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Robert, N.; Lefaux, B.; Botteron, C.
Neurodegenerative disorder in a litter of snow leopards _(Panthera uncia)_
2003 Conference Proceeding
Acute onset and progressive ataxia / hind limb paralysis in juvenile and adult cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) due a degenerative myelopathy of unknown aetiology is an emerging disease which severely affects the European captive cheetah population. A similar syndrome has been described in six young snow leopards (Panthera uncia) born from the same mother at the Helsinki Zoo in 1984. The pathological lesions are characterized in both species by loss of myelin and axons, associated with astrocytic proliferation essentially in the thoracic and lumbar segments of the spinal cord. Further cases have been observed recently in one Swiss and two French institutions, affecting at least seven snow leopard litters from three different mothers.
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