Outbreak of pneumonia and arthritis in beef calves associated with Mycoplasma bovis and Mycoplasma californicum

During an outbreak of pneumonia and arthritis in beef calves and young cattle on a large farm in north-west Germany, Mycoplasma bovis and Mycoplasma californicum were isolated from tracheobronchial lavage fluids and synovial fluids. The microbiological findings in dead and living animals and the immunohistochemical demonstration of M californicum antigen in lung and arthritic joint tissue, indicated that under poor housing conditions and possibly other predisposing factors, this mycoplasma, like M bovis, can colonise the respiratory tract and may be able to cross the respiratory mucosal barrier to spread through an infected animal and cause systemic infections that may contribute to severe arthritis.     

Subcutaneous clostridial infection in broilers

A flock of 12,500 broilers 36 days of age experienced a sudden increase in mortality. Post-mortem lesions were emphysema, severe enteritis, and a serosanguineous fluid in the subcutaneous tissue of the breast and thighs; there was no evidence of a loss in the integrity of the skin. Clostridium perfringens and C. septicum were isolated from the affected subcutaneous tissue. Histopathological and serological examination indicated previous infection with infectious bursal disease virus. The subsequent immunosuppression and severe enteritis may have permitted the clostridia access to the circulatory system, with localization in the subcutaneous areas of the breast and thighs. Mortality returned to normal 48 hours after potassium penicillin G was administered via the drinking water.     

如何防治山羊梭菌性疾病

山羊梭菌性疾病是由梭菌状芽孢杆菌属中的微生物所致的一类疾病,包括羊快疫、羊肠毒血症、羊猝疽、羊黑疫、羔羊痢疾等病。羊快疫主要发生于绵羊的一种急性传染病,山羊少发。发病突然,病程极短。其特征为真胃里出血性、炎性损害。1.1 流行特点:绵羊对羊快疫最易感染,腐败梭菌常以芽孢形式广泛分布于低洼草地、熟耕地及沼泽之中,羊只采食污染的饲料和饮水后,经消化道感染,本病一年四季均能发生,特别是秋冬和初春,气候骤变,阴雨连绵之际发病较多。羊只发病年龄多在6个月至18个月之间。1.2 临床症状:病羊突然发病,没有任何症状倒地死亡,有的死…     

Outbreak of bovine tuberculosis featuring anergy to the skin test, udder lesions and milkborne disease in young calves

A severe outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in a 1300-head, multisite dairy herd in Great Britain had several unusual features, including anergy to the tuberculin skin test, milkborne disease in calves and a farm cat, and a risk of human infection. The outbreak was controlled by culling 221 cattle over 15 months, by using the gamma-interferon (gamma-ifn) test and by the examination of milk samples. The gamma-ifn test detected infected animals that were not detected by the skin test.     

A putative clostridial myositis in a dog

A clinical case of possible clostridial myositis in a dog and its treatment is described. This condition is rare in carnivores and bacteriological examination was not made in this case. Tests revealed neutrophilia, together with increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase and creatine phosphokinase (CPK). One month after the onset of the disease, all these parameters were again normal apart from CPK which did not regain a normal level until five months later, by which time cicatrisation of the lesion by second intention was complete.     

Local reactions in sheep to clostridial vaccines

Abstract

Extract

Each year, several million sheep are injected with clostridial vaccines in New Zealand; though this must safeguard the animals, it is of overriding importance that the vaccine should be “safe”. The British Veterinary Codex (1965 1965. British Veterinary Codex, 435–438. London: Pharmaceutical Press. and p. 462 [Google Scholar]) recommends to manufacturers that a sample of each batch of vaccine should be injected into the intended animal species as a safety test. For pulpy kidney vaccine, twice the maximum dose recommended on the label injected subcutaneously should produce no significant local or systemic reaction in sheep during an observation period of seven days.     

Suspected clostridial myositis in a domestic cat

Extract

Sir:- A long-haired domestic cat. aged two years, appeared normal when fed by the owner, at 9.00am. At 3.00pm the cat arrived home walking on three legs. The other leg appeared very painful. The owner brought the cat to the clinic immediately as she thought it has been hit by a car.     

庆城县羊梭菌病的调查与防治

1自然地理概况 庆城县隶属甘肃省庆阳地区管辖,地处陇东黄土高原残塬沟壑区,总面积约2600km^2,其中耕地面积54866．67hm^2,天然草场面积126666．67hm^2,人工种草35333．3hm^2,其中紫花苜蓿14666．67hm^2。县内山、川、塬兼有,地势北高南低,从北向南倾斜,海拔1000—1600m,     

Lesions and effects of location for administration of clostridial bacterin-toxoid vaccines on growth performance and eating and drinking behaviors in newly arrived calves at a feedlot

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of location for administration of clostridial vaccines on behavior, growth performance, and health of calves at a feedlot, the relative risk of calves developing an injection-site reaction or being misdiagnosed as having bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC), and the percentage of subcutaneous injection-site reactions that were detectable on carcasses after the hides were removed. ANIMAL: 170 newly arrived calves at a feedlot. PROCEDURE: Eating and drinking behaviors of calves during the initial 57 days after arrival were observed at a commercial feedlot, using an electronic monitoring system. Calves were assigned randomly to receive a clostridial vaccine (base of ear or neck). Data on reactions at the injection site were collected. RESULTS: Mean daily gain (MDG) for the initial 57 days did not differ significantly between treatments. Risk of being misdiagnosed as having BRDC was not associated with location for administration of vaccine. Calves vaccinated in the base of the ear were at higher risk of having an injection-site reaction at day 57 or at slaughter. Eighty-nine percent (95% confidence interval, 52 to 100%) of injection-site reactions in the neck could not be located on the carcasses after hides were removed. Calves vaccinated in the neck drank significantly fewer times per day during the first 57 days than calves vaccinated in the base of the ear. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Location for administration of a clostridial vaccine did not significantly affect health, growth performance, or eating behavior. Most subcutaneous injection-site reactions were not detectable after the hide was removed.     

Vaccination of cows with clostridial antigens and passive transfer of clostridial antibodies from bovine colostrum to lambs

Two Friesian cows were used to attempt to produce colostrum containing a high concentration of clostridial antibodies which could be fed to newborn lambs in order to passively transfer immunity to diseases caused by clostridia. One cow was given a commercial multicomponent clostridial sheep vaccine in two successive pregnancies and the second cow in one pregnancy. The first cow produced a low concentration of epsilon antitoxin (Clostridium perfringens, type D) in its blood and colostrum after the first course of three injections of vaccine. A higher concentration was produced by cow 2 after a course of six injections and by cow 1 after a further course of four injections in its next pregnancy. Two hundred ml of colostrum from cow 1 (after the second course of vaccine) was given to 12 newborn colostrum-deprived lambs. All showed a high concentration of antitoxin 48 hours later. The lambs were actively immunised by injections of the same clostridial vaccine at three and nine weeks or six and 12 weeks old and all produced sufficient antitoxin to protect up to slaughter at 24 weeks. It is concluded that colostrum from cows vaccinated with sheep clostridial antigens can be fed to protect lambs passively.     

Acalculous and clostridial cholecystitis in a pig.

A 21-month-old domestic Hanford pig (Sus scrofa domestica) in a 1-year study for experimental myocardial infarction was euthanized at the end of the study. One week earlier, the animal had symptoms and elevated clinical chemistry results suggestive of hepatobiliary disease, which resolved after medical therapy. At necropsy, the gallbladder was markedly enlarged, discolored, and had a thickened wall. Within the gallbladder, there was abundant friable green-brown material. A culture of the gallbladder luminal material yielded Clostridium perfringens type A. Histopathology of the gallbladder demonstrated multifocal areas of necrosis of varying depths, admixed with an inflammatory infiltrate that was also observed on the serosa and within the associated adipose tissue. Luminal material was composed of cellular debris and bile sludge admixed with numerous bacterial rods. Smooth-muscle hypertrophy of numerous small arterioles with narrowed lumina was observed in the gallbladder. A diagnosis of acalculous cholecystitis presumably because of ischemia of the gallbladder with secondary clostridial infection was made. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of acalculous cholecystitis with evidence of vascular compromise in a pig, as well as cholecystitis secondarily attributed to Clostridium perfringens type A.