Pathology of neurologic disorders of raccoons (Procyon lotor)

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is almost ubiquitous in North America. In recent times, it was introduced in many parts of the world where it has now become largely feral. Since the outbreak of raccoon rabies epizootic in eastern United States and Canada, most diagnostic laboratories have had increased numbers of raccoon carcasses or raccoon brain submissions for diagnosis of rabies. However, since a number of other diseases that affect the central nervous system and have similar clinical signs as rabies have been documented in this species, the current review attempts to bring together the published information on neurologic disorders of raccoons.