Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection
A polar bear (Ursus maritimus) housed at the Toronto Zoo presented with acute-onset, nonambulatory paraparesis. Physical examination 24 hr after onset was otherwise unremarkable, spinal radiographs looked normal, and blood tests indicated mild dehydration. With continued deterioration in its general...
Published in: | Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine |
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American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
2009
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ftbioone:10.1638/2008-0121.1 2023-07-30T04:07:24+02:00 Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker world 2009-09-01 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 en eng American Association of Zoo Veterinarians doi:10.1638/2008-0121.1 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 Text 2009 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 2023-07-09T10:47:57Z A polar bear (Ursus maritimus) housed at the Toronto Zoo presented with acute-onset, nonambulatory paraparesis. Physical examination 24 hr after onset was otherwise unremarkable, spinal radiographs looked normal, and blood tests indicated mild dehydration. With continued deterioration in its general condition, euthanasia was elected a day later. Necropsy did not reveal a cause for the major presenting clinical signs. Serum collected at the time of initial examination was positive for West Nile virus (WNV) antibodies in a serum neutralization assay and at the time of euthanasia was positive in both a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and in a plaque reduction neutralization assay. The major microscopic finding was a mild-to-moderate nonsuppurative meningoencephalomyelitis. WNV was not detected by immunohistochemistry in brain or spinal cord or by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cell culture of brain and kidney, but it was isolated and identified by RT-PCR in second passage cell culture of spleen. Retrospective immunohistochemistry on spleen revealed rare antigen-positive cells, probably macrophages. Prevention of exposure to potentially WNV-infected mosquitoes or vaccination of captive bears against WNV should be considered. Text Ursus maritimus BioOne Online Journals Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 40 3 568 571 |
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BioOne Online Journals |
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ftbioone |
language |
English |
description |
A polar bear (Ursus maritimus) housed at the Toronto Zoo presented with acute-onset, nonambulatory paraparesis. Physical examination 24 hr after onset was otherwise unremarkable, spinal radiographs looked normal, and blood tests indicated mild dehydration. With continued deterioration in its general condition, euthanasia was elected a day later. Necropsy did not reveal a cause for the major presenting clinical signs. Serum collected at the time of initial examination was positive for West Nile virus (WNV) antibodies in a serum neutralization assay and at the time of euthanasia was positive in both a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and in a plaque reduction neutralization assay. The major microscopic finding was a mild-to-moderate nonsuppurative meningoencephalomyelitis. WNV was not detected by immunohistochemistry in brain or spinal cord or by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cell culture of brain and kidney, but it was isolated and identified by RT-PCR in second passage cell culture of spleen. Retrospective immunohistochemistry on spleen revealed rare antigen-positive cells, probably macrophages. Prevention of exposure to potentially WNV-infected mosquitoes or vaccination of captive bears against WNV should be considered. |
author2 |
Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker |
format |
Text |
author |
Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker |
spellingShingle |
Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
author_facet |
Christopher J. Dutton Mark Quinnell Robbin Lindsay Josepha DeLay Ian K. Barker |
author_sort |
Christopher J. Dutton |
title |
Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
title_short |
Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
title_full |
Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
title_fullStr |
Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
title_full_unstemmed |
Paraparesis in a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Associated with West Nile Virus Infection |
title_sort |
paraparesis in a polar bear (ursus maritimus) associated with west nile virus infection |
publisher |
American Association of Zoo Veterinarians |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 |
op_coverage |
world |
genre |
Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1638/2008-0121.1 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1638/2008-0121.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
568 |
op_container_end_page |
571 |
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1772820698822082560 |