DPT 511 - Production animals

Bovine Pathology Case studies 2021

Instructions

1. Provide one or more morphological diagnosis

2. Provide an aetiological diagnosis or develop a list of differential diagnosis – to know what samples to focus on
3. List key epidemiological features for the diagnosis or each of the DD’s
4. List the specimens to be collected and diagnostic tests to be performed to confirm a diagnosis for each DD.
What is normal and abnormal and the lesions

Case 8 - TB

Image Epidemiologically

- Close up of the thoracic cavity - animals (herd) – emaciation in the animals

– costal pleural surface of a
bovine carcass
- Abnormal lesion – widespread
multinodular proliferative
change on pleural surface
extending into the chest cavity
- Thickening of the pleural
surface -> fibrosis
What do these multinodular proliferative lesions represent – DD for lesions in the
bovine and causes can be
- neoplasms (not common) – mesothelioma (neoplasm from epithelial lining of
pleural cavity)
- infectious diseases (TB – Mycobacterium bovis/tuberculosis)
- pleural and lung surface is affected as well
- intradermal tuberculin test – positive for tuberculin tests for bovine (to
suspect in the live animals)
- slaughter positive animals – you will see this multinodular lesion
- no mortality in cattle
- zoonotic disease -> protective clothing and procedures on a
PM/examination of lesions
- advanced emaciation appearance -> due to inability to breathe and they
won’t eat and they tumour will gain energy from the immune system and
they will get secondary infections
- chronic debilitating disease and cachexia (serous atrophy of fat -bone,
heart, renal pelvis)- consider routes ie nutrition and debilitating diseases
- die from hypothermia and they don’t have energy to protect themselves
 Macroscopically you have these DD for this lung type
canon ball like lesions on surface –
- Mycoplasma bovis
even without touching the lungs
- TB
- Bacteria
On cut surface

What cannot these be abscesses – you can Impression smear of the necrotic lobule of Mycobacterium Bovis -TB
consider them
-as certain bacteria can cause caseous - Necrotic debris, macrophages, and multinucleate giant cells (what is the
necrotic look in the centre (actinobacillus causative triggers – fungal infection and TB)
spp), Corynebacterium also will give this - No bacteria is present on the smear – as diff quick does not stain
Earlier cases with no spread to the
mycobacteria – you need to stain with a ziehl nelson stain -> sent to lab
pleural cavity -> lung is affected But do not reside with abscesses in the (If it is a plain abscess, you will see lots of neutrophils and bacteria on a
- Large expanding nodular lungs and you miss the lesions of it being normal diff quick smear)
TB lesions
pattern with caseous necrosis
Diagnosis
in the centre and dystrophic
mineralisation - Impression smear (as stated above)
- Sections for cultures (piece of tissue) for bacterial culture
Key tip with TP and abscesses in the lungs is:
- Alert the labs that you are suspecting TB
- When you cut with your knife through the nodules -> will have a gritty feel (like
Cases positive on skin tests or may not be or with inspection at abattoirs
cutting through sand) = extensive mineralisation of the necrotic tissue = typical
of TB - With secondary or primary meat inspection – you will have the red offal/
pluck (do not just look at it, but palpate for secondary meat inspection)
Things that look typical macroscopically is:
- Primary meat inspection – will inspect and cut through the bronchial lnn
- Mycoplasma bovis -> sequestration in the lungs (necrotic lobules will become (lies in the tracheal bifurcation) – they will cut through there and if they
necrotic and dystrophic mineralisation in the centre and secondary see lesions, they will send it for secondary meat inspection
inflammation causing it to become proliferative and protrude above the - You cannot just look; you need to feel as you may have tiny lesions in the
surface (thus also looking like TB) lungs
- Once located – cut through it and see
Lnn is another tissue sample

Positive skin tests – in early conditions and you want to do an elective PM to find the
lesion and culture it -> you then can search in the oral cavity

- You need to look first at the tonsils

- Then the retropharyngeal lnn (lateral and medial)
- Prescapular lnn
- Lungs where you will palpate and look and cut through them
- Bronchial lnn in the tracheal bifurcation in the region of the heart base needs
to be sectioned

Rest of the carcass is of less importance

- Yes it can spread to the liver, uterus and visceral tissues when the animal
ingests the organism and the intestines take hold of the organisms ->
granulomatous lesions affecting (rare)
 DPT 511 - Production animals

Bovine Pathology Case studies 2021

Instructions

5. Provide one or more morphological diagnosis

6. Provide an aetiological diagnosis or develop a list of differential diagnosis – to know what samples to focus on
7. List key epidemiological features for the diagnosis or each of the DD’s
8. List the specimens to be collected and diagnostic tests to be performed to confirm a diagnosis for each DD.
What is normal and abnormal and the lesions

Case 9 – Colibacillosis

E. coli is the main DD

Image

- Small intestine of a calf that is 7 What other etiological diagnosis

days old
- Seen when the abdomen was open
- Significant distention of the SI with
bubbly fluid
Abnormal – should contain viscous content
and not watery and distended
Viral causes
- rota and corona causes (up too 3 weeks of age) – 1st month ages
- Common and can occur later – but then it will be less important
- Cows are vaccinated before they calf – with a combination of ecoli, rota and
corona vaccine to boost the colostral quality
Later emerging disease with high mortalities
- Cryptosporidium and E. coli often occur simultaneously – that gives u this
catarrhal enteritis
- But cryptosporidium is the primary trigger which starts off the condition as it
causes villous injury -> ecoli normally in the intestinal tract becomes
pathogenic (from being a normal commensal – it become opportunistic)
- In low levels it does not cause problems, but with ecoli even a mild
pathogenic - one you will get mortality
Catarrhal enteritis in a young ruminant

DD’s
- Ecoli – diarrhoea – below 2 weeks
- >2 weeks – not ecoli (lower level), salmonella (necrosis and haemorrhage) –
not catarrhal
Ecoli, bacterial and viral disease – the passive immunity of colostrum is key – look at
the colostrum in the herd
(quantity and timing – first 8 hours for the antibodies) and the immunity is NB in the Variation in severity
mother – you can vaccinate them to boost the immune system and quality of the - It is still catarrhal, but there is a yellow fibrin mixed with digesta (fibrin on
colostrum (especially within intensive unhygienic conditions) -boost immunity surface of mucosa)
Why don’t you consider coccidiosis? - Hemorrhagic is also present
- It should be considered also with a catarrhal enteritis - More of a pathogenic effect here
- It can vary and cause a haemorrhagic enteritis (clostridial, salmonella or Less pathogenic E. coli
coccidia) - catarrhal enteritis with a secretory diarrhea as the colon causes the
- If you have an intestine – you will see white foci through the intestine surface secretion of fluid
- Faecal floatation will help you by seeing the oocytes and a faecal smear you More pathogenic strains
will see merozoites (diagnostic for coccidia) - more virulent and pathogenic lesions to mucosa -> hemorrhage and
inflammatory changes
Diagnosis - mimics salmonella and pathogenic coccidia
- Tied off intestines – anaerobic
(why anaerobic – well if you had clostridia on your DD list – it will be viable on Other DD of necrosis and this picture – you include ecoli and salmonella
culture and you will get positive culture – aerobic will stay alive on culture)
- Anaerobic environment with aerobic bacteria which flourish – you keep the
environment as it is
- Cultures – (be careful with interpretation – especially with normal
commensals) – if you have selected liver, spleen, and lung as routine –>then
you may have had this bacterium entering the blood stream and septicaemia
is present – then results are stronger (make sure you did not contaminate Costo-vertebral joints is opened
them with the gut fluid) – false results – so take each specimen separate and - greenish appearance of fibro-purulent spondylitis exudate of the joint
sterilely surfaces
- animal that suffered with colibacillosis which entered the circulation and
How do you determine if you are dealing with something pathogenic was not killed
 - Samples for histopathology and intestine of 1cm rings – segments and be - gram negative bacterium and the animals will die
careful you do not mangle the insides (handle careful) if you get purulent arthritis with large numbers in herds of calves – consider
- Place in formalin and shake it a bit so that there is contact with the lumen colibacillosis issue with poor colostrum intake
- If you take big sections of intestines – autolysis continues in the formalin
before it reaches the lumen
- If you tie off the lumen in formalin – don’t do that

Image
- pericardium removed from the heart
- fibrinous pericarditis – due to septicemia/ bacteremia with a systemic
inflammatory change

Joints are NB
- often the place where bacteria hide away from the immune system and
survive to a degree and cause injury to tissue
Image – septicaemic form
- Coxo-femoral joint of the calf that has survived/ prolonged survival of
colibacillosis
- May have been an animal that is sick, and you treated the animal – farmer
gave antibiotics, and it was already bacteraemia, but they will have ill thrift
and loose condition and walk with sore limbs and severe lameness and arches
back
As you killed the bacteria and stopped them from dying, but you did not stop
them reaching the joints
- Fibrinous arthritis here – coxo-femoral
- Can also affect the vertebral joints
 DPT 511 - Production animals

Bovine Pathology Case studies 2021

Instructions

9. Provide one or more morphological diagnosis

10. Provide an aetiological diagnosis or develop a list of differential diagnosis – to know what samples to focus on
11. List key epidemiological features for the diagnosis or each of the DD’s
12. List the specimens to be collected and diagnostic tests to be performed to confirm a diagnosis for each DD.
What is normal and abnormal and the lesions

Case 10 – Bovine leukosis

 Enzootic Bovine leukosis
Image
- Signalment – animals with over 3 years of age – older animals
- Lymph node from a cow - Lymphoid leukemia of the animals – blood smears on clinical cases
- Not normal – as it is bulging and not the - Odd animals will have multi organ infiltration of different tissues (different
right colour (hall mark) organs myocardium, uterus- infertility, kidney)
Retrovirus – Bovine leukosis virus – causative
Normal on cut surface - Does not normally circulate in the population – not supposed to circulate
Neoplasia - Clear between cortex (white band) and Diagnosis
- Lymphoma is cattle more olive green, grey medulla) - Serological surveys of the herd
bovine leukosis - Here there is no distinction - serum tube and serological titers of the herd – if there are positive results
- Not common (then this is diagnostic)
clinically – common in herds throughout the world - you can see how you interpret the results different for diseases you are
testing for
Bovine leukosis (Enzootic and sporadic) - with blue tongues – they are supposed to be exposed to it and you will get
Sporadic Bovine leukosis positive tests – but bovine leukosis ie retroviruses (they not supposed to be
- Signalment – younger in animals 2 months of age (younger than 3 years) exposed to it)
(if you find a calf or sub adult animals with lymphoma lesions (peripheral lnn - PCR of the Lnn, blood (purple edta tube) or any tissue affected sent on ice
and thymus can be affected) - Histology – will confirm that you are looking at lymphoma – you still need to
- Unknown cause and it may be genetic origin do clinical tests
Treat the herd and do serological titers

Mechanical transfer of the virus

- Herd with AI and the same pipette between the cows – almost like a
venereal form
- Semen transmission is not known to occurred – more of the mechanical type
- Be careful is transmitting between herds
-
Blood smear
- Close up with 100 x magnification
- Individual cells classic with neoplastic transformation
- ID as lymphocytes with blue cytoplasm’s and round cell – but nuclei is
pleomorphic – approaching monoblasts
 - Blasted mononuclear – round cells – consider lymphoid leukaemia
- And organ infiltration macroscopically

- Rumen wall with multifocal random foci of white proliferative tissue

Kidney - Cause determined – by doing cytological evaluation with impression smears
- Infiltrated with neoplastic lymphoid tissues of the cut surface
- Random and proliferating - You will see monopopulation of round cells – typical of lymphoblasts –
White spotted kidney (KNOW DD’s) provides the same information from histopathology -> PCR fresh tissues
Bacterial should be taken to confirm the virus
- Leptospirosis -> chronic interstitial nephritis -> lymphoid and macrophage
infiltrations
- Brucellosis and colibacillosis
Virus
- Bovine sporadic leukosis (lymphoid tissues it causes to proliferate)
- MCF – snotsiekte -> histiocytic lymphocytic vasculitis
Theileriosis - corridor/east coast fever