Possible death of a buffalo calf (Syncercus caffer) due to suspected heartwater (Ehrlichia ruminantium).
Rickettsial organisms resembling Ehrlichia ruminantium (the causative organism of heartwater) were demonstrated in brain smears and formalin-fixed brain sections derived from a buffalo calf that died on a private game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The possibility that the tick-free environment of a quarantine boma may have affected the calf's immunity, is discussed. These findings suggest that monitoring heartwater in wild ruminants and making brain smears as a routine during post mortem evaluations of wild ruminants, should be encouraged.
Pfitzer
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Pongola Animal Clinic, PO Box 682, Pongola 3170, South Africa. s.pfitzer@gmx.de
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De Waal
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D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002020:Buffaloes; D002196:Capillaries / Q000382:microbiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D016995:Ehrlichia ruminantium / Q000472:pathogenicity; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000382:microbiology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006357:Heartwater Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D013019:South Africa