Walsh & Hoyt: Encephalomyelitis

An encephalomyelitis produces signs of an encephalitis combined with a myelitisan inflammation of the spinal cord. Indeed, the main pathologic process is an infection of neurons in the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord, in the motor nuclei of the brainstem, and, to a lesser degree, in motor cortex of the cerebellum. The rest of the cerebrum and cerebellum usually is spared. Symptoms are those of a lower motor neuron paralysis that ranges from mild weakness of a single limb to complete respiratory or bulbar paralysis. The organisms that produce encephalomyelitis are the same ones that produce encephalitis. These include viruses, a few species of bacteria, and spirochetes.