Clinicopathological study on Coenurus cerebralis in small ruminants of Kashmir-A case series study

Coenurus cerebralis is the larval stage of Taenia multiceps which affects the central nervous system giving rise to the neurological signs in sheep and goats. This study was envisaged to investigate the clinical aspects of the disease and also pathomorphological changes in the brain in naturally infected sheep and goat reared at Mountain Research Center for Sheep and Goat, SKUAST of Kashmir. A total of six (6) weaner sheep and goats, about 6-9 months of age, which died of this disease were taken into the study. The clinical examination of the affected animals revealed nervous symptoms as incoordination, disorientation, head pressing, seizures, staggering gait and circling motion, while the post mortem examination of the animals revealed presence of coenurosis cyst in the brain most commonly in the cerebral hemispheres. The gross examination of the cyst revealed multiple scolices attached to the wall, inside which hook like structures were seen. Morphometric analysis of the hooks confirmed them to be that of Coenurus cyst. On histologic examination, all the cysts were lined by stratified squamous epithelium with intraluminal keratinaceous debris. The microscopic examination of the affected brain tissue revealed demyelination, degeneration, mononuclear cellular infiltration, neuronal necrosis and cuffing. The study provides an insight about the common clinical features and the gross and microscopic pathological lesions of the disease which are important for early identification of the causative agent and confirmatory diagnosis of this disease.