Chlamydial infections in free-ranging raptors presenting to a university veterinary medical teaching hospital (1993-2022).

Objective: To describe the prevalence, clinical findings, lesions, and risk factors associated with chlamydial infections in free-ranging raptors presented to a university veterinary medical teaching hospital.

Methods: Medical records retrospectively searched for raptors admitted from January 1993 through April 2022 were tested for Chlamydia spp infections using quantitative PCR (qPCR), immunohistochemistry, culture, and sequencing. Findings were collected and analyzed.

Simian homologues of human herpesviruses and implications for novel viral introduction to free-living mountain gorillas.

The endangered mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is frequently in contact with humans through tourism, research activities, and illegal entry of people into protected gorilla habitat. Herpesviruses, which are ubiquitous in primates, have the potential to be shared in any setting where humans and gorillas share habitat. Based on serological findings and clinical observations of orofacial ulcerated lesions resembling herpetic lesions, an alpha-herpesvirus resembling human herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has long been suspected to be present in human-habituated mountain gorillas in the wild.

Reproductive tract neoplasia in adult female Asian elephants ().

Recent reports have highlighted a lower-than-expected prevalence of neoplasia in elephants and suggested mechanisms for cancer resistance. But despite infrequent reports in the literature, uterine neoplasia is common in managed Asian elephants (). This study is an archival review of reproductive tract neoplasia in 80 adult female Asian elephant mortalities in managed care facilities in the United States from 1988 to 2019.

Pathological lesions of the digestive tract in free-ranging mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei).

The finding of parasites and bacterial pathogens in mountain gorilla feces and oral lesions in gorilla skeletal remains has not been linked to pathological evidence of morbidity or mortality. In the current study, we conducted a retrospective study of digestive tracts including oral cavity, salivary glands, esophagus, stomach, intestines (gastrointestinal tract [GI]), liver, and pancreas of 60 free-ranging mountain gorillas from Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo that died between 1985 and 2007. We reviewed clinical histories and gross pathology reports and examined histological sections.

Heterogeneity in patterns of helminth infections across populations of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei).

Conservation efforts have led to the recovery of the endangered mountain gorilla populations. Due to their limited potential for spatial expansion, population densities increased, which may alter the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Recently, clinical gastrointestinal illnesses linked to helminth infections have been recorded in both gorilla populations.