Disease findings in RVLs from Dec 2017
Disease findings in Regional Veterinary Laboratories (RVLs) from A YEAR AGO: December 2017
As farmers and vets enter another December, it is informative to jog the memory on what was cropping up in the laboratories for the corresponding period last year. Some of the more interesting diagnoses made on necropsy (detailed veterinary post mortem examination) of cattle carcases included:
- Johne’s disease (pseudotuberculosis), confirmed by culture, in a three-year-old cow
- Hydrops fetalis, characterised by fluid accumulation in various organs, in a foetus
- Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetti, in a foetus of four months gestation
- Basilar empyaema (brain abscess) in a two-year-old heifer
In sheep, some interesting findings included the following:
- More than half of all sheep submitted to Sligo RVL during the month were diagnosed with either liver fluke or gastrointestinal worms as the cause of death
- Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, caused by Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus, was confirmed in a three-year-old sheep with a history of chronic coughing of several weeks duration.
A full report on the animal disease findings of the RVLs in December 2017 can be viewed at: