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Paralysis in hedgehogs ( Erinaceus europaeus ) associated with demyelination
Author(s) -
Palmer A. C.,
Blakemore W. F.,
Franklin R. J. M.,
Frost L. M.,
Gough R. E.,
Lewis J. C. M.,
Macdougall D. F.,
O'Leary M. T.,
Stocker L. R.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.143.20.550
Subject(s) - erinaceus , pathology , spinal cord , meninges , central nervous system , medicine , choroid plexus , biology , hedgehog , neuroscience , biochemistry , gene
Paraplegia affected 14 hedgehogs ( Erinaceus europaeus ) in a wildlife rescue hospital over a period of six months. Postmortem examination revealed demyelination in the brain and spinal cord and an inflammatory response in the meninges, choroid plexus and CNS. The peripheral nervous system was not affected. In the spleen, lungs and liver there was an accumulation of megakaryocytes and other evidence of extramedullary haemopoiesis, but there was no haematological evidence of anaemia. The pattern of disease incidence and the nature of the changes in the CNS suggest they were of viral origin, but no causal agent was isolated and the possibility of a neurotoxin cause cannot be ruled out.