Harcourt-Brown F M, Holloway H K R
IDEXX Laboratories, Grange House, Sandbeck Way, Wetherly, West Yorkshire LS22 4DN.
Vet Rec. 2003 Apr 5;152(14):427-31. doi: 10.1136/vr.152.14.427.
The results of a serological test for Encephalitozoon cuniculi in 125 pet rabbits are reviewed, together with follow-up studies of clinical cases. Blood samples were taken from 38 asymptomatic rabbits and 87 rabbits showing neurological, renal or ocular signs suggestive of encephalitozoonosis. In the asymptomatic group, six of 26 (23 per cent) apparently healthy rabbits, sampled as part of a health screen, were seropositive; of the remaining 12 asymptomatic rabbits, sampled because they lived with seropositive companions, eight (66 per cent) were seropositive. Fifty-eight of the rabbits with clinical disease showed neurological signs, including head tilt, seizures, ataxia and swaying; three of them also showed renal signs and two showed ocular signs, and these five rabbits were all seropositive. Head tilt was the most common neurological sign in 21 of 23 (91 per cent) of the seropositive cases. All nine rabbits with ocular lesions were seropositive. In follow-up studies of clinical cases, the rabbits showed variable responses to treatment with albendazole, fenbendazole, antibiotics or corticosteroids, and some cases recovered without treatment.
回顾了125只宠物兔的兔脑炎微孢子虫血清学检测结果，并对临床病例进行了随访研究。从38只无症状兔和87只出现提示脑孢子虫病的神经、肾脏或眼部症状的兔采集血样。在无症状组中，作为健康筛查一部分采样的26只明显健康的兔中有6只（23%）血清呈阳性；其余12只无症状兔因与血清阳性同伴生活在一起而采样，其中8只（66%）血清呈阳性。58只有临床疾病的兔出现神经症状，包括头部倾斜、癫痫发作、共济失调和摇摆；其中3只还出现肾脏症状，2只出现眼部症状，这5只兔均血清呈阳性。头部倾斜是23例血清阳性病例中21例（91%）最常见的神经症状。所有9只有眼部病变的兔血清均呈阳性。在临床病例的随访研究中，兔对阿苯达唑、芬苯达唑、抗生素或皮质类固醇治疗的反应各不相同，一些病例未经治疗即康复。
