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miss doolittle Super Glider     USA
283 Posts
Finally got results back on my gliders, an let me tell you it's a bit puzzling. The disease that they got, is common in mainly the rodent species. (Rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils) Vet made several calls to other vets & even vets in Australia, no one has ever heard of a case were gliders contracted the disease. SO my gliders are the first case ever know so far! My vet is doing a write up, to publish this case in the medical vet journal.
The disease is called: TYZZER'S
TYZZER'S disease is Clostridium Piliforme- causes infection/inflammation in cecum, liver, large intestine. Ihis disease is a spore that comes mainly from mice poop. The spores which remain in the environment for at least a year. Steam and autoclaving are that will kill these spores. Treatment may suppress the clinical illness, but may not clear the Clostridium piliforme. Treatment with Doxycycline may further alter gut bacteria, but will never cure the disease. Once this spore gets in the gliders system is decomposes the cecum sack imediately!!!
Now the way it can be contracted is by touching, walking on mice poop that has these spores & touching water. Then touching anything that your gliders can come in contact with. SO now I have to steam clean everything that belongs to this colony every other day, an can not use anything bedding wise on any other gliders.
miss doolittle Super Glider USA 283 Posts Here is a little more on the disease, I tryed to get the pics of what the spores look like in side an animal. But for some reason I could not get that posted. So for those who don't have the time right this minute to look up the disease, just a quick crash course into this disease. Transmission and Development The actual means of transmission has not been determined, but organisms or spores are probably shed in the feces of infected animals. Natural transmission likely occurs through the ingestion of these spores by susceptible individuals from contaminated housing, bedding or feed. The gregarious behavior of muskrats and rabbits increases the likelihood of infection by exposing these species to infected areas. An area which has infected animals present remains contaminated for a considerable length of time. In muskrats it is believed that the intestinal lesions and death seen with this hemorrhagic disease can occur in 5-10 days following ingestion of contaminated material. Transmission by cannibalism and transplacental infection have been documented in experimental animals. Tyzzer's Disease usually affects young and weanling animals but all ages can be involved. Any stressful factor may predispose the animals to the disease. Clinical Signs and Pathology Clinical signs of Tyzzer's Disease are usually few in number because of the acute characteristics of the disease. Signs that may be seen are a profuse diarrhea, melena (the passage of dark-colored, tarry stools due to the presence of blood altered by intestinal secretions), anal bleeding, depression, anorexia and a rough hair coat. Gross pathological changes include an ulcerative necrotizing colitis and cecitis with extensive hemorrhage and edema, discrete white or yellowish 1-3mm diameter necrotic foci on and in the liver, white streaks within the myocardium, lung congestion, pneumonia and edematous, enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. The cecum and colon may contain brown fluid fecal material and the cecum may appear dark red-black in color. Histologically there is epithelial cell necrosis and ulceration in the intestinal tract with necrosis, hemorrhage and edema in the underlying tissues. Liver lesions consist of areas of coagulative necrosis with no inflammatory response. Organisms may be seen in viable hepatocytes along the margin of acute lesions in the liver but these are usually few in number in the muskrat. Pathology Gross lesions may vary from none to severe and are characteristically found in the liver, lower intestine (ileum, cecum and proximal colon) and less frequently the heart. The most consistent finding is an enlarged liver with multiple gray to white foci scattered throughout the liver. Foci may coalesce in severe cases. While hepatic lesions are a hallmark of Tyzzer's disease, the liver is not always affected. Intestinal lesions are usually evident in acutely infected animals and consist of varying degrees of serosal edema with or without obvious hemorrhage. The small intestine usually contains scant ingesta, whereas the cecum is often filled with abundant watery material. Cardiac lesions consisting of white streaks within the myocardium have been reported in gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, rats and mice. Histopathologically, lesions of Tyzzer's disease are characterized by necrosis with varying degrees of inflammation in response to the necrosis. Acute hepatic lesions consist of necrotic foci surrounded by minimal, primarily neutrophilic, inflammation. As the disease progresses, the inflammatory response may in crease but rarely becomes a predominant feature. Chronic foci may become mineralized or fibrotic. Acute lesions of the intestine consist of single cell necrosis of primarily the luminal enterocytes. The lamina propria and submucosa may be edematous and contain a mild neutrophilic infiltrate. As the lesion progresses, necrosis becomes more extensive and the inflammatory response shifts to lymphocytic. At this stage, necrotic foci may be evident in the intestinal muscular layers especially in the ileum. Healing and repair are evidenced by hyperplasia of the crypt epithelium. Myocardial lesions consist of mild inflammation as sociated with small necrotic foci. Histopathologic evidence of encephalitis involving the cerebral cortex and thalamus has been reported in naturally-infected gerbils. Because C. piliforme organisms stain faintly with hematoxylin and eosin, silver stains, such as Warthin-Starry, Steiner or Dieterle's, are used to enhance detection of these bacteria. In acute to subacute lesions, intracellular bacteria are found in viable cells adjacent to necrotic foci. Bacteria are more difficult to find in chronic repairing lesions. Within the cell, C. piliforme are found lying next to each other in a unique, almost pathognomonic, ar rangement which has been described as a "bundle of sticks" or "pick up sticks" furrymurray Starting Member USA 2 Posts I am so sorry for your loss. I do have a question. (just want to make sure I am reading this correctly) It says it may be passed threw "feed". Would that include fresh fruits and veggies that may have come into contact with the feces? And if it does include that, how can you prevent infecting suggies without steaming the food? reeny Starting Member 1 Posts Msdoolittle You live in the state of Florida. Where did you get your gliders. The reason I ask is that there was a member on all the boards by the name of Imyosuggie that had a glider that came down with Tyzzers. The glider died. The necropsy showed hemorragic liver intestines etc. I happened to sell my joey to her. She was involved in rescuing, and rehoming gliders. That is why I am asking where you got your gliders from. I got my joey back from her after buying him back. His cultures were negative and we treated him prophylactically for several weeks. I also kept him isolated for 6wks incase he came down with any symptoms. He was fine. He is doing well, and I paired him with a Mona and their are expecting their first joey. Hope your gliders are ok. Let your vet know it is not the first case of Tyzzers in gliders. miss doolittle Super Glider USA 283 Posts Reeny, I do not live in the state of Florida, I live in the state of Washington. You know that great North West of liquid sunshine about 24 hours aday. An I got my first 2 gliders from a friend that was givin them as a rescue. My 2 gliders quickly grew to 4 joeys in a 9 month period. Momma & Yahtzee (was 2nd joey & had a twin brother) were the gliders that had passed, there is Poppa & 1st-4th-other twin joeys are left in the Family Colony. Ko, An just how long have these other cases of Tyzzer's break out? It sounds like its been sometime, thats likely the case as to why my case is fairly new so far. Yes there is offence, I did read your post. An if I was taking this lightly, I would have not posted as much information as I have so far. An just incase you don't know the time line of the deaths of my gliders, its been a good 3-4 weeks from the first death. An I've been told by the vet & also read about the long time affect of these spores. There is also different types/stages of Tyzzer's disease, which carrys different stages of the life expected within the enviroment. Everyone else, At first the thought was it was brought in the the colony via Euc. branches. This was the only thing that was different in their living habits recently. At first, that was the source we thought caused the on set. But I hate to say it, I'm the person at fault for this deadly disease. My brother's place has mice everywhere from within the walls to running up over the beds. This is were I'm sure I got the disease on my shoes, clothing, ect ect. An some how the spores transferred to my Colony when I touched my gliders, about an hour or so after leaving the brother's place. Now this is the way I transferred the spores. An as the vet said, I or ANYONE can brush up against an object that recently had mice poop on it. I have no clue with the food transfer information bit. An again, I think that is just another type/stage of the disease that is out there. An I have only myself to blame for the tragic occurance. An it is the most painful thing I have to deal with, everytime I look in the cage. Cause like everyone/everything states, its to late when you notice a poissible problem. I dreed every time I do a cage check, cause if there is another death. I know its my fault, an pay for my failure of knowledge, with heartack & sorrow. So I thank the people that are grateful for my post, cause if I was that ignorante to something so small as a mouse poop. I feel it is my responsiblilty to educate others in this disease, so ignorance does not claim more helpless gliders. Bo and Lukes mom Joey 49 Posts I'm really sorry for your loss. Thank you for taking time to inform us about what happened to your gliders
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I don't think Ko meant any harm-she just wants others to know how serious it can be as well. This isn't your fault this happened. I am grateful to know it even exists and appreciate all the info. You have a HUGE heart for even taking these little ones in...