Twelve of 102 woodchucks submitted for necropsy to the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine had clinical histories of central nervous system disorder. All had multifocal eosinophilic encephalitis with formation of granulomas. Nematode larvae, identified as Baylisascaris sp. were found in six of the 12 and were assumed to be the etiologic agent in all affected woodchucks. Both wild and captive (wild-trapped) woodchucks were affected, and all occurrences were between mid-June and early September.
References
1.
ChitwoodM.LichtenfelsJ.R.:
Identification of parasitic metazoa in tissue sections.
Exp Parasitol32:
407–519,
1972.
2.
ChurchE.M.WyandD.S.LeinD.H.:
Experimentally induced cerebrospinal nematodiasis in rabbits (Oryctolagus coniculus).
Am J Vet Res36:
331–335,
1975.
3.
FlemingW.J.CaslickJ.W.:
Rabies and cerebrospinal nematodiasis in woodchucks (Marmota monax) from New York.
Cornell Vet68:
391–395,
1978.
4.
FritzT.W.SmithD.E.FlynnR.J.:
A central nervous system disorder in ground squirrels (Citellus tridecemlineatus) associated with visceral larval migrans.
J Am Vet Med Assoc153:
841–844,
1968.
5.
HamiltonW.J.:
Life history of the rutescent woodchuck.
Annals of the Carnegie Museum23:
87–178,
1934.
6.
HelferD.H.DickinsonE.O.:
Parasitic encephalitis in pigeons.
Avian Dis20:
209–210,
1976.
7.
JacobsonH.A.ScanlonP.F.NettlesV.F.DavidsonW.R.:
Epizootiology of an outbreak of cerebrospinal nematodiasis in cottontail rabbits and woodchucks.
J Wildl Dis12:
357–360,
1976.
8.
KazacosK.R.AppelG.O.ThackerH.L.:
Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in a woodchuck suspected of having rabies.
J Am Vet Med Assoc179:
1102–1104,
1982.
9.
RichardsonJ.A.KazacosK.R.ThackerH.L.DhillonA.S.WinterfieldR.W.:
Verminous encephalitis in commercial chickens.
Avian Dis24:
498–503,
1980.
10.
RichterC.V.KradelD.C.:
Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in Pennsylvania groundhogs (Marmota monax).
Am J Vet Res25:
1230–1235,
1964.
11.
SprentJ.F.A.:
On the invasion of the central nervous system by nematodes II. Invasion of the central nervous system in ascariasis.
Parasitology45:
41–55,
1955.
12.
SprentJ.F.A.:
Notes on Ascaris and Toxascaris with a definition of Baylisascaris gen. nov.
Parasitology58:
185–198,
1968.
13.
SprentJ.F.A.LaminaJ.McKeownA.:
Observations on migratory behavior and development of Baylisascaris tasmaniensis.
Parasitology67:
67–83,
1973.
14.
SwerczekT.W.HemboltC.F.:
Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in groundhogs (Marmota monax).
J Am Vet Med Assoc157:
671–674,
1970.
15.
TinerJ.D.:
The migration, distribution in the brain, and the growth of ascarid larvae in rodents.
J Infect Dis92:
105–113,
1953.
16.
WinterfieldR.W.ThackerH.L.:
Verminous encephalitis in the emu.
Avian Dis22:
336–339,
1978.
17.
YoungR.A.SimsE.A.H.:
The woodchuck Marmota monax as a laboratory animal.
Lab Anim Sci29:
770–780,
1979.
