Diagnostic Pathology Service
Disease understanding and management begin with the proper diagnosis
Veterinary Pathologists contribute to the early detection, diagnosis and management of animal diseases. Anatomic Veterinary Pathologists specialize in the examination of animal tissues in order to provide an accurate and timely diagnosis on the conditions that affect individual animals and their populations. This type of expertise is also critical in the investigation of disease pathogenesis and to understand the drivers and consequences of animal diseases in natural settings.
Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to contribute to the diagnosis and management of diseases in domestic and wild animal populations in different parts of the world.
Some of the contributions by me and my colleagues are:
Respiratory disease outbreaks in South American fur seals
Gross and histologic pictures of the respiratory mite Orthoalarachne diminuata. This parasites causes bronchitis and predispose to bacterial pneumonia in South American fur seal pups.
Encephalitozoonosis in South American fur seal pups
The microsporidian parasite Encephalitozoon sp. causes encephalitis in fur seal pups. Photomicrograph of an ultrathin (1 um) section of brain showing intrahistiocytic microsporidia
Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in California sea lions
A particularly virulent strain of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae causes severe respiratory disease and septicemia in sea lions. In the pictures a brain from a California sea lion with accumulation of pus in the meninges and a histological panel showing bacteria in several tissues. In the last microphotographs the bacteria are immunolabeled (red) as well as the macrophages (brown) around them.
Disease Investigation in Stranded Georgia Cetaceans
During my training at the University of Georgia I collaborated with the Georgia Department of Natural resources performing diagnostic services for the bottlenose dolphins stranded in the Georgia coast. We identified several metazoan (left picture) and microbial (right picture) pathogens, including some zoonotic microbes such as Histoplasma capsulatum (right photograph) (for the full article describing these findings follow this link www.int-res.com/abstracts/dao/v141/p25-38/ )