Histopathological description of ocular and nervous lesions in domestic rabbits infected with Encephalitozoon cuniculi: an overview
Keywords:
<i>Encephalitozoon cuniculi</i>, central nervous system, granulomatous encephalitis, phacoclastic uveitisAbstract
This paper describes ocular and central nervous system lesions of rabbits infected with Encephalitozoon cuniculi. The histopathological analysis, together with the use of special Ziehl-Neelsen and Gomori methenamine silver stains, is the most sensitive post-mortem diagnostic test. The neurologic lesion affects most of these patients and is related to severe multifocal granulomatous encephalitis. In many cases, microsporidial spores can be observed with the help of special stains. Ocular lesions are less frequent than nervous ones; they are characterized by a bilateral or unilateral phacoclastic uveitis.
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