Clinico-pathological study of heartwater in goats.
The clinico-pathological features of heartwater were studied in goats experimentally infected with a Nigerian isolate of Cowdria ruminantium. Significant drop in haemoglobin values and marked leukopaenia caused by lymphopaenia and neutropaenia and a fall in total serum protein were observed during the course of the disease. A significant increase in the alpha-globulins and an apparent fall in the gamma-globulins also occurred. Marked depletion of lymphocytes in the follicles of spleen and lymph nodes was observed in histological sections. A dramatic rise in blood levels of glucose, pyruvate and lactate, and a drop in blood pH occurred terminally and appeared to contribute to the fatal outcome of the disease.
D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000209:etiology; D000510:Alpha-Globulins / Q000032:analysis; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D006041:Goats; D006357:Heartwater Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D007970:Leukopenia / Q000209:etiology; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology
D000510:Alpha-Globulins