Hepatitis in a European brown bear with canine infectious hepatitis-like lesions.

摘要

One of three 10-year-old brown bears (Ursus arctos) in a wildlife park in Greece died 2 days after the onset of an acute illness characterized by anorexia, lethargy and posterior ataxia. The bears had been vaccinated against canine infectious hepatitis and leptospirosis 10 months earlier. PM examination showed generalized icterus, a small, hard, yellow liver, blood in the stomach and small intestine, petechial haemorrhages in the epicardium and a thickened gall bladder due to haemorrhagic oedema. No bacterial pathogens were isolated and none of the specific toxins investigated were detected. No virus isolations were attempted. Histological examination confirmed the widespread liver damage with periacinar (centrilobular) hepatocellular degenerationand necrosis. Intranuclear inclusions characteristic of adenovirus infection were seen in hepatocytes adjacent to necrotic areas. A presumptive diagnosis of adenovirus infection was based on the intranuclear inclusions and other findings. The source ofthe infection was not known.