The Veterinary Record, November 14, 1998 Papers and Articles Paralysis in hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) associated with demyelination A. C. Palmer, W. F. Blakemore, R. J. M. Franklin, L. M. Frost, R. E. Gough, J. C. M. Lewis, D. F. Macdougall, M. T. O'Leary, L. R. Stocker Veterinary Record (1998) 143, 550-552 Paraplegia affected 14 hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in a wildlife rescue hospital over a period of six months. Post- mortem examination revealed demyelination in the brain and spinal cord and an inflammatory response in the meninges, choroid plexus and CNS. The peripheral nervous system was not affected. In the spleen, lungs and liver there was an accu- mulation of megakaryocytes and other evidence of extra- medullary haemopoiesis, but there was no haematological evidence of anaemia. The pattern of disease incidence and the nature of the changes in the CNS suggest they were of viral ori- gin, but no causal agent was isolated and the possibility of a neurotoxin cause cannot be ruled out. DISEASE affecting hedgehogs has been the subject of a number of reviews (Smith 1968, Saupe and Poduschka 1984, Keymer and others 1991) but there have been few accounts of disorders affect- ing the nervous systems. This paper describes a form of paralysis in hedgehogs which occurred in 1996 over a period of six months while the animals were hospitalised for the treatment of a variety of conditions. The current public interest in wild animals and the treatment of their injuries has led to the establishment of institutes devoted to the rescue of injured wildlife. One such is the Wildlife Hospital Trust ('St Tiggywinkles'), Haddenham, Aylesbury, from which these hedgehogs were derived. No recurrence of the disorder has been reported since the original outbreak. Materials and methods Clinical features Fourteen young and adult hedgehogs were affected between October 1996 and February 1997; they had been hand-reared at A. C. Palmer, MA, ScD, FRCVS, DipACVIM, W. F. Blakemore, BVSc, MA, ScD, FRCPath, MRCVS, R. J. M. Franklin, BSc, BVetMed, PhD, MRCVS, M. T. O'Leary, BVMS, BSc, PhD, MRCVS, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OES L. M. Frost, L. R. Stocker MBE, Wildlife Hospital Trust, Haddenham, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire R. E. Gough, CBiol, MIBiol, FIMLS, Virology Department, Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB J. C. M. Lewis, MA, VetMB, PhD, MRCVS, Intemational Zoo Veterinary Group, Keighley Business Centre, South Street, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 lAG D. F. Macdougall, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, Idexx Laboratories Ltd, Grange House, Sandbeck Way, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS22 4DN the hospital or treated for various traumatic injuries. During this period there were approximately 500 hedgehogs in the hospital at any one time, with a constant throughput. They were kept in pens on a concrete floor with hay bedding, and fed proprietary brands of tinned dog food and given free access to water. Twelve of the affected animals were housed outside and two indoors. They were not all from one area of the hospi- tal. The floors were cleaned and disinfected regularly with Trigene (MediChem Intemational) at various strengths. Injectable ivermectin (Ivomec; Merial) was used as a drop-on solution to control ectoparasites. All the affected animals developed ataxia and paresis slow- ly, and eventually they became paraplegic, with retention of urine. No other neurological deficit was recognised. The clini- cal course lasted from two to three weeks. Laboratory methods Sera from six animals were submitted to the University of Glasgow Veterinary School for assessment of antibodies to canine distemper virus. Haematological and biochemical investigations were per- formed on two animals. As the animals showed no signs of spontaneous recovery they were killed by intracardiac pentobarbitone during halothane/oxygen gaseous anaesthesia or by an intraperitoneal injection of pentothal sodium. Two attempts at virus culture were made with material from two animals. Samples from the brain, lung, spleen and bronchial lymph nodes were inoculated on to Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK), mink lung (NBL-7), rat astrocyte (A7 - obtained from Dr J. Fok-Seang, Cambridge) cell lines and on primary avian cells. Serum was taken and tested by the haemagglutination test for antibodies to paramyxovirus and avian influenza virus. Immediately after it had been killed one animal was per- fused (intracardiac) with 4 per cent buffered glutaraldehyde as a fixative for ultrastructural studies. Postmortem examinations were carried out immediately after death on eight animals and tissues were fixed in 10 per cent formol saline. Tissues taken for pathological examination included variously: brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, mus- cle, lung, spleen, liver, kidney and lymph node. Histological sections were prepared from paraffin-embedded material and stained with haematoxylin and eosin by standard methods. Other sections were tested for canine distemper virus mRNA or protein by in situ hybridisation and immunocytochemistry by Dr Marc Vandevelde, University of Bem. Glutaraldehyde- fixed CNS material was embedded in resin, and semi-thin sec- tions were stained with toluidine blue for light microscopy. 550 group.bmj.com on January 3, 2012 - Published by veterinaryrecord.bmj.com Downloaded from