title: Progressive ataxia in a captive North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) associated with brain stem spheroid formation.
abstract: Progressive ataxia, particularly of the hind limbs, developed in a paretic female juvenile captive North American river otter (Lontra canadensis). Severe bilaterally symmetrical axonal degeneration in the medulla oblongata (nucleus gracilis and nucleus cuneatus) and multiple scattered spheroids in the region of the pons were detected microscopically. This is the first description of ataxia associated with axonal degeneration in otters.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke Strasse 17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schettler
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fritsch
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brunnberg
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frölich
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wibbelt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D001259:Ataxia / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D010041:Otters; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular