Coenurosis in cattle in Uruguay

Abstract

Coenurosis is a disease caused by Coenurus cerebralis, the larval stage of Taenia multiceps. Ruminants, equids, swine and even humans can be affected developing neurological symptoms. This work reports C. cerebralis infection diagnosed by macroscopic and histologic lesions and molecular tools (PCR/ sequencing) in two heifers in Uruguay. Two 2-3 years old Hereford heifers were necropsied (case A and B). Both animals presented progressive deterioration, ataxia, circling and head deviation. Grossly, in case A, a cystic vesicle protruding from the left hemisphere was observed. The vesicle was broken spontaneously while the encephalon was retrieved from the cranial cavity. On case B, the whole cystic vesicle was retrieved from the right hemisphere. Through the translucent wall´s vesicle was possible to visualize whitish scolices attached to the inner layer. Histopathology of the central nervous system revealed an inflammatory reaction on the cyst adjacent tissue, characterized by the presence of macrophages, eosinophils, lymphocytes and giant cells. The vesicle of case B was dissected and a small piece was used for DNA extraction. By PCR, a fragment of nad1 gene was amplified and sent for direct sequencing. The obtained sequence was compared with the available sequences registered on GenBank using the BLAST tool. The result revealed a 99% homology with sequences registered as T. multiceps. Therefore, this work confirmed that bovine coenurosis is present in Uruguay.