TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigations into shaking mink syndrome
T2 - An encephalomyelitis of unknown cause in farmed mink (Mustela vison) kits in Scandinavia
AU - Gavier-Widén, Dolores
AU - Bröjer, Caroline
AU - Dietz, Hans Henrik
AU - Englund, Lena
AU - Hammer, Anne Sofie
AU - Hedlund, Kjell Olof
AU - Hård Af Segerstad, Carl
AU - Nilsson, Kristina
AU - Nowotny, Norbert
AU - Puurula, Vuokko
AU - Thorén, Peter
AU - Uhlhorn, Henrik
AU - Weissenböck, Herbert
AU - Ågren, Erik
AU - Klingeborn, Berndt
PY - 2004/7
Y1 - 2004/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1177/104063870401600408
DO - 10.1177/104063870401600408
M3 - Article
C2 - 15305741
AN - SCOPUS:4143103708
SN - 1040-6387
VL - 16
SP - 305
EP - 312
JO - Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
JF - Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
IS - 4
ER -