What is the name of the fatal hepatoenteric disease in rodents?

• A. Tyzzer's disease
• B. Wet Tail
• C. Ascariasis
• D. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis

Answer: (A)

Tyzzer's disease is the fatal hepatoenteric illness seen in rodents, caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Clostridium piliforme. It typically causes sudden, severe liver necrosis and can be accompanied by enteric involvement, especially in stressed or young animals. Because the organism is difficult to culture, diagnosis relies on characteristic liver lesions with intracellular bacteria seen in hepatocytes, often highlighted with special stains. Outbreaks are common in colonies with sanitation problems or high stress, and the disease can be rapidly fatal.

Wet Tail is a neonatal hamster diarrhea condition, not a liver-centered disease. Ascariasis refers to intestinal worm infections that affect the gut more than the liver. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis is a viral infection that can affect the nervous system and is not defined by fatal hepatic disease.