Dead Livestock

Question 1

What do older animals (>48m, check this) need to be tested for when doing a post mortem?

Answer 1

TSE

Question 2

What notifiable disease should be considered when neoplasia is found in a bovine?

Answer 2

Enzootic bovine leukosis

Question 3

What disease causes this lesion?

Answer 3

Blackleg/C. chavoei (‘chavs wear black trousers’)

Question 4

What disease causes this lesion and neurological signs in lambs?

Answer 4

Taenia multiceps

Question 5

Which system should you examine last in a post mortem and why?

Answer 5

Guts due to contamination of any samples you want to take

Question 6

What is the cranial ‘pluck’ in a post mortem?

Answer 6

Removing the tongue/hyoid/lungs together

Question 7

How do you examine the inside of the liver?

Answer 7

‘Breading’

Question 7

What is an important consideration of liver biopsies in cows?

Answer 7

May be Clostridium present in liver, must be vaccinated if you’re going to go ahead

Question 7

What causes this ‘Turkey egg kidney’ in pigs?

Answer 7

African and classical swine fever

Question 7

What causes this kidney lesion in sheep? (Often dead tups when stressed by mating/not eating enough)

Answer 7

Copper poisoning (e.g. feeding tups with cow feed)

Question 8

Causes of sudden death in sheep

Answer 8

Anthrax
Lightning strike
Grass staggers/hypomagnesemia
Clostridia
Parasites

Question 9

What disease in cows can cause this tracheitis lesion?

Answer 9

IBR

Question 10

What causes this presentation in cow lungs?

Answer 10

Lungworm (Dictyocaulus viviparus)

Question 11

What notifiable disease can cause this presentation?

Answer 11

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP)

Question 12

Is Proteus mirabilis a significant finding when sampling during a post mortem?

Answer 12

No, it readily overgrows in cultures, main isolate recovered from field samples

Question 13

What should you do before taking a sample during a post mortem?

Answer 13

Sear surface (to sterilise the surface, if not possible to sear use an alcohol wipe)

Question 14

What swab should you use for post mortems?

Answer 14

Charcoal swab (transport medium)

Question 15

If it is hot when sampling in post mortem what should you do with samples?

Answer 15

Put them on ice

Question 16

Apart from searing, how do you keep samples sterile in post mortems?

Answer 16

Use a sterile scalpel

Question 17

What caused this lesion in a camelid?

Answer 17

TB (notifiable and zoonotic)

Question 18

What is this disease in the heart of a cow?

Answer 18

Endocarditis

Question 19

What causes this gross lesion of pericardium?

Answer 19

Tire wire disease/traumatic reticulopericarditis

Question 20

Histology samples during post mortem

Answer 20

1cm depth of all tissues except brain

Question 21

Sampling to diagnose diarrhoea

Answer 21

Rumen, abomasal, SI and LI contents

Charcoal swab +/- plain swab

Fixed stomach and intestine if fresh enough (if fixing do ASAP, start autolysing 5 mins after death)

Question 22

Pre-weaned rumen problems/diagnoses

Answer 22

Drinking/feeding issues (tube feeding with dirty tube, milk in rumen should not be clotted)

Question 23

This to look for in the post weaned/adult rumen when looking for a cause of death

Answer 23

pH/smell Nature of contents (lots of cereal?) Plant material Foreign bodies Development of papillae Rumen fluke

Question 24

What is this structure in an abomasum of a calf?

Answer 24

Transmural ulcer (likely due to overfeeding/stretching, perforate and cause rapid death)

Question 25

What is this condition in the rumen?

Answer 25

Rumen fluke/Calicophoron daubneyi (snails involved in life cycle)

Question 26

What is an important cause of mesenteric oedema?

Answer 26

Johne's disease (often have very high parasitic faecal egg counts coincidentally and such results may lead to erroneous conclusions)

Question 27

What can Toxocara vitulorum cause in calves?

Answer 27

Impactions (large numbers)

Question 28

C. perfringens type A

Answer 28

Gas gangrene and haemorrhagic enteritis (G *a* s)

Question 29

C. perfringens type B

Answer 29

Lamb dysentry (Lam *b*)

Question 30

C. perfringens type C

Answer 30

Struck (Stru *c* k)

Question 31

C. perfringens type D

Answer 31

Pulpy kidney (Ki *d* ney)

Question 32

C. novyi

Answer 32

Black disease

Question 33

C. septicum

Answer 33

Braxy (Septic ulcerations in small intestines)

Question 34

C. tetani

Answer 34

Tetanus

Question 35

C. sordellii

Answer 35

Gag gangrene

Question 36

Which Clostridia cause enterotoxaemia?

Answer 36

C. perfringens (type A-D)

Question 37

Age that lamb dysentery causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 37

<3 weeks

Question 38

Age that pulpy kidney causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 38

3-12 weeks and 6 months

Question 39

Age that Struck causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 39

>1 year

Question 40

Age that Braxy causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 40

6-12 months

Question 41

Age that Black disease causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 41

>6 months

Question 42

Age that Blackleg and tetanus cause death in lambs

Answer 42

All ages

Question 43

Age that pasteruella pneumonia causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 43

All ages

Question 44

Age that pasteurella septicaemia causes sudden death in lambs

Answer 44

>6 months