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The cestode Hymenolepis nana is a common parasite of humans and mice. Fecal shedding in the absence of clinical disease has previously been reported in ring-tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta). This report describes fatal, disseminated H. nana cestodiasis infection in an aged ring-tailed lemur in a zoological collection. The parasites were associated with severe multifocal to coalescing and regionally extensive pyogranulomatous hepatitis and moderate multifocal pneumonia. The morphology of the parasites was highly unusual. Profiles were variably sized, ellipsoid to irregularly serpiginous, lined by a thin tegument, and filled with lightly eosinophilic fibrillar stroma and numerous, round basophilic cells. Polymerase chain reaction targeting a portion of the 18S rRNA gene and DNA sequencing of the amplicon showed 100% homology with H. nana. Esther E. V. Crouch et al, Fatal Hymenolepis nana cestodiasis in a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), Veterinary Pathology (, ) pp. . Copyright © 2021. DOI: 10.1177/03009858211042580. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission. Deposited by shareyourpaper.org and openaccessbutton.org. We've taken reasonable steps to ensure this content doesn't violate copyright. However, if you think it does you can request a takedown by emailing help@openaccessbutton.org.

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 ( Elephas maximus). 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. Neoplasms occurred in 64/80 (80%) of cases. Most were in the uterus (63/64; 98%) with only a single case of ovarian neoplasia. Myometrial leiomyomas were present in 57/63 (90%) cases with uterine neoplasia. Uterine adenocarcinoma was present in 8/63 (13%) cases. Remaining cases included endometrial adenoma (2), focal carcinoma in situ in endometrial polyps (1), anaplastic carcinoma (1), endometrial hemangioma (1), primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET; 1), and angiosarcoma (1). One case with uterine adenocarcinoma had a separate pelvic mass histologically characterized as an anaplastic sarcoma. Distant metastases were documented in 5/8 (63%) cases of uterine adenocarcinoma, and in the uterine anaplastic carcinoma, PNET, and angiosarcoma. Four uterine adenocarcinomas and one carcinoma in situ were examined immunohistochemically for pan-cytokeratin, vimentin, and estrogen receptor. In all, neoplastic cells were pan-cytokeratin positive and vimentin negative, and in 2 cases were immunoreactive for estrogen receptor. Results show that female reproductive tract neoplasia, particularly of the uterus, is common in Asian elephants and is not limited to leiomyomas. Importantly, uterine neoplasms have the potential to impact fecundity and may represent obstacles to conservation in managed care.

The mountain peacock pheasant ( Polyplectron inopinatum), the Malayan peacock pheasant ( Polyplectron malacense), and the Congo peafowl ( Afropavo congensis) are all listed as vulnerable to extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Here the authors report fatal infection with a novel herpesvirus in all 3 species of birds. DNA was extracted from the livers of birds with hepatocellular necrosis and intranuclear eosinophilic inclusions consistent with herpesvirus infection. Based on degenerate herpesvirus primers and polymerase chain reaction, 220– and 519–base pair products of the herpes DNA polymerase and DNA terminase genes, respectively, were amplified. Sequence analysis revealed that all birds were likely infected with the same virus. At the nucleotide level, the pheasant herpesvirus had 92% identity with gallid herpesvirus 3 and 77.7% identity with gallid herpesvirus 2. At the amino acid level, the herpes virus had 93.8% identity with gallid herpesvirus 3 and 89.4% identity with gallid herpesvirus 2. These findings indicate that the closest relative to this novel herpesvirus is gallid herpesvirus 3, a nonpathogenic virus used widely in a vaccine against Marek's disease. In situ hybridization using probes specific to the peacock pheasant herpesvirus DNA polymerase revealed strong intranuclear staining in the necrotic liver lesions of an infected Malayan peacock pheasant but no staining in normal liver from an uninfected bird. The phasianid herpesvirus reported here is a novel member of the genus Mardivirus of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae and is distinct from other galliform herpesviruses.