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1 September 2018 IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE OF PUTATIVE NEORICKETTSIA INFECTION IN COATIS (NASUA NASUA) FROM SOUTHERN BRAZIL
Selwyn Arlington Headley, Thalita Evani Silva de Oliveira, Mariana de Mello Zanim Michelazzo, Juliana Torres Tomazi Fritzen, Zalmir Silvino Cubas, Wanderlei de Moraes, Amauri Alcindo Alfieri, Odilon Vidotto
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Abstract

The pathologic, molecular, and immunohistochemical findings associated with Neorickettsia helminthoeca are described in coatis (Nasua nasua). Tissue sections (small intestine, lungs, kidney, liver, and spleen) of coatis (n = 3) that died at the Bela Vista Biological Refuge, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, southern Brazil were routinely processed from histopathology. Selected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections of the small intestine, lungs, and spleen were used in an immunohistochemical (IHC) assay designed to identify the antigens of N. helminthoeca. Additionally, FFPE tissue sections of the small intestine were used to demonstrate antigens of canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) by IHC. Histopathology revealed chronic enteritis in all coatis. Parasitic enteritis was diagnosed in two coatis; one of these contained examples of a trematode within the lumen of the small intestine and the ovum of a trematode encysted in the intestinal mucosa. Other significant pathologic findings included interstitial pneumonia (n = 2) and pyogranulomatous splenitis (n = 1). Positive immunolabeling for N. helminthoeca was identified within macrophages of the small intestine and reticuloendothelial cells within the germinal centers of the spleen of all coatis; the intestinal trematode was N. helminthoeca IHC-positive. All pulmonary sections revealed negative immunolabeling for N. helminthoeca. Furthermore, the antigens of CPV-2 were not identified in the intestine of any coati. These findings indicate that these coatis were infected by N. helminthoeca, but since clinical and gross pathological findings were not recorded, it is uncertain if this pathogen produced clinical disease in this canid host; therefore, coatis may be asymptomatic or dead-end hosts for this organism.

Copyright 2018 by American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
Selwyn Arlington Headley, Thalita Evani Silva de Oliveira, Mariana de Mello Zanim Michelazzo, Juliana Torres Tomazi Fritzen, Zalmir Silvino Cubas, Wanderlei de Moraes, Amauri Alcindo Alfieri, and Odilon Vidotto "IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE OF PUTATIVE NEORICKETTSIA INFECTION IN COATIS (NASUA NASUA) FROM SOUTHERN BRAZIL," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 49(3), 535-541, (1 September 2018). https://doi.org/10.1638/2017-0151.1
Accepted: 27 April 2018; Published: 1 September 2018
KEYWORDS
Chronic enteritis
diagnostic pathology
immunohistochemistry
intestinal trematode
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