Non-Invasive Diagnosis and Management of Pancreatic Tetragomphius sp. Infection in Asian Badgers (Meles leucurus) Using Computed Tomography

초록

Pancreatic lesions in wildlife are rarely diagnosed antemortem and are often misinterpreted as neoplastic due to limited diagnostic information. This report describes two clinically linked cases of pancreatic infection caused by Tetragomphius spp. in rescued Asian badgers (Meles leucurus) from Gangwon State, Republic of Korea, between 2020 and 2025, and the diagnostic advantages of advanced imaging techniques. The first case involved a badger rescued from a trap with severe traumatic injuries that was subsequently euthanized. Postmortem examination revealed nematodes identified as Tetragomphius sp. within the pancreatic duct, alongside tumor-like nodular lesions in the pancreatic tail. These findings were critical for the second case, where a rescued badger with no overt clinical signs underwent computed tomography (CT) that revealed a pancreatic tail nodule and splenomegaly. Drawing on findings from the initial necropsy case, a parasitic etiology was tentatively diagnosed in a second live badger presenting with a similar pancreatic nodule. Follow-up CT indicated a significant reduction (approximately 75%) in lesion size, supporting a diagnosis of parasitic infection. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of a CT-based therapeutic diagnosis of pancreatic Tetragomphius infection in a live Asian badger. These cases demonstrate that pancreatic nodules in Asian badgers may result from parasitic infection rather than neoplasia and emphasize the integration of pathological precedent, advanced imaging, and therapeutic response in wildlife medicine.

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