Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023380 (lethargy)
 5,697 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An epizootic of encephalomyelitis attributable to western equine encephalitis virus was identified in emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) from several flocks in western Texas in July 1992. Affected emus ranged from 3 months to 3 years old. Morbidity of emus in 8 flocks ranged from 15 to 50%, and 17 of 193 (8.8%) emus died. The diagnosis was confirmed by isolation and characterization of the causative virus and detection of antibody to the virus in emus that were currently ill and emus that had been ill but recovered. Clinical signs varied from mild to severe and included anorexia, lethargy with sternal recumbency, ataxia, muscle tremors, head tilt, unnatural positioning of the head on the back, acute onset of paralysis, and lateral recumbency with paddling. A few emus died without prior evidence of clinical disease. Post-mortem examination revealed 3 to 5 ml of clear pale-yellow pericardial fluid that contained a fibrin clot. Volume of the contents of the proventriculus and ventriculus were less than anticipated. Microscopic examination of numerous tissues revealed multifocal vasculitis with infiltration of plasmacytes, lymphocytes, and a few heterophilic leukocytes. The epizootic developed during a period of unseasonably heavy rainfall that resulted in higher numbers of mosquitoes than was typical for that season of year. A concurrent increase in the number of horses with encephalomyelitis attributable to western equine encephalities virus was not reported.
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PMID:An epizootic attributable to western equine encephalitis virus infection in emus in Texas. 796 Oct 99

Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) infect wild birds, but clinical illness and death attributable to virus in naturally infected birds is rarely reported, particularly for small passerine species or nestlings. Buggy Creek virus is a unique alphavirus in the Western equine encephalomyelitis virus (WEEV) complex that is vectored by the cimicid swallow bug (Oeciacus vicarius), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and the introduced House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). While sampling birds for Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) during the summers of 2007 and 2008, we discovered large numbers of clinically ill or dead House Sparrow nestlings. Ill nestlings exhibited ataxia, torticollis, paresis, and lethargy. Histologic examination revealed that encephalitis was the most common finding, followed by myositis, myocarditis, and hepatic changes, but pathology was highly variable. We isolated BCRV from brain tissue in most of the ill or dead nestlings, and from blood, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, feather pulp, and skin in some birds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of clinical illness, gross pathology, and histopathology for a WEEV-complex alphavirus in a field-collected passerine species.
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PMID:Pathology and virus detection in tissues of nestling house sparrows naturally infected with Buggy Creek virus (Togaviridae). 2009 15

Avian encephalomyelitis (AE) was diagnosed in three flocks of leghorn layer pullets following AE vaccination. Ages of the birds were 11, 12, and 14 wk. The submissions came from three different companies located in two geographic areas of the Central Valley of California. The clinical signs included birds down on their legs, unilateral recumbency or sitting on their hocks, lethargy, reluctance to move, dehydration, unevenness in size, low weight, tremors of the head in a few birds, and mildly to moderately elevated mortality. The flocks had been vaccinated against fowl pox and AE with a combined product in the wing-web 2 wk prior to the onset of AE clinical signs. Histopathologic examination revealed lesions consistent with AE, including lymphocytic perivascular infiltration and neuronal central chromatolysis in the brain and spinal cord, as well as gliosis in the cerebellar molecular layer. The AE virus was detected by reverse-transcriptase PCR in the brain homogenate from three cases and peripheral nerves in one case. Additionally, the AE virus was isolated in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) embryonated eggs from brain tissue pool samples. Other avian viral infections capable of causing encephalitis, including avian paramyxoviruses, avian influenza virus (AIV), West Nile virus (WNV), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), were ruled out by attempting virus isolation and molecular procedures.
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PMID:Avian Encephalomyelitis in Layer Pullets Associated with Vaccination. 2730 97