Case report: Actinomycosis in a West African dwarf goat in Nigeria

Actinomycosis, also called Lumpy jaw is a chronic, progressive, indurated, granulomatous, suppurative abscess that most frequently involves the mandible, the maxillae or other bony tissues in the head. It is a sporadic but common disease in cattle, occasional in pigs and horses and rarely in goats (Radostits et al., 2007). Members of the genus Actinomyces are Gram positive, non-acid fast, non-spore forming rods (Songer and Post, 2005) that form a mycelium of branching filaments that fragment into irregular-sized rods (Blood et al., 2007). The species that commonly cause disease in domestic animals include A. bovis, A. hordeovulneris, A. hyovaginalis, A. israelii, A. naeslundii, A. suis, A. viscosus and Arcanobacterium pyogenes (Songer and Post, 2005). Actinomyces bovis is a common inhabitant of the bovine mouth and infection is presumed to occur through wounds to the buccal mucosa caused by sharp pieces of feed or foreign material. Infection may also occur through dental alveoli, and may account for the more common occurrence of the disease in young cattle when the teeth are erupting (Radostits et al., 2007).Actinomyces viscosus causes periodontal disease and subgingival plaques in hamsters fed a high carbohydrate diet, and also abscessation in dogs (Timoney et al., 1988) in which it is an opportunistic infection (Blood et al., 2007). The present report describes a case of actinomycosis due to A. viscosus involving a doe in a herd of 42 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats kept intensively at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria

Morphometric Study of the Skull of the Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temmnick)

This study was designed to investigate some morphometric characteristics of the skull of the Greater cane rat (GCR) involving 30 morphometric parameters. A total of 10 adult GCR were used for this study comprising of both sexes (5 males and 5 females). Student t-test was used to analyze the values obtained and to determine differences between the sexes. Morphological features were found in the zygomatic bone which occurred as a large and thick bone on both ends. From 30 parameters analyzed, 12 were statistically significant (p≤ 0.05) between both sexes, confirming the presence of sexual dimorphism in the skull of this rodent. This study provided baseline research data on the typology of the skull of the GCR.KEYWORDS: Greater cane rat, morphometry, skull, sexual dimorphism, craniometry

Mandibular morphological changes associated with actinomycesviscosus infection in a West African dwarf goat in Nigeria

This report described the morphological alterations on the mandible in a 3- year- old West African dwarfdoe caused by Actinomycesviscosus infection. The animal recovered after treatment but was later culled and the head submitted to the Department of Veterinary Anatomy. Hot water maceration of the lower jaw and the histology of the right mandibular lymph nodewere carried out. The mandible revealed worn off periodontal membrane, lodgment of tough feed materials in the gingival-alveolar spaces as well as a fistulous tract of about 4mm in diameter with uneven ridges at its edges ventral to the 2nd molar on the lateral aspect of the horizontal ramus of the mandible. Also, the alveolar borders of both sides of the mandible were worn off with the right side forming a thicker ridge than the left. While the mandibular tuberosity on the median surface of the right mandiblewas more prominent than the left, there was equally a distortion in the alveolar alignment with deviation towards the median plane. Histologically, the right mandibular lymph node revealed moderate fibroplasia with cortical lymphoid hypoplasia and local area of mineralization with mononuclear cell infiltration (mostly macrophages) in the sinuses. These findings showed a great similarity in the mandibular morphological changes in the West African dwarf goat and other small ruminants irrespective of the causative agent. It also showed that these changes arepermanent and could lead to imbalance in the alignment of the upper and the lower jaws thereby impairing chewing and consequently, the growth of the affected and even treated animals

Anatomical Studies on the Spinal Cord of the Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck) I: Gross Morphometry

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