title: Occurrence of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin in chronic disease of dairy cows.
abstract: Botulism caused by neurotoxins of Clostridium (C.) botulinum is a rare, but serious life-threatening disease in humans and animals. Botulism in livestock is usually caused by the oral uptake of C. botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) via contaminated feed and is characterized by flaccid paralysis. In the recent past a new syndrome caused by BoNT in dairy cattle was postulated. It was supposed that C. botulinum is able to colonize the lower intestine and may subsequently produce neurotoxin. The continuous resorption of small amounts of these BoNT may then provoke the so called syndrome of "chronic" or "visceral" botulism involving unspecific clinical symptoms, reduced performance of dairy cows and massive animal losses in the affected herd. To test this hypothesis a case-control study was conducted involving 92 affected farms and 47 control farms located in Northern Germany. Fecal samples of 1388 animals were investigated for the presence of BoNT to verify the key requirement of the hypothesis of chronic botulism. BoNT was not detected in any of the fecal samples using the most sensitive standard method for BoNT detection, the mouse bioassay. Therefore, the existence of "chronic" or "visceral" botulism could not be proven.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Straße 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: christian.seyboldt@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seyboldt
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Straße 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Discher
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Straße 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Straße 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neubauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Buenteweg 2, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina Charlotte
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Buenteweg 2, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Amely
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campe
authors.affiliation: Department of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Buenteweg 2, 30559 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kreienbrock
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Theresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scheu
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Anika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wichern
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Frieder
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gundling
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Phuong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: DoDuc
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Food Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fohler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Food Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdulmawjood
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Quality and Food Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cattle, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoedemaker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001906:Botulism / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins; D001905:Botulinum Toxins
keywords: Botulism; Chronic disease; Clostridium botulinum; Dairy herds