2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
An adult female hairy dwarf porcupine (Sphiggurus spinosus , F.
Cuvier, 1823) was admitted to a wildlife rescue center with a history of
trauma. It was found in a periurban area of the metropolitan region of
São Paulo, between the Atlantic rainforest and densely urbanized area
(Figure 1). The animal was kept under medical care for almost five
months, and, during the rehabilitation, the animal presented sporadic
episodes of bilateral hind limb paresis (Supplementary material 1). Days
before death, a purulent discharge in the right nostril was observed.
Necropsy was performed, and tissue fragments (brain, heart, lungs,
liver, spleen, kidney, adrenal glands, small intestine, uterus, and
urinary bladder) were collected and fixed in 10% neutral buffered
formalin, and fresh brain and liver fragments were frozen at −20°C. The
samples were referred to Adolfo Lutz Institute within the framework of
the wildlife epidemiological and laboratorial surveillance project:
potential for the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases
(SES-PRC-2020/32339 - PROC. 28/2020) in order to detect potential
zoonotic diseases in wildlife.
For histopathology, the tissues were processed routinely, embedded in
paraffin-wax, sectioned at 4 μm-thick and stained with hematoxylin and
eosin (H&E) and Periodic Acid of Schiff (PAS), for routine microscopic
analysis. Immunohistochemical and molecular methods are fully described
in the Technical appendix 1.
The address where the porcupine was found was recorded. We geocoded the
address using Geographic Information System ArcGIS 10.2.2. and its
online imagery basemaps only for location purposes.