Megaesophagus Secondary to Feline Dysautonomia (Key-Gaskell Syndrome) in a Cat

Background: Feline dysautonomia is a rare autonomic neuropathy of unknown cause, that has already been reported in Europe, the United States and Brazil. Cats usually show nonspecifc clinical signs that are associated with autonomic dysfunction of the nervous system. The diagnosis is based on the clinical signs and imaging tests, and confrmed by necropsy and histopathological fndings. The prognosis is poor and there is no defnitive treatment. The aim of this report is to describe a case of feline dysautonomia with emphasis in the clinical, diagnostic imaging and histopathological fndings. Feline dysautonomia must always be considered as a differential diagnosis in cases of megaesophagus in cats.Case: A mixed-breed young male cat was evaluated for anorexia, regurgitation, bilateral nasal discharge and dyspnoea for 24 h. The animal was dehydrated and had pale mucous membranes, abdominal distension and keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The neurological examination was normal. Abdominal ultrasound showed a distended bladder and normal intestinal motility. Chest radiography and esophageal contrast study exhibited megaesophagus in the intrathoracic region. Blood work showed mild neutrophilic leukocytosis and the presence of toxic neutrophils. The cat remained hospitalized for supportive care, including fluidtherapy, broad spectrum antibiotics, antiemetic and mucosal protective drugs. Twelve days after the admission, the cat presented prostration, hypoglycemia, hypothermia, hypokalemia and severe leukopenia. Chest radiography revealed increased radiopacity in the right hemithorax, suggesting aspiration pneumonia. The cat died and during necropsy there was marked megaesophagus, with areas of erosion/ulceration of the mucosa, in addition to pulmonary consolidation areas. The histopathological analysis showed an extensive area of ulceration in the esophageal epithelium, in addition to infltration of lymphocytes, macrophages and occasional neutrophils and numerous bacteria, compatible with ulcerative esophagitis. The lung analysis showed severe multifocal thrombosis, multifocal areas of athelectasia, moderate congestion and edema, vegetable material in the bronchi, basophilic myriad bacterial and multifocal necrosis. Hypereosinophilic neurons with pyknotic nuclei, mild cytoplasmic vacuolization, loss of granular appearance of Nissl substance and nuclei shifted to the periphery were observed in the esophageal ganglia. The post mortem diagnosis was megaesophagus and chronic active esophagitis with neuronal degeneration, confrming the diagnosis of feline dysautonomia and aspiration pneumonia.Discussion: This cat was presented with nonspecifc clinical signs, megaesophagus, constipation, keratoconjunctivitis sicca and regurgitation that are commonly observed in cases of feline dysautonomia. However, there were also expiratory dyspnoea, which is less common. Unlike most cases, this cat did not show mydriasis, prolapsed nictitating membranes, reduced pupillary light response or bradycardia. Considering the evolution of its clinical condition, it was suspected that the cat died due to sepsis, possibly as a result of aspiration pneumonia. Since feline dysautonomia is uncommon and requires histopathological analysis for diagnosis confrmation, the prevalence of the disease might be underestimated in our region. In this case, the clinical evaluation, diagnostic imaging, macroscopic and histopathological fndings were consistent with dysautonomia, therefore it is important to consider the disease as a differential diagnosis in cases of megaesophagus in cats, even in the absence of other classical signs of autonomic dysfunction.Keywords: ganglioneuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, neurology, cat

Genome sequence of Bluetongue virus serotype 17 isolated in Brazil in 2014

The complete genome sequence of Bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 17 strain 17/BRA/2014/73, isolated from a sheep in Brazil in 2014, is reported here. All segments clustered with western topotype strains and indicated reassortment events with other BTV from the Americas. The strain 17/BRA/2014/73 represents a novel reference strain for BTV-17 from South America

Spontaneous poisoning by Ricinus communis in sheep

Background: Ricinus communis (castor bean) is an arbustive plant, popularly known in Brazil as “mamona”. This plant is widely distributed both as a weed in pastures and in specific cultures. All parts of the plant are poisonous and contain the toxic substance ricin, especially the seeds, leaves and pericarp. The ingestion of leaves and pericarp may cause neurological signs. Gross findings are unspecific, however the main finding is the presence of leaves and seeds in the ruminal content. This report aims to describe the clinical, epidemiological and pathological features of a spontaneous poisoning by R. communis in two sheep. Cases: During the month of March of 2015, six sheep that were kept in a native pasture with high amounts of capimannoni (Eragrostis plana) and received alfalfa hay, had access in the morning to an area infested by R. communis, which was previously cut. Two of these animals presented in the same day at the afternoon clinical signs of apathy, dyspnea and recumbency, followed by death. The inspection of the area infested by R. communis revealed that large amounts of seeds and leaves of this plant were consumed. The two sheep were submitted to necropsy, where multiple samples were collected and processed routinely for histology. Grossly, there were cyanotic mucosae and alimentary content around the nostrils. The ruminal content was dry and showed large amounts of partially digested leaves and seeds. Microscopically, rumen, reticulum and omasum had mild hydropic degeneration in the mucosa, in addition to a mild inflammatory infiltrate composed of lymphocytes and plasma cells. Discussion: The diagnosis of R. communis poisoning in two sheep was obtained through the epidemiological aspects, such as the observation of the plant consumption, in addition to the clinical and pathological features The observation of digested seeds and leaves in the ruminal content is similar to the previously described in cattle and essential to the diagnosis of the condition, since the gross and microscopic lesions are usually unspecific and mainly characterized by edema and congestion of the digestive tract from the abomasum to the proximal colon. Sheep and cattle poisoned with seeds of R. communis may show gastrointestinal clinical signs mainly. In the present study, however, the clinical course was peracute with only dyspnea and recumbency, suggesting a nervous form of the condition. This form of poisoning is associated to the consumption of dry leaves and clinical signs may be observed within 3-6h after consumption. These are characterized by unbalance walk, muscle tremors, sialorrhea, chewing movements and excessive eructation, and can rapidly progress to death, as in the present study, and in other spontaneous poisoned sheep. The condition should be differentiated from arsenic poisoning, which presents mainly vascular lesions involving the rumen, reticulum and omasum, as well as other poisonings that cause gastroenteritis, such as Baccharis coridifolia poisoning, which culminates with mucosa necrotic lesions involving the pre-stomachs. A high mortality may have occurred due to the food shortage, which in association to the prolonged mastication of ruminants may have increased the ricin release from the seeds and leaves. Ricinus communis poisoning in sheep may occur spontaneously in association with food shortage. The clinical course of these cases may be peracute (neurological form), usually leading to death, with scarse previous clinical signs. The diagnosis of this poisoning should be based on the observation of the previous consumption of the plant, as well as observation of seeds and leaves of the plant intermixed with the ruminal content, since microscopic lesions are rare

Neoplasmas oculares e de anexos em cães e gatos no Rio Grande do Sul: 265 casos (2009-2014)

Neoplasias oculares causam desconforto, problemas de visão e podem refletir doenças sistêmicas. Um estudo retrospectivo foi realizado para identificar e analisar neoplasmas oculares e de anexos obtidos por biópsias enviadas ao Setor de Patologia Veterinária (SPV) da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Durante o período de janeiro de 2009 a dezembro de 2014 realizou-se 265 diagnósticos de neoplasmas oculares e de anexos, destes 87,5% na espécie canina e em 12,5% na espécie felina. As neoplasias ocorreram mais em animais com idade superior a 12 meses e idosos, e os cães (52/232) e gatos (21/33) sem raça definida foram os mais acometidos. A pálpebra foi o local mais acometido na espécie canina (164/232) e felina (20/33), seguida pela terceira pálpebra em cães (20/232) e órbita nos felinos (5/33). O tumor mais diagnosticado nos cães foi o adenoma meibomiano (82/232) e nos gatos o carcinoma de células escamosas (10/33), ambos em pálpebras. Foram identificados nos cães 24 tipos tumorais e nos gatos 16. Em caninos as neoplasias benignas representaram o maior número de diagnósticos (56%) sendo que em felinos o maior número de casos foi de neoplasias malignas (75,8%).Ocular neoplasms cause discomfort, loss of vision or may also reflect systemic diseases. A retrospective study has been performed to identify and analyze ocular and annexes neoplasms obtained by biopsies sent to the Sector of Veterinary Pathology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (SPV/ UFRGS). 265 diagnoses of ocular and annexes neoplasms, 87.5% in canine species and 12.5% in feline species, were made from January 2009 to December 2014. Neoplasms occurred more in animals over the age of 12 months and animals of old age, dogs (52/232) and cats (21/33) mixed breed were the most affected. The eyelid was most commonly affected in dogs (164/232) and feline (20/33), followed by the third eyelid in dogs (20/232) and eye orbit in cats (5/33). The most common tumor diagnosed was meibomian adenoma in dogs (82/232) and squamous cell carcinoma in cats (10/33) both in the eyelids. Twenty four tumor types have been identified in dogs and 16 in cats. Benign neoplasms in dogs represented the largest number of diagnosis (56%) whereas in cats, there were more cases of malignant neoplasms (75.8%)

Perfil dos discentes e egressos do Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Federal de Goiás / Profile of students and graduate students of the post graduation program in Health Sciences of the Federal University of Goiás

A avaliação periódica das atividades de um programa de educação é um princípio pedagógico fundamental. De 2006 a 2013 foram analisados os discentes de Mestrado e Doutorado e os egressos no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Federal de Goiás, quanto às variáveis sociodemográficas e características acadêmicas e profissionais. Participaram da pesquisa 355 (59,6%), 163 mestrandos e 192 doutorandos. A coleta de dados realizada nos arquivos da secretaria e de questionário com 23 questões. A maioria mulheres, idade média de 37,2 anos, procedentes do estado, 176 exercia docência, a média para conclusão do Mestrado 27,3 meses e o Doutorado 35,1. A produção científica aumentou durante e após a titulação. Desta forma o programa contribuiu significativamente para melhor inserção profissional  e melhoria da renda

Genome sequence of Bluetongue virus serotype 17 isolated in Brazil in 2014

The complete genome sequence of Bluetongue virus (BTV) serotype 17 strain 17/BRA/2014/73, isolated from a sheep in Brazil in 2014, is reported here. All segments clustered with western topotype strains and indicated reassortment events with other BTV from the Americas. The strain 17/BRA/2014/73 represents a novel reference strain for BTV-17 from South America

Local hydrological conditions influence tree diversity and composition across the Amazon basin

Tree diversity and composition in Amazonia are known to be strongly determined by the water supplied by precipitation. Nevertheless, within the same climatic regime, water availability is modulated by local topography and soil characteristics (hereafter referred to as local hydrological conditions), varying from saturated and poorly drained to well-drained and potentially dry areas. While these conditions may be expected to influence species distribution, the impacts of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity and composition remain poorly understood at the whole Amazon basin scale. Using a dataset of 443 1-ha non-flooded forest plots distributed across the basin, we investigate how local hydrological conditions influence 1) tree alpha diversity, 2) the community-weighted wood density mean (CWM-wd) – a proxy for hydraulic resistance and 3) tree species composition. We find that the effect of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity depends on climate, being more evident in wetter forests, where diversity increases towards locations with well-drained soils. CWM-wd increased towards better drained soils in Southern and Western Amazonia. Tree species composition changed along local soil hydrological gradients in Central-Eastern, Western and Southern Amazonia, and those changes were correlated with changes in the mean wood density of plots. Our results suggest that local hydrological gradients filter species, influencing the diversity and composition of Amazonian forests. Overall, this study shows that the effect of local hydrological conditions is pervasive, extending over wide Amazonian regions, and reinforces the importance of accounting for local topography and hydrology to better understand the likely response and resilience of forests to increased frequency of extreme climate events and rising temperatures

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types

Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities

Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types. Location: Amazonia. Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots). Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran\u27s eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny. Results: In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R$^{2}$ = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R$^{2}$ = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types. Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution