Journal of Veterinary Medical Science最新文献

Epileptic seizures in cats and dogs are etiologically classified as idiopathic epilepsy, structural epilepsy and reactive seizures, and semiologically as atonic, tonic/clonic, or generalized tonic clonic, focal and focal seizures evolving into generalized seizures. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the semiological patterns and etiological causes of seizures in both species, and to assess interspecies differences in a regional veterinary population. Between January 2022 and January 2025, 77 cats and 106 dogs presented with seizures to Ondokuz Mayis University Animal Hospital (Samsun/Turkiye). After exclusions due to insufficient data or financial constraints, 24 cats and 29 dogs were included based on the Tier-I diagnostic criteria proposed by the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force. The relationships between species, age, sex, neuter status, seizure semiology and etiology were analyzed. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures were observed in 83.3% of cats and 72.4% of dogs. Idiopathic epilepsy was diagnosed in 41.7% of cats and 55.2% of dogs. Structural epilepsy in cats was mainly associated with feline infectious peritonitis, while canine distemper virus was the predominant cause in dogs. Although seizure types were broadly similar across species, some etiological differences appeared regionally. The high rate of generalized seizures may reflect observer bias or challenges in accurately classifying semiology without electroencephalography. This study highlights the utility of tiered diagnostic approaches in veterinary epileptology and underscores the need for updated, species-specific consensus guidelines for diagnostic approach and classification especially in feline patients.

Larvae of trombiculid mites (Acari: Trombiculidae), known as chiggers, are ectoparasites that parasitize various animals and transmit pathogens such as Orientia tsutsugamushi. We report the first record of chigger mites in the Ogasawara Islands, collected from Bonin Greenfinch Chloris kittlitzi and Warbling White-eyes Zosterops japonicus. By morphological and molecular analysis, the chiggers were identified to the genus Toritrombicula which predominantly parasitize avian hosts. Although the mites could not be identified to the species level, this finding provides new insight into the distribution of trombiculid mites of Japan.

The aim of this study was to distinguish canine lymphoma from other diseases, particularly reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH), based on fine needle aspiration (FNA) images. We developed four deep learning models based on Vision Transformer (ViT) and Inception-v3, which were pre-trained image classification models. The two models out of four were ViT and Inception-v3, and the remained were the two types of combination, i.e., ensemble learning models, of ViT and Inception-v3; the mean of class probabilities of ViT and Inception-v3 (Ensemble model A; MEAN) and the maximum probabilities of ViT and Inception-v3 (Ensemble model B; MAX). A total of 2,290 FNA images of canine lymphoma and 871 FNA images of RLH were analyzed. The FNA images were obtained from the twenty-five slides of fourteen lymphoma cases and eight slides of seven RLH cases in two hospitals. Three types of training and test datasets were prepared from the above image datasets for fair evaluation of the models. Three deep learning-based image classification models (Inception-v3 and the two ensemble models) attained high performance of >80% accuracy, recall and area under the curve (AUC) values for all three datasets. ViT did not achieve high performance, except the precision (>0.85). This study is an example of showing potentials of deep learning models through image classification problem in canine lymphoma.

We report thrombotic cerebral infarction in a 13-year-9-month-old, female, captive red panda that presented with acute hemiparesis. The animal showed initial improvement with corticosteroid therapy, but its neurological condition worsened, leading to death on day 10. Necropsy revealed extensive cerebral infarction and severe Aspergillus infections in the nose and lungs, but not in the brain. Additionally, atrophy of the spleen and lymph nodes was observed. This is the first reported pathological evidence of thrombotic cerebral infarction in a red panda, and the data highlight the potential therapeutic efficacy of corticosteroids for this condition. It is also important to note that respiratory Aspergillus infection may be associated with cerebral infarction in red panda.

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly contagious disease in pigs, and vaccination with antibody monitoring is critical for its prevention. In this study, the effectiveness of two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for antibody detection against CSF virus (CSFV)-an indirect ELISA kit authorized in Japan in 2001 (N-kit) and a competitive ELISA kit additionally authorized in 2024 (I-kit)-was compared. For each ELISA kit, detection accuracy in terms of sensitivity, specificity and agreement rate, and quantitative accuracy were evaluated based on neutralizing antibody titers determined by serum neutralization tests. In addition, the impact of serum heat-inactivation at 56℃ for 30 min on ELISA results was assessed. The results indicated that the I-kit showed the highest sensitivity and agreement rate in detection accuracy, whereas the N-kit showed the highest quantitative accuracy. Although blocking rates of the I-kit increased after heat-inactivation, high correlation rates between treated and untreated samples were confirmed for both kits, suggesting that heat-inactivation does not affect the final interpretation of the test results. These findings demonstrated that the I-kit is suitable for initial antibody screening in pigs due to its higher sensitivity, whereas the N-kit provides better quantitative accuracy, making it preferable for measuring antibody titers in sows. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate ELISA kit according to the purpose of antibody detection is necessary to ensure a more accurate evaluation of the effects of CSFV vaccination on preventing CSF in pig herds.

Canine oligodendrogliomas express platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA), an oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) marker. In this study, tumor cells derived from 3 French bulldogs with oligodendroglioma were cultured in conventional medium with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and an OPC-tailored medium containing platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-AA and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Immunocytochemically, cells cultured with 10% FBS were negative for PDGFRA, but tended to express 2',3'-cyclicnucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) and β3-tubulin. In contrast, the cells cultured with PDGF-AA and bFGF tended to express PDGFRA. These results suggest that canine oligodendroglioma cells cultured with PDGF-AA and bFGF exhibit OPC-like immunophenotype. Cells cultured with OPC-tailored medium may be useful for further in vitro research on canine oligodendrogliomas.

Iwanai Valley virus (IWVV) is a novel tick-borne orthonairovirus classified into the Tamdy genogroup. Since several orthonairoviruses in the Tamdy and closely related Sulina genogroups have been associated with human diseases, evaluating the pathogenic potential of IWVV is an important public health priority. Despite the increase in reports of orthonairoviruses belonging to the Tamdy and Sulina genogroups in East Asia, studies on their pathogenicity remain limited. In this study, we established a mouse model of IWVV infection using type I interferon receptor knockout (IFNAR1-/-) mice and analyzed the pathogenicity of IWVV infection. IWVV infection was lethal in IFNAR1-/- mice but did not cause any significant symptoms in BALB/c mice. IWVV replicated well in the liver and spleen of IFNAR1-/- mice, leading to acute necrotizing hepatitis and damage to the spleen, characterized by lymphocyte depletion. These pathological features are consistent with those observed in immunocompromised mice infected with other human-pathogenic orthonairoviruses, such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and Yezo virus. Although human infections with IWVV have not been reported, the observed virulence in animal models suggests that further evaluation of its zoonotic potential is warranted. Our findings highlight the importance of continued surveillance of emerging tick-borne IWVV to assess potential risks to public health.

Exotic animal cafes are a growing phenomenon within Japanese cities. These cafes are registered under the same license as other animal exhibits such as zoos, often allowing visitors to directly touch the animals or interact with animals within close proximity. The aim of this research was to report on current standards of animal care found in Japanese exotic animal cafes according to animal class. We included 79 exotic animal cafes with data collected on observable husbandry and management conditions by four trained assessors. Qualifiable welfare standards under the quantifiable scores were used to support guidance in scoring methodology. Welfare categories were assessed to identify whether some animal classes received better care in exotic animal cafés. Kruskal-Wallis tests assessed differences in welfare scores across animal classes, with Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons identifying inter-class variation. Among 231 animals identified, 51% were mammals, 31% were birds and 18% were reptiles. Scores across all categories were low for all taxa assessed, with significant differences between animal classes for the environmental and nutritional provisions and the performance of natural behavior with birds scoring the lowest for all these categories. Results conclude a widespread lack of appropriate animal care provision across all facilities, resulting in poor welfare for a range of species. This study, the first comprehensive assessment of welfare standards in Japanese exotic animal cafes, concludes an urgent need for effectively enforced facility and national animal protection standards for captive exotic species in Japan.

In recent years, an emerging infectious disease characterized by urate deposition in viscera and joints has outbreak in the goose farms of China, causing substantial economic losses. Although goose astrovirus (GoAstV) was believed to be the main causative pathogen, several studies have shown that co-infection with other viruses, such as goose parvovirus, alongside astrovirus, may exacerbate the disease condition. In our previous research, we isolated a goose astrovirus with a novel type of recombination that causes fatal gout in geese in Shanghai, China. By analyzing the viral community using viral metagenomics data of fecal, kidney and liver samples of geese with gout, we found that parvoviruses and picornaviruses occupied a substantial proportion, suggesting their potential involvement in the etiology of goose gout. To determine if there were other causative viruses present in these geese, fecal, kidney, and liver samples were deeply sequenced using viral metagenomics. The results indicated that goose parvovirus and picornavirus constituted the predominant part of all or partial viral communities. Subsequently, the genomes and genomic structures of two picornaviruses, as well as a parvovirus, were determined. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this parvovirus, named dependoparvovirus_CH_SH01, belongs to the Parvovirinae subfamily within the family Parvoviridae, while the two picornaviruses were classified within the Megrivirus (megrivirus_CH_SH01) or Ludopivirus (ludopivirus_CH_SH01) genus within the Kodimesavirinae subfamily, respectively. Recombination analysis suggested that megrivirus_CH_SH01 was a potential recombinant virus between two megriviruses. Our study suggested that infections with viruses other than astrovirus may be associated with the occurrence of goose gout. Additionally, this work has enriched the virus sequence information for Megrivirus and picornaviruses.

Human and other mammals harbor diverse commensal bacteria that may protect their hosts from invading pathogens. Here, we demonstrated that Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease significantly suppressed bovine herpesvirus‑1 (BHV‑1) infectivity in vitro. V8 protease exhibited concentration‑dependent antiviral activity by degrading BHV‑1 glycoprotein D (gD), essential for viral entry. Treatment with V8 protease inhibited both viral attachment and the infectivity of released virions, suppressing incoming viruses and limiting spread during established infections. These findings reveal that proteases from commensal bacteria can directly target major viral proteins. However, to deepen our understanding of the antiviral activity of commensal bacterial enzymes on the body surface, establishing methods to measure the quantity of specific enzymes is urgently needed.