Abstract
Between June and November 2011, four young Saanen goats in the same farm presented with ataxia. A necropsy revealed that all the goats showed muscle atrophy in both hind limbs, and one of the animals had severe cerebellar atrophy. A histopathological examination revealed central chromatolysis in the red vestibular nuclei and ventral horn neurons of the affected animals. In the cerebellum, atrophy of the granular cell layer and molecular layer was evident, and a loss of Purkinje cells was also observed. The proliferation of gemistocytic astroglia was observed in the thalamus. Intense axonal degeneration was obvious in the nerve fibers of the spinal ventral root and sciatic nerve, and was accompanied with the infiltration of foamy macrophages. Group atrophy of the muscle fibers was seen in the skeletal muscles of the femoral regions of both hind limbs. Immunohistochemical analysis on the cerebral white matter, thalamus, and cerebellar white matter demonstrated chronic proliferation of vimentin- and GFAP-positive astroglia. Significantly decreased serum copper levels were demonstrated in three of the four affected animals. On the basis of these findings, the four young goats were diagnosed as delayed enzootic ataxia caused by copper deficiency.
