and Reports·Alyssa C MeyersSarah A Hamer
Aug 4, 2021·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Julie M ThompsonClaudia P Herrera