Publications by authors named "Maria T Spinato"
Article Synopsis
- A study found neurotropic bovine astrovirus (BoAstV) in 19% of examined cattle with idiopathic lymphocytic encephalitis from 1988 to 2019, highlighting a previously undetected infection in cattle aged 4 months and older.
- The majority of positive cases were in younger cattle (1-2 years old) and displayed acute neurologic symptoms shortly before death or euthanasia, with significant inflammation observed in the brain and spinal cord.
- While other potential infectious causes were identified in some cases, 64% of the lymphocytic encephalitis cases remained without a known cause, indicating that BoAstV infections have been present for years but haven't increased in recent occurrences.
Bovine astrovirus (BoAstV) was identified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on brain tissue of 2 feedlot cattle that died of non-suppurative encephalitis. Sequencing demonstrated a high degree of identity with neurotropic US and Swiss BoAstV strains. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of BoAstV-associated encephalitis in cattle residing in eastern Canada.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgreement among pathologists interpreting histologic specimens is an area of interest within human pathology, but little work in this area has been reported in the veterinary literature. Agreement among pathologists evaluating routine histologic sections of amputated digits from cats and dogs submitted to multiple diagnostic centers was examined. Histologic sections from surgical specimens were reviewed in a blinded fashion by two pathologists, and a comparison to the original diagnosis, as stated in the diagnostic report, was recorded.
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