O/T: Investigations into shaking mink syndrome: an encephalomyelitis of unknown cause

1: J Vet Diagn Invest. 2004 Jul;16(4):305-12. Related Articles, Links


Investigations into shaking mink syndrome: an encephalomyelitis of
unknown cause in farmed mink (Mustela vison) kits in Scandinavia.

Gavier-Widen D, Brojer C, Dietz HH, Englund L, Hammer AS, Hedlund KO,
Hard af Segerstad C, Nilsson K, Nowotny N, Puurula V, Thoren P, Uhlhorn
H, Weissenbock H, Agren E, Klingeborn B.

National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.

An apparently novel neurological disease clinically characterized by
shaking, tremors, seizures, staggering gait, and ataxia was first
observed in farmed mink kits in Denmark in 2000 and subsequently in
Sweden, Denmark, and Finland in 2001, and again in Denmark in 2002.
Lymphoplasmacytic encephalomyelitis was found in the affected kits. The
lesions were most severe in the brainstem and cerebellum and consisted
of neuronal degeneration and necrosis, neuronophagia, focal and diffuse
gliosis, perivascular cuffs formed by lymphocytes, plasma cells and
macrophages, and segmental loss of Purkinje cells. Testing was
conducted to determine the cause of the disease, including general
virological investigations (virus culture, negative-staining electron
microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction for
herpesviruses, adenoviruses, pestiviruses, and coronaviruses), tests
for specific viral diseases (canine distemper, Borna disease, Louping
ill, West Nile virus infection, tick-borne encephalitis, Aleutian
disease), tests for protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum,
Encephalitozoon cuniculi), bacteria (general culture, listeria,
Clamydophila psittaci), and intracerebral inoculation of neonatal mice.
The results of all these investigations were negative. One group of 3
mink kits inoculated intracerebrally with brain homogenate of affected
mink developed clinical signs and histological lesions similar to those
observed in naturally infected mink. Based on the histopathological
features, it is postulated that the disease is caused by a yet
unidentified virus.

PMID: 15305741 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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