EPIZOOTIC BOTULISM OF CATTLE IN BRAZIL

The first diagnosis of botulism in cattle in Brazil and it's epizootiology are reviewed. The high prevalence of the disease raised on phosphorus deficient pastures in Savanna regions has caused severe economic losses in the past.The temperature induced microcomplement fixation test (TIMCF) confirmed the clinical-pathological diagnosis in all of the 24 cases studied by this method.The most important reason why botulism has not been controlled satisfactorily in Brazil is the lack of an available effective vaccine (type C and D). Additional prophylactic measures are phosphorus supplementation and removal of carcasses from the pasture.

Modificação da microbiota associada às lesões peridentárias da cara inchada em bezerros transferidos para área indene

Observations on the epizootiology of cara inchada in cattle (CI) indicated that animals affected by the disease recover spontaneously when they are transferred from the CI-prone area to CI-free pastures. In the presente study 13 young bovines with actively progressing periodontal CI-lesions were transferred to a CI-free area, in order to investigate the clinical course of the disease and the composition of the microflora in the periodontal lesions in two distinct situations: (1) in the actively progressing lesions, and (2) in the healed periodontal pouches of clinically recovered animals. The semi-quantitative and qualitative bacteriological study was undertaken in regard to the percentage of black-pigmented Bacteroides in cultures. In the actively progressing lesions of the 13 CI-diseased bovines the percentage of these bacteria was 71.3% in average. The evaluation of the composition of the microflora in the healed periodontal pouches of the clinically recovered bovines showed that bacteria of the black-pigmented Bacteroides group existed only at an average of 1.7%. The results of this investigation give further support for the infectious nature of the CI-periodontitis and the primary involvement of these bacteria.