The Pneumonias of Adult Cattle

Abstract

For the last eight years, a group of us in the above school have been involved in a clinico-pathological study of respiratory disease in adult cattle. During this time we have carried out clinical and pathological examinations on approximately 300 animals and in most cases we have also visited their farms of origin in order to obtain first-hand background information. In all, we have encountered around 15 different respiratory disorders, most of which we are able to differentiate one from another on clinical and epidemiological considerations alone. For the purposes of this paper, however, discussion will be limited to the more common of these, namely fog fever, farmer’s lung, parasitic bronchitis, chronic suppurative pneumonia, diffuse fibrosing alveolitis and pulmonary thrombo-embolism arising from thrombosis of the caudal vena cava. The clinical and, where appropriate, epidemiological features of these conditions will be described: their pathology will be discussed by my colleague, Dr. H.M. Pixie. Aetiological considerations will be limited to one or two of the more interesting and, perhaps, controversial disorders.