Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a systemic disease manifestation of feline coronavirus (FCoV) and is the most important cause of infectious disease-related deaths in domestic cats. FIP has a variable clinical manifestation but is most often characterized by widespread vasculitis with visceral involvement and/or neurological disease that is typically fatal in the absence of antiviral therapy. Using an aptamer-based proteomics assay, we analyzed the plasma protein profiles of cats who were naturally infected with FIP (n = 19) in comparison to the plasma protein profiles of cats who were clinically healthy and negative for FCoV (n = 17) and cats who were positive for the enteric form of FCoV (n = 9). We identified 442 proteins that were significantly differentiable; in total, 219 increased and 223 decreased in FIP plasma versus clinically healthy cat plasma. Pathway enrichment and associated analyses showed that differentiable proteins were related to immune system processes, including the innate immune response, cytokine signaling, and antigen presentation, as well as apoptosis and vascular integrity. The relevance of these findings is discussed in the context of previous studies. While these results have the potential to inform diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative investigations, they represent only a first step, and will require further validation.

A 12-y-old spayed female Schipperke dog with a previous diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease was presented with a 2-mo history of severe colitis. The patient's condition progressed to hepatopathy, pneumonia, and dermatitis following management with prednisolone and dexamethasone sodium phosphate. Colonic biopsies identified severe necrosuppurative colitis with free and intracellular parasitic zoites. Postmortem examination confirmed extensive chronic-active ulcerative colitis, severe acute necrotizing hepatitis and splenitis, interstitial pneumonia, ulcerative dermatitis, myelitis (bone marrow), and mild meningoencephalitis with variable numbers of intracellular and extracellular protozoal zoites. PCR on samples of fresh colon was positive for Neospora caninum. Immunohistochemistry identified N. caninum tachyzoites in sections of colon, and a single tissue cyst in sections of brain. Administration of immunosuppressive drugs may have allowed systemic dissemination of Neospora from the intestinal tract.

A 19.5-y-old, male domestic yak (Bos grunniens) with a history of sudden unexpected death was submitted for autopsy. The yak had hemoabdomen, and a large blood clot was attached to the liver and forestomachs. The hepatic artery had a saccular aneurysm with a 1-cm tear. The arterial wall at the site of the rupture was thin, and the luminal surface was roughened with yellow streaks. The arterial wall adjacent to the rupture was thickened, white, firm, and less elastic than normal arterial walls. Cause of death was concluded to be acute exsanguination. Similar cases with sudden death have been reported in domestic cattle and humans. No risk factors, such as nutritional deficiencies, genetic predisposition, or blunt trauma, were identified in this case, and there was no gross or histologic evidence of generalized vascular disease.

A 5-y-old Holstein dairy cow had surgery for a suspected displaced abomasum 10 d postpartum, developed acute neurologic signs at day 19, and was found dead 21 d postpartum. At autopsy, there was a peri-incisional intramuscular abscess that communicated with the peritoneal cavity, as well as hemorrhage and malacia involving the brain, and multiple nodules in the liver, kidneys, and lungs. Fungal hyphae were seen histologically at the surgery site, on the surface of the liver, and in lesions of severe necrotizing vasculitis in the lungs, kidneys, brain, and liver. The uterus was free of fungal organisms. Pan-fungal PCR and DNA sequencing identified the fungus as Mortierella wolfii. Previously reported deaths from M. wolfii have been related to abortion, but in this case, there was no histologic evidence of fungal organisms in the uterus, calving was routine, and there was a several week delay between calving and development of neurologic signs. The findings suggested a unique case of surgical site infection with subsequent embolic mycosis.