Loading ...I knew this with wild rabbits but not sure with prairie dogs so asked the computer. It’s the same though in case you catch anymore. Careful handling especially if they have fleas and check the liver.
Yes, the liver of a prairie dog with the plague (Yersinia pestis) would look different upon necropsy. The infection can lead to significant and visible pathological changes in the liver, as part of a systemic illness.
Expected liver changes in plague-infected prairie dogs include:
- Enlargement: The liver, along with the spleen and lymph nodes, is often enlarged due to bacterial proliferation.
- Widespread necrosis: The plague bacterium can cause extensive death of tissue (necrosis) in the liver. This can appear as multifocal, scattered areas of dead tissue.
- Hemorrhage: Widespread, disseminated hemorrhaging can occur in the liver and other organs in more severe, septicemic cases of plague. These lesions can appear as ecchymotic or map-like patches of bleeding.
- Bacterial foci: The liver may contain small, fibrinosuppurative foci (spots of pus and fibrin) that indicate the spread of the infection.
- Vascular thrombi: Microscopic examination of tissue may reveal thrombi (blood clots) containing bacteria in numerous blood vessels throughout organs, including the liver.