The Relevance of Caseous Lymphadenitis as a Cause of Culling in Adult Sheep
Héctor Ruiz,
Luis Miguel Ferrer,
Juan José Ramos,
Cristina Baselga,
Oihane Alzuguren,
María Teresa Tejedor,
Ricardo de Miguel,
Delia Lacasta
Affiliations
Héctor Ruiz
Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, C/Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Luis Miguel Ferrer
Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, C/Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Juan José Ramos
Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, C/Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Cristina Baselga
EXOPOL, Diagnóstico y Autovacunas, Pol. Río Gállego C/D, San Mateo de Gállego, 50840 Zaragoza, Spain
Oihane Alzuguren
EXOPOL, Diagnóstico y Autovacunas, Pol. Río Gállego C/D, San Mateo de Gállego, 50840 Zaragoza, Spain
María Teresa Tejedor
Anatomy, Embryology and Animal Genetics Department, CIBER CV (Universidad de Zaragoza-IIS), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Ricardo de Miguel
Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, C/Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Delia Lacasta
Animal Pathology Department, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, C/Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Four hundred and ninety-eight culled sheep received at the Ruminant Clinical Service of the Veterinary Faculty of Zaragoza, Spain, were examined in life and after humanitarian sacrifice in order to reach the final diagnosis of the cause of culling and to evaluate the presence of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) lesions. One hundred and forty-seven of the 498 studied animals (29.52%) showed CLA compatible lesions that were subsequently confirmed by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis isolation. One hundred and seven of the 147 CLA affected animals presenting the visceral clinical form of the disease (72.79%), while only 32 animals were affected by the superficial form (21.77%). In addition, eight animals were found to be affected in both the visceral and the superficial presentations (5.44%). Eighty-four of the 147 CLA-affected animals (57.14%) did not show any concurrent disease, considering, in this case, CLA the main cause of culling (84/498: 16.87%). In the superficial presentation, the retropharyngeal lymph node, as a sole lesion, was the most frequently affected (13/32: 40.63%). Further, in the visceral form of the disease, 85.06% of the affected animals had the lesions located in the respiratory system (91/107: 85.06%). CLA was revealed as an important cause of culling in sheep production.
