West Nile virus in farmed alligators.

Seven alligators were submitted to the Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory for necropsy during two epizootics in the fall of 2001 and 2002. The alligators were raised in temperature-controlled buildings and fed a diet of horsemeat supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Histologic findings in the juvenile alligators were multiorgan necrosis, heterophilic granulomas, and heterophilic perivasculitis and were most indicative of septicemia or bacteremia.