Cerebrospinal fluid changes in cattle with rabies or with BoHV-5 meningoencephalitis and its correlation with the severity of CNS inflammatory process

The objective of this study was to describe and compare the changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of cattle affected by rabies or BoHV-5 meningoencephalitis and correlating them with the severity of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. Samples of CSF and CNS tissues from cattle naturally infected with rabies virus (n = 17) and BoHV-5 (n = 17) were examined. Histologically, meningitis was classified according to the type and quantity of inflammatory cells. The lesions observed in the brain parenchyma and in the spinal cord that defined the presence of inflammatory process were perivascular cuffs, gliosis and glial nodules. CSF mononuclear pleocytosis and high protein concentration were present in both diseases, but 47% of rabies cattle had no changes, and the median number of leukocytes was 5.4 fold higher (p