The diagnostic activity on wild animals through the description of a model case report (caseous lymphadenitis by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis associated with Pasteurella spp and parasites infection in an alpine ibex – Capra ibex)

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 analytical approach adopted for an alpine ibex (Capra ibex) found dead in a mountain area of North Western Italy was described. The animal showed sub-costal and lymph nodes collections of green-yellow pus, fibrinous pleuropneumonia and catarrhal-hemorrhagic enteritis. Purulent process was ascribed to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the causative agent of caseous lymphadenitis or pseudotuberculosis, pleuropneumonia to Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica and enteritis to Mannheimia haemolytica. Parasitic bronchopneumonia in the caudal lobes of the lung, a severe enteric infestation by gastro-intestinal and pulmonary strongyles and coccidia were found. The cause of death in the studied ibex appeared to be a consequence of an association between various pathological processes, with bacteriological and parasitic etiology.