Harper P A, Duncan D W, Plant J W, Smeal M G
Aust Vet J. 1986 Jan;63(1):18-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1986.tb02865.x.
Findings of a study of 39 sheep with progressive ataxia from 14 farms in the Yass district of New South Wales are described. Microscopic lesions in 25 sheep, 3.5 to 6 years of age, diagnosed as having clinical cerebellar disease, consisted of an apparent primary loss of cerebellar Purkinje neurons, and glial cell accumulation. It is suggested that this previously unreported disorder may be an hereditary cerebellar abiotrophy of Merino sheep. A further 14 sheep, 1 to 4 years of age, had distinguishable clinical signs referable to a spinal cord lesion with widespread segmental axonal ballooning, or "spheroids", in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. It is suggested that these sheep have a unique form of neuroaxonal dystrophy, described here as segmental axonopathy, and that this is likely to be the same condition described previously as Murrurindi disease (Hartley and Loomis 1981).
本文描述了对新南威尔士州亚斯地区14个农场的39只患有进行性共济失调的绵羊的研究结果。对25只年龄在3.5至6岁、被诊断患有临床小脑疾病的绵羊进行显微镜检查，病变包括小脑浦肯野神经元明显原发性缺失和胶质细胞积聚。研究表明，这种此前未报告的疾病可能是美利奴绵羊的一种遗传性小脑性营养障碍。另外14只年龄在1至4岁的绵羊有明显的临床症状，提示存在脊髓病变，大脑和脊髓白质有广泛的节段性轴突肿胀，即“球体”。研究认为，这些绵羊患有一种独特形式的神经轴突营养不良，本文将其描述为节段性轴索病，这可能与之前描述的穆鲁林迪病（哈特利和卢米斯，1981年）为同一病症。
