Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia

Introduction

• Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a respiratory disease of cattle. It is notifiable in the UK and many other countries and has not been seen here for many years. It is transmitted by close contact with clinically or subclinically affected animals and severity depends on strain and host susceptibilit. There is usually around a 50% morbidity and high mortality rate in severe outbreaks.
  

Clinical signs

Clinical signs include an acute onset fever, anorexia, depression, lowered milk yield, hyperpnoea, coughing and a mucopurulent nasal dischargewhich all occur suddenly. Dyspnoea occurs with abducted elbows and extended necks and an expiratory grun. The disease can be fatal within 1-3 week.

Calves may suffer from arthritis, synovitis and endocarditi, but are most commonly seen as sudden death.

Diagnosis

Clinical signs and history to suspect diagnosis but definative diagnosis should be achived by post mortem examination. Signs at necropsy will include marbled appearance to lungs with consolidated grey and red lobules separated by emphysematous areas

• Serofibrinous pleural fluid
• Necrotic foci surrounded by fibrous capsules in chronic cases act as source of infection
• Diagnosis
  • Clinical signs and post-mortem appearance
  • PCR on pleural fluid, lung tissue, regional lymph nodes or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
  • Fluorescent antibody test
  • Serological tests such as serum agglutination, haemagglutination, complement fixation, ELISA
• Treatment and control
  • Slaughter of affected cattle in counries where the disease is exotic
  • Movement restrictions, quaranteen and slaughter of carrier animals in endemic countries
• M. mycoides subsp. 'mycoidescauses septicaemia, pleuropneumonia, arthritis and mastitis in goats
  • Vaccination in endemic regions
• Caused by Mycoplasma mycoides, small colony variant
• Causes a fibrinonecrotic pneumonia and fibrinous pleuritis
• Also affects caudodorsal areas
• Bronchopneumonia -> lobar pneumonia
• Sequestra are common
• NB: similarity to pneumonic pasteurellosis but CBPP has more pronounced marbled effect
• Interstitial septa are markedly widened by fibrinous exudate and the necrotic areas may have a fibrous capsule
• Large colony variant will cause a similar disease in goats