title: An outbreak of systemic granulomatous disease in cows with high milk yields.
abstract: Seven of 92 lactating Holstein cows on a dairy farm developed urticaria with alopecia and decreased milk production, and three of the seven died over the course of 7 to 18 days. Pathologic examination of the three cows, including the two dead and one euthanized cow, revealed that the skin, liver, spleen, kidneys, heart, salivary glands, pancreas, adrenal glands, mammary glands, lymph nodes, and trigeminal ganglia had lymphocytic to lymphogranulomatous inflammation. Inflammation predominated by lymphocytic infiltration was prominent in the heart, pancreas, mammary glands, adrenal gland, and trigeminal ganglia. Severe granulomatous inflammation with multinucleated giant cells was present in the spleen and kidneys. These lesions and their distributions were most similar to those seen in suspected cases of citrus pulp toxicosis and hairy vetch toxicosis. The outbreak of this disease resolved with the elimination of Citrus pulp from the feed. Immunohistochemical detection of lymphocytes and macrophage markers confirmed dramatic hyperplasia of CD3-positive T lymphocytes in these lesions. This strongly suggested that a type 4 hypersensitivity reaction played a role in the development of the lesions.
authors.affiliation: Tochigi Prefectural Ken-oh Livestock Hygiene Service Center, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haritani
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiono
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanimura
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002957:Citrus / Q000506:poisoning*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000473:pathology; D006099:Granuloma / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*