Pathology of Gastrointestinal Tuberculosis in Cattle.

We describe the pathology of gastrointestinal tuberculosis in three cows. Gross lesions were found in the jejunum and ileum in all cases, and were characterized by button-shaped ulcers in the mucosa overlying Peyer's patches and adjacent mucosa. One case had similar changes in the pyloric region of the abomasum. In the affected intestinal segments, marked granulomatous inflammation effaced the lymphoid follicles of Peyer's patches and often extended transmurally. Transmural granulomatous inflammation was also found in the abomasum of one cow. Acid-fast bacilli were identified by the Ziehl-Neelsen method and the lesions were immunolabelled by an anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex antibody. M. tuberculosis var. bovis was isolated in one case. Disseminated tuberculosis and marked lung lesions in all cows suggested that the gastrointestinal lesions were most likely secondary to pulmonary infection.

Omphalitis, urachocystitis and septicemia by Streptococcus dysgalactiae in a southern right whale calf Eubalaena australis, Brazil.

Southern right whales Eubalaena australis (SRW) use the southern coast of Brazil as a wintering and calving ground. Other than anthropogenic threats, there is limited knowledge on health and disease aspects for this species. We report the gross and microscopic findings and microbiological identification of streptococcal septicemia in a SRW calf. Main gross findings included fibrinosuppurative omphalitis and urachocystitis, suppurative cystitis, valvular endocarditis and myocarditis, embolic pneumonia, suppurative myositis and osteoarthritis, and lymphadenomegaly. Histological examination confirmed the above inflammatory processes and indicated disseminated Gram-positive coccoid septicemia. PCR analysis, based on the 16S rRNA gene from bacteria isolated on blood agar, identified Streptococcus dysgalactiae. Pathologic and microbiologic analysis indicated that ß-hemolytic S. dysgalactiae septicemia, presumably initiated as ascending omphalic infection, was responsible for stranding and death in this individual. These results further confirm pathogenicity of streptococci in cetaceans and add to the limited health and disease related pathology knowledge for this species.