A triad of bovine inherited diseases (abstract)

Three inherited diseases of cattle seen in the past 2 years were described. Familial acantholysis of Angus cattle was seen in 9/54 calves born to cows inadvertently mated to a full sibling bull. Sloughing skin from the joints, nose and palate were seen at 1 day of age, confirmed as suprabasilar clefts on histopathology. A 2-year-old Charolais steer was noted at ante-mortem slaughter inspection with a whole body tremor and nystagmus. Histopathologically, eosinophilic plaques expanded white matter throughout the brain, consistent with a syndrome of 'progressive ataxia' of Charolais cattle. Two calves born from Red Devon cattle had marked hyperkeratosis, microtia and periocular reddening with deep fissuring of the keratin, characteristic of congenital ichthyosis.