What is inflammatory brain disease?
Inflammatory brain disease, also known as meningoencephalitis of unknown etiology, or “meningitis” is an autoimmune disease. Immune attack on the brain tissue (aka “encephalitis”) and the layer surrounding the brain called the meninges (aka “meningitis”) causes brain damage and abnormal neurologic signs. Autoimmune inflammation can also occur in the spinal cord (aka “myeltitis”), particularly in the neck. Inflammatory brain disease is a broad term that encompasses three specific diseases: granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME), necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME), and necrotizing encephalitis (NE). These three different diseases cause slightly different types of brain damage and classically occur in different parts of the brain. Inflammatory brain disease occurs most commonly in small young to middle aged dogs, such as the Maltese, Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, Pomeranian, and Pug (aka Pug Dog Encephalitis), but it can occur in larger breed dogs as well.
