The diagnostic activity on wild animals implies a hard laboratory protocol where multiple disciplines, from biology to pathological anatomy until the biotechnological techniques, must be integrated to establish the causes of death. To demonstrate these concepts, the authors describe the analytical approach adopted for an alpine ibex (Capra ibex) found dead in a mountain area of North Western Italy. The animal showed sub-costal and lymph-nodes collections of green-yellow pus, fibrinous pleuropneumonia and catharral-hemorrhagic enteritis. Purulent process was ascribed to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the causative agent of caseous lymphadenitis or pseudotuberculosis, pleuropneumonia to Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica, enteritis to Mannheimia haemolytica. It was still found parasitic bronchopneumonia in the lung caudal lobes and a severe enteric infestation by gastro-intestinal and pulmonary strongyles and coccidia. As often happens for wildlife, the cause of death in the ibex studied appears a consequence of an association between various pathological processes, with bacteriological and parasitic etiology.
Key words: Capra ibex, caseous lymphadenitis, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, Pasteurella multocida, Mannheimia haemolytica.
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